Thrustmaster F-16 TQS Throttle

[slughead]

My unit has been returned to the supplier. They've agreed it is faulty and should be sending out a replacement shortly.

[Scott-S6]

10 hours ago, slughead said:

No, because Thrustmaster replaced the default game controller tool with their own.

I am extremely dubious of that. They give you their own tool but they cannot replace the one that's built into windows.

[randomTOTEN]

10 hours ago, Scott-S6 said:

I am extremely dubious of that.

I'd love for you to show any of us where we can find that, because it doesn't exist as far as we can tell.

[Scott-S6]

1 hour ago, randomTOTEN said:

I'd love for you to show any of us where we can find that, because it doesn't exist as far as we can tell.

This is built into windows and allows you to calibrate any USB device that shows as a game controller. You don't need anything proprietary to calibrate them.

Is there something unique about the TQS which prevents you from using this to calibrate it?

 

Edited November 4, 2023 by Scott-S6

[slughead]

Thrustmaster overrides the Windows facility with their own for the TPR and the Viper TQS. They didn't for the Warthog. When you clock properties for the Thrustmaster devices, the screenshots below show you what is provided.

My replacement arrives today!

 

nullnull

[slughead]

My replacement has arrived and works as it should out of the box.

[Scott-S6]

10 hours ago, slughead said:

Thrustmaster overrides the Windows facility with their own for the TPR and the Viper TQS. They didn't for the Warthog. When you clock properties for the Thrustmaster devices, the screenshots below show you what is provided.

My replacement arrives today!

 

nullnull

Interesting. That was extremely dumb of them then.

[slughead]

Just now, Scott-S6 said:

Interesting. That was extremely dumb of them then.

I expect it is self-calibrating.

[BlueSkies989]

I received my Viper Panel a few days ago and am struggling with setting it up.  DCS shows the panel being present, but no plug and play bindings are present in either the standard mode or the virtual key mode.  I contacted TM support and they say plug and play only works with DCS not DCS openbeta.  Any suggestions would be helpful.  I've started looking at TARGET, but I'd rather not have to do that setup if possible.  

[slughead]

5 minutes ago, BlueSkies989 said:

I received my Viper Panel a few days ago and am struggling with setting it up.  DCS shows the panel being present, but no plug and play bindings are present in either the standard mode or the virtual key mode.  I contacted TM support and they say plug and play only works with DCS not DCS openbeta.  Any suggestions would be helpful.  I've started looking at TARGET, but I'd rather not have to do that setup if possible.  

The latest DCS open beta was released (yesterday) with a profile for the Thrustmaster Viper TQS. Alternatively, when I first got mine, I just went to DCS options, controls, select HOTAS in the search drop-down box and then for each throttle hotas action, double click on the cell that aligns with the ViperTQS and the action, then press the button / move the switch to that setting and the mapping for that action should be created. Repeat for all buttons. Do the same for axis.

Make sure you save the config so you can reload it incase you need to reinstall / something goes wrong in the future.

[BlueSkies989]

51 minutes ago, slughead said:

The latest DCS open beta was released (yesterday) with a profile for the Thrustmaster Viper TQS. Alternatively, when I first got mine, I just went to DCS options, controls, select HOTAS in the search drop-down box and then for each throttle hotas action, double click on the cell that aligns with the ViperTQS and the action, then press the button / move the switch to that setting and the mapping for that action should be created. Repeat for all buttons. Do the same for axis.

Make sure you save the config so you can reload it incase you need to reinstall / something goes wrong in the future.

Thanks.  I find that in the Mods section.  I guess the reason it's not showing up for me is I just have the Viper Panel, not the whole Viper TQS.  It looks like there isn't a default setup for just the panel.  It also looks easier to just map the controls myself as you suggest rather than trying to modify their file.  

As a follow up question - what does the MODE (ILS/TCN TCN NAV ILS/NAV) rotary switch map to?  I can't find a similar switch on my F-16.

Edited November 17, 2023 by BlueSkies989

[Benco]

Hey !
Before starting a RMA or open a ticket,
try the procedure to recalibrate your Viper TQS here : 

 

Edited November 27, 2023 by Benco

[Underscore]

Question for people with the throttle

do you get a little movement in the friction block (silver block where the Allen key is used) when tightening it up and then moving the throttle. Took a vid of mine and wonder if something is a little loose inside?

[slughead]

3 hours ago, Underscore said:

Question for people with the throttle

do you get a little movement in the friction block (silver block where the Allen key is used) when tightening it up and then moving the throttle. Took a vid of mine and wonder if something is a little loose inside?

