Hello JCook,
For me TIR 5 works fine with this sim.
I also use the X65F. It was hard at the begening :joystick:, but now, is a very great pleasure flying this bird with this stick :pilotfly:.
Saitek's control panel is very usefull for calibrating force's settings.
Basic defaults are unusable with the A-10C. I also use the programming utility, only for set the wheel bake on the pinky button.
All the other settings are made in DCS's configuration tool.
I think using dead zone parameters is a bad thing with this stick (and may be with others...).
Try curve settings with X/Y axes. Sorry, but I'm at work and I don't remember the value I'm using (pehaps around 11, but I'm not sure :unsure:).
Hope this help you,
best regards
Jean-Louis
ps: sorry for my poor english :cry: