Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: OIO on May 18, 2003, 06:32:37 PM
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Anyone know of one?
My Suncom Dual throttle is spiking too much of late, I hate it.
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There is not one on the market that I know of. There are a few people who are thinking of making one out of the throttle that is part of the Cougar setup. It looks like (early cad drawings) that the process will be expensive to run (manufacturing wise) and expensive to purchase.
So a short answer is no there are no other dual throttles on the market and I would bet that the Dual Suncom supply on eBay has all but evaporated. Although there are some nice Gameport->USB filters that seem to work well with older equipment. That might be something you want to check on as well as looking into buying new pots to install in the throttle itself.
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I've got one, a suncom that is, and I might now where you can get more:D Give me a couple of days to talk to the guy.
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I've got a Suncom SFS and now I've found a cheap source of USB-gameport adapters, I'm going to keep it.
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USB gameport adapters dont help if its the pots themselves that spike.
BTW, where could one buy "pots" for the sticks? Im totally ignorant how all this works.
I open my suncom dual and all I see are 3 little electronic cards with wires, and the place where the throttle levers connect with the body of the unit is solid plastic, I cant seem to find a way to open it to clean it or see if something's loose.
Help!
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OIO you can buy pots from places like McMaster Carr (http://www.mcmaster.com/) or Grainger (http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/wwg/start.shtml). You have to search for Potentiometers on both sites. There should be a Grainger local to you since they are nationwide and usually open on Saturdays. Also if you haven't done so you might want to search the web for people doing updates to their Suncom throttles.
Good Luck and if I find anything I will pass it on here.
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OIO,
I tracked down a throttle. I friend of mine used to work for suncome and he has a brand new one still in the box. If your interested in it email me at jholden1973@wi.rr.com and we will work something out.
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Appreciate the effort bizket! Unfortunately im looking for a USB stick and buying the same analog stick,even if its new, will end up spiking in less than 3 months :( .
Reschke, thanks for the links. I wonder if theres any way to convert the stick into digital.. hmm...
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OIO I know you are looking to go digital but this guy on SimHq wants to sell his Suncom throttle. Here is the thread. (http://oldsite.simhq.com/simhq3/sims/boards/bbs/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=29;t=000845)
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Ok clue me in here....what is a dual throttle stick?
I fly with an MSFF joystick and a CH Pro USB throttle. I love the setup....never have to touch the keyboard except to type messages in there.
What is the use of the dual throttle?
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So what can you do in a duel engine fighter with the suncom throttle, that you can with a CH throttle?
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From past experience with the Suncom dual throttle you can control each engine independently of the other. The last time I used one was when playing Janes F-15 and F-18. If you took damage to one engine or the other you could shut it off completely and still manage flight. Also in WW2 games if you had multiple engines like a B-17 you could use it to control one wings engines to help you turn the behemoth on the ground and in the air. It was really useful with planes like the P-38 and Mosquito. You can really make 'em dance with that and you don't have to push and hold any buttons while doing it...unlike my Cougar or previous CH gear I have owned.
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My Suncom throttle is a five years old and doesn't spike.
I wonder what came of Suncom, particularly their UK office. John Sage was always very helpful.
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I'd like to see a AH film of the suncom in action with p-38 or bf110.
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I had one while playing Jane's WW2 Fighters and the first CFS sim. You could chop back on the throttle to the right or left side and really bring the turns around pretty quick and it helped to side slip planes easily. I wish I still had my Suncom setup since it was a nicely made bit of kit as well.
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Try Saitek X45. It has two rotary knobs that I have programmed for throttle on engines one and two. It is very easy, and only costs around $80. I used to fly P38 manipulating the throttle, but I found that it flies almost the same without any throttle manipulation, including hammerheads, so I don't use them anymore. Only hard thing about the X45 is getting used to the rudder. I still don't feel like I have the best control, so I am looking at getting CH Pro Foot pedals.
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I've got a CH Pro Throttle that I have programmed for simple dual-throttle control. The set-up doesn't allow completely independent control, but it works for what I want it to do when flying a dual-engine plane.
The Pro Throttle has a thumb-manipulable two-axis mini-stick (similar to Cougar's). Using CH Control Manager 2.0 (excellent, by the way), I programmed two "virtual" throttles, controlled by the main throttle and the X axis (left and right) on the mini-stick. CH Manager 2.0 is very flexible, allowing you to assign the controllers' physical axes to arbitrary axes of any number of virtual devices, all of which AH recognizes. I think I assigned the virtual throttle axes to the X and Y axes of a controller that doesn't actually exist (i.e., "CH Control Manager Device 2"), while I assigned the other axes of my controlers (Fighterstick and Pro Pedals, in addition to Pro Throttle) to the axes of a second, virtual device (i.e., "CH Control Manger Device 1").
The way it works is that when the mini-stick is centered, both "virtual" throttles are set to the value of the physical throttle. As the mini-stick is deflected left or right, the left or right virtual throttle is decreased linearly from the value of the physical throttle. Thus, for example, when the physical throttle is full open and the mini-stick is 50% deflected to the right, the left "virtual" throttle will be full open and the right "virtual" throttle will be 50% open. The nice thing about this set-up is that it is entirely intuitive to use. If you want the dual engines to induce yaw to the right, move the mini-stick to the right. If you want to induce yaw to the left, move the mini-stick left.
After programming CH Manager 2, all that is required is to map my "virtual" throttle axes to AH's throttle 1 and throttle 2. Very clean and easy.
- JNOV
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LoneStar can you post your CH map file for this configuration. Id like to try it. Did you do anything different in the AH mapping ?
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I put a zip file with the map, associated script file, and a JPEG key map here (http://home.austin.rr.com/kandeburgess/Aces_High/).
I hope it's helpful (or at least interesting) :)
- JNOV
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LoneStar thanks for the files. but.... I'm completely lost with this CH Manager. I'm gonna post my map file which is entirely basic because I only map keys in AH Stick Mapper and I am good to go.
If you have the time could you add to my map the ability to do this.....
" If you want the dual engines to induce yaw to the right, move the mini-stick to the right. If you want to induce yaw to the left, move the mini-stick left. "
http://www.innercite.com/~sunking/sunkingmap.zip
PS. Do I need to map anythign special in AH to get this working correctly other than the throttle to axis z on the Pro Throttle?
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I'll modify your files so that it works as I described. When I post a link, I'll give details on how to set it up in AH.
- JNOV
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SunKing:
Check here (http://home.austin.rr.com/kandeburgess/Aces_High/). I included a readme that should help you set it up. Please let me know if it doesn't work or if you have some problems with it. Thanks!
- JNOV
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Hi thanks for the map.. Its jsut not working for me. After I mapped the throttles in AH stick mapper any duel engine fighter will pull to the right when trying to take off as if one engine is running higher than the other. Calibrated and still happened.
When I pull the mini stick back (left) i can see the rpm drop to 1/4 , not all the way as if you would pull back on the throttle z axis. Any ideas?