HOTAS Cougar software on a modern Windows

[aledmb]

Sorry, but I never had that issue through many PC builds. I have no idea what would cause that? I suppose if that were me and no one came through with any suggestions, I would re-install

 

yeah, it happens on both my computers (windows 10 on both).

 

i followed the installation procedure correctly and both installed without any errors.

 

in fact, everything works flawlessly, but i always have to open CCP and select manual calibration.

 

axis configurations (dead zones and stuff) all work fine, but the calibration setting (mode) is not saved on the device.

[Fakum]

I suppose then if you its not functioning correct on either PC, then it may be an issue with the HOTAS itself? I suppose there is a very slim chance that perhaps the install of both PCs being the same, there might be a install issue that did not show up as a problem? Im sorry that is not much help at all,

[aledmb]

I suppose then if you its not functioning correct on either PC, then it may be an issue with the HOTAS itself? I suppose there is a very slim chance that perhaps the install of both PCs being the same, there might be a install issue that did not show up as a problem? Im sorry that is not much help at all,

 

yeah, i'm starting to think that it may be the issue here.

 

thanks for your help... i'll report back in this thread in case i find a solution, just to document it in case someone runs into the same problem. ;)

[Fakum]

Yeah, good luck with that one. I have never seen any topic of discussion related to that since the Cougar came out?

[Rudel_chw]

hey guys, does anyone have this issue where restarting the cougar does not keep the previous manual calibration?

 

every time i restart my computer or disconnect the cougar, i have to open CCP, go to the calibration tab and select "manual calibration".

 

only then it will operate in manual calibration mode.

 

 

 

Hello,

 

 

I've just checked on my rig and nope, it Works as it should, starting up on manual calibration ... I didnt like the autocalibration when I tried it a long time ago, so I've used manual calibration ever since:

 

 

 

 

Hope you are able to find the issue .. if it happens on two different PCs I doubt it would be a Windows software issue, hope it's not something serious within your Cougar :(

 

 

Best regards.

[aledmb]

yeah, most likely on the stick itself.

 

no matter what i set in the startup options, the CCP always revert to what you show in your screenshot.

 

btw, sorry to ask this here, but do you guys know of a way to mod the stick to remove the centering spring? is that possible on the cougar?

[Rudel_chw]

btw, sorry to ask this here, but do you guys know of a way to mod the stick to remove the centering spring? is that possible on the cougar?

 

 

Yes, I have seen such mods .. but I havent done them myself, I have only repaired mine twice because of broken gimbals:

 

 

 

 

:)

[RazorbackNL]

 

 

Hi Rudel,

 

 

How did you manage to assign 2 buttons (#3 + #7) to the same action? Does #3 behave like a modifier button this way?

 

Been using the Cougar for years in User mode but I want to start using it in DX mode.

 

 

Thanks

[Rudel_chw]

;3677772']

Hi Rudel,

 

How did you manage to assign 2 buttons (#3 + #7) to the same action? Does #3 behave like a modifier button this way?

 

Hello,

 

On that example I was using the Cougar like a traditional Joystick, without using Foxy, so on DCS I defined S3 as a Modifier button, the idea was to use Hat 1 as the SENSOR SELECT hat of the Harrier, but the real Hat has five positions (including pressig the whole hat down) while my Cougar Hat has only 4, so that's why I used the S3 to modify the Forward position to act as the Down position :)

 

Been using the Cougar for years in User mode but I want to start using it in DX mode.

 

Why would you do that? the DX mode turns your exotic Cougar into an ordinary Hotas, you will only be able to setup your buttons using the DCS Control assignments and will not be able to use the microstick of the throttle.

 

Foxy does offer the ability to use some buttons as standard DX button, I used that facility on my Hornet profile ... on that aircraft the key command to open the airbrake behaves differently than the same command of a joystick button .. the key opens the airbrake just a little, so you have to press it multiple times to fully open. So, I opted to use the speedbrake button in DX mode, the programming is as follows:

 

Rem ################################################
Rem	 Flaps / Airbrakes / Landing Gear
Rem ################################################

BTN  T10 /I   
              /O  /P /H DX25
                    /R Speed_Brake_Switch-RETRACT 
                    
BTN T9  /I   Landing_Gear_Control_Handle-UP/DOWN 
           /O /T FLAP_Switch-HALF 
                /T FLAP_Switch-FULL 
               /T FLAP_Switch-HALF 
               /T FLAP_Switch-AUTO 

 

Here, button T10 generates a DirectX button, that can be assigned within DCS. You can see also that I can use a single button (T9) to toggle between all the positions of the flaps .. something that you cant do within DCS control assignments :D

 

Best regards

 

 

Eduardo

 

Thanks

[RazorbackNL]

on DCS I defined S3 as a Modifier button

 

Can you explain to me how to do that?

