CH Products not working properly

[Forker]

I got a call today from a technician from CH Products concerning the Fighter Stick that I sent back to them because I could not keep it calibrated. This was after I calibrated using CH software and calibrating in the game directly thereafter, as well as advanced settings and dampening and dead band adjustments. Well the tech went on to say that he had my stick “on the bench” at the moment and could find absolutely nothing wrong with it. Surprised, I went on to relay the problems that I had had and the first thing he asked me is “what game are you playing?” When I told him Aces High he said that, “their products have experienced compatibility problems with the (AH) game”.

I did a pretty exhaustive search on threads concerning CH Products and how they perform in this game and it seems that I have done every fix that I have read back to about 2002. If there are in fact issues with this game that is causing CH Products to not to perform properly I wish they would be addressed. The amount of money that I and others spent on these items (stick, throttle, & pedals) I hope were not in vain.

Regards,

Forker

[lengro]

See this thread:

http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,243744.0.html

[SPKmes]

This may be  a stupid question, but when you calibrated did you do all axis available to your products. I had an issue, thought it was my stick so calibrate cool all good, die, take off issues back, calibrate............. I wasn't calibrating my pedals or throttle at the same time. After sorting this, all was, has,and is fine. ( learn't about my stick that day, stripped it before I initiated the KISS method........Keep It Simple Stupid).

[Skuzzy]

There are no compatibility issues with CH Products and Aces High II.

Are you losing calibration in Windows, or the game?  If so, are you running any security programs on the computer?  They are a more likely candidate for the problems you describe.  These include anti-spyware, anti-virus, and/or general Internet security programs.

If you are using the CH Control Manager software, try using the stick without that software.

Is the computer running Vista? Or Windows XP?

[Getback]

Also that little trim adjustments to the right of the stick aren't. Make sure it is centered.

[The Fugitive]

I have been using CH products for years in Aces High and have had no trouble at all.  Are you using a powered USB hub for your CH products? Some computers will sacrifice power to the USB ports for other things. My stick, throttle, and pedals are all plugged into a "Belkin" powered hub, then that is plugged into one USB port. Also make sure your USB ports are not set on any kind of energy saving settings. They could be set to go into stand-by to save power when "inactive".

[Skuzzy]

That is the other thing.  We always use externally powered hubs for CH Products stuff.  I think it is a prerequsite to keep i working reliably.  Just be careful and get a decent powered hub.  Belkin makes some decent ones.

[ImADot]

We always use externally powered hubs for CH Products stuff.  I think it is a prerequsite to keep i working reliably.

A couple of months ago, I dove in and bought the full CH fighterstick/throttle/pedal combo.  The stick and throttle are rock-solid.  The pedals kept drifting and forcing me to push full right/left to "re-center" the rudder - as if the pots were dirty or something.  I then added a powered USB hub after reading the boards.  It helped a little, but not enough.

The pedals were only a couple of weeks old, so I sent them back to CH for repairs (after trading emails with tech support).  I was astonished to be told by their tech support that they do not recommend using a powered external USB hub and won't guarantee their product's reliability with them.  They returned my pedals after supposedly replacing the pots.  The pedals works perfectly for about a week, but sometimes "drift" again.

According the the status screen for the USB hub, it is providing the correct power for the CH stuff.  I'm guessing it's my computer...I'm planning to build a new one eventually.

[doc1kelley]

I got a call today from a technician from CH Products concerning the Fighter Stick that I sent back to them because I could not keep it calibrated. This was after I calibrated using CH software and calibrating in the game directly thereafter, as well as advanced settings and dampening and dead band adjustments. Well the tech went on to say that he had my stick “on the bench” at the moment and could find absolutely nothing wrong with it. Surprised, I went on to relay the problems that I had had and the first thing he asked me is “what game are you playing?” When I told him Aces High he said that, “their products have experienced compatibility problems with the (AH) game”.

