Aces High Bulletin Board
Help and Support Forums => Help and Training => Topic started by: Ecliptik on May 15, 2005, 01:41:34 PM
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The buttons on my trusty old Sidewinder Precision 2 are finally failing, and at last I'm looking to move up a few rungs to a proper HOTAS setup. I'd also like to give pedals a shot because precision rudder control with a twisty-stick has been frustratingly difficult.
Of the three brand choices - CH, Saitek and Thrustmaster, I've decided on CH. I've heard only positive things about them, I like their reputation for long-lasting products, and the stick should fit me pretty well as I have fairly big hands with long fingers. I also won't mind the light stick resistance because it's what I'm used to.
$450 US for the whole kit is pretty steep though. I think it's possible to get a new set for closer to 300. Any recommendations on where to look? Ebay ? Other online stores?
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Provantage normaly has the cheapest CH gear of the more reputable sites. But make sure you check at Bizrate before purchasing at any site.
http://www.bizrate.com/merchant/guide.html
They let customers rate the sites they buy from any if you stick with sites with lots of comments and high ratings you should be good.
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I just finished going through the same problem that you went through. I used the same stick you did for god knows how long.
To make a long story short I went and got the whole CH set up from newegg.com.
Their prices are good and they ship FAST.
I wish I could get use to pedals as fast as they shipped but its nice to learn something new and fly like a newb.
BIG change going from twisty stick.
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ch at provantage...
http://www.provantage.com/buy-110CHPU-ch-shopping.htm
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I took the plunge and bought from Provantage. They seemed to have the best prices. Better than Newegg even, but they don't ship to Canada and so weren't an option for me. All the Canadian online stores had pretty terrible prices. Basically the CH MSRP in Canadian dollars. It was worth it to pay the extra shipping from the US.
Morph: Yeah, I know I'm going to have to re-learn how to fly with the pedals, but I'm up for the challenge, it's something new.
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Dunno, my CH fighterstick lasted for 1 week.
So its not THAT flawless. X axis deadzone was huge, and X axis just started spiking in a week. Maybe i am that unlucky.
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I think you are I have always had a couple of them. For me they last about 1 1/2 years with absolutely no trouble.. Then I have to send it in from refurb. I fly with the other when one goes into the shop.
CH used to be good about reburb's. Now you need to make sure you get a qoute before you send it in. I've seen $70 dollar quotes and you can almost buy a new stick for that price. You can generally replace pots without sending the stick in for repairs but I'd think twice about replacing the Hat. You need a fine soldiering gun and a magnifying glass to get the job done. The good news is the hat normally last for years. I used to have all TM gear and my hat lasted, on average, 3 months. Back then TM would send you free replacement parts and even pay for shipping. Because of this they had a huge following. I think they got bought out around 7-10 years ago and under new ownwership came out with a HOTAS setup that cost around $380. They pushed the hard pull as being part of the immersion factor. All it had was around an 18 pound pull. Most people fixed that in a hurry but ended up spending more to get it the way they wanted. The days of free replacement parts are long gone. IMHO, for the money CH is 100% better. You buy the gear, you plug it in, you fly. No problems.
The real question for a lot of people is. Can I find a stick that does what the CH stuff does at a cheaper price? Yes, you can if you settle for twisty stick rudders and a few less buttons. And for a lot less money. So much less that you could probably buy and throw away 10 sticks for the cost of the CH setup. I quess that raises the question....If I plan to fly for the next 10 years and I go the cheap route I save alot now and still get a good stick or spend all the money knowing Im gonna have to spend more for a refurb on it from time to time. And, if I go cheap now I spend little for a stick and have an opportunity to get maybe some bigger, better stick that hasn't even been built yet but might be available in a another year or 2. Or, this is a passing fancy and I have no idea if I'm gonna even want to be flying sims in a year. If that's the case don't waste $300 on a CH setup unless you don't mind tossing yer money in for fun.
Let your budget be your guide. By the same token, if you can afford to play golf once a week at the normal $40 a round. Then don't play for 3 weeks and go get yerself a CH Fighterstick :).
I personally have been using the CH F16 Fighterstick and Pro Throttle for around 7-8 years now. My rudders are 13 year old TM's that I replace the pots and springs every year or so. Prior to that I used only TM products. IMHO, they blew it when the prices went outa sight for the same basic product then didn't support it anymore.
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Ren
The Damned
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My guide is the price efficiency. I'd bought Cougar 4 month before I bought CH fighterstick (when i first started playing AH). I had a choice either to buy a $450 mod for Cougar(it had the pot problems and dead zone problems too) that would make it uber ( but I had to install it by myself hence no warranty whatsoever) or to buy a CH fighterstick. So Ch blew my expectations. I had better bought that damn Cougar mod.
