Buying advice please - Next Level v3 Motion Platform

[MarkR]

I'm looking for some advice and thoughts of other owners or people with good knowledge of the product, please.

I always said I'd buy myself a motion simulator if I could afford one and had the room available. Well, that day may have arrived. I'm impressed by what I've seen of the Next Level v3 Motion Platform

This seems to meet all my criteria:

+ Limited space requirements, I don't have room for a huge sim rig but this seems compact enough to work.
+ Works with Oculus Rift VR, that fixed head position setting solution is impressive
+ Great support and regular updates from the developers
+ Available in the UK
+ Works with my current Thrustmaster wheel and accessories.
+ Sub £3k for the full setup, I'm not a pro racer I'm not looking for a practice simulator this is just for fun so the cost/fun balance has to be right.

So help me do the man maths! Is it worth it?

Is there another similar product I should also look at? It would need to be reasonably compact, work with VR, available in the UK without too much hassle and in the same £3-5K price range.

Is there anywhere I can try one or even better several of the systems in the UK?

 

[RCHeliguy]

Love the trolley wheels. Where can I buy them? The only problem I see with them is that their loading might be not enough for my rig.

Thanks

They claim the set of casters can handle a 400lb work bench. The holes don't match 8020 profile, but I'm going to test before I decide to drill up 40mm from the bottom hole or down 40mm from the top hole. I think my rig will be about 300lbs, and since these are retractable the weight of the rig will only be on them for very short periods of time.

I've also added a nylon washer to the top pivot bolt and tightened the bottom pivot bolt to remove any play so they won't rattle.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SX3T2LO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I spent some time in the tactile immersion thread. I'm still excited about everything I'm putting together, but I feel like I was just schooled in a few areas.

 

[RCHeliguy]

This is what I have for a seat mount. Since the tracks are asymetrical and the left seat mount overlaps the top of the NLR seat mount, I couldn't drop the level any. There is just enough room for a transducer mount that bolts to the suspended seat bottom and extends out the back for the transducers to have clearance.

Once I have the attachment holes drilled in the angle for the 8020, I'll trim off the excess on the left side. The 8020 on the left comes out a reasonable offset for a flight throttle mount. I'll need a 400mm length of 40x40 between the front rails to give me an attachment point for a joystick since I like my stick centered and not on the right side of the seat.

After drilling out the caster bodies with an 8mm hole 40mm below the top hole I found out that my current bolt heads don't have enough clearance for the bottom bolt so I ordered some 8mm x 12mm Button Head bolts.

 

[anton_Chez]

I had problems with bolt head clearance as well on mine. The old way I had it, anyway. They were just hitting the inside of the main railing so I needed to do some countersinking and also use a lower profile head. I think I went with mushroom head as opposed to the hexed cap head. Just made it.

Not a problem for me now as I removed the seat mount rail and have used spacers to get the brackets for the V3 directly onto the top of the main railing. Got me around 100mm further 'into' the chassis.

 

[Black_rat]

I have yet to drop my NLR v3 down, got the bits, but slipped discs in the lower back are putting me off. I have been running a square of 40 mm 8020 between seat and mover allowing me to use my Obutto throttle and joystick mounts, currently removed as I just got this seat. A full on bucket seat makes a big difference too as you are wedged in and have to move

 

[wajdi]

I have yet to drop my NLR v3 down, got the bits, but slipped discs in the lower back are putting me off. I have been running a square of 40 mm 8020 between seat and mover allowing me to use my Obutto throttle and joystick mounts, currently removed as I just got this seat. A full on bucket seat makes a big difference too as you are wedged in and have to move

Can you post more pictures of your rig? Your seat position is to high( my personal opinion).

 

[Black_rat]

Too high compared to what though? I am Vr but monitor, pedals and wheel have been elevated, but with my new bracket I will be dropping things down, but then so will every thing else be dropped. The only thing too high is that I mount my seat on a 40mm profile above the NLM V3 unit, but my "seat" is a lot lower than most standard car seats. For instance my eye line is actually dead on the centre line of the monitor. I only posted this to show a way of mounting aircraft controls as well as car racing.

 

[RCHeliguy]

It's still a mess, and I can't seem to stop tinkering with things.
Since the offset right chair rail runs right up to the edge of the base frame and that chair rail will be moving, I abandoned the right side rail. I'm pretty happy with the geometry of everything right now. I might move the pedals in a bit closer.

I still need to drill about another 12 holes and trim some angle before I can secure the seat mover and seat. I haven't even started looking at the transducer mounts yet. The retractable casters work really well. I even accidentally sat in it while they were deployed and there were no issues.

 

[anton_Chez]

The seat position being too high really is a subjective thing and personally I wouldn't worry too much about it. Unless you do what I did and attach full motion actuators to your chassis. I mean, you could sit that V3 on the floor and the feeling really wouldn't be all that different if you moved all the other things around it to a relative position. That is, move everything the same amount. It does look cleaner dropping into the chassis, especially on a P1 where the side rails are enormous, but for feeling, I'm not so sure. What WILL make a difference is how you attach your seat to the V3. The higher this is will affect feeling and the COG so be sure to get that as close to the seat mount frame on the V3 as possible. Now with a non Next Level Racing seat, you will need to find alternatives as the hole patterns are garbage, but there are ways depending on what seat you have. They have been outlined in threads and posts all over RD.