IMG_2524.mov

That's normal.

[Underscore]

2 hours ago, slughead said:

That's normal.

Thanks for confirming

[Ala12Rv-Tundra]

On 10/16/2023 at 8:04 PM, slughead said:

added some low friction tape

Please elaborate, I have a Cougar upgraded to USB as well. But despite having the friction knob all the way, I find it finicky.

[slughead]

10 minutes ago, Ala12Rv-Tundra said:

Please elaborate, I have a Cougar upgraded to USB as well. But despite having the friction knob all the way, I find it finicky.

Can you elaborate on finicky? Low friction tape…. Removes any tendency for the throttle to stick making minor movements precise. Combined with damping grease makes it sublime to use.

 

i have lots of the tape if you want some.

[Ala12Rv-Tundra]

5 minutes ago, slughead said:

Can you elaborate on finicky? Low friction tape…. Removes any tendency for the throttle to stick making minor movements precise. Combined with damping grease makes it sublime to use.

 

i have lots of the tape if you want some.

Some kind of teflon tape? I have one around.
Yes I greased the axis. By finicky I mean sometimes the throttle moves under its own weight. Like friction is way too low.

Another great thing would be knowing how you set up the axis withing DCS. User curve?

[slughead]

23 minutes ago, Ala12Rv-Tundra said:

Some kind of teflon tape? I have one around.
Yes I greased the axis. By finicky I mean sometimes the throttle moves under its own weight. Like friction is way too low.

Another great thing would be knowing how you set up the axis withing DCS. User curve?

Add another layer of tape. Plus some on the friction shoe.

 

No custom curve. Default settings worked ok for me.

[Nedum]

There is a way to calibrate the TQS without Software.

 

Calibration - Viper TQS Mission pack.pdf

 

The second step worked for me, with plugin the USB port and pressing the Center Hat of the communication button at the very same time.

 

Cheers

EDIT:  @Benco showed it already. I was too late.

Edited January 5, 2024 by Nedum

[Underscore]

On 1/4/2024 at 6:23 PM, slughead said:

That's normal.

I was still not happy with the movement giving a dead zone in the friction of about 2mm when changing direction.... so took the back plate off and there are 2 screws holding the metal friction block to a plastic (yuck) bracket.  Very difficult to get to but managed with a screwdriver head and pair of plyers and one was a tiny bit loose - its removed the 2mm of dead zone from the friction.... thought I would share 

Edited January 5, 2024 by Underscore

[WaffenCat]

 

[Wing]

On 1/5/2024 at 12:21 PM, Underscore said:

I was still not happy with the movement giving a dead zone in the friction of about 2mm when changing direction.... so took the back plate off and there are 2 screws holding the metal friction block to a plastic (yuck) bracket.  Very difficult to get to but managed with a screwdriver head and pair of plyers and one was a tiny bit loose - its removed the 2mm of dead zone from the friction.... thought I would share 

 

I had the same issue, and the screws would actually come loose after time, creating a loose dead zone again. The way I fixed this, was superglue the screw threads and then screw them back in. Been almost 6 months with lots of use and no issues.

[muehlema]

On 1/4/2024 at 3:38 PM, Underscore said:

Question for people with the throttle

do you get a little movement in the friction block (silver block where the Allen key is used) when tightening it up and then moving the throttle. Took a vid of mine and wonder if something is a little loose inside?

IMG_2524.mov

I got this movement too. I checked the screws and they are loose. One screw head was almost falling out. I found no way to tighten the screws while the stick is cockpit mounted. I wonder how to access those screws easily.

On 9/2/2024 at 4:43 AM, Wing said:

I had the same issue, and the screws would actually come loose after time, creating a loose dead zone again. The way I fixed this, was superglue the screw threads and then screw them back in. Been almost 6 months with lots of use and no issues.

Do you have to dismantle the complete unit or is there a trick?

Another thing that stinks, the little friction screw in no longer aber to be untighten as the allen key gets no hold  Quality control of TM sux

[Wing]

On 3/6/2025 at 7:16 AM, muehlema said:

I got this movement too. I checked the screws and they are loose. One screw head was almost falling out. I found no way to tighten the screws while the stick is cockpit mounted. I wonder how to access those screws easily.

Do you have to dismantle the complete unit or is there a trick?

Another thing that stinks, the little friction screw in no longer aber to be untighten as the allen key gets no hold  Quality control of TM sux

Just take the back black cover off, and you will have access. Mine is still feeling nice and firm now over 1+year of ownership. Just super glue the screws in for the friction adjuster as I explained in the post above. Should be all set after that