HOTAS Cougar w/Evenstrain+HS+HS1 Throttle mod

[GregP]

I recently bought a HOTAS Warthog after 10 years of faithful service from my Cougar. I'm going to miss it (I had almost begun to think in Foxy code after all that time) but I finally decided the Warthog was worth the investment since DCS is my primary flight sim these days.

 

So now it's time to sell my Cougar. I pre-ordered it from Amazon way back in 2000 or 2001, whenever it came out, I can't quite remember. Over that time I've put well over $800 worth of mods into it, including:

 

- IJ's original Uber Cougar 'center play removal' mod

- Evenstrain's original gimbals + Hall Sensor mod

- CubPilot's HS1 throttle mod (just last summer, when I noticed some spiking in my throttle's response)

 

I have never tried a Cougar with any of the newer mods, so I can't really comment on how they compare. What I can say is my Cougar has a completely equal resistance in all directions, with no center or side 'notches' perceptible whatsoever (a HUGE change from the default retail version). To be honest, I actually even like the feel of it slightly more than that of the Warthog.

 

I've taken very good care of my Cougar over the years, always keeping it protected by Cougar Covers when not in use. Also, for a few years I didn't put much time into flight sims, so it was rarely used during that time. None of the lettering is faded or scratched, and there are no scratches anywhere on the entire HOTAS. I never encountered the broken speedbrake switch problem that people seemed to have early on, and all the buttons and axes work just fine. And the remaining pots (ANT, RNG, microstick?) seem to be doing fine, not showing any spiking that I can detect.

 

So, given the total of over $1100 that I've put into this HOTAS, and the great condition it's in, I think asking $275 shipped within the lower 48 is reasonable, especially given the likely costly expense I'll incur shipping this beast. HOWEVER, if you live in the DC/MD/VA area and want to just come pick it up, I'd be happy to do say, $240. While I am of course looking to offset the cost of the Warthog by selling my Cougar, I'm also motivated to see it end up in the hands of someone who will really use it, as it's got plenty of years of use left in it.

 

[Bolt-1]

What a shame it is for me to see this for sale at a time I haven't got the available funds.:cry: Hopefully I can sell a few things in a short time. Who knows. I may just be posting again in a few days if no one hops on this to quick.

Considering the mods done to it and the condition it looks to be in and the care you've taken to it. The price you're asking is to good to pass up.

I'm sure who ever picks this up from you will for sure put it to good use. And enjoy it for many years to come.

[Cali]

This does look good, but i have had bad luck with Cougars, tried 3 different ones last year and couldn't get them to work with Windows 7. Had a unmodded one 5 years ago and was going to mod it, but didn't have the money and sold it. It was too hard to play with an unmodded Cougar for me. Would love to buy this one since I have the money, just scared it won't work. Also, I don't have a XP computer anymore, that's how the guy I sold my cougar to fixed it. It looks great by the way, I'll think about it.

[GregP]

I should note that I've had it running under Windows 7 64-bit Professional for more than a year now with no problems; the worst that ever happens is it loses the calibration, or can't find the firmware, and I have to re-flash it. But AFAIK, that's a general Cougar problem and not specific to Win7.

[uzipaz]

Check your PM please....

[xWARGOx]

Very very interested. My only concern obviously like cali is the whole windows 7 situation.

[Deadman]

Cali has bitched about the cougar from day one ya love or ya hate them I happen to not have any problem wile i was flying with mine. You can not beat his price or the pristine appearance of his unit.

[PoleCat]

Very very interested. My only concern obviously like cali is the whole windows 7 situation.

 

Having previously set up, installed and used three separate Cougars on three separate Win7 boxes multiple times I think I can safely say Cali is the exception to the rule on this. He obviously just couldn't get it to work even though so many others including myself have done dozens of installs on multiple machines and never had a problem. I am quite sure I could have helped him get it installed with out too much trouble.

I would not hesitate on the basis of some nonexistent incompatibility between the Cougar and Windows 7. It works fine.

Out

[159th_Viper]

Aye - takes a minute or two for a successful Cougar Win7 install. No issues at all.

[Cali]

Cali has bitched about the cougar from day one ya love or ya hate them I happen to not have any problem wile i was flying with mine. You can not beat his price or the pristine appearance of his unit.

 

 

I have only complained about the ones that I have had that didn't work. I have had a bunch of people try to help me out and they didn't work. I took it over to a friends house also. Tried to install them on XP, Vista and Windows 7 and nothing worked for me. So, if i bitched about them, that is why, do I need to link the threads in here?

