Auto-Pilot turns itself off

[AirFool]

Pretty sure this is not a problem with my stick.  It's about a month-old ST290, I've re-calibrated in Windows and in the game, and the stick seems fine.  I'm able to fly fine.

This problem just started today and happens every time I use auto-pilot.

When I turn on auto-level or auto-climb it lasts a minute or so and then turns off.  Jiggling the stick slightly off center does not cause this to happen, but then it will happen with hands-off the stick.

[The Fugitive]

Open the stick mapping page in the game and watch the axis numbers for a few minutes. They should be pretty steady and not be jumping all over the place. If they are.....and they could be even on a brand new stick.... use the "dead band" slider for that axis and bump it up just a bit.

[AirFool]

They are jumping and they didn't used to be.  I noticed this when I was trying to figure this out.  I had zero deadband for a long time, but I have already bumped up a little when I noticed these numbers bouncing around. 

I might be misunderstanding how these things work, but when I jiggle the stick a little, it certainly bumps the number around a lot, but it still does not interfere with autopilot.  So, I'm confused as usual, but I will try a little more deadband.

[AirFool]

I have had the deadband and damping turned way down for weeks with no issues.  I just put them back to default and the auto-pilot still turns itself off.  Today consistently, never once in the past.

Can this be anything but the stick?  If it must be the stick and could not be anything else, I may return this thing.

[Blooz]

I suppose you could test it by unplugging the stick and use the mouse to take off then turn on the autopilot and let if fly for however long it takes to see a result. Just make sure you don't bump the mouse while it's in autopilot.

[Drano]

If your stick is sound and calibrated you shouldn't have issues like that. It usually takes a fair amount of input to break autopilot. A simple bump usually won't do it unless it's a really loose stick. It's odd that you're saying it stays on for a minute but then breaks. That would tend to tell me it's not a calibration issue but more of a signal from the sensors in the stick. Either a pot is going bad or something is up with the wiring. When you bring up the "map controllers" screen in AH the numbers for all the axii on your stick should ALL remain steady in the center of their ranges with no input from you. There should be absolutely NO jumping around with the numbers. If there is you can try to tune it out with deadband but even if you can--that in itself is indicating a problem.

Outside of AH try using some kind of testing program that will show what's going on in a graph. Here's a link to VKB's software page that has a good one.

 http://ftp.vkb-sim.pro/Programms/

Look on the list for joytester. Download and unzip it. Run the program. Select your stick and watch the graph for any silliness going on.

Another thing could be your USB port. Check that there are no energy savings enabled on it. Windows could be doing it to you but that tends to not be momentary when it does. And that wouldn't happen in like a minute either.


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[AirFool]

Thanks for the replies guys.  I can't explain it.  I did nothing, no reboot, no uplug of USB, the numbers used to be steady, then they were jumpy, even after a re-cal or 6, then suddenly, everything is fine again. Steady numbers, auto-pilot works fine. No problems.  Might be something weird with the stick.  No doubt electronics act weird sometimes.

Thanks again!

[Bizman]

It might be a poor solder joint. At times it sits where it's supposed to, after some major bump it's loose and may even cause a tiny electric arc - which in turn can somewhat melt the solder and "fix" the joint temporarily. Just guessing.

[AirFool]

If it happens again, I'll be sending this stick back! 

[Drano]

If it happens again, I'll be sending this stick back! 

Well near as I could tell in my search last night it's basically a $20 stick so in effect a semi - throwaway. So there's that! You said it was new. But is that new new? Or I just bought it from a guy on ebay new? Either way at that price you really can't expect much as far as quality or performance.

I used a CH stick and throttle that lasted me this side of forever! It still needed to be torn down and rebuilt now and then. I recently upgraded the stick to a VKB which is quite pricey but is 1000% better than the CH in every way possible. Still use the throttle. The CH stuff run about a hundred bucks or so a piece. I'd suggest a T.16000M stick. It's around 60 bucks but it's a decent stick with modern digital sensors.

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[FLS]

Thanks for the replies guys.  I can't explain it.  I did nothing, no reboot, no uplug of USB, the numbers used to be steady, then they were jumpy, even after a re-cal or 6, then suddenly, everything is fine again. Steady numbers, auto-pilot works fine. No problems.  Might be something weird with the stick.  No doubt electronics act weird sometimes.

Thanks again!

If it happens again a powered usb hub might help.

If it's a twisty stick keep enough deadband on the rudder axis to avoid inadvertent input.

[fuzeman]

I was going to mention the connection or possibly something chewed a cable or bent it real bad? This would work its way from nothing to bad but a wire inside maybe?
From pluto- a bent pin or something in the plug?

[Drano]

It could happen. Even with my multi million dollar VKB stick it seems a fairly common problem that causes similar jitteryness is with the connector to the circuit board. The wires are connected to the stick, the stick moves, stuff gets loose, connection gets whacky, circuit board sees that as a movement and sends that jittery mess to the PC. Solution is taking the base cover off and unplugging and plugging in the connector. This seems to only happen once so it's likely a factory thing. More extreme cases have involved a broken wire.

Still, troubleshooting it would require some testing as it could be any number of things causing it. You'd have to catch it in the act and that's where that testing program I linked would come in handy. That it's happening when you have hands off the stick--all by itself -- to me indicates something else. Could be something in the stick itself, could be something with the USB port. Try a different port or as FLS said, try a powered hub. Even better.

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[AirFool]

Drano, please tell me where you found a new Saitek ST290 pro for $20? 

[Drano]

Drano, please tell me where you found a new Saitek ST290 pro for $20? 

Ok some were as high as 50.

https://www.google.com/search?q=st290&oq=st290&aqs=chrome..69i57j35i39j69i61j69i60l2j0.6124j0j7&client=ms-android-verizon&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#scso=_VRWLW-D8N4fk_Abuw4qoDQ36:0

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