Short answer? Absolutely not. This is the work of a crazy person.
Long answer? Welllll...
I bought a Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS, TFRP pedals, SteelSeries Arctis 7 headphones and two EDTrackers recently (yes, two EDTrackers. I'll get to that in a bit).
The reality is that if I wasn't going to use the TM Warthog setup primarily for DCS, I'd have gotten by just fine with my XBone controller in Elite. The extra switches on the throttle unit are handy to have though. Could I have gotten by with a Logitech / Saitek X56 or X55 for Elite instead? Most likely yes, but I have read mixed reviews.
I had massive buyers guilt between completing the online order and the arrival of the HOTAS package. So expensive. That all disappeared very quickly after opening the thing and getting it set up. I'm so glad I bought it now. I don't think I could get by without the pedals though if I was only playing Elite - the Warthog has no twist to yaw on the stick and using yaw into roll in ED's settings feels... weird. Subjective, of course. YMMV. Getting around the setup software for binding switches etc was also a learning curve at first. I haven't even bothered looking at the scripting language yet. It does look useful though.
Check out ObsidianAnts video review if you're curious about the Warthog HOTAS build quality and seeing it in action in Elite. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=530deMgrchk
Arctis 7 headset is great. I love it. I needed a new headset to use with the PC and wanted wireless. Very comfortable for extended use. Sound quality from the microphone over Discord is apparently quite good.
Now. Onto the EDTracker(s).
I am CMDR Nate Lee and I fully endorse this product and/or service.
I ordered the DIY kit from Hobby Components in the UK, who shipped it very quickly via Royal Mail, who promptly "lost" it at Heathrow. The package was MIA on the track-and-trace for weeks, so I ordered the new wireless Pro unit from the EDTracker website thinking the DIY kit was lost forever. 2 days later the DIY kit showed up in the mail. Go figure. Guess I'll have two head trackers now when the wireless one shows up. Oh well. For what it's worth, the people I contacted at both Hobby Components and EDTracker were very helpful with enquiries.
[up]
After putting it together the thing was a huge pain in the rear to get working right. It was... disappointing. After much tooling around and adding Opentrack to the mix it refused to work smoothly. It would have random pauses while turning my head on the yaw axis before snapping back 5-10 degrees in the opposite direction when I stopped turning my head. These steps and pauses were also showing up on the graph in the EDTracker UI after a dozen or more attempts at calibration, so I assumed I had a bad gyro. *Sad trombone sound*
So, with one last ditch, frustrated effort at calibration, I decided to completely ignore the relevant instructions in Brumsters setup video, leave the thing strapped to my head on my shiny new Arctis 7s, then run the calibration while violently swinging my head around in huge angry circles like a maniac. I did not have a nice neat sphere on the calibration display as I was supposed to (and had previously). What I had was some weird, flattened 3/4 dome shape on screen, a sore neck and beer spilled all over the floor.
But it works now. Flawlessly. Pretty sure I pulled a muscle in the side of my neck - I totally over-calibrated. Whatever. Hopefully the wireless one isn't that big a hassle when it arrives.
The EDTracker is amazing, especially considering its price. I disabled the roll axis functionality in Opentrack as I found I was getting a headache while it was enabled. Pitch and Yaw works just fine for me. Setting up the sensitivity curves in Opentrack was trial and error, but once I found settings I was comfortable with it was great. I'd never go back to Elite (or any flight sim for that matter) without it. I forget it's even there now. Immersion Factor 10. I'd recommend use Opentrack as well though - it has some nifty tools for getting the most out of the unit.
You should go buy one. Today.
But maybe don't spend 1000 AUD on the other things I did. Not *just* for Elite.
UPDATE: While attempting to unplug the USB cable from the EDTracker, the plug pulled the socket off the Arduino board. The cable was very firmly stuck and just didn't seem to want to unplug, so I applied a little extra pressure and cracked the solder attachments.
Be CAREFUL connecting and disconnecting your USB cable. I'd heard rumours these connectors were fragile. Seems possible, especially with a tight fitting USB plug.
