Joystick and hotas suggestions

[Phantom77]

Hi Everyone ! I looking to replace my Saitek X-52 POS that died a couple of hours ago. Just getting tired of having to redo the solders on the boards, repairing wires who breaks or get cut by the metal tube etc.. Right now I'm looking for the Logitech G940 who looks great and not too costly here in Canada ( 379 $ Can ). I Already own 2 saitek throttle quadrant who works great , and saitek rudder predals no problems yet. Any suggestion are welcome but The Warthog and the x65 cos the price is too much for my taste.

Phantom AKA SYN_HArfang

[robtek]

I, for my part, can tell you: take the g940.
It works great for me.
There is just one little flaw: i have now my fourth g940, because of a faulty connection (broken cable) in throttle unit logitech had to replace the first three.
Now the warranty has ended but the fourth is still working.
Btw, the second one i didn't had to return, i repaired it myself and it is sitting as a spare in the attic. :-D
Cheers

[Timberwolf]

Hey there I been playing sims for 6 - 7 years now i owned a few joysticks .. Last one was a Logitech 3D pro It lasted 2 years before the connectors wore out and buttons failed for around $50 new i bought the Hotas x Thrustmaster with throttle 12 buttons + hat The base can be taken apart to have one side stick one side throttle or screwed back together Even comes with the allen key that snaps back in the base afterwards And yes theres twist rudder control and joystick resistance + - At the base of the stick underside

Have no problems with windows 7 / cliffs of dover using it and the great thing is you can get them in canada online

[pupo162]

well... i have to tell you 6940 is nto much of a deal.

Never used the rudder. Too small and too unprecise.

The throlte works great the first 2 months.... then it starts to malfunction preatty rapid. im on my second throtle now, ands this one is starting ti get spikes on axes again.

The stick is good i think. good features, and the FFB works nicely. the only problem is, i havnet tried a single game who was an interesting, well implemented FFB, so i mostly use vibration only.

My sugestion is, if you are looking for stick only, go for a CH stick. the g940 stick is good, but not worth 379 dolars.

[Phantom77]

Well ! I'll surely get myself a KG13 from Tarmac and modify the X-52 joystick base to mount it. The basic engineering of the base is good but the overall quality of the assembly is poor. The gauge of the wires is too small and the spring is too weak. The other option is to build a new base while still using some of the joystick components while using a stainless steel bearing mounted assembly.

[speculum jockey]

Any suggestion are welcome but The Warthog and the x65 cos the price is too much for my taste. Phantom AKA SYN_HArfang

Ok, you don't want to spend too much, but you also said. . .

Well ! I'll surely get myself a KG13 from Tarmac and modify the X-52 joystick base to mount it.

So you're going to spend $400 Canadian on a KG13 to mount it on a joystick base you describe as, "The basic engineering of the base is good but the overall quality of the assembly is poor. The gauge of the wires is too small and the spring is too weak.".

Spend the extra $80-100 and get a Warthog which is super precise, comes with a sweet throttle, and more buttons than you will know what to do with.

http://www.shopbot.ca/pp-thrustmaster-hotas-warthog-thrustmaster-price-286554.html

[Phantom77]

Yeah ! The KG13 from tarmac ,the price in canadian dollars is around 300 $. Well They open the overtime at my job and since I get the double rate around ( 60 $ an hour ) for 12 hours shifts the money has become suddenly available. I'm schedule to have 4 shifts at overtime so do the math. The price that I have seen for the warthog was around 600 to 700 $ The x-52 base well I can upgrade it with better components or keep the hall sensors and magnet and do myself a new base. I have some machining skills since I work as a millwright and do some machining myself. I like the idea of making some of my hardware.

[senseispcc]

I, for my part, can tell you: take the g940.
It works great for me.
There is just one little flaw: i have now my fourth g940, because of a faulty connection (broken cable) in throttle unit logitech had to replace the first three.
Now the warranty has ended but the fourth is still working.
Btw, the second one i didn't had to return, i repaired it myself and it is sitting as a spare in the attic. :-D
Cheers

I am of the same opinion! I have it since a month and only positive about it. The Logitech G940 is easy to use and to set up.

[FS~Phat]

Hi Everyone ! I looking to replace my Saitek X-52 POS that died a couple of hours ago. Just getting tired of having to redo the solders on the boards, repairing wires who breaks or get cut by the metal tube etc.. Right now I'm looking for the Logitech G940 who looks great and not too costly here in Canada ( 379 $ Can ). I Already own 2 saitek throttle quadrant who works great , and saitek rudder predals no problems yet. Any suggestion are welcome but The Warthog and the x65 cos the price is too much for my taste.

Phantom AKA SYN_HArfang

Thats a bummer!
I have an X52 pro too and have had it since they came out 5 years ago with no wire problem you mention, and ive logged 1000's of hours on it too.
With the magnet mod i did a couple years ago I find it really accurate. It maybe worth fixing again as I tried an X65 and Warthog and didnt like the feel of either of them!

Are the wires too tight or something, it sounds really strange to have that problem? I'll take a pic of mine so you can see the wire path in case its something to do with how your assembling it.

https://blufiles.storage.live.com/y1pV09xPEW9wWs0IDuTooZDrXawWXYEyfklcTYZfkXKBUN669p tlsFjdfGkAwA5J_6e4fAIDrL8oOvUuHob7fgM8g/IMG_2157.JPG

And heres the hall sensor magnet mod. Removed the magnet carrier and put them both together on a piece of stiff wire and then used a gasket silicon to hold them in place while i calibrated for centres.
The silicon is now firm and wont let them move but I can still adjust centering by moving the stiff wire gently left or right. This mod makes the joystick able to do smooth concentric circles instead of elipses so its more accurate and also seems more responsive.

https://blufiles.storage.live.com/y1pgqn_t0dblrkhimtfhgJMILiFImYnxDFMPzeIaCQ4jkIhmVV IbIUvOYTkHiRHmjnEGsJHTp8Dl43miuvjnBzvTw/IMG_2160.JPG

[Skoshi Tiger]

The Warthog and the x65 cos the price is too much for my taste.

