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HOTAS Cougar owners: Stick buttons 5 and 6 intermittent?


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Greetings kitty users,

 

These 2 stick buttons on my Cougar are intermittent: Button 5 (NWS, A/R Disc., Missile Step--the index finger button on the right side of the stick) and Button 6 (second stage gun trigger). Sometimes, re-flashing the firmware and re-applying the profile in CCP helps for a while, but not always. It seems to work when it wants to, and conks out on me at the worst times (i.e. when I need to use it!)

 

Everything else always works.

 

The 2 buttons themselves seem electrically OK, they always fail together, and start working again randomly.

 

Any ideas on how to fix it permanently? Circuit board mod or anything like that? Maybe new resistors/capacitors on the board? I figure getting a replacement circuit board is completely out of the question at this point. And no, I don't want to buy a new TM Warthog setup for $600 :)

 

Windows 7 has never had any trouble detecting the stick, Foxy programs, response curves, calibration etc. have always worked well. Just those 2 annoying buttons!

 

Thanks for any suggestions.

Kit:

B550 Aorus Elite AX V2, Ryzen 7 5800X w/ Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE, 2 x 16GB Kingston Fury DDR4 @3600MHz C16, Gigabyte RTX 3070 Windforce 8GB, EVGA SuperNova 750 G2 PSU, HP Omen 32" 2560x1440, Thrustmaster Cougar HOTAS fitted with Leo Bodnar's BU0836A controller.

--Flying is the art of throwing yourself at the ground, and having all the rules and regulations get in the way!

If man was meant to fly, he would have been born with a lot more money!

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Doesn't ANYONE have a clue how to fix this stupid pile o' crap?

Kit:

B550 Aorus Elite AX V2, Ryzen 7 5800X w/ Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE, 2 x 16GB Kingston Fury DDR4 @3600MHz C16, Gigabyte RTX 3070 Windforce 8GB, EVGA SuperNova 750 G2 PSU, HP Omen 32" 2560x1440, Thrustmaster Cougar HOTAS fitted with Leo Bodnar's BU0836A controller.

--Flying is the art of throwing yourself at the ground, and having all the rules and regulations get in the way!

If man was meant to fly, he would have been born with a lot more money!

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Doesn't ANYONE have a clue how to fix this stupid pile o' crap?

 

 

I've had a Cougar since 2003, but it has never given me a trouble like your's, so, cant give a useful tip ... sorry :(

 

For work: iMac mid-2010 of 27" - Core i7 870 - 6 GB DDR3 1333 MHz - ATI HD5670 - SSD 256 GB - HDD 2 TB - macOS High Sierra

For Gaming: 34" Monitor - Ryzen 3600X - 32 GB DDR4 2400 - nVidia GTX1070ti - SSD 1.25 TB - HDD 10 TB - Win10 Pro - TM HOTAS Cougar - Oculus Rift CV1

Mobile: iPad Pro 12.9" of 256 GB

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I've had a Cougar since 2003, but it has never given me a trouble like your's, so, cant give a useful tip ... sorry :(

 

OK, I just opened 'er up and swapped the #4 switch (pinky paddle) with the #6 (trigger stage 2) and stuffed it all back together. Everything seems to work now! Only time will tell, but one solder connection on #6 seemed really flaky and came apart when I pulled lightly on it... Since I hardly ever use #4, that switch was in like-new shape, so I moved it to the #6 position.

 

The old #6 switch had taken a pounding, and is now in the paddle switch position, but it seems to work--let's hope it keeps working! That would be awesome, if I could just use the blinkin' Cougar now instead of constantly farting around with it.

 

I know many of the switches are daisy-chained (share a common wire) and the #6 and #4 were like that, so it makes sense that one crappy solder joint would interrupt both switches.

 

Man I hope it keeps working! Getting hold of circuit boards for the Cougar is a major pain in the arse, so it would rock if everything worked well now. So far, it seems good.

 

Peace

Kit:

B550 Aorus Elite AX V2, Ryzen 7 5800X w/ Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE, 2 x 16GB Kingston Fury DDR4 @3600MHz C16, Gigabyte RTX 3070 Windforce 8GB, EVGA SuperNova 750 G2 PSU, HP Omen 32" 2560x1440, Thrustmaster Cougar HOTAS fitted with Leo Bodnar's BU0836A controller.

--Flying is the art of throwing yourself at the ground, and having all the rules and regulations get in the way!

If man was meant to fly, he would have been born with a lot more money!

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... many of the switches are daisy-chained (share a common wire) and the #6 and #4 were like that, so it makes sense that one crappy solder joint would interrupt both switches.

 

 

Glad that you solved the problem ... and will keep this info in mind if it ever happens to my Cougar :)

 

For work: iMac mid-2010 of 27" - Core i7 870 - 6 GB DDR3 1333 MHz - ATI HD5670 - SSD 256 GB - HDD 2 TB - macOS High Sierra

For Gaming: 34" Monitor - Ryzen 3600X - 32 GB DDR4 2400 - nVidia GTX1070ti - SSD 1.25 TB - HDD 10 TB - Win10 Pro - TM HOTAS Cougar - Oculus Rift CV1

Mobile: iPad Pro 12.9" of 256 GB

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The old #6 switch had taken a pounding, and is now in the paddle switch position, but it seems to work--let's hope it keeps working!