 

I know it might be a little bit awkward to start using the Cougar as DX controller, but I really want to give that a go, just to see if things will be different for me.

 

 

Hope you can help me out.

 

 

Thanks,

 

Razor

[Rudel_chw]

;3677930']Can you explain to me how to do that?

 

 

First, you put the Cougar in DX mode using the Cougar Control Panel, clicking on "Button & Axis emulation" until its red, like this:

 

 

 

 

Once in DX mode, DCS will be able to detect the button presses when you are creating the modifier:

 

 

 

 

Best regards

[RazorbackNL]

Awesome!

 

Thank you!

[Steel Jaw]

Excellent excellent write up, cheers!

[Rudel_chw]

Excellent excellent write up, cheers!

 

:) thanks for the kind words.

[Steel Jaw]

:) thanks for the kind words.

 

Your guide was instrumental in getting my poor old Cougar running in W10

[joso]

SOLVED it was enough to use usb port 2.0

 

 

 

I followed the guide but when I launch hotas control panel it gives me this error.

P.S. the joy works but it is not possible to program it.

Thanks

 

 

 

Edited October 11, 2019 by joso

[Rudel_chw]

That's curious, on my PC the Cougar is connected on a USB 3.0 port with no issues ..

 

maybe it was a power consumption issue with other device, since usually the USB ports are arranged on what are known 'USB root hubs', and each hub can deliver a maximum of 500 milliamps of power to attached devices. If the energy demands of the connected USB devices exceeds that limit, the USB bus can shutdown.

[hotray]

Rudel_chw:

You are my personal hero!

Thank you for your expertise, and thank you for sharing it with us!

 

I had this Error 14 this weekend. After various (wrong and useless) tries, i found a simple way:

 

Just click "OK" and open Foxy!

In my case it worked and I was able to run the Update-App and after that to download a profile to the cougar.

[Rudel_chw]

...

Thank you for your expertise, and thank you for sharing it with us!

...

 

I'm glad to be able to help, and thanks to you for your kind words, tough rather than expertise I'd like to think that it is just a lot of experience :) since I purchased my Cougar 16 years ago, in fact my unit is one of the earliest, with serial number 05197 :D

 

I really love my Cougar and couldn't be more satisfied with it ... it's the opposite of those planned obsolescence devices so common on today's tech world :)

 

Cheers!

[sirrah]

I'm still struggling to get my Cougar up and running... Up to the point where I'm getting pretty desperate :cry::(:cry::(

 

So what hardware do I have:

• Cougar throttle and stick (serial number 2139)
  
• Stick has got new(-ish) hall sensors and has the NN-Dan spring mod (all the way down, one of the last mods) (I received it as a gift from forum member FZG_Immel:thumbup:)
  
• As a result of the new hall sensors the Y-axis (stick fwd) has a minor restriction in max input (due to the slightly larger sensor)
  

Other than that, everything is original

 

Software:

• Using OS Win10
  
• Installed CCP with help of this thread (thanks Rudel! :thumbup:)
  
• Ran the Cougar cleanse tool and erased firmware, windows calibration and registry
  
• Flashed the device to the latest firmware version 3.06 (unplugged throttle before flashing)
  
• Setup CCP so that all axis are responding (basically used about the same setup Rudel has in his OP)
  

 

When I discovered auto calibration isn't working at all, I stepped over to manual calibration. All axis do respond, but the calibrating results are extremely poor (and I'm mildly expressing myself here)

For instance, this is what I see after manual calibration (sometimes better sometimes even worse):

 

 

(Stick X and Y input/output are always off by at least 50%)

(Throttle input/output is much much better, except for what you see in my first two screenshots)

 

Some side notes:

• FZG_Immel told me to replace the PCB and USB cable of his modified Cougar base, with my old Cougar (which had a busted gimbal set). So I did just that.
  