 

PM sent

[PoleCat]

I have only complained about the ones that I have had that didn't work. I have had a bunch of people try to help me out and they didn't work. I took it over to a friends house also. Tried to install them on XP, Vista and Windows 7 and nothing worked for me. So, if i bitched about them, that is why, do I need to link the threads in here?

 

PM sent

 

I don't think so and even if you were to link to the threads it doesn't change the fact that the Cougar is perfectly compatible with Windows 7.

Your inability to get it working is pretty much your own. In fact I would bet dollars to donuts it was not the Cougar or the TM software that was the problem at all. More likely you either had a system level problem you were not aware of or you and your friends were not installing correctly. Because plain and simple....it works just fine.:joystick:

 

Out

[Cali]

I don't think so and even if you were to link to the threads it doesn't change the fact that the Cougar is perfectly compatible with Windows 7.

Your inability to get it working is pretty much your own. In fact I would bet dollars to donuts it was not the Cougar or the TM software that was the problem at all. More likely you either had a system level problem you were not aware of or you and your friends were not installing correctly. Because plain and simple....it works just fine.:joystick:

 

Out

 

You have no idea what I did or did not do. I followed people's advice from this forum, SimHQ and another forum...plus even e-mailed TM. I took it to a friends house that is very computer literate. He has wrote many reviews on a buch of different products to include CH and the Warthog. So, before you open your mouth and say things like that....maybe you should of read my thread. But, once again I tried it on XP, Vista and Windows 7, my friend did the same thing on 2 of his computers.

 

I know your a die hard TM/Cougar/Warthog fan, that's fine. I'm not, I like whatever works for me. And yes, flying a unmodded Cougar sucks......for me, I didn't like it one bit. Maybe it's fine for you or some other person you know that flies one unmodded....good for you and them. As for the way I fly, it doesn't cut it. I fly combat, not sight seeing.

[Deadman]

Good god no we have all heard your Thoughts on the cougar enough times.:doh:

 

 

I have only complained about the ones that I have had that didn't work. I have had a bunch of people try to help me out and they didn't work. I took it over to a friends house also. Tried to install them on XP, Vista and Windows 7 and nothing worked for me. So, if i bitched about them, that is why, do I need to link the threads in here?

 

PM sent

[Cali]

Good god no we have all heard your Thoughts on the cougar enough times.:doh:

 

How many times do we have to here your stuff about A-10 pits in the Home cockpit sections? All your nice responses to people? Leave it alone, I said I was sorry, I didn't hear you on vent.

 

I like Cougars and wish that the ones I had worked for me.

[PoleCat]

You have no idea what I did or did not do. I followed people's advice from this forum, SimHQ and another forum...plus even e-mailed TM. I took it to a friends house that is very computer literate. He has wrote many reviews on a buch of different products to include CH and the Warthog. So, before you open your mouth and say things like that....maybe you should of read my thread. But, once again I tried it on XP, Vista and Windows 7, my friend did the same thing on 2 of his computers.

 

I know your a die hard TM/Cougar/Warthog fan, that's fine. I'm not, I like whatever works for me. And yes, flying a unmodded Cougar sucks......for me, I didn't like it one bit. Maybe it's fine for you or some other person you know that flies one unmodded....good for you and them. As for the way I fly, it doesn't cut it. I fly combat, not sight seeing.

 

Yes so just trash the Cougar and the people who like them as you always seem to do. That is your point right? Listen man, anyone can grab a CH and claim all the same BS you are just to make it look bad. You are a CH user right? So is your reviewer friend, who also shares your low opinion of the Cougar right? I am sure he would know how to work with a Cougar and give it an honest effort before trashing it as well right? Food for thought. And I say again the people you had helping you didn't know what they were doing and that is obvious or you would have had a working HOTAS Cougar like just about everyone else that owns and uses them.

 

I only post to make sure no one else is misinformed by your always having and making trouble where no one else is and does. I know I know, you are just trying to help.

 

You obviously dislike the Cougar so much that I should think you would have recused yourself from rendering opinion after opinon about it (all bad) as often as you possibly can always under the guise of helping. Particularly since you must know by now that you are the exception and not the rule. It is just too obvious to any one that has read your posts on the Cougar. Maybe you just have too much time on your hands.

