Communication error level

[Low Blow]

https://imgur.com/S01jTMI

My Gunfighter Mk III with MCG EN Grip is one month old and displaying the pictured error levels between the grip and base. Has anyone else experienced this issue? I have requested a brand new replacement.

[fallout9]

It's in green and it's perfectly normal. When you'll see huge red block in that chart you could get worried (for good reasons this time).

[Low Blow]

I've done a factory reset and the spikes have almost completely gone. Now the only other issue is that the test axes movements aren't smooth, it jumps.

[fallout9]

Please re-calibrate, it’s mandatory after every reset to default.

[Low Blow]

Fallout, I did this immediately following the factory reset but the jumpiness of the Y Axis movement during the monitoring and also the jumpiness of the indicator whilst moving the axes persists. I am not yet sure what is causing this. Performance during flying does not appear affected however.

[Bill]

Since no one has answered in a few days I will give it a shot. I am not sure how you are seeing the "jumpy" behavior, if you are using Joy Tester and see it when you are making small moments with the stick it means your dry clutch is set high. Notice I did not say set too high as this may be an OK setting for some people.

[fallout9]

LowBlow, please stop editing your post, changes are hard to follow; just make a new entry if there's new development, this would bump your thread.
Where exactly are you noticing those jumps? Are they visible in tester or Communication Error Level?

Also try to clean up the 3 contact pads on the base stem with a bit of alcohol and, while you tighten the locking screw when installing the grip, press gently on the grip to make good contact with those pads.

[Low Blow]

Right, last night was the final straw. Bearing in mind that I've followed all of your instructions to the letter, last night during a stream that was supposed to last 7 hours, I had to terminate it after 5 hours because the stick completely stopped working. Twice during the stream, including during a competition, the trigger completely stopped registering. I confirmed this in VKB Device Config. I then tried to reseat the grip but had a very hard time removing it, despite the grip screw completely being removed from the clamp housing. See my user-experience for yourself below.

Here are the relevant time stamps:

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/745072267

1:53:17 gun fires as it should
1:53:51 trigger down but gun does not immediately fire
1:54:00 trigger down on easy kill shot but gun does not fire at all
Immediately check vkb device config to see if trigger presses (both stages) are registering but they are not
attempt to remove grip but grip does not budge so insert flathead screw driver at base and lever. Grip comes off eventually with difficulty.
4:52:20 - roll input results in uncommanded roll and trigger again fails to work causing me to have to terminate less than 5 hours into a 7 hour stream.

Not only is this embarrasing in front of my viewers, this is not the first time that this base has failed to register button inputs. On 9 Sept I sent the following email to VKB:

Hi,

Further to my last emails, I have received the screws but the issues with this stick have not resolved themselves. Today while flying a 132nd Virtual Mission I once again experienced a lack of input detection on button 23 and the master mode hat. This was with no stick deflection at all. I have had several problems with this stick now and a quite profound negative experience for the amount of money that I paid. I am requesting that you send an entirely new stick and base to my postal address to swap over with this one. Please advise.

Regards,

Chris


Despite sending a new grip out, the issues persist and now VKB appears to be adopting the position that there is nothing wrong with this stick. Here is my latest email sent to VKB in an email today:


Dear VKB customer support team,

Please view the video below from my twitch stream last night to see what my typical user experience has been like with this MCG Gunfighter MK III. To sum it up, multiple disconnections of buttons whilst flying, uncommanded roll and having to terminate my stream because the stick completely failed on me. I am far from happy with this product. A joystick that has its buttons STOP WORKING on more than one occasion in the course of a single night is COMPLETELY UNFIT FOR PURPOSE. The grip screw was completely tight and the grip was completely pushed down flush onto the base. In fact I had such difficulty removing the grip from the base that I had to use a flat-headed screwdriver as per one of your videos which left a small indentation in the side of the base casing and even then had to use force to pull the grip off because it simply would not come free otherwise. Despite Eduard saying that he sees no problem with this stick, the fact is that you can see in the stream that the guns fire late, then they don't fire at all. I am a competitive DCS pilot with current and upcoming competitions to fly and I have a stick that quits on me all the time that I paid 435 euros for. I'm tired of arguing with you guys about whether this stick is fine or not. IT IS NOT FINE. For the last time, I am please requesting a complete replacement of this unit (grip and base). This has been a terrible user experience for me despite paying a significant amount of money, time lost to emails, having to cancel streams early, and missing out on kills in the course of competitive DCS flying. This is not what I paid 435 euros for. I will say it once more, this stick is unfit for purpose, it is broken, its buttons quit regularly and it warrants full replacement.

[fallout9]

As I said before, your both grip and base are perfectly fine. All your problems are coming from improper installation. The video you mentioned, about using a flat screwdriver when removing the grip from the base was about another grip, Kosmosima, which has a different type of connector; the MCG/ MCG Pro grips have a metal connector with NO notch for inserting a flat screwdriver! If you managed to insert a screwdriver between the base and the grip it means, again, that the grip wasn't properly installed. This could mean either wrong installation (locking cylinders not aligned when tightening the screws) or abusive force applied (pulling the grip with unnecessary force).

Please contact your local dealer for a full refund.

[Low Blow]

Fallout there is no improper installation. The grip is pushed down as far as it can go before I insert the locking cylinders IN THE CORRECT ORIENTATION and tighten the grip screw. How else would I be able to fly vigorous ACM for nearly two hours prior to the trigger ceasing to work?

As for the screwdriver insert cutout on the MCG Pro grip, please see photos here: https://imgur.com/a/rN2aGZ8

Which brings me to my next point. What is it that you do at VKB exactly if you are so manifestly mistaken about the features of these sticks. Clear as day you can see a cutout for a flat head screwdriver in the above images. So, that leaves us with the facts of the matter. The stick is correctly installed, buttons cease to work after not even two hours of flying (as per my previous post with Twitch footage) and there is a flat head screwdriver cut out to assist with removing grips that do not come off easily (clearly a poor design choice with regards to the fastening barrel which as already caused me multiple headaches). The stick that has been sent to me is not fit for purpose and I will be seeking a replacement to give the product one final go. If that does not fix the issue then I will happily take my business elsewhere.

[fallout9]

We could discuss this for a while, but I think it'd be a waste of time for both of us. As I see it, you have 2 options - request a refund or open up a support ticket with your dealer to have an engineer investigating your issue; if they will consider the grip is at fault you'll get a new grip.
Btw, from the latest pictures you posted I could see that the bolt sticks out too much, might be an issue with the rusk. Do you have another one around to try?
Sorry for the wrong info about the screwdriver notch on the MCG/ MCG Pro grips, it is a new feature and I wasn't aware it's already out.