Luckily I can spend a cpl of hundred bucks a month just for the fun. But in general its all the same, they all just suck the money out of us.
LOl CH fighterstick wont even allow me to take off. So its either a roulette or the black jack.
Maybe back then 7 years ago they had a good quality control, but definately not now.
PS. Its all about my fun. So far no fun with either TM Cougar or CH.
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If you are having problems with your CH stick get with me and lets fix it. I've never heard of a stick, CH or otherwise that wont let you take off.
Ren
ren1795@yahoo.com
ren@hitechcreations.com
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Ren, I gave CH the last chance. I ordered a 2nd CH fighterstick. If its bad, ill post on every board I can find that CH is no better that TM (goumlott, whatever the name is).
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Sounds like bad luck Despair, you're the only person I've ever heard of having these problems. I hope I don't have any, but I'm not very worried. I've heard of people getting their sticks refurbished after long periods of heavy use, like Ren, but not have one fail right out of the box. Shouldn't you be able to get it replaced under warranty?
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Just check http://www.ch-hangar.com under hardware problems. A few ppl expressed their concern.
Replacement: I dont live in the US and it would cost me about 40 bucks just for the shipment one way. They dont warrant for you shipment cost.
Also, if you pay 100 buck u would expect a decent service, thats how i was brought up.
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Originally posted by Despair
Ren, I gave CH the last chance. I ordered a 2nd CH fighterstick. If its bad, ill post on every board I can find that CH is no better that TM (goumlott, whatever the name is).
Do me a favor...tell me what's "bad". What problems ae you having? So far, all I've heard is its bad and you can't take off. Plz advz.
Where do you live? Maybe I can help with shipping. Depending on where it's coming from you can ship it to me and Il can fwd it on to CH. Just something to check into.
Next subject.....Change yer call sign... it's not helping you in this game :D. It's like a call sign of target....you are just waiting to be shoot down. Despair = I can't get a good stick...change yer luck......
TM was bought out by the same group that marketed the Hercules Phrophet GeForce2 which I owned years ago.
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I priced CH USB Pro Throttle, Pro Rudder and the 568 stick for under $275 at Provantage. I can use the 568 because it's similar to my old FX. I just can't get used to this Saitek Cyborg EVO. Old analog CH stuff lasted 7-8 years but now needs repairs and then I'd have to deal with the analog controller vs: XP OS battle.
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Originally posted by fuze
Old analog CH stuff lasted 7-8 years but now needs repairs and then I'd have to deal with the analog controller vs: XP OS battle.
fuzeman, I am using WinXP Pro with my old analog CH stuff, not a problem one, I just have no way of downloading to the stick onboard memory, so I can not update, unless I use the CH boot disk utility on the CH-Hangar site. My CH stuff is going on 9 years now and still kicking good.
those that use USB, make sure you have your USB ports and Root Hub marked as always power on, most defaults are set to drop power to USB port if it does not detect any data transfer etc.....this will make you think you have a faulty stick. and will make you lose calibration at times
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I used the sidewinders but found the FF2 was spiking in AH. I switched to a CH Products USB Fighterstick and the problem went away. I have had some trouble with the hat switch, but everything else is pretty solid. The Fighterstick is not that easy to program, but I've done it. All in all, even with the hat problems the USB Fighterstick is pretty good value for the money compared to previous Sidewinder products. I tried TM (~10 years ago) and was disappointed. The TM had a nice metal base, but a plastic retainer broke after little use. I made another from wood, but there was some other problem with it that I can't remember now.
I replaced one of the USB Fighterstick hat switches myself. I am no soldering artisan (by any means), but it wasn't that difficult. I bought a new 25watt soldering iron from Radio Shack and some desoldering ribbon. My only problem was tearing a ribbon connector which went to the side 4-way hat. That took more time to resolder than replacing the hat switch.
Even with the hat problems, I like the CH products. The CH Products Control Manager is used to program their products and an excellent diagostic tool to fix problems. I now have two USB Fightersticks both bought from Provantage.com. I also use the CH USB rudder pedals which I think came from CompUSA. The pedals have been outstanding!
Regards,
Malta
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One of the biggest differences between the analog and digial (USB) sticks is CH got stoooopid and decided not to hardwire a simple flash chip on the sticks MB. What happens is you use the mapping manager and save the set then every time you logon to play you gotta download it to the stick. Alternatively, you can program the stick within the game. It is fairly simple to do. If you are having any issues getting it set up just email me and we can meet in the TA.
The old analog sticks would take the saved program file you made using speed keys and download it permanently to the stick.
When you shut down your computer and restarted you still had the stick set.
I haven't figured out why CH omitted that flash chip ffrom the stick as it actually removes a convenient function that had already existed.