 

Out

Edited October 15, 2011 by PoleCat

[Deadman]

Unable to stay focused on the discussion at hand and bringing up old arguments is a bit immature Cali i have only stated my opinion on your constant negative commits about the cougar.Feel free to Private message me as i did you about any problems. If you have a problem with any of my comments in the home cockpit section please feel free to commit in private as i did with you about a previous disagreement. I did not contact you on vent because i felt i had stated my point in private to you and there was nothing else to say. If you cannot let go of the past it is your problem not mine.

 

How many times do we have to here your stuff about A-10 pits in the Home cockpit sections? All your nice responses to people? Leave it alone, I said I was sorry, I didn't hear you on vent.

 

I like Cougars and wish that the ones I had worked for me.

Edited October 15, 2011 by Deadman
spelling

[Manawar]

Very very interested. My only concern obviously like cali is the whole windows 7 situation.

 

NO issues at all!!! I've had a cougar since XP and now I'm running windows 7 64bit. If you grab one I can help you set it up. There are a number of people in the community that use them. I run everything thing Eagle Dynamics as you know and I love it. It's the real deal. All metal no plastic! and the Foxy software is highly programmable. :pilotfly:

[Cali]

Yes so just trash the Cougar and the people who like them as you always seem to do. That is your point right? Listen man, anyone can grab a CH and claim all the same BS you are just to make it look bad. You are a CH user right? So is your reviewer friend, who also shares your low opinion of the Cougar right? I am sure he would know how to work with a Cougar and give it an honest effort before trashing it as well right? Food for thought. And I say again the people you had helping you didn't know what they were doing and that is obvious or you would have had a working HOTAS Cougar like just about everyone else that owns and uses them.

 

I only post to make sure no one else is misinformed by your always having and making trouble where no one else is and does. I know I know, you are just trying to help.

 

You obviously dislike the Cougar so much that I should think you would have recused yourself from rendering opinion after opinon about it (all bad) as often as you possibly can always under the guise of helping. Particularly since you must know by now that you are the exception and not the rule. It is just too obvious to any one that has read your posts on the Cougar. Maybe you just have too much time on your hands.

 

Out

 

This is were you are mistaken and have no idea what you are talking about. I have ALWAYS liked the Cougar and always wanted one. I have had 4 of them and only one worked for me. However, it was unmodded and the way I fly isn't conductive to how an unmodded Cougar is for me. The other ones, I have have no idea why, but wouldn't work with my computer. My friend was a CH user, he is now a Warthog user. He isn't bias towards CH, he isn't bias towards TM or any other HOTAS maker/ATI/nVidia. He calls it how he sees it and he has had a Cougar also. You have to admit that Cougar have had some major issues over the years and if not then you are bias. I have no problem with them (Cougars). Oh yea, I also had Kuky help me and he has had a Cougar for a long time. Like I said before Pole, you have NO IDEA what you are talking about with me and trying to get the Cougars I had working on my computer. For you to say some of the stuff you said makes you clueless.

 

It's not my fault that CH works out of the box for most people. I have always told people to search on what they are going to buy or join a squad. That way they can see for themselves how things are. And for the "always making trouble" you can keep that to yourself. I have helped a lot of people in the process. I plan on buying this one if the other guy doesn't, so what now PC?

 

Out

 

Unable to stay focused on the discussion at hand and bringing up old arguments is a bit immature Cali i have only stated my opinion on your constant negative commits about the cougar.Feel free to Private message me as i did you about any problems. If you have a problem with any of my comments in the home cockpit section please feel free to commit in private as i did with you about a previous disagreement. I did not contact you on vent because i felt i had stated my point in private to you and there was nothing else to say. If you cannot let go of the past it is your problem not mine.

 

I let it go a long time ago, actually I never thought about it until you pm'ed me. Water under the bridge for me, pm sent :D

Edited October 16, 2011 by Cali

[PoleCat]

This is were you are mistaken and have no idea what you are talking about. I have ALWAYS liked the Cougar and always wanted one. I have had 4 of them and only one worked for me. However, it was unmodded and the way I fly isn't conductive to how an unmodded Cougar is for me. The other ones, I have have no idea why, but wouldn't work with my computer. My friend was a CH user, he is now a Warthog user. He isn't bias towards CH, he isn't bias towards TM or any other HOTAS maker/ATI/nVidia. He calls it how he sees it and he has had a Cougar also. You have to admit that Cougar have had some major issues over the years and if not then you are bias. I have no problem with them (Cougars). Oh yea, I also had Kuky help me and he has had a Cougar for a long time. Like I said before Pole, you have NO IDEA what you are talking about with me and trying to get the Cougars I had working on my computer. For you to say some of the stuff you said makes you clueless.