 

 

Just replace that switch with a new, they are common switches, plenty available online, and you can use better quality that the originals. Look for OMRON swtiches, Knitter.

 

BTW - They have poor quality in Warthog, there is just a copper membrane like in cheap gamepads:

 

https://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=2286554&postcount=6


Edited by Sokol1_br
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Glad that you solved the problem ... and will keep this info in mind if it ever happens to my Cougar :)

 

OK dudes, it's still working right now. Again, only time will tell. :music_whistling:

 

Each switch has four terminals, and they're in pairs (normally open switches have only two connections internally, and each contact has two external solder lugs). In the Cougar, two terminals are used for the switch signal to the circuit board, and one remaining one is used to daisy-chain to other switches.

 

So, if the internal connection gets flaky on one switch, that string of switches no longer works (or only works intermittently, as in my case). What they should have done is used one piece of wire for all the common connections and soldered them to one terminal on the switches, instead of alternate terminals, but that's how they do it and that's probably why it behaves the way it does.

 

Swapping the #4 and #6 switches seems to have worked. We'll find out one day if it quits!

Kit:

B550 Aorus Elite AX V2, Ryzen 7 5800X w/ Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE, 2 x 16GB Kingston Fury DDR4 @3600MHz C16, Gigabyte RTX 3070 Windforce 8GB, EVGA SuperNova 750 G2 PSU, HP Omen 32" 2560x1440, Thrustmaster Cougar HOTAS fitted with Leo Bodnar's BU0836A controller.

--Flying is the art of throwing yourself at the ground, and having all the rules and regulations get in the way!

If man was meant to fly, he would have been born with a lot more money!

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Just replace that switch with a new, they are common switches, plenty available online, and you can use better quality that the originals. Look for OMRON swtiches, Knitter.

 

BTW - They have poor quality in Warthog, there is just a copper membrane like in cheap gamepads:

 

https://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=2286554&postcount=6

 

I just swapped it out (gun trigger second stage) for one from the stick that I hardly use--the pinky paddle, and so far it's working really well.

 

I really pounded on that trigger switch, mostly out of anger and frustration :) But, it still works well in the paddle switch position. I only ever use that for wheel brakes though, so it's not combat-essential.

 

Imma be REAL pleased if this still works after lots of use and the fix is permanent. Man, that would make life easier! Even though the Cougar is a pile of crap, it's so nice to use and fly with after you rebuild the awful gimbal, and make some mods to it so it centers really well and doesn't have tons of slop. I also swapped out the original X and Y stick pots with Hall effect sensors and magnets, so it's *really* nice to fly with now.

 

Hopefully the stick is all ready to rock now and I won't have to muff around with it anymore!

 

Thanks for the moral support guys :)

 

Peace and happy warfare

AD

Kit:

B550 Aorus Elite AX V2, Ryzen 7 5800X w/ Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE, 2 x 16GB Kingston Fury DDR4 @3600MHz C16, Gigabyte RTX 3070 Windforce 8GB, EVGA SuperNova 750 G2 PSU, HP Omen 32" 2560x1440, Thrustmaster Cougar HOTAS fitted with Leo Bodnar's BU0836A controller.

--Flying is the art of throwing yourself at the ground, and having all the rules and regulations get in the way!

If man was meant to fly, he would have been born with a lot more money!

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Ok, just did a bunch of flying in the 109 and 190, both of which I use the second stage trigger to fire the cannon (first stage for slug guns, second for slugs & cannons).

 

Everything still works! Oh man, this has been such a pain in my tush for so long, it would rock if it were finally fixed. And no circuit board hacking!

Kit:

B550 Aorus Elite AX V2, Ryzen 7 5800X w/ Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE, 2 x 16GB Kingston Fury DDR4 @3600MHz C16, Gigabyte RTX 3070 Windforce 8GB, EVGA SuperNova 750 G2 PSU, HP Omen 32" 2560x1440, Thrustmaster Cougar HOTAS fitted with Leo Bodnar's BU0836A controller.

--Flying is the art of throwing yourself at the ground, and having all the rules and regulations get in the way!

If man was meant to fly, he would have been born with a lot more money!

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Been using it a while now, and everything works well!

 

Now all I need is to build a nice set of rudder pedals. A decent 4K screen would be good too, even though I don't really need it :)

Kit:

B550 Aorus Elite AX V2, Ryzen 7 5800X w/ Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE, 2 x 16GB Kingston Fury DDR4 @3600MHz C16, Gigabyte RTX 3070 Windforce 8GB, EVGA SuperNova 750 G2 PSU, HP Omen 32" 2560x1440, Thrustmaster Cougar HOTAS fitted with Leo Bodnar's BU0836A controller.

--Flying is the art of throwing yourself at the ground, and having all the rules and regulations get in the way!

If man was meant to fly, he would have been born with a lot more money!

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