"Budget-Solutions" for HOTAS Joystick?

[SDD64]

Hi everyone,

 

I am going to join the squadron ;) It is my first serious simulation since a long time and I dont own any equipment anymore.

 

My plan is to try out this kind of game again. Since I dont want to risk too much money, I would like to know if the "T.Flight Hotas Stick X" is good enough for a start. If I am getting in, I would later get a "Thrustmaster Warthog" of course.

 

Plan B would be to directly buy a "Saitek X52 Pro" and stick with it, but I heard it is very faulty. Is that true?

 

 

Thank you.

[shagrat]

Welcome SDD64,

 

if you go for a Saitek X52(pro) it would do fine. Friend of mine is using my old X-52 (nonPro without additional rudder pedals) and is enjoying DCS A-10C with it.

If you go for a TM HOTAS Warthog later anyway, it is some 150 bucks you better invest into rudder pedals, though! The Warthog has none, so you need them.

The T.Flight HOTAS X may be a cheap alternative, but you quickly miss the multitude of Coolie-Hats. Even the X52 has only a total of 3! Whereas the Warthog has 6 plus "Slew-Stick", so you end up with a lot of doubling here.:joystick:

 

The X52 is a good choice if you take a while until buying the Warthog and if you have somebody who may use it for good later, why not.

 

From cost perspective a "cheap" stick to try and quickly investing in the TM Warthog and rudders is more appealing, in my point of view. :D

[BIGNEWY]

I picked up my saitek x45 from ebay for £40 good value if you ask me :)

[kylania]

Save and just get the Warthog first. You'll never have to worry about mapping buttons or combos or profiles or what is mapped to what or any of the torture most people deal with playing DCS, you'll just fly and attack targets the way you're supposed to. :)

[leafer]

u will have to remap buttons when dcs fighter is installed. :)

[Jona33]

Hi everyone,

 

I am going to join the squadron ;) It is my first serious simulation since a long time and I dont own any equipment anymore.

 

My plan is to try out this kind of game again. Since I dont want to risk too much money, I would like to know if the "T.Flight Hotas Stick X" is good enough for a start. If I am getting in, I would later get a "Thrustmaster Warthog" of course.

 

Plan B would be to directly buy a "Saitek X52 Pro" and stick with it, but I heard it is very faulty. Is that true?

 

 

Thank you.

 

If you want a T flight it works well for me. BS2 and A-10C.

[SDD64]

Thanks you your answers, and thanks to the mods for moving the topic ;)

 

Right now, I am a little bit puzzled about the X52: the regular version should be grey-black with blue lights and the pro version should be all black with green lights, wich makes it much more appealing to me. Or am I wrong here? amazon.de just shows the same picture for both...

[agrasyuk]

that is correct. same molds are used, the pro version is indeed black+green. pro also adds more functional MFD on the throttle (the non pro is pretty much just a stopwatch) which IMHO is really minor item. IMHO get pre-owned non-pro (ebay?) and save up for the TM

[SDD64]

Hey Guys,

I should have listened to you ;-)

 

I bought a X52 Pro because I thought it would be a good solution between price and freatures.

 

Yesterday, I tried it out with my new A10c. The stick showed some major annoyances that I could not stand:

- I had two randomly jumpy axis that caused false input

- the MFD is useless and gives buggy output

- the most usefull profiles required Track IR

- all the bright lights are rather silly

- the MFD screen flickered

- this game aint easy, you know ;) switching between three modi and a shift key doesnt help either

 

My luck that I bought it from an amazon market place trader. At least I can return it.

[Username455]

well, perhaps the x52 isnt the best stick around, but it definitely does everything and more for this sim. regarding your issues:

 

Which axis are acting weird? if its the slider/rotary, then yes those do have some involuntary input but can be fixed with by adding deadzone within DCS if you even have them mapped for anything.

 

the MFD is useless, but why do you need it? its not a screen only text.. just ignore it

 

I think any stick/profile combination is better with TrackIR :) you can always change a hat to perform as a POV. Otherwise I say stick with your profile, use your numpad keys, and save for TrackIR. Or, like I did, use facetracknoir for free until someone buys you trackIR as a gift :)

 

you can easily turn off all the lights if you desire. On the stick, below the MFD, the roll wheel on the right lowers the MFD brightness. click the wheel, now roll it, and the stick lights will dim. You can have them completely off, or just dimmed as I do.

 

Turning off the MFD will stop it from flickering

 

I use the SFJackbauer profile, which makes no use of the mode switches. Just using the stick, and the pinky shift button give me more than enough buttons to completely control the warthog.

 

So, dont give up! The x52, while no TM warthog, is a great stick. Its accurate enough to perform all the tricky maneuvers in this sim, and has enough buttons to be efficient on the battlefield. Happy flying! and Merry Christmas!

[cichlidfan]

Agreed, I used an X-52 for quite a while before getting the Warthog.

 

The above post covers it but I would also remind you of a couple things as well.

 

1. Almost any profile, for any stick, you get around here is going to be based on TIR, most people have it.

 

2. The next steps up from the X-52 are considerably more expensive and "Budget Solutions" is what you were after. Some will not have twist, Warthog for example, so you will need another rudder control option.

 

3. Except for the Warthog you are going to have to use modifiers or modes for pretty much anythnig else you get. So you might as well get used to it.

[SDD64]

Hey Guys.

 

I know I had to take some trade offs. Of course I tried to adjust the deadzones, but they only cover the center and one slider jumped around on almost every position.

And why spend money on something fancy you have to disable?

 

For 150 Bucks (I am no pro-simmer, that ´s quite some cash in my eyes), I hoped to get something more satisfying.

 

If I had taken the T.Flight instead, I could still say "well, its cheap at last".

[Username455]

what are you trying to use the slider for? look up user curves.. you can make 3-5 distinct levels of input each with their own deadzone. So if you use it for zoom for example, you would have the default, then a medium zoom, and a maximum zoom. Its not a smooth zoom but it works.

 

I do not use the user curves but I have seen a post on these forums about it. I have zoom mapped to a rotary and while it does shake sometimes, it is definitely usable.

 

Also, in the saitek control panel you can set additional dead zones. What are you trying to use the slider for exactly?