Phantom AKA SYN_HArfang

I love my warthog but for IL2/COD I'm only using the Joystick, My Saitek pro throttle quadrant seams more natual for a WW2 sim!


Cheers!

[albx]

Thats a bummer!
I have an X52 pro too and have had it since they came out 5 years ago with no wire problem you mention, and ive logged 1000's of hours on it too.
With the magnet mod i did a couple years ago I find it really accurate. It maybe worth fixing again as I tried an X65 and Warthog and didnt like the feel of either of them!

Are the wires too tight or something, it sounds really strange to have that problem? I'll take a pic of mine so you can see the wire path in case its something to do with how your assembling it.

my wires also cut after a couple of months, had to fix it by myself because saitek service do not exist in italy... :evil:

[Strike]

Got the g940. Shortly after 3 of my friends tried it they bought one each. Everyone has a perfectly working stick and we're all enjoying/recommending it to more people :)

[Phantom77]

Thats a bummer!
I have an X52 pro too and have had it since they came out 5 years ago with no wire problem you mention, and ive logged 1000's of hours on it too.
With the magnet mod i did a couple years ago I find it really accurate. It maybe worth fixing again as I tried an X65 and Warthog and didnt like the feel of either of them!

Are the wires too tight or something, it sounds really strange to have that problem? I'll take a pic of mine so you can see the wire path in case its something to do with how your assembling it.

https://blufiles.storage.live.com/y1pV09xPEW9wWs0IDuTooZDrXawWXYEyfklcTYZfkXKBUN669p tlsFjdfGkAwA5J_6e4fAIDrL8oOvUuHob7fgM8g/IMG_2157.JPG

And heres the hall sensor magnet mod. Removed the magnet carrier and put them both together on a piece of stiff wire and then used a gasket silicon to hold them in place while i calibrated for centres.
The silicon is now firm and wont let them move but I can still adjust centering by moving the stiff wire gently left or right. This mod makes the joystick able to do smooth concentric circles instead of elipses so its more accurate and also seems more responsive.

https://blufiles.storage.live.com/y1pgqn_t0dblrkhimtfhgJMILiFImYnxDFMPzeIaCQ4jkIhmVV IbIUvOYTkHiRHmjnEGsJHTp8Dl43miuvjnBzvTw/IMG_2160.JPG

As I reported I have the X-52 not the pro version. From what I see from your pics the wires seems to have enough play mine's were too tight rubbing againt the metal tubing. Also one of the base switches has quit too. I have redone some of the solders on the main board. If you do not have any problems with your stick great for you ! Mine was not very reliable. When the stick was working it was great but I have about 90 hours to 100 hours on it. Just getting tired of tearing it apart for replacing broke wires.

[Phantom77]

Thanks to you all ! I'll consider every options before making a choice.

[Viper2000]

I've got a Cougar with the FSSB R2 mod (http://www.realsimulator.com/html/fssb.html), a hall sensor in the throttle, and Simped F-16 pedals.

This is an expensive solution.

However, it has been completely reliable for about 6 years and perhaps 2000 hours or more, whilst offering performance far superior to anything else I've encountered. This is all the more impressive given that it's travelled a lot between home and various university accommodation blocks/shared houses during that time, as I completed my undergraduate degree and moved on to the PhD which I'm now about to finish.

I'm going to have to repaint it at some point; I've flown it for so long that the paint has completely worn away from some areas...

When I got it, I was running XP; now I'm typing this on Win764, so I can vouch for its ability to operate in the 64 bit world.

I expect to get at least another decade out of this control system, though the force transducer in the stick is actually so robust that it will probably outlast me; the limiting factor will probably be the eventual demise of USB or something along those lines.

Over that sort of time period, it's a very cheap solution (especially per flying hour); before I went down the modded cougar path I used to get through a set of X-45 pots every 6 months or so (say 300 flying hours if I'm being very generous), and that gets expensive fast, especially if you charge for the playtime lost whilst you're waiting to replace/repair the dead stick.

[speculum jockey]

Does anyone know if they have changed the components of the G940 to fix some of the issues like the overheting and the throttle/rudder axis spiking? I assumed they would do a second production run and address those issues, but have not heard anyone who's gotten one recently mention different parts.

[zoopyzook]

I have got the X65F, I'm still not convinced that force-sensing is the best solution for WWII sims as I seem to struggle with small movements while aiming.

Perhaps I just need more practice or to have a better idea of how to adjust the curves/deadzones

[Phantom77]

Well guess that I found myself a temporarily solution. I was pissed off being unable to play the game so I went to Future shop / Best buy store. Got 3 choice. A 30 $ Logitech Attack 3 , A 60$ Saitek aviator or 150$ Saitek x-52. WIth the x-52 being ruled out , I came home with aviator cos I didn't like the Attack 3 too much. Tried a couple mission with the aviator and I must admit that I'm in shock ! It outperform the x-52 joystick by far ! Like night and day. So I guess that my x-52 joystick was defective since I bought it. I'll recommended it for people with really tight budget. Still can't believe it !