Hardware Controllers: Joysticks/Yokes | Throttle Quads | Rudder Pedals | Drivers etc

I just wanted to express thanks to Tom Gromko (TOM767), Ken Weir (MrKen), Rob Whitehead (OzWhitey), and Paul Deemer for the breadcrumbs of knowledge they've sprinkled throught these forums in overcoming the imprecision and excessive force required to control the Saitek Pro Yoke with any degree of precision - an obnoxious nuisance for crosswind landings and flying the sophisticated heavies (when you can, at best, only fly with one hand on the yoke) . Earlier this year, I abandoned my flight stick in favor of the Yoke/Throttle/Pedal setup from Saitek. I was really excited by this move, but as I tried to adapt to the new "feel", I found myself mowing the grass more often tha…

Well guys -- I've had a custom built throttle by Ricardo at fsthrottles.com Its coming by nicely -- only the decals to add, and then it should be in the mail shortly.

This might be a funny thing to ask, but on the serious side: what are you guys using as a chair for your simming setup?Right now, I never used pedals or a yoke.Now, with this hardware incoming, I can hardly keep my office chair for a normal use of flight simulator. It has wheels and it easily moves around, so not an idea thing for rudder pedals.The best thing would be if I could fixate it just for simming, but that isn't possible.I would like to know what are you using? Note that it's only an interesting thing if you are using the whole setup, otherwise any office chair is just as good.

Hi Guys, just wondering if anyone can help me out. Im setting up my own Simulator and want to run some Avionics Software, (aerosoft australia or prosim737) but having the same issue on both softwares. Everything works except for the HDG SEL button when i engade this and turn the knob nothing happens, but when i select the HDG SEL button in the VC by mouse or CTRL+H (HOTKEY) the knob works, how can i fix this that i can yous the MCP PRO to change Heading?? its so strange but when I Youtube clips theres works One other thing i might add too is i know this works because i have flown the PMDG NGX and the Go FLight MCP PRO works 100% so i know its not the Hardw…

Folks, Short of spending upwards of 1K on a yoke and rudder setup from say PFC, what is the next best alternative? It looks like it's either CH or Saitek, and then within Saitek the options are either the Cessna model or the other. Any suggestions on which to purchase? Is there another vendor out there other than Saitek or CH I should consider? I will be primarily using it with the PMDG 737NGX. Thanks in advance!

Hi all, I posted here a few months ago about programming my Sidewinder but with no direct response to my question. I have the Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback 2, which is the best joystick I ever had. Now that I'm running Windows 7 64 bit on my new computer, it won't install the original drivers. Windows 7 will install generic drivers when the USB is plugged in but these do not allow me to program my Sidewinder. I've been very very angry with Microsoft and they have really gone to the dogs. They don't even design Sidewinders anymore, as I know of. It would have been no trouble for Microsoft to release a patch so that we can use our Sidewinders in Windows 7. Every plac…

Hi! I recently got the fmc v3 from open cockpits working and im really happy with it, however... it is causing my FPS to drop rather noticably... from like 25 to 15 (in average). And when i look in the task manager the sioc application is using about 25 % of my cpu... (AMD phenom X6 (6 core) running at approx 3.3 ghz) I have a rather good nvidia geforce Gfx card (not sure of the model now though) but im pretty sure that it isnt the extended desktop thingy that makes my fps dissapear since i am able to use double monitors otherwise as well... Is there anyway to lower the fps usage? Like having the sioc application running on another machine or something? …

I've been using a CH Flight Sim Yoke and CH pedals for many, many years now and I've been very happy with them both but lately and especially after the arrival of the PMDG NGX and taking my simming to more realistic levels than I ever did before with help from great products such as FS2Crew Voice Edition, lots of great sceneries from Aerosoft and their AES I've been thinking of maybe invest some money in a new yoke and new pedals and my goal would then be to come as close as possible to what the controls in the real 737NG feels like. Some years ago I was fortunate enough to get to try a full motion 737NG sim at SAS Flight Academy and as I can recall the main difference wa…

http://linuxgamingnews.org/2012/08/02/oculus-rift-step-into-the-game/ 3D glasses are already impressive but this is gonna be huge.

. I'm headset is plugged in but Win7 tells me they are unplugged.... they still functioning properly, (both recording & playback are on speakers & Mic) but it's weird. Any idea ????? Cheers Yair

After three great years using the Saitek yoke, I got to thinking that if there was one significant hardware upgrade I could make, what should it be... I've been looking at the Elite yoke for a while, and although it is at least three times more expensive that the Saitek offering - because they don't cater for the gaming market - it seem like a good next (durable) investment -particularly when using high end offerings like PMDG, Qualitywings and the like. Does anyone have any experience with it, and does it truly offer extra bang for the extra bucks ? Eric

I just bought a CH yoke and Saitek combat rudder pedals. They are awesome and really add a whole new experience to FSX! Anyway, I had a couple of questions. -Will FSX remember individual controller settings (for buttons, axes, etc) if I switch them out later? For example I have a joystick that I'll still use for aircraft that use sticks in real life e.g. the P-51 etc. So if I plug in my joystick and start FSX now, will it remember the way I had it configured or does it require reconfiguring every time? -Is there a way to save all controls settings so that with a reinstall of FSX it could be quickly imported back in? -This question would be more for the ha…

Hi i want to map the TOGA switch in the PMDG 747-400 for fs9 on my Thrustmaster T.Flight Hotas X joystick. i'm not too sure how to do this as the manual is not very helpful. Steve

I hope this is the place. I have switches on my Saitek TPM, throttle quadant and yoke/stick for pretty much most things. I have a number pad which takes care of all the GPS functions and switches for various lights, avinics and magnetos on/off. What really bugs me is having to turn on the GPS via a mouse click. Is there a way of achieving this. I've got a switch that's crying out for the job!

