Gladiator NXT Omnithrottle - Center detent

[professorperegrine]

I love my new omnithrottle. I do have a question about how to achieve the feel I want...

I am using it for a space sim, so I am using the y axis for forward/backward strafe. Ideally it would behave like a throttle and not return to center and stay where it is set. After removing the springs it feels great, but as there is no feedback at neutral so I can't find the center "zero motion" reliably. So I end up killing myself by moving when I want to stop.

Is there a way to get a throttle feel but also clearly indicate by feel where the neutral point is? I tried using lower strength springs and tightening the clutch, but I read here that the clutches are not really supposed to stop the spring, and they don't.

Thanks for a great product!

[Gargouille]

If you're using a regular gladiator nxt,
you could upgrade your base with the EVO gimbal, which will give you a better "throttle" feeling when flying springless...

I don't have the EVO base/upgrade yet, but my understanding is that it will not give you the neutral feedback, as there's no center detent, only the springs can achieve that...

If you can't get used to the "no neutral feedback", maybe you should consider using 100% of Y axis as a single direction axis and bind a button to reverse throttle...

[mattcaron]

For some games, I use mine in relative axis mode and have max and zero buttons as well.

For 6dof games I use absolute mode.

I leave springs in.

[professorperegrine]

Thanks, both comments help.

I do have the EVO, and it feels really good as a throttle but you are right, there is no center detent feel. I also tried another trick and programmed the LED to indicate center and off-center, but I would have to take attention away from what was going on and still often killed myself!

I tried using the softer springs, but I didn't like the feel of that at all, so I ended up where I started - default springs and strafe forward/backward. I adjusted the position of the stick down a little further, and that seemed to help with hand fatigue.

Now with the occasional use of a keybind to set the speed, all is good! As I get used to the 6dof, it is becoming very natural.

Thanks again!

[PranQster]

When I got my left hand omnithrottle, I was concerned about how to use it as a throttle. Mine is pre-EVO and I will upgrade the base at some point. But I am not after the dry-clutch feature as much as the smoother gimbal.
I found that I really like the return to center with the springs. While not great in aviation sims, I love it in ED. As you mentioned the keybind for throttle settings, you already know about doing that. How I set mine up is with the lower hat by the red button. The four directions are set to 25,50,75,100% throttle presets and pressing the center button sets throttle to 0. The same hat in combo with the pinky button does the same with reverse thrust. Then I also set throttle + and - on another hat with increments of 10%. If I want 5% thrust, I can quickly hit 25% and then -10%.
The return to center has helped greatly with my habit of leaving the throttle maxed while in supercruise assist, causing great acceleration when switching off assist. Though now I sometimes forget that I have used a throttle preset before engaging SC assist, and am returned to that preset when assist is turned off. It's always fun doing an emergency barrel roll of shame to avoid slamming into the planet I was only intending to scan.

[Gargouille]

Another thing you can try if you’re still having trouble finding the neutral spot is increasing the y axis dead zone…
You can do it for each games or do it once and for all with the vkb software…