Time for new HOTAS

[Vekiq]

Hi All,

 

I currently own X52pro. If it worked fine i would not need to change.

I have to disable all functions on throttle apart from throttle itself, hat switch, E button and Fire D. If i have other knobs, slider and mouse function active as i move throttle all these function decide to come on an off and cause either mouse to move on its own, or bugger up my FOV, there's obviously something broken in there.

 

So my choices are Saitek X65

 

I had 2 saitek X52 sticks, first one broke after a week, replacement was unusable on arrival, not dead, but it was spiking horribly and behaved in completely unusable manner. X 52 pro i currently have worked ok for month or so and then above mentioned happened.

 

So really, in my eyes anything having Saitek badge is a no go form me. X65 costs you arm and a leg, it has sensing tech in it which i am not sure will work well with all sims i play IL2 for example, i don't see how will sensing tech be good for old planes, its really stick designed to be used with F16 that is true fly by wire plane. Being Saitek it is bound to fall apart after month or so. Easily discounted to get it as i will surely not spend huge amount of cash on something that will potentially be poorly built and have very limited use.

 

Logitech G940 is another option.

 

This stick has typical FF stick faults, but what you get for your money is inviting, i dont have pedals so whole package looks good, apart from known force fedback illness. Possible solution to that is not to use forces, but can spring be adjusted in such a way so movement of the stick is smooth, if that is the case it would work well for me.

 

I need new stick now, so who-knows-when-warthog stick is not really an option, i want to fly now, not in 6 months, year, two maybe.

 

any ideas?

 

Cheers

[*Rage*]

Im in a very similar position to you. Sold my old force modded cougar and pedals and now dont have anything to fly with!

 

id rather wait for the Warthog instead of the X65. Wondering if I should buy a cheapo stick in the meantime...

[Vekiq]

Its interesting how 2 big companies release new sticks and neither of them is actually 100% on target. Lets hope warthog guys have done their home work right.

[sobek]

Logitech G940 is another option.

 

This stick has typical FF stick faults, but what you get for your money is inviting, i dont have pedals so whole package looks good, apart from known force fedback illness. Possible solution to that is not to use forces, but can spring be adjusted in such a way so movement of the stick is smooth, if that is the case it would work well for me.

 

The G940 does not have any spring centering, it's all done by FFB motors.

[Vekiq]

The G940 does not have any spring centering, it's all done by FFB motors.

 

Cheers Sobek, then it is definitely no go.

[sobek]

Cheers Sobek, then it is definitely no go.

 

Well this is a cool feature actually, if it works correctly (like on the oooooold MSSFFB2), which in this case it clearly doesn't (yet?).

[Vekiq]

Well this is a cool feature actually, if it works correctly (like on the oooooold MSSFFB2), which in this case it clearly doesn't (yet?).

 

If it is software problem, then maybe they will fix it, as for hardware problem it could be years for that to happen

[Pilotasso]

Dont count on it. Logitech has demonstrated little to none interest in supporting this HOTAS and its customers.

[sobek]

If it is software problem, then maybe they will fix it, as for hardware problem it could be years for that to happen

 

I bought this HOTAS in december under exactly this hope, after one month the harware got faulty. Unless something big happens very soon, don't hold your breath for the g940.

 

Dont count on it. Logitech has demonstrated little to none interest in supporting this HOTAS and its customers.

 

If they really don't, there's going to be a hell of a backlash from a lot of pissed customers, i can't imagine they would want to risk that. On the other hand, there is no sensible explanation why support for their flagship HOTAS product would take half a year to produce some fixes. Maybe they overestimated game studio's willingness to implement a new FFB API especially for them, and nobody actually jumped the train. Who knows.

 

Sorry for derailing this thread, let's cease the logibashing and head back OT.

Edited March 28, 2010 by sobek

[Distiler]

My Saitek X45 lasted 8 years in very good shape. You might have had bad luck. In fact I bet the majority of sim playerbase use Saitek hotas.

[Pilotasso]

Lack of support is more than bad luck. :)

[sobek]

Lack of support is more than bad luck. :)

 

I wouldn't call bad decisionmaking bad luck. That was not what i wanted to insinuate. :)

[Svend_Dellepude]

I have the saitek cyborg, G940 and the Cougar with realsims r1 force mod.

The saitek.... well!? -who cares? the 940 was a bit of a disapointment but it works well for some sims but as it already has been mentioned the support is terrible. My Cougar i worship, the force sens just works and i can fly all sims with it. it has NO center play at all. the default potentiometers are not the best but with the force mod it's the best joystick i've ever had.

I will surely be buying the warthog when it comes out, for me it seems like the only new joy worth buying. :joystick:

[Vekiq]

My Saitek X45 lasted 8 years in very good shape. You might have had bad luck. In fact I bet the majority of sim playerbase use Saitek hotas.

