STECS Throttle System - Mini

Right out of the box the device if mostly plug and play and very accurate and smooth throttle control. Love it

SUPERB PACKAGING..Unboxing was a treat..

My first fight simulator/game was Tomahawk (Amstrad CPC 64) 40 years ago which I thought was fantastic. Now I play MSFS 2020, IL2 Sturmovik and lately getting started in DCS. I had already purchased the VKB Gladiator NXT Pro joystick some time ago. I was not happy my current throttle which was distracting me from the enjoyment of the simulators I play. A recent excellent price on another well known Throttle system sparked my interest, but I reseach everything I buy and was pleasantly surprised that VKB had a throttle the STECS - mini. I felt safer buying this from VKB Australia as the reviews I read were excellent and I knew the quality of VKB products from the Gladiator joystick. I was not disappointed on receiving and setting up the throttle system. The feel and movement of the throttle and switches is excellent. In addition, was the fact that the throttle system is modular and I can add to it over time. This was a birthday present for me for my June birthday with family chipping in. Can't wait for Xmas to get the Standard module and base plate.

Thank you for your products.
Regards Barry P

I'm going from a twcs to stecs mini. I also went from a t1600m to a gunfighter mcgu a year ago.
It took me a few days to adapt to the high quality changes, but a week or 2 on and im finally really happy and comfortable with the button layouts etc.
It would work best on a proper mount. As i am semi disabled, i can only sit in a recliner so i am unable to mount my gear to the vkb mounts.
It is a large throttle grip so be ready for that, trying to reach the final thumb roller down the bottom is a bit hard, but you have more than enough buttons to work with here and they all feel high quality. Like all VKB products, you are getting AAA, and the customizability far exceeds any expectation (turning axis into buttons, turning buttons into axes etc AFB detents the list goes on.

Technical considerations:
As i am unable to mount the throttle low enough (stuck in my recliner) my wrist has to kink when pushing to middle power or afterburner making the 2 buttons that i use constantly (mb1 and mb2) harder to depress, and i found that the pressure to depress these buttons was to hard for me making my tendons get stuck when depressing. In the end i took the buttons (modules) off and de-soldered the buttons and tried to use easier to press buttons but it didnt work out, so i soldered the original back on. I did however finally find out after damaging 2 single press modules that i could have just used a very tiny pin to lift the top of the button off revealing a silicone rubber button and i could put a few cuts into the base of that making the button much easier to depress. I did buy a stecs button module addon kit for this to compensate with the 2 buttons i inadvertently destroyed in the process of modifying, but that was my fault. I would love to have 2 single press modules sent to me to compensate, but understand it probably isn't an option.

A fantastic throttle with good weight and feeling, however one of the most critical parts of the detent system costs an additional $40. Only 'end' detents are included with the STECS mini, leaving out the 'w' or centre detent from the package.
Despite the website claiming VKB will be "happy to place a special order for you", they will not sell a centre detent unless you buy a full $40 package of 20+ extra parts.