best joy stick

[drasit]

Currently using my 15 y/o joy stick which was great for Falcon-4 but is terribly over sensitive with DCS. Any advice on a good joy stick under $100? Is spending more worth the money. New to DCS, playing mostly the F-15.

[JulienBlanc]

In the settings within DCS you can adjust joystick sensitivity, deadzone and curvature.

Allowing smoother movement at low input on the joystick giving accuracy, and giving a little more aggression towards the higher input of the joystick.

 

As personal experience I found myself very satisfied with the Logitech 3d Pro as first purchase. My older joystick crashed continuously and was incompatible with DCS but depending on the stick you already have this might be somewhat of a downgrade.

 

When you tend towards the higher-end sticks and pedals you will definitely see and feel much better quality ( thinking of TM Warthog HOTAS, and MFG Crosswind rudder pedals ).

Is it a necessity, not that much. They offer value in precision flight, quality, feel and most profitable many more buttons allowing you to bind them all to your stick, throttle and pedals.

 

For a new player I wouldn't really recommend going straight up to assure it doesn't end up in the closet as a regretted purchase should you not find the time or envy to go into deeper study and proficiency of the aircraft.

 

Rudder pedals are much recommended for the flight of rotary wing aircraft ( Huey, ka-50 mi8 ) and prop planes ( p-51d, fw-190, bf109 )

 

If you haven't already, TrackIR is a must have giving you freedom to look around you in-game. A less pricier alternative would be the Delanclip or one home-made.

 

My order of purchase :

 

Cheap joystick

TrackIR/Delanclip

Rudder pedals

High-end stick and throttle

 

The last 2 which I purchased together as the TM Warthog does not offer twist motion making the pedals a necessary purchase.

 

Hope this helps! :thumbup:

[WildBillKelsoe]

money wise saitek

quality wise thrustmaster warthog

durability and ease of modification and repair wise CH products

 

I can give testament to the latter 2, CH and TMWH. Both are great, but CH has one flaw, the centering tendency (TMWH has this but there are signals believe it or not to the tiniest milimeter around center, which makes it my number 1 choice for helos). That does not mean that the 3 past years on CH products were bad, but I had an opportunity and I took it.

 

CH is now my backup in case TMWH is bricked (check bricked thread on this very forum). CH also sent me spare parts and I can't say that its like saitek. Saitek is the inferior, the bottom in my opinion.

 

 

Weigh your options, you'll find for the price of one hog stick you can get a decent CH setup, but as above. CH is also very precise with the A-10C. You can also put condom (ladies, I am sorry), around the plastic shoes inside for X and Y and get the TMWH effect I described, but you know how condoms are (18+ comment).

[Random]

Whats your budget?

 

Personally I'd buy a used MS FFB2 over anything by saitek

 

Warthogs set the standard in joysticks IMO but I'd want an extension too.

[Flycat]

thrustmaster warthog or vkb black mamba.

everyone knows warthog is great.

and mamba is always out of stock, you need to buy another throttle...

vkb boys said they WILL product a throttle as good as mamba joystick, in order to form a complete set, but who knows when will released it? lol

If they finish to build complete set and metal stick in the future, I will set one pair of it.

[PureEvil]

Whats your budget?

 

Personally I'd buy a used MS FFB2 over anything by saitek

 

Warthogs set the standard in joysticks IMO but I'd want an extension too.

 

I think he said under 100$. Would be good to know what joystick he has now, maybe it can be rewired with a different controller and sensors. Cheapest option.

[WildBillKelsoe]

someone posted a $100 hall effect made of wood :D

[PureEvil]

someone posted a $100 hall effect made of wood :D

 

is it 200 years old cnc machined piece of oak or something? lol

 

i'm talking about something like 20$ solution )))

[Sokol1_br]

Would be good to know what joystick he has now, maybe it can be rewired with a different controller and sensors.

 

A thing to consider, if he has, for example, a CH stick - probable the one that last 15 years as stated in OP:

 

Arduino PRO Micro board + MMjoy2 (12 bits) firmware ~20$

Pot' like HALL sensor 2x (15$ each) = 30$

 

Anyway up to 100$ joystick options that worth consider.

 

Tm.T16000M ~60$, 16? bits, Hall sensor (same of Warthog) in X,Y axis, cheap pot' on throttle and twist rudder, HAT and 4 buttons on grip + 6 usable on base (+ 6 in "wrong" side). "Toy" look and feel.

 

Defender Cobra M-5 - ~60$ 12 bits, contact less sensor in X,Y axis, cheap pot' on throttle and twist rudder, HAT + 7 buttons on grip and 3 mode switch (+14 virtual buttons) + dual trigger. Difficult to find. Different visual from other stick's (that looks toy, "spacial" or "F-16").

 

CH Combatstick ~ 100$ (obsolete) USB 1.1 8 bits controller, good quality pot's, X, Y throttle, HAT + 10 buttons. The 2 extra press buttons (relative to F-16 layout) instead HAT is good for WWII planes, despite the less 6 "buttons" on final count.

 

Or second hand: Microsoft Force Feedback 2 USB, Saitek X-52 HOTAS.

Edited September 5, 2015 by Sokol1_br

[BitMaster]

I have 3 controller sets, MS FFB2, Logitech 2.4GHz Cordless and a Thrustmaster Warthog Hotas with Saitek Combat Rudders.

 

All of them work and it really depends on your what you aim for.

 

For a WWII airplane no Warthog is needed, actually a bit overdone and the not-so-button-loaded sticks just fit nice for little money, I have flown like this for over a year and never missed a Warthog.

 

Flying Helicopters is a totally different thing and precise centering, lots of buttons, Pedals etc are way more suited than my Logitech or MS stick as they both suffer precision around center and lack like 1 million buttons when flying Ka or any of those sophisticated models.

 

 

Again, A MS stick or Logitech is programmed in minutes whereas a Warthog Combo with TIR5 and all that stuff takes some studies before u can have fun, it comes with a higher price on each end, time and money wise.

 

Sometimes I wish the simplicity of a Logitech and the versatility of a Warthog in one... LoL

 

 

Bit