CH HOTAS questions

[Animal]

I'm in the process of aquiring an almost new set of CH Pro Pedals and CH yoke, both USB, like new, for $100  


So I was thinking, maybe I should get rid of my X-36 and go all CH?

First question is, if I have an all CH hotas (Pro Throttle, Fighterstick, Pro Rudders) is there a driver that will make DirectX view all of them as a single controller?

Second question, about spring tension on the combatstick. Does it have more resistance than the X-36? My pet peeve with the X36 is that it feels like the flacid noodle of a 100 year old alzheimer patient. I hope that the CH combatstick is at least a bit more tense, and if not, that there are stronger replacement springs.

Third question, how accurate are the combatstick and throttle? do they spike? are they at least as precise as the X36?

I'm still making my final decision wether going with the CH stick and throttle, or going the Cougar routhe, which Ive been hesitating because Ive had a bad experience with Thrustmaster. When I was 16 I saved a lot of allowances for an F22 Pro. When I finally got it, the pots died within 3 days of use. I called them, and after three weeks, they sent new pots, with no instructions whatsover how to install them. Being the impatient tardling, I tried to install them myself, and ruined the stick. Imagine my pain back then.

[Eagler]

Originally posted by Animal
............. that it feels like the flacid noodle of a 100 year old alzheimer patient. ...........

won't ask how you know what one of those feels like

[SunKing]

"So I was thinking, maybe I should get rid of my X-36 and go all CH? "


Make it so.

[Animal]

Originally posted by SunKing
"So I was thinking, maybe I should get rid of my X-36 and go all CH? "


Make it so.

Thats nice, but can you answer my questions?

[aSTAR]

First question is, if I have an all CH hotas (Pro Throttle, Fighterstick, Pro Rudders) is there a driver that will make DirectX view all of them as a single controller?

NEGATIVE

Third question, how accurate are the combatstick and throttle? do they spike? are they at least as precise as the X36?

VERY PRECISE

All must be USB for max performance, PLUS ease of programming.
Their Tech support is GREAT, had CH for 10 years, tried others
but CH is the BEST.

[LoneStarBuckeye]

Animal:

There IS a driver that will make a Fighterstick, Pro Throttle, and Pro Pedals set-up appear as a single controller, or as any number of controllers.  Indeed, CH's Control Manager is designed to do just that.  With the recent release of version 2.0, it is a very powerful and flexible programming environment.  One of the things I like best about my old Cougar was its fantastic programmability.  With CM 2.0, CH has TM beat by a considerable margin.

I use a Fighterstick, Pro Throttle, and Pro Pedals set-up and it is hands-down better than anything I have used before.  The tension on the Fighterstick is definitely lighter than on the Cougar.  It is also lighter than on something like a Logitech Wingman.  I'd say it's about the same as a Saitek X35/36 stick.  I'd prefer the throw to be a bit heavier, but having used a Cougar for a while, I'm certainly not complaining.

If you have any other questions about the CH setup, feel free to send me an e-mail.

- JNOV

[Animal]

Thanks Lone, I rather ask you here so if anyone around has the same questions in the future they can already find them.

Are the drivers to make the Fighterstick, Pro Throttle and Pro Pedals seamless?

They dont cause any kind of trouble? you go to control panel> game controlers and only one device will appear with all axis control? COOL!
Does that work in Windows XP?

[funkedup]

LoneStarBuckeye is right, you can map all the CH controllers as one uber-controller.  This is very convenient for older games that don't support multiple controllers.
I don't know if it works in XP but it works in 2K.
Pretty sure it works in XP though.

"Third question, how accurate are the combatstick and throttle? do they spike? are they at least as precise as the X36?"

I don't have any experience with X36.  But the CH USB stuff doesn't spike at all.

As far as the spring tension, it's very light.  I rest the the base of my hand on the base the stick, and just use my thumb and fingers to fly.  Stick tension is perfect for that.  Gives me way more precision than somebody who moves their whole arm to fly.

[LoneStarBuckeye]

I use Control Manager 2.0 with XP, so I know that works.  I also use my three controllers in different games as a single controller and as multiple controllers.

The drivers are seamless.  You can configure CM for "direct" or "mapped" mode.  In direct mode, your devices show up as separate DX devices.  In "mapped" mode, you controlers show up as however many devices your map includes (e.g., 1, 2, 5, etc.).  For instance, if you're in direct mode and go to control panel's game controller applet, you will see "CH Fighterstick / CH Pro Throttle / CH Pro Pedals."  If you're in mapped mode with a single device, you will see "CM Device 1."

Control Manager is really slick.  It even includes a very nice testing/configuration utility that works whether you're in direct or mapped mode.  For instance, if you create a "virtual axis" (i.e., one that doesn't exist except programmatically), you can test its response in the testing utility when the stick is in mapped mode.

If you're a programmer, you'll love Control Manager's scripting utlity.  If you can imagine it, you can probably do it.      

- JNOV

[aSTAR]

open the control manager software that is installed with the sticks. Then click map wizard and when it asks you what devices you have hold alt and click your devices. Then it will ask you if you want the software to map each axes and button as if it were one device and tell it yes. Save it to your HD and then click download to load it to the stick and then when in Falcon 4.0 it will think there is 1 stick with a throttle and 32buