Are today's TM Cougars any good?

[Bruins]

I am aware of all the issues about the internal components of the Cougar but that was a while ago. I just bought a new Cougar and was wondering if Thrustmaster had resolved the issues surrounding the pots and gimbals with today's Cougars. My Cougar serial number is 36964 but I do not know if this is recent manufactured serial number or not. Also, my throttle makes mechanical clicking sounds at both ends of the spectrum. Is it supposed to make any clicking sounds? Other than the clicking sounds and the potential failures of internal components, this hotas is a beast. Really love it so far. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Deadman]

Yes the Cougar is still good as far as I know you may need to look in side and check that there is grease on the gimbals of the stick and on the throttle bar. Check cougar world for mod and information on the stick.http://cougar.flyfoxy.com/

The clicking noise is the detentes that tell you when you in idle and After burner positions

[Bruins]

Thanks for the info, Deadman.

[LawnDart]

My Cougar serial number is 36964 but I do not know if this is recent manufactured serial number or not.

 

The higher numbers are newer batches. I'm not sure what serial tops it out, but generally anything in the mid-to-high thirties is a later build. If I recall correctly, somewhere between the upper 20's and into the 30's there were some minor fixes made (alignment of switches, type of paint, type of screws holding the handle in place - allen vs. phillips head etc.). I'm not sure what, if anything, was done to the gimbals or pots though...

 

Also, my throttle makes mechanical clicking sounds at both ends of the spectrum. Is it supposed to make any clicking sounds?

 

Like Deadman already said, it's your throttle detents. You can open up your throttle and readjust the detents to where you want them. (I used to have mine set to 95%, with the 2nd "click" moving it into AB). The lower detent I just moved as far down as possible, so it would only have a single "click" for fuel cutoff (throttle off position).

[Bruins]

Thanks guys for the info.

 

I do have one problem setting up the radar cursor/enable stick located on the throttle. It is not recognized at all when I tried to calibrate it. One other funny thing is that the ant_elev knob is recognized by the DX_XROT_AXIS instead of DX_THROTTLE_AXIS, as per the manual. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

[Geskes]

My Cougar S/N is 28107.

 

I do not know if this is supposed to be an updated version but I have used it for about 1,5 years and it has some known cougar issues. (Spiking, throttle that doesnt remain in position, rotaries not showing stable readout when stationary.) It is still perfectly usable though.

 

Regarding your radar cursor microsticks, to make it recognized by windows you'll have to go into your cougar control panel and change the numbers of the axes. Put the microstick axes to axes 7 and 8 and you will be good. Windows only sees 8 axes so probably most convenient is to change the toe brakes to 9/10 since you'll not use these axes anyway on cougar unless you have rudders plugged in.

[JellybeanTiger]

Mine is a number 28,000 something.

 

I took the detents off and now can feel the rubbish pot that resides inside.

 

WORST ....HOTAS.....EVER.

 

Hate Cougars with a passion.

 

Need 1,200 Australian to fix and then you need the skill to do it and the tools which I don't.

If I fixed the gimbals and the throttle with hall sensors(lol,I'd stuff it up in no time being someone with depression and useless electronic skills)and labour would be another 500 if I gave it to someone then I'd be praying for the other switches to not fail like the nt elev which feels dodgy on my Cougar now.

 

 

If you are RICH,go for it.

 

If you are poor and saved all your life,took me a couple of years and then get it broken on arrival,STAY WELL BLOODY CLEAR.

 

THIS THING WILL DESTROY YOUR SOUL.

Sorry ,the most overhyped hotas EVER.

Mines sitting here on the desk looking at me and when I look back at it,all those cool looks it gives off don't mean a thing when it doesn't work.

Edited December 5, 2010 by JellybeanTiger

[Slammin]

"THIS THING WILL DESTROY YOUR SOUL."

 

Dammit, I spit coffee all over my keyboard!

 

Will you give it a rest!

[leafer]

Are they even in production anymore?

[Cali]

I think I would like mine if I could get it to install on windows 7, oh yea, this is the second one. The first one did the same thing, so I wonder....could I have gotten 2 that were bad from the start.

 

Jellybean Tiger, that post gave me a good laugh!

[Crasha]

Mines s/n 01756 and was bought seperate to the stick in those days. Been a great stick thats outseen many game pc's but finnally needed a U2nxt gimbal and Cubby hall sensor upgrade.

I suggest checking inside on a standard stick and throttle to make sure the pots are orientated true and straight to the axis theyre on and thier cleanliness like having no grease on them.

[JellybeanTiger]

Actually the pots on the stick are very good.

 

Mine are still solid.

 

They are digital pots where the throttle has a standard garden variety pot.

 

I think they used the digital pots for the much better resolution on the x and y axis.

 

The throttle pot is another story.

 

I'm just wondering if there is an aftermarket model I can get that would have more longeivity?

 

P.S. I won some elite pedals so I'm sticking with the Cougar.

 

Man,if I was gonna install a mod, the FSSB 2 mod would be the one for me because it doesn't seem that hard to install and it lasts for 100,000,000 cycles woah but the price,

 

Aye karrooombah.

[LawnDart]

The R1 has been just as good in my experience. In fact, I know just as many R2's that have failed as R1's... so, save your $$. My 2c...