Long answer? Welllll...
I bought a Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS, TFRP pedals, SteelSeries Arctis 7 headphones and two EDTrackers recently (yes, two EDTrackers. I'll get to that in a bit).
The reality is that if I wasn't going to use the TM Warthog setup primarily for DCS, I'd have gotten by just fine with my XBone controller in Elite. The extra switches on the throttle unit are handy to have though. Could I have gotten by with a Logitech / Saitek X56 or X55 for Elite instead? Most likely yes, but I have read mixed reviews.
I had massive buyers guilt between completing the online order and the arrival of the HOTAS package. So expensive. That all disappeared very quickly after opening the thing and getting it set up. I'm so glad I bought it now. I don't think I could get by without the pedals though if I was only playing Elite - the Warthog has no twist to yaw on the stick and using yaw into roll in ED's settings feels... weird. Subjective, of course. YMMV. Getting around the setup software for binding switches etc was also a learning curve at first. I haven't even bothered looking at the scripting language yet. It does look useful though.
Check out ObsidianAnts video review if you're curious about the Warthog HOTAS build quality and seeing it in action in Elite. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=530deMgrchk
Arctis 7 headset is great. I love it. I needed a new headset to use with the PC and wanted wireless. Very comfortable for extended use. Sound quality from the microphone over Discord is apparently quite good.
Now. Onto the EDTracker(s).
I am CMDR Nate Lee and I fully endorse this product and/or service.
I ordered the DIY kit from Hobby Components in the UK, who shipped it very quickly via Royal Mail, who promptly "lost" it at Heathrow. The package was MIA on the track-and-trace for weeks, so I ordered the new wireless Pro unit from the EDTracker website thinking the DIY kit was lost forever. 2 days later the DIY kit showed up in the mail. Go figure. Guess I'll have two head trackers now when the wireless one shows up. Oh well. For what it's worth, the people I contacted at both Hobby Components and EDTracker were very helpful with enquiries.
[up]After putting it together the thing was a huge pain in the rear to get working right. It was... disappointing. After much tooling around and adding Opentrack to the mix it refused to work smoothly. It would have random pauses while turning my head on the yaw axis before snapping back 5-10 degrees in the opposite direction when I stopped turning my head. These steps and pauses were also showing up on the graph in the EDTracker UI after a dozen or more attempts at calibration, so I assumed I had a bad gyro. *Sad trombone sound*
So, with one last ditch, frustrated effort at calibration, I decided to completely ignore the relevant instructions in Brumsters setup video, leave the thing strapped to my head on my shiny new Arctis 7s, then run the calibration while violently swinging my head around in huge angry circles like a maniac. I did not have a nice neat sphere on the calibration display as I was supposed to (and had previously). What I had was some weird, flattened 3/4 dome shape on screen, a sore neck and beer spilled all over the floor.
But it works now. Flawlessly. Pretty sure I pulled a muscle in the side of my neck - I totally over-calibrated. Whatever. Hopefully the wireless one isn't that big a hassle when it arrives.
The EDTracker is amazing, especially considering its price. I disabled the roll axis functionality in Opentrack as I found I was getting a headache while it was enabled. Pitch and Yaw works just fine for me. Setting up the sensitivity curves in Opentrack was trial and error, but once I found settings I was comfortable with it was great. I'd never go back to Elite (or any flight sim for that matter) without it. I forget it's even there now. Immersion Factor 10. I'd recommend use Opentrack as well though - it has some nifty tools for getting the most out of the unit.
You should go buy one. Today.
But maybe don't spend 1000 AUD on the other things I did. Not *just* for Elite.
UPDATE: While attempting to unplug the USB cable from the EDTracker, the plug pulled the socket off the Arduino board. The cable was very firmly stuck and just didn't seem to want to unplug, so I applied a little extra pressure and cracked the solder attachments.
Be CAREFUL connecting and disconnecting your USB cable. I'd heard rumours these connectors were fragile. Seems possible, especially with a tight fitting USB plug.
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