Revvin

My reply was relevant to the conversation, you might want to try it sometime.

Just after I read your post my missus said she'd recorded it to watch after dinner so I looked out for them and sure enough there they were. Were they extended? Can't say I thought much of the film though. CH Products recently made a Reaper Control System and A-10C HOTAS to show to military contractors.

Its says something for Saitek that they released an expensive HOTAS to compete with Thrustmaster and CH Products and made it even more of a niche product by making it a force sensing stick. I don't know what F16's the reviewer has seen, maybe he thought Darth Vaders ship in Star Wars was an F16? We certainly have a lot of toys to choose from though.

Pots in my CH gear are 6 years old and still going strong. Its all down to the quality of the components whether they have moving parts or not. Even electronic components with no moving parts can break if they are cheap. It seems Havoc is doing ok with his though, whats works for some doesn't for others.

I'd have to say go with the TrackIR and buy the most recent model. I'm still on a TrackIR 3 I bought years ago and its still going strong and has served me well. Buy the best you can now and it will give you years of use.

I think you may be confusing the TM HOTAS with the A-10C HOTAS CH Products showcased to military contractors in December.

I use a centre mounted stick with the CH Pro Pedals just fine.

Is this the 'new' game based on the aged Warbirds game engine? I read a press release a few days ago about something similar. If it is then I won't bother downloading it, its just a rehash of Warbirds, a game that is in dire need of an update.

You surely must jest :) For all the money we spend on kit over the years whenever a new HOTAS is talked about the price is always expected to be peanuts nevermind how high end it will be but still include every possible feature under the sun, oh and release it yesterday. 2010 looks to be shaping up to be a good year for flight sim fans :thumbup:

A small update:

Already have the UK version, Simware have it in stock. Ordered Sunday and it arrived Tuesday :thumbup:

Thanks for the link, I have the DVD version turning up some time this week and would like to get the manual, was binding expensive, £47 for the printing doesn't seem too bad but if they are going to charge me a fortune at Staples to bind it I think I'll find another option. Didn't see a link for an in store binding service though just options to buy them. Also thinking maybe having it done in A5 format like the deluxe manual provided by the late Nic Cole, if only I could find a nice binder like that!

Linux is a must with hosting companies applying such a premium for a Windows box (though we know who to thank for that)

I have used plenty of other brands over the years but its the CH HOTAS I have now and have used for the last 5 years that has never let me down and feels just as it did the day I unpacked them and plugged them in for the first time. In that time the software has continually evolved in terms of features and the operating systems it supports including 32Bit & 64Bit versions of Windows XP and Vista. When the times comes to upgrade I know my CH Products HOTAS will be supported.

Thanks to those who take the time to vote :thumbup:

I know how you feel, I started a new job some time ago and it killed my free time. Also moved home in the last year and finally got a room just to fill with my computer gear so now I just need to upgrade my PC for DCS :unsure:

Thats the beauty of the MFP, I use mine for all sorts of gaming - flight sims, racing sims, FPS and RTS.

$300 is a pretty decent budget for a HOTAS. It all comes down to personal preference of course but in my personal experience I'd go for CH Products over the Cougar any day having owned a few of them, if CH Products stopped making sticks and my current CH Hotas died then I'd likely go with Saitek as their new stuff looks ok though I've not tried them out. This topic came up on the IL-2 forums not so long back and this was what I posted about it: I have experienced Cougar ownership and it was not a good experience for me, so bad that I nearly gave up on flight simulations due to them constantly breaking. Over an 18 month period I tried to stick with the Cougar and forgive its failings but after the third died I sold the fourth before it had chance to break. The first Cougar I bought came direct from Thrustmaster’s official shop here in the UK but it was dead on arrival. When I contacted their tech support I was told to send it back and then wait four or more weeks for them to fix it which I found totally unacceptable customer care, for a new stick I expected a straight swap for a working model. I decided to get refund and bought a new one from another shop but that had to go back after it developed a fault in the electronics on the throttle. I got a replacement but that also developed an electronics fault as well as paint peel, increasing centre play and a broken speed brake switch. This speed brake switch is an issue that has been reported many many times by users right from the first Cougars sold yet the Cougar still apparently ships with the same problem, a problem that could be easily fixed during assembly. Its like they just don't care they just want to throw them out the door as quickly as possible. The shop owner tried to fix my speedbrake by contacting TM for the part and would save them a full return but they actually charged him for the part! After seeing the HOTAS open when he tried to fix it I don't have much faith in the build quality. It was all wires held in place with pieces of tape, shrouds around hat switches made of tape and the hat switches themselves held in place with blobs of hot glue. Although I had the cash to mod it why bother when it broke in areas that would not be fixed by a mod. Ask yourself why so many Cougar owners bought a second one as a spare. I find the CH gear much more sturdy and well assembled, my Fighterstick and Pro Throttle feel and work just the same way they did the day I took them out of the box around 4 years ago (I should also add my old gameport Force FX and Pro Throttle are still working some 8 years on). Much is said about the metal vs plastic, the CH gear feels very solid as it's made of very strong and durable glass filled nylon and ABS which CH use for their industrial and aviation controls. They have been making controls for industry for 25 years, knowledge that has gone into their gaming devices and it shows. CH is well known for its durable controllers. The metal used on the Cougar is Zamak or 'pot metal' which is very low quality. CH Products also has a very good reputation for quality which I feel is aided by the fact they assemble their devices in house rather than sub contract out to the lowest Far East bidder as Guillemot seemed to do for the Cougar. For programmability then I feel CH certainly is one of the most programmable available and its software is still being developed by Bob Church who is working on new versions as we speak. This is just my opinion having owned a Cougar based on my own experience. I'd recommend the CH gear I wouldn’t buy a Cougar.

It looks like someone forgot to renew the domain name

I'd recommend a HOTAS for a sim like this, a lot less reaching for the keyboard as you'll have a lot more buttons at your disposal. Though IMO I'd steer clear of the Cougar, it was without doubt the worst HOTAS I ever bought.

Then why did you ask for help in the CH Products Control Manager thread? You're on your own I'm afraid, I gave up after my third Cougar died on me.

You say you're having problems with DATA IN DATA OUT after unscrewing the joystick from the base, are you sure you don't mean you have a Cougar? This software is for CH Products controllers. However if you do have a problem with CH Products joysticks try posting at the forums in my sig, its visited by CH Products staff.

Unscrewed your joystick from the base? are you sure you don't mean a Cougar?

If you are using CH Products controllers (joystick, throttle, pedals etc) and you use Windows Vista and you wish to program your controllers then yes download it.

CH Products has released the latest version of their Control Manager software for Windows Vista, it supports both 32 and 64 bit versions. Debby McDowell the Director of Sales and Marketing made the following announcement at the CH Hangar here.