My experience with the F16SGRH so far (Judy)

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Judy
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Sep 20, 2013 10:52 am
Product: R3
S/N: 23
Location: Luxemburg

My experience with the F16SGRH so far (Judy)

Post by Judy »

Hello all,

I received my F16SGRH from RS last Tuesday and here's my experience so far.
First let me tell you that some things never change at Realsimulator. They still produce super high quality devices and their support is second to none.
You just need to send a message to Manuel or Bartolome and they react almost instantly, eager to help. I've known them for close to 15 years and they're still passionate about their work for our community.
Now the grip : well I'm not surprised. The hardware is really high quality. The resin they used to reproduce the F-16 stick is really good. The buttons are also good quality. With their new features, they require a little bit more precision with the fingers, but you get accustomed to it very quickly.
Another reason I'm not surprised is the high number of features they offer. One can really customize the grip's configuration, axes, buttons to one's particular needs and it's pretty easy to create different sets of settings for different simulation situations. I would even dare to say that I'd be very surprised anyone would use all these features.
Of course, all this has a cost : even though the F16SGRH is plug-and-play if used as a standard Windows joystick, if you want to use it as it should be, you need to go deeper into the grip configuration. Here let me recommend to all new F16SGRH owners to go and watch the videos RS published on its site. It will be really helpful to install the grip and start configuring it. I know for a fact that a detailed user manual is in the works and should be out soon. That will be a great help to understand the main features of the grip.
Now my "hand-on" experience : I must admit I was a bit lost in the beginning because although I followed all the instructions given in the videos, my grip refused to work correctly with the Dev Tool. I started the installation procedure several times with always the same result : at the end of the procedure, I would get the grip recognized and working correctly but as soon as I turned my computer off, it was gone. It was just in the Windows Devices and Printers screen as a standard joystick, but it would stay "dormant" in the F16SGRH tab of the Dev Tool. And I tried everything, believe me. I tried installing it with the supplied USB cable (and that worked), I tried installing it on my R3 base, but to no avail. It was even impossible to pair it, it just didn't exists.
So after a few hours, I sent a message to Manuel and Bartolome and the answer was just so simple : the bluetooth chip inside the grip is high quality and starts very rapidly, certainly faster than the Windows 10 bluetooth module when he computer is started. So the grip chip, as soon as it gets electricity, starts looking for a BT receiver to be paired with. Doesn't find any because the computer isn't fully operational yet and then decides to go to sleep. And the solution is so simple : just press TMS Centre and DMS Centre simultaneously to "awake" the grip and in the Dev Tool, you'll see that the F16SGRH is recognized, with all its settings. Be aware also that if not used for a while, the grip goes to "sleep", at least on my system. But you just need to reactivate it again with the same buttons combination.
So now, I'm using the F16SGRH on a FSSB R3 base with all its features. Please note that I use the FSSB base as a standard joystick The axes are not managed by the grip.
Now in flight ? Well I'm pretty accustomed to the FSSB R3, so no surprise there. The grip's hats and buttons are very precise, with a differentiated feeling for all directions. So it shouldn't be too difficult to benefit from the numerous additional features.
Now I find the F16SGRH a bit overkill: 63 buttons is really a lot, the problem will be to remember the "what" and the "where" if numerous buttons are programmed, plus the possibility to change the settings on the fly (8 different memory slots!!).
My conclusion: I've been purchasing RS products for 15 years. I've had them all. I've never been disappointed. A bit confused sometimes but always very satisfied. Now if they could make us a new F16 TQS, with an Idle Detent feature as close to reality as possible.... :o

Cheers

Judy
Judy
Dragon
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Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2013 6:03 pm
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Re: My experience with the F16SGRH so far (Judy)

Post by Dragon »

Thanks a lot, Judy

We hope you will enjoy your F16SGRH even more with the addition of the news features

Dragon
neok23
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Sep 08, 2016 12:31 pm
Product: R3
S/N: 202

Re: My experience with the F16SGRH so far (Judy)

Post by neok23 »

Thank you for the information. I own the FSSB R3 myself and eying the F16SGRH.
Can you confirm that all the features are working on the R3 and that I don’t need the R3L

Many thanks!
Mako
Posts: 41
Joined: Wed Mar 17, 2021 6:00 pm
Product: R3L
S/N: 455

Re: My experience with the F16SGRH so far (Judy)

Post by Mako »

Thank you Judy

My base and stick are on its way and I am soooo excited. I’m coming from a TM Warthog Hotas and I already know that the quality of this product is a step up, so yeah I’m moving up in the world. But thanks for sharing this info and your experience. Im hoping to enjoy it as much as one and everyone else that has echoed this high quality product.
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