I did a pretty exhaustive search on threads concerning CH Products and how they perform in this game and it seems that I have done every fix that I have read back to about 2002. If there are in fact issues with this game that is causing CH Products to not to perform properly I wish they would be addressed. The amount of money that I and others spent on these items (stick, throttle, & pedals) I hope were not in vain.

Regards,

Forker

Obviously you got one of them best buy type techs giving you that BS!  Ask AKAK, he used to be a CH Techie and can attest that what you were told about compatibility is pure BS!  I've run CH gear since 1997 after trying lots of others and found that for the last 11 years, CH gear is the most robust and reliable set for AirWarrior through AHII.  I do recommend the powered hub and I calibrate everytime after entering an AH arena because my pedals are old analog pedals that I bought in late 1996 and use a gameport->USB adapter and they don't hold calibration well.  The Fighterstick USB and Pro Throttle USB could go for ages without calibration in AH.  I do NOT use the control manager software because I'm just too lazy to re-map everything to it.  I just mapped all my buttons and whistles using AHII stick mapping.

All the Best...
    Jay
  awDoc1

[Ack-Ack]

Yeah, you got yourself a gem of a tech.  There is absolutely no compatibility issues with any CH gear and Aces High II, in fact they use the game as one of their main selling points for the product. 

As other people have pointed out, make sure that you can calibrate your controllers in Windows.   Run the Windows Game Controllers applet and calibrate your controllers in there.  Make sure that you press a button on your joystick to advance to the next calibration stage (Do not click on 'Next') and make sure you click on 'Apply' afterwards.

If you're using a powered USB device, make sure that it is outputting sufficient voltage to power your devices (should output 5 volts), otherwise your CH gear will not work properly if the powered USB hub isn't putting out sufficient voltage.

In AH, the section that allows you to assign axis to your joystick, make sure that you calibrate the axis (there should be a button you can click on to allow this).  After you've done that, go back to the Preferences section and calibrate your controllers (it will ask you to move all of your controllers to their extent).

Play the game and see if it works.  Hope this helps some.


ack-ack

[Auger]

I think people tend to forget that there are 2 sets of calibration you have to perform when playing Aces High.  There is the calibration in Windows, which has all the pretty pictures and the wizard (at least for CH gear).  Then there is the AH calibration, which is pretty much just a box that tells you to move everything around and press OK.  You have to move all axes through their full range of motion if you want things to work properly.  If you just move the joystick or the pedals everything else will be completely hosed.  Don't forget to move the throttle wheel on the joystick if you have it mapped to RPM.

Of course you also have to make sure you map the axes properly in AH too.

[Ack-Ack]

I think people tend to forget that there are 2 sets of calibration you have to perform when playing Aces High.  There is the calibration in Windows, which has all the pretty pictures and the wizard (at least for CH gear). 

You only need to calibrate in Windows, there is no need to use the CH Control Manager calibration applet as it's the same as the Windows' Game Controller applet just with a different GUI/skin.  Using the CH Control Manager calibration applet is just more convenient.


ack-ack

[Forker]

I did everything that has been suggested and no had no better performance. My specific problem was the “x” and “Y” axis on the fighter stick. My x axis to the right was oversensitive and my y axis back was oversensitive. I would move them ¼ of the way in either of the directions and “bam” they were fully engaged.  This made for breaking a few A-20 wings off. After wasting my time jumping through endless hoops I stumbled across the simple solution. It seems as though either I or my wife moved the trim thumb wheels on the stick (the ones located on the right and rear sides of the joystick). After re-centering these wheels and recalibrating, everything is working fine.

Thanks for everyone’s time,

Forker (bonehead…he he)

[ink]

 

[HomeBoy]

...
It seems as though either I or my wife moved the trim thumb wheels on the stick (the ones located on the right and rear sides of the joystick). After re-centering these wheels and recalibrating, everything is working fine.

Thanks for everyone’s time,

Forker (bonehead…he he)

This needs to be stickied and set in 48 pt bold flashing text!
The other sticky should be the need to calibrate BOTH in Windows and in AH!