 

Three faulty stick, i would call that more than a bad luck lol

[M31]

Hi, Just joined the forums today, am currently waiting patiently for my FC 2 to download.

 

I've been Flight Simming for over 20 years now and owned a lot of flight controllers, currently have a TM Cougar with hall sensor mod and old TM Rudder Pedals, Saitek X-52pro that is about 2 years old as well as their rudder pedals. The X-52 pro has never let me down and I really like it ... However I felt it was time for something new and bought a new Saitek X-65F Force Sensing HOTAS last week and absolutely love it. I was unsure how I'd like it, not having tried Force Sensing before, it did feel strange initially, but I adapted very very quickly. So far I've tried it in FSX Airliners, GA AC and Helicopters, the Helicopters are taking a little longer to get used to but I know its going to be fine. Black Shark feels brilliant and with the 600 + button presses available, its seems to be made for it, I love Rise of Flight too, and amazingly once you forget how inappropriate this type of controller is for a sim like that, it works amazingly well.

 

The X-65F is extremely high quality ... I own all Saitek's GA Flight stuff too, and the X-65F is the best quality item they have produced yet.

 

It does have Force Sensing Rudder Twist, but I've disabled that as I prefer traditional Rudders and use the Saitek ones with it.

 

Before ordering FC2 this morning I installed Lock On and again, this HOTAS just seems built for a sim like this ... I'm really looking fwd to FC2 now :)

 

Some pics.

 

 

 

[zakobi]

Hi, Just joined the forums today, am currently waiting patiently for my FC 2 to download.

 

I've been Flight Simming for over 20 years now and owned a lot of flight controllers, currently have a TM Cougar with hall sensor mod and old TM Rudder Pedals, Saitek X-52pro that is about 2 years old as well as their rudder pedals. The X-52 pro has never let me down and I really like it ... However I felt it was time for something new and bought a new Saitek X-65F Force Sensing HOTAS last week and absolutely love it. I was unsure how I'd like it, not having tried Force Sensing before, it did feel strange initially, but I adapted very very quickly. So far I've tried it in FSX Airliners, GA AC and Helicopters, the Helicopters are taking a little longer to get used to but I know its going to be fine. Black Shark feels brilliant and with the 600 + button presses available, its seems to be made for it, I love Rise of Flight too, and amazingly once you forget how inappropriate this type of controller is for a sim like that, it works amazingly well.

 

The X-65F is extremely high quality ... I own all Saitek's GA Flight stuff too, and the X-65F is the best quality item they have produced yet.

 

It does have Force Sensing Rudder Twist, but I've disabled that as I prefer traditional Rudders and use the Saitek ones with it.

 

Before ordering FC2 this morning I installed Lock On and again, this HOTAS just seems built for a sim like this ... I'm really looking fwd to FC2 now :)

 

Some pics.

 

 

 

 

Nice... how's it to use with the Su-25/-t

 

Seems they are mounted on the table, is it with those in the front of thew second picture?

[M31]

Nice... how's it to use with the Su-25/-t

 

Seems they are mounted on the table, is it with those in the front of thew second picture?

 

Hi, have only just installed FC2, had a quick test in the SU-27 and it feels fantastic with the X-65F, FC2 looks very impressive too :thumbup:

 

My Saitek X-65F is actually mounted on custom steel mount plates that I made years ago for HOTAS usage that bolt to steel mounts under my desk top, they can be un-bolted and I can change to a different HOTAS and plug in inside 5 minutes if I want ... you cant see them in that picture, I can post a pic later if you are interested.

 

The X-65 comes with one optional mounting plate they suggest you use with the stick, at the hardest force setting you really need something like that to keep it from lifting, they provide velcro ... they suggest you velcro the plate to your desk, then the stick bolts to the plate.

 

In my case I've got the plate and stick temporarily strapped and taped to my mounts. I've asked Saitek if I can purchase a second base plate (the provided one fits the stick and throttle) once I get one I'll have the plates bolted to my mounts and the HOTAS bolted to the plates, it will not move.

[Ramstein]

I wonder if the new Saitek stick is available in some store to test on display,, live with a flight sim.. to test before buying I remember Microsoft had the FFB sticks up and open for people to test before buying in some stores. This thread has me wanting ot try one..

:joystick:

[M31]

You're best chance would be at a flight sim show if they have any near you, or wait until a friend buys one and ask to test it.

 

I too was unsure and almost made my mind up this was not for me ... I toyed with the idea of the FS mod for my Cougar a while back but passed on it.

 

Last week I noticed the X-65F was out, did a google for some early user reviews, they all seemed positive, searched the UK stores for the best price and went for it ... I'm so glad I did, tried a few quick flights in FC2 this afternoon and it feels brilliant, so precise.