 

It's not my fault that CH works out of the box for most people. I have always told people to search on what they are going to buy or join a squad. That way they can see for themselves how things are. And for the "always making trouble" you can keep that to yourself. I have helped a lot of people in the process. I plan on buying this one if the other guy doesn't, so what now PC?

 

Out

 

 

 

The Cougar also works out of the box for just about everyone but you. And as far as it goes, it is quite clear that you are the one who has no idea what you are talking about. Four different Cougars and you and your friends couldn't get three of them going and you say I am the one who is clueless? I have NEVER failed to get one working satisfactorily under any OS and on all manner of hardware and I have set up many more over the years than you and your friends have combined. I also don't care how many people you proclaim to have helped while in the process of "making trouble". I would hardly call that an accomplishment worth mentioning. Maybe you can go "help" CH users for a while and leave the Cougar help to those that know a lot more about them then you do.

 

Yes yes. I know Cali. You have only the best of intentions. :megalol:

 

If you want to continue this discussion you will be doing it alone or with someone else. This is the place for people to post what they have for sale. I think it has gone far enough off topic so I will leave it there.

 

Have a nice day.

 

Out

Edited October 16, 2011 by PoleCat

[GGTharos]

The cougar worked out of the box for me. It wasn't perfect, but it did the job fairly well - better than the Saitek fare I had been using at the time.

 

And the Warthog just absolutely rocks.

[Deadman]

LOL your Wacked

 

This is were you are mistaken and have no idea what you are talking about. I have ALWAYS liked the Cougar and always wanted one. I have had 4 of them and only one worked for me. However, it was unmodded and the way I fly isn't conductive to how an unmodded Cougar is for me. The other ones, I have have no idea why, but wouldn't work with my computer. My friend was a CH user, he is now a Warthog user. He isn't bias towards CH, he isn't bias towards TM or any other HOTAS maker/ATI/nVidia. He calls it how he sees it and he has had a Cougar also. You have to admit that Cougar have had some major issues over the years and if not then you are bias. I have no problem with them (Cougars). Oh yea, I also had Kuky help me and he has had a Cougar for a long time. Like I said before Pole, you have NO IDEA what you are talking about with me and trying to get the Cougars I had working on my computer. For you to say some of the stuff you said makes you clueless.

 

It's not my fault that CH works out of the box for most people. I have always told people to search on what they are going to buy or join a squad. That way they can see for themselves how things are. And for the "always making trouble" you can keep that to yourself. I have helped a lot of people in the process. I plan on buying this one if the other guy doesn't, so what now PC?

 

Out

 

 

 

I let it go a long time ago, actually I never thought about it until you pm'ed me. Water under the bridge for me, pm sent :D

[GregP]

Update: the Cougar's been sold. Sorry to everybody else who was interested.

[Cali]

The Cougar also works out of the box for just about everyone but you. And as far as it goes, it is quite clear that you are the one who has no idea what you are talking about. Four different Cougars and you and your friends couldn't get three of them going and you say I am the one who is clueless? I have NEVER failed to get one working satisfactorily under any OS and on all manner of hardware and I have set up many more over the years than you and your friends have combined. I also don't care how many people you proclaim to have helped while in the process of "making trouble". I would hardly call that an accomplishment worth mentioning. Maybe you can go "help" CH users for a while and leave the Cougar help to those that know a lot more about them then you do.

 

Yes yes. I know Cali. You have only the best of intentions. :megalol:

 

If you want to continue this discussion you will be doing it alone or with someone else. This is the place for people to post what they have for sale. I think it has gone far enough off topic so I will leave it there.

 

Have a nice day.

 

Out

 

Check your pm, your post makes me laugh

 

Out

 

LOL your Wacked

 

I'm done talking in here to you, pm me if you have anything else to say I thought we were clear on that.

 

Have a wonderful day guys, I'm glad I'm protecting your freedom.

 

 

 

@ GregP, glad you sold it.

Edited October 16, 2011 by Cali

[MTFDarkEagle]

Now now play nice guys. Stop the insulting. It's a disgrace for this forum!

[Cali]

No insulting from me here.