• I tried re-flashing a couple of times
  
• Tried erasing windows calibration several times
  
• Tried different USB ports
  
• Tried with stick only
  

But none of the above helped :(

 

 

I'm really close to actually giving up... Which I'd hate to do, because I have some precious memories of my Cougar set :pilotfly:

 

This is kind of my last cry for help... Please, anyone, tell me what to do to get my old buddy up and running again :D

[Rudel_chw]

...

Other than that, everything is original

...

 

I'm sorry to hear about your Cougar blues, from the description it is hard to understand what may be wrong with your Cougar .. when diagnosing, the first item is to determine if it is a hardware or software problem, but on your case it is hard to say :(

 

the unit is hardly original, as the pots are pretty much the core of the stick, and you also have modded springs and the Circuit Board of another Cougar .. there are at least two versions of the board and I dont know if yours were identical or not.

 

I can show you the raw values that my pots give when calibrating, so that you may compare with those of your unit:

 

tCXV0O4ZEGg

 

Best regards,

 

 

Eduardo

[sirrah]

I'm sorry to hear about your Cougar blues, from the description it is hard to understand what may be wrong with your Cougar .. when diagnosing, the first item is to determine if it is a hardware or software problem, but on your case it is hard to say :(

 

the unit is hardly original, as the pots are pretty much the core of the stick, and you also have modded springs and the Circuit Board of another Cougar .. there are at least two versions of the board and I dont know if yours were identical or not.

 

I can show you the raw values that my pots give when calibrating, so that you may compare with those of your unit:

 

tCXV0O4ZEGg

 

Best regards,

 

 

Eduardo

 

My Cougar definitely doesn't get even close to those values. I'll try replacing the hall sensors with the original ones from my own Cougar. A waste of nice hall sensors... but at least my Cougar will be useable again (or at least I hope)

[Rudel_chw]

My Cougar definitely doesn't get even close to those values. I'll try replacing the hall sensors with the original ones from my own Cougar. A waste of nice hall sensors... but at least my Cougar will be useable again (or at least I hope)

 

 

If it works with your original pots, then at least you will know what is wrong with the unit ... you can always later on purchase one of the Magneto-resistive units that Rel4ys manufactures .. those have worked perfectly on my Cougar and you can see how smooth they are on the Analyzer graph of my Video.

[sirrah]

If it works with your original pots, then at least you will know what is wrong with the unit ... you can always later on purchase one of the Magneto-resistive units that Rel4ys manufactures .. those have worked perfectly on my Cougar and you can see how smooth they are on the Analyzer graph of my Video.

 

So, I replaced the hall sensors with the original pots. Good news! The stick axes are responding like they should! :thumbup:

Even the auto calibration works fine for the stick. Unfortunately auto calibrate doesn't work at all with my (un-modified) throttle and the throttle still has some minor issues with microstick response (the one I posted in my screenshots few posts back)

 

Anyways, I guess my stick PCB is not compatible with these new hall sensors (I do have one of the first Cougars ever made). But I'm glad I finally got things working on an acceptable level.

 

One question though... For those who use their Cougar with the F-16 module

 

Does anyone else experience it to be almost impossible to gently operate the throttle from idle to ~90%?

 

I tried out a lot with Z-axis curvatures (even messed around with advanced curvatures), but still even the smallest inputs result in the engine rpm spiking from idle to like 90%. (Even when in DCS axis control settings it all looks smooth)

 

 

 

Edit:

Ok... Nevermind my message above...

Just did some more testing (or actually, tried flying for a change) and my Cougar is still acting awful :puke:

After manual calibration in CCP everything seems fine. All axis respond really nice. So I start flying and still all is going well, until after a few minutes, the Y and Z axis response suddenly goes all over the place.

Back to CCP, manual calibrate again, things are OK for a few minutes... and then suddenly it's going nuts again...

 

I guess my Cougar really wants to part with me :cry:

 

Maybe I should consider purchasing a Virpil VPC WarBRD base and just use the Cougar base only for the throttle

Edited December 1, 2019 by sirrah

[BlacleyCole]

As far as I can tell my system is missing the hotas cougar button state app.