Question DOF Reality H3/P3 for now.....H6/P6 Later?

After about 1 1/2 yrs of mulling a motion platform to supplement my VR gaming, I think I'm finally in a space where I'm gonna pull the trigger. I plan to do mainly flight sims (DCS, Elite Dangerous) with the very rare occasion I may setup for sim racing. I may use the platform 4-5 hrs/wk (mainly weekends) maybe a bit more.

So I think this is the best forum I can find to ask this but I'm thinking of going with a P3 (due to the better motors) for now & maybe upgrading to a P6 later down the road. My thoughts are I'm not out a hell of a lot of money with a P3 if I decide motion isn't for me & I figure there is better profile support for the games I want to play for the P3 since more people seem to own a P3 vs a P6. I'm also thinking that by the time I want to upgrade there should be better profile support for P6's at that time (6 mos - 1 yr)

Any thoughts from the DOF Reality veterans to the above? Anything else I should think of or consider before making my purchase?

less of a reply, and more of a supportive nudge..

I'm in more or less the same position, considering the consumer rather than the pro (figure with VR maybe I don't need the extra oomf of the pro versions motors) but definitely considering dipping my toes in via the dofreality upgrade route, and looking for anyone's experience particularly with Elite Dangerous to guide my hand..

I wonder too if there is a discernible difference in the H & P lines. I'm leaning on the side of stronger 'P' motors over the 'H' ones but for all I know there may not be a noticeable difference. Not sure if anyone has ever tried both from an independent perspective to differentiate between the two.

Hopefully someone can drop a bit of advice on us here.

Well.. I was in this position months ago and I decided to H3.

My only use is racing simulators(Main Iracing).
The motors are good and strong. I need played with everything on max. I did some races more than 2 hours(endurace) and no problem.

However, I had some cons about it:

- Sometimes, the software doesn't catch the platform, I mean, I turn it on but doesn't move. I need to turn it off and then test in the Simtools. It's not a big deal, mas is not 100%.
- Because I'm using a Fanatec DD1, the base mount can't hold all torque(2 thin frames). This means, sometimes, the base move when the force is applied.
- The height for the base assembly is not high enough.


If I recommend, yes, compared to the price of other platforms. The could improve basic stuff, yes. But in the end, still a lot of money.

my Score: 8.

Marcelo

Thanks Marcelo for your insight. I'm now thinking either a H3 or H6 may be where I land on a DOFReality purchase. Its sounds like the motors are good enough to provide immersion & I don't plan to use the platform for more than 10 hrs/wk. Now its a matter for me of which will be best for the flight simming I planning to do.

I can't help you about flight sim.
One thing, I read for racing sim, traction loss is a must. This is why I choose 3DOF. I believe(without any knowledge), for Flight Sim 6DOF should be awesome. I only recommend you to read about compatibility between your game and the platform.

I have recently purchased a DOF reality P6. I bought it for sim racing with VR and I have to say, it's amazing fun. I took a le mans racing car around nordschleife and it was actually scary to drive around some of the corners due to the feeling of speed and immersion and if you crash - YIKES! I use an old Oculus rift with the sensor mounted to the rig and have next to no problem with losing tracking unless I have the motion turned up very high.

However, there a few caveats:

It takes quite a lot of tuning in Simtools to get a good feel from the rig, the standard provided profiles aren't great in my opinion.

I foolishly paid extra for the buttkicker mount - The holes didn't line up to mount it onto the rig and the post is too thin for the buttkicker gamer. You can mount it diagonally and use a bolt along with the buttkicker and it is usable, though you have to watch that it isn't mounted too low to prevent it bottoming out. I mean, I found a workable solution, but considering it's not an inexpensive addon, it's pretty poor.

I had a problem with one of the motors and so followed the advice in the instructions of taking a video of it, a screenshot of the SMC Util programs charts and emailing it to DOF reality - No response.

There are certain movements that the rig does not cope well with - Heave down and Pitch forwards. For quick movements, it moves fine and so I haven't noticed a major problem when racing. However, if you try pitching very slowly and smoothly forwards or a slow heave down, the rig starts to shake considerably once you get past half way. (See the video posted in the main DOFReality thread by @WhaleDriver). It kinda gets into a big of a feedback loop, but it's definitely not software related. This is a problem due to the slack in the wormgear motors and I imagine that all wormgear motors suffer from this problem to some extent. I've messed about with some springs and gas-struts and such but thus far haven't managed to improve the issue to any major extent. Not much of a problem for racing, but could be a BIG issue if you are using it for flight sims! Maybe one day I will build something with some linear actuators.

I don't know how much the H3/P3 suffers from this issue, but in the big DOF Reality thread, there are a few people talking about needing to balance the rig carefully. (I haven't found that this helps at all with the P6).

Hope that helps a bit and hopefully someone else who uses their rig for flight sims chimes in with some advice.

Funny,

In the past, when I needed some help. They replied fast.

Yes, I feel my platform has the same issue.
One of my motors are being very difficult to calibrate it.

Regards

Really nice if someone can compare H3/P3 to H6/P6 for SIM racing .

This is strange to hear. We do respond to everyone within few hours. We never left a customer with issue and we never left an issue not fixed. This also applicable to new 6 DOF designs that is now free from all initial issues.

Well not to worry. In fairness, I didn't follow up with any further emails so maybe it got lost in transit. The problem I had turned out to be an issue with shaking and the balance of the rig rather than a faulty motor. Also, to DOFReality's credit, a separate issue later with the emergency stop button was responded to and solved very quickly.

I have had the H3 for well over a year. I use it for flight sim (P3D), exclusively for sim of helicopter. I fly on average 25 hours a month. The platform has been very reliable and has been well worth the investment. I have had the shaking/feedback issue, but, once I re-torqued the bolts around the universal joint the shaking/feedback issue was significantly reduced (all but gone). Overall, I would purchase the H3 again.

Hope this helps.

Danny

What was the issue you had with the emergency stop button and how was it fixed?

I also have now an issue with my DOF P3 that the emergency stop button no longer works, and the motors stay on and engaged even when the button is depressed. Would love to know if your issue was similar and how the issue was solved. Thanks in advance!

The little relay in the control box has a mechanical switch and it got stuck. I initially got it working again by flicking it but it has got stuck again. I'm going to replace it instead (but haven't got around to it). Simple and cheap fix, open the control box and replace the relay with a new one. I bought a pack of 5 for £7. Search for this at Amazon:

ARCELI 5pcs 5V One 1 Channel Relay Module Board Shield for Arduino (Low Level Trigger)

Replace it and wire it like for like.

I think that is maybe my issue too, although there are zero led lights turning on on the part, so it could just be dead. Thanks is for the links to the components. I will wait for DOF' response first (only bought It a few months ago) but this looks easy enough to fix. Cheers!