 

[RCHeliguy]

The angle aluminum is cut drilled and shaped. Now I just need to get a good brushed finish on it before installing it.

This is the African Purpleheart I was talking about earlier. I like the contrast it would have against both black and aluminum. What do you think?

I also took a crack at tapping the 8020 and it seemed to go pretty smoothly. I still decided to order a better 8mm tap.

 

[RCHeliguy]

I realize that fabricating these parts is no great big deal, but I'm still extremely happy they bolted up without any grinding needed for any of the 8mm holes I drilled
I expected this to be a royal PITA, but I got the seat base level with the top brackets and it just slide on !!!
Happy Dance!

 

[RCHeliguy]

I'm going to put off connecting the transducers and flight controls for now. It's time to plug this in and see how the NLRv3 works with Dirt Rally!!!!

I'll probably work on flight controls next. I made the mistake of picking up the NLRv3 with chair bolted on. Phew!!!! I did put some UHMW tape under the angle so it would slide a bit better and it is negligible height.

 

[RCHeliguy]

OK, last picture for a little while. Mobility works great. It's sitting in the corner of the media room and I can wheel it into the storage closet when I need to. I need to clean up my shop AKA my wife's garage stall before I do anything else and I think I'm going to play with the NLRv3 a bit before I add transducers to the mix.

 

[Soulstoner]

Looks great! Have you gone into the NLRv3 software diagnostics and checked the maximum movement of all angles of the seat? It looks like there would be some collision of your parts when the platform is tilted at an extreme angle.

I'm sure you've thought of it already, but wanted to bring it up just in case.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Looks great! Have you gone into the NLRv3 software diagnostics and checked the maximum movement of all angles of the seat? It looks like there would be some collision of your parts when the platform is tilted at an extreme angle.

I'm sure you've thought of it already, but wanted to bring it up just in case.

Good eye!
I had checked to see if the angles of the seat would handle the 2" angle, but I had not tested it installed and I hadn't even powered it up since I installed it.

Sadly it appears that I need to raise the motion unit by 1/2 an inch or so. Going to button head bolts would help a bit, but I'll need to redrill the three holes on each side to raise the motion unit relative to the brackets on the frame.

It's fine in front, but the back corners can't reach full angle.

<sigh> Now the question is whether I remove the seat and fix this and test it as is, or also take the time to install the transducers under the seat since I'm going to have to pull it off and really don't want to have to do this repeatedly. Unfortunately I have a pile of work to do and probably won't have time to do this until Friday or the weekend.

Anyway thanks for getting me looking at this now vs later. I think I would have done a range test before trying it out, but this way I definitely have. Better safe than sorry.

 

[RCHeliguy]

It just dawned on me that if I used beveled screw heads and recessed the bolts, I might be most of the way there. I may need to trim a bit off the edge of the aluminum under 8020 supporting the seat rails, but that would have a pretty large effect.

if I do have to redrill to raise the unit, I have room to shift all the holes towards the front so they are offset from the current holes.

I'm going to mull this over a bit since I would prefer not to raise the seat if I can help it and if I do have to raise it I'd prefer it to be as small an amount as possible.

Another thing I need to consider if flex. The seat may not bottom out while I run diagnostics, but with me sitting in the chair and a dynamic load it will likely need a bit of room past what I see.

 

[sebna]

OK, last picture for a little while. Mobility works great. It's sitting in the corner of the media room and I can wheel it into the storage closet when I need to. I need to clean up my shop AKA my wife's garage stall before I do anything else and I think I'm going to play with the NLRv3 a bit before I add transducers to the mix.
View attachment 290090

Is there any chance you could do a quick vid with your phone how the retractable wheels work?

 

[RCHeliguy]

Is there any chance you could do a quick vid with your phone how the retractable wheels work?

They are pretty simple. You push them down and they lock in place when the chrome plate with the wheel is horizontal with a section at the bottom of the black lever. You simply lift that lever up from the bottom and the they drop down, but I can show you a video later on. I've got a conference call starting up in a few minutes so it will be a few hours before I get to play.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Playing with flight controls mounts. Still working on position before working on quick release.
Obviously some of the pieces need to be cut quite a bit.

And here is your Caster demonstration. It's a little out of focus, but I'm not trying to win an award with this

 

[RCHeliguy]

I think the flight controls are going to be workable.

The key is that the seating position in a plane is very different from a race car.
You are much more upright. As a result the pedals can be submerged into the chassis.

One thing I've always liked about this seat is that it has a low reclined position that works well for a car sim and a taller more upright posture that is perfect for flying. It has full manual controls including lumbar support. My thoughts are that for flying having a higher COG could work OK since the motions of a plane are more gradual than those of a car. More gradual banking and not a as much constant feedback like a car. FYI I got this seat out of a wrecked 2008 Volkswagon Passat for $40. It's served me well for the last year or so.

I guess I'll find out when I try it out in DCS World. I realize that if I use the VR compensation I'll need to keep two separate numbers for it, but I think this could work hopefully well.

I'm also realizing that I've been over zealous with the bracing. These 40 series 8020 corner brackets are very strong. I should be able to remove a few. I'll move the middle support forward just a bit, trim some pieces and should have something I can enjoy.

 

[DavidMart]