Hi everyone, I'm looking to finally take the plunge on buying a yoke for use in FSX. I don't have a ton of money to spend so I definitely won't be buying PFC, VRInsight, etc. I have ruled out the Saitek based on user comments (mainly the pitch detent sounds really, really annoying) so that leaves the CH Flight Sim yoke (their cheaper one) or the CH Eclipse yoke. My main question is, besides the extra switches and the goofy rudder paddles on the Eclipse, are there any other differences? i.e. is the mechanism the same between the two? Certain stores like PCaviator.com mention the smooth/detent-free movement on both product pages but I'd like to be certain before bu…

Ok, so I got a Saitek Pro Yoke, which immediately started aggrivating me by means of poor roll response; it would register a turn to the right almost immediately, but a turn to the left would need 10 degrees or so of travel before registering. Saitek (Mad Catz) took it back and "fixed" it, which only lasted about a day. Unfortunately, I can no longer seem to be able to contact them... Anyway, can FSUIPC help with anything like this? I am also assuming it's a hardware issue but I'm not sure. thanks, Andrew

Hi All, Even when running the Saitek radio panel with SPAD, which is infinitely superior to the poor Saitek drivers, the indents of the frequency dials (mainly the outer dial) drives me nuts. Does anyone know if there is a way to improve or remove the indents? Thanks D.

Being that now my simulator is in my living room and the better half was always complaining everytime I left the yoke, pedals and throttle quadrant hooked up to the table, I decided to come up with a table which would allow me to quickly set it up, install my hardware and once done, take it apart and storing it in the closet. I did some research on the Internet and found a very similar table mainly used for driving wheels, so I took that idea and came up with this table shown below in the pics. The table does not have variable heights but the yoke ends up at being 33" off the ground, which is exactly how the real B737-800NG's yoke is. I might be wrong but I don't that…

Hello, Is there any way to restart or reboot certain drivers without actually rebooting windows. For example, let's say FS9 is running and there's a windows crash, but FS9 still continues to function, can I reset that particular driver by going into command prompt somehow. I'm having this problem with my PL 2303 USB to serial adaptor drivers, and it seems to me that if I can force a reboot of the driver without having to reboot windows, it's something I can live with until I can see my way clear to getting some new PFC controls. Thanks for any help. J.C.

So my Saitek Yoke/Pedals arrived yesterday and all I can say is WOW! Why did I wait so long! After figuring out FSUIPC, I got everything set up for the PMDG NGX. Question I have is, when flying some aircraft (for example it happens on the default 172), the ailerons are full left or right and the trim wheel is constantly rotating down. If I then try the Default Mooney, everything is fine! This odd behaviour has happened with the 172, DC3 and a few others. I have disabled the FSX control support and setup the basic controls as global settings within FSUIPC. Any help would be appreciated!

My Saitek pro flight was working fine when a storm hit and the power went out. My computer is all on a surge protector. The rudder pedals show a green light but I have no light or response with the yoke. Has anyone had a problem like this before?

I think my eight year old Force Feedback 2 has finally died... well sort of. For the last 6 months I have had to angle the USB cable coming out of the base just so for it to remain recognized. I took it apart to see if I could easily replace the USB cable, but the internal connector is weird and now since I forget what exactly it is, I can't explain it well. Anyway, I've searched around for a new force feedback stick but can't find any besides the FFB2. Is there anything new that compares to FFB2? If not, I'll have to look into replacing the USB cable.

Just setup my new Saitek yoke and throttle today, but the throttle is behaving very strange... Basically it's like the middle Rx throttle is controlling both the Rx and Ry axis in the software, and the right Ry throttle does not do anything in the software. I have made a quick video so you can see what I mean: https://picasaweb.google.com/mrcarl79/SaitekTest#5771245632188936434 Seem's a bit strange, should I be taking this back??

I'm finally getting back into flight sims after about six years away. Sadly, I don't quite have the massive selection of input devices most around here have, and as such am limited to a single joystick. After some creative rebinding of the keys, I think I've managed to get things working out, however, I do have a few issues - namely the rudder and throttle settings. I currently have a Logitech Attack 3 joystick, which only has an X and Y axis for the stick, plus a throttle lever at the base. My main issue is that the rudder when I press the keys on my joystick (#4 and #5 keys respectively at the top of the stick for left and right respectively), it's as if I am …

I've taken a few weeks break from FSX due to a new job and a finicky Saitek Pro Flight Yoke. I have finally got around to disassembling the yoke and I'm about to clean the potentiometers on all axis. Anyone have some input regarding the title product? I'm not so worried I'll ruin the pots as much as I'm curious if this product will get the job done. Since these pots aren't open like the ones on the Pro Flight Quadrant, I can't use my trusty cotton swab and isopropyl alcohol. The idea is to spray the canned cleaner using the attached straw into the pots' opening while, in theory, moving the pots' axis in full range. Any ideas?