Depede Posted June 8, 2005 Posted June 8, 2005 I just took the plunge and bought the HOTAS Cougar over the net last night. And after skimming the insanely extensive information on Frugals Cougar site, I almost regretted the buy. The impression is, that the Cougar need to be hardware modified, before it is of any use. Is that really so? :confused: Can the LockOn community help me so I can be prepared to avoid mistakes in the setup process when the Cougar arrives in a week or so? Questions What hardware issues needs to be adressed at once? How can i setup the controls best for 1.1, so I don't need the keyboard too much? Can I make setups for diffent planes? (I am currently tumbling in the 'T', and still enjoying the '29S', though I am spending more and more hours in the 27.) Is there any hidden secrets about the Cougar that will make me the über-pilot on HL? Thanx in advance to you all :)
LawnDart Posted June 8, 2005 Posted June 8, 2005 The stock Cougar is definitely good enough to beat any other joystick hands down! The one thing that will go bad (either soon, very soon or if you're lucky, not so soon) are the pots. As soon as you have the stick, register at Thrustmaster and regardless whether your pots work or not order spare ones!!! It will take TM an eternity to send them to you, so by the time you get them you might already need them. If you later on decide to spend yet another fortune on modding the stick, you won't be disappointed. I've put in half a computer (in amount of $$) into my Cougar and it's the best experience flying with it! Almost beats my real job of flying... Only secret to becoming an uber-pilot = lots and lots of practice! Ask any of the Virtual Thunderbirds and we can all say, that it didn't happen over night... There are several good setup files at Cougar World if you don't want to program the Cougar yourself, but use someone else's profile. Although, I think it's worth it in the end to do it yourself and have a custom made, tailored HOTAS that suits you're style the way you want it! Best piece of advice for programming (aside from learning Foxy of course), is don't think in terms of that the button has to represent the real counterpart. You'd short yourself a tremendous amount of programmability if only using each button for its real life usage, but also keep in mind the sims limitations and be sure to map many "view changing keys", "zoom" and things like "padlock" along with all the other stuff. Then it's just matter of finding the buttons to use for what depending on how easy it is to reach and how intuitive it seems as you're in the regime of flight where you need to use a certain button. Welcome to the Cougar Club! You won't regret it, even if you keep the stock gimbals (just be sure to "pre-order" spare parts), but if you choose to spend more this stick has potential like no other stick, trust me! LawnDart [sigpic]http://www.virtualthunderbirds.com/Signatures/sig_LD.jpg[/sigpic] Virtual Thunderbirds, LLC | Sponsored by Thrustmaster Corsair 750D Case | Corsair RM850i PSU | ASUS ROG MAXIMUS X CODE | 32GB Corsair DDR4 3200 | Intel i7-8086K | Corsair Hydro H100i v2 Cooler | EVGA GTX 1080 Ti FTW | Oculus Rift | X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty | Samsung SSD 970 EVO 1TB NVMe | Samsung SSD 850 EVO 1TB | WD Caviar Black 2 x 1TB | TM HOTAS Warthog | TM Pendular Rudder | TM MFD Cougar Pack | 40" LG 1080p LED | Win10 |
cueceleches Posted June 8, 2005 Posted June 8, 2005 I´ve had my Cougar since it came out (3 years already?) and still have no problems at all, not even with the pots. It´s the best buy I´ve ever had, so you won´t regret.
BBQ Posted June 8, 2005 Posted June 8, 2005 I've had mine since it came out as well--and have had to clean the pots once--no other problems.
Andrew_McP Posted June 8, 2005 Posted June 8, 2005 after skimming the insanely extensive information on Frugals Cougar site, I almost regretted the buy. You will either love it or hate it. There are many people in both camps. I certainly hate mine, the default gimbal design is *awful* and I just can't fly accurately with it. Looks very pretty on the shelf though :-) Good luck with yours. While you wait I suggest lots of one-armed press-ups to strengthen your right arm ;-) Andrew McP
VMFA-Blaze Posted June 8, 2005 Posted June 8, 2005 I love mine, but the springs are really very strong ...... I'm going to mod mine sooner or later but honestly you really don't have to.... From reading IJ's thread in Cougar world for last 2 years, I've come to beleive that his mod is really the way to go...... Expensive yes but well worth the money..... ~S~ Blaze intel Cor i7-6700K ASUS ROG MAX VIII Extreme G.Skill TridentZ Series 32 GB Samsung 850 Pro 1TB SATA II ASUS GTX 1080/DIRECTX 12 Windows 10 PRO Thrustmaster Warthog Oculus Rift VR
Kevlon Posted June 8, 2005 Posted June 8, 2005 I love mine, had it for 2 years now. And the only problem i had with it was that the first copy i got. the ANT nobs dodnt work. So i sendt it back and got a new one in return. This one i have had for 2 years now. And not a problem with it yet. I dont have any mods installed on it, dont have the money for it yet.. :p maybe later. Im sure you will be very happy with it. [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]
h.kan Posted June 8, 2005 Posted June 8, 2005 What hardware issues needs to be adressed at once? Can I make setups for diffent planes? (I am currently tumbling in the 'T', and still enjoying the '29S', though I am spending more and more hours in the 27.) Is there any hidden secrets about the Cougar that will make me the über-pilot on HL? Hej Depede! Suggest u do the speedbrake fix, just in case. Not so hard. I use Roto "savs" file and it is the same commands for all the plane, Easy to remember that way.
Kula66 Posted June 8, 2005 Posted June 8, 2005 I've had mine since it came out ... and had to fit a new pot and glue a switch that cracked (Dogfight) Also, my speed break switch is too stiff ... but it has such a quality feel to it ... I wouldn't swap mine for anything! I use the dogfight switch to change config for different aircraft ... U = Su-25, M = 15, D = A-10 ...
BuzzU Posted June 8, 2005 Posted June 8, 2005 I'm not sure what you paid, but here was a pretty good deal, and it has some of the mods already done to it. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5204749069&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&rd=1 Buzz
Guest ruggbutt Posted June 8, 2005 Posted June 8, 2005 I didn't like mine. Switches broke, pots got dirty and quit working and the gimbal suxors. It hit the trash can at 100mph.
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