 

Forgot to mention ... I've tried it with Falcon 4 Allied Force and it works perfectly as you would expect ... the more you use it the more you forget the stick does not move and control becomes smoother and very intuitive.

 

Cheers.

[Vekiq]

You're best chance would be at a flight sim show if they have any near you, or wait until a friend buys one and ask to test it.

 

I too was unsure and almost made my mind up this was not for me ... I toyed with the idea of the FS mod for my Cougar a while back but passed on it.

 

Last week I noticed the X-65F was out, did a google for some early user reviews, they all seemed positive, searched the UK stores for the best price and went for it ... I'm so glad I did, tried a few quick flights in FC2 this afternoon and it feels brilliant, so precise.

 

Forgot to mention ... I've tried it with Falcon 4 Allied Force and it works perfectly as you would expect ... the more you use it the more you forget the stick does not move and control becomes smoother and very intuitive.

 

Cheers.

 

Thanks for this m8, but i do have question.

All of the knobs and slider on the throttle, and mini mouse stick on my x52 pro are spiking constantly and sometimes jump up and down as i move throttle which makes them completely unusable, one would use knobs for trimming for example, but if you do your plane judders all the time as they spike. They are also overly sensitive, so fine trimming is out of the question even if they did not spike. Can you check in control panel and see how they behave?

 

I hope i am not asking too much :)

 

Cheers

[M31]

Thanks for this m8, but i do have question.

All of the knobs and slider on the throttle, and mini mouse stick on my x52 pro are spiking constantly and sometimes jump up and down as i move throttle which makes them completely unusable, one would use knobs for trimming for example, but if you do your plane judders all the time as they spike. They are also overly sensitive, so fine trimming is out of the question even if they did not spike. Can you check in control panel and see how they behave?

 

I hope i am not asking too much :)

 

Cheers

 

No problems.

 

I already have, they are stable, also have an X-52 pro too that is two years old and no spiking on any buttons or pots on it either, maybe you got a bad one? Is it still in warranty? I'm not sure what to suggest? maybe try it in a powered USB hub plugged into a USB 2.0 port, that's what I do for all my flight sim controllers.

 

I will say that the X-65F seems a measure of quality above everything they have produced so far. I'm no Saitek fan boy and let them know on their support forums if somethings wrong with a Saitek purchase or needs changing as in the early switch panel software.

[Vekiq]

its kind of long story with my saitek sticks, check opening post of this thread i described issues there, hence reason me being so cautious about anything being saitek :)

 

I just don't have nerves any more to go through replacement process again, it took about 2 months to get all this resolved, but stick i have is still under warranty, but i am not hopeful that replacement will be any better knowing my luck and inconsistencies with saitek quality

 

EDIT just noticed i am in scotland too, Dundee

Edited March 31, 2010 by Vekiq
addition

[M31]

Sounds like you have been very unlucky with Saitek, but you are in a tiny minority ... can understand how you feel cautious though.

 

As well as the Cougar and X-52 pro I've got this Saitek gear too and it all works perfectly, as you can see I'm a bit of a Flight Sim controller nut and I'll likely get the TM Warthog too once it comes out ... I did try the Logitech G940 and never liked it.

 

I actually live in Elgin now, used to live in Aberdeen and Inverness, its been a long time since I've been down to Dundee, often go to the RAF Leuchars air show though.

 

Edited March 31, 2010 by M31

[Vekiq]

Nice setup m8, most space on my hard drive is occupied by FSX and add-ons for it, but my hardware is nowhere hear as impressive as yours lol.

 

I hear what you say, you are not the first one to say i was unlucky, but £ 300 is huge amount of cash for me at the moment and to risk it on a brand i burned my fingers on it is a bit of a dilemma.

 

Whats Cougar like? you would not be maybe selling any of your kit you are not using?

 

I work just next door to Dundee airport, sometimes i go and have an hour or two in their simulator.

Graphics are not so great, its all powered by win 2000, but its full cockpit there, its fantastic, http://www.taysideaviation.co.uk/

Edited March 31, 2010 by Vekiq

[M31]

 

Whats Cougar like? you would not be maybe selling any of your kit you are not using?

 

Sorry m8, I'm a bit of a collector of this stuff (still have my TM gameport F-22 pro HOTAS) and I also have a couple of high end PC's, the Cougar is permanently on the second rig and I'd like to hang on to my X-52pro ... I'm not entirely convinced about FSX helicopter usage with the X-65F yet (everything else is perfect) but for FSX Heli's I cant fault the X-52pro, its even better than the Cougar for this.

 

I work just next door to Dundee airport, sometimes i go and have an hour or two in their simulator.

Graphics are not so great, its all powered by win 2000, but its full cockpit there, its fantastic, http://www.taysideaviation.co.uk/

 

That sounds good, I'll have to try it next time I'm in the Dundee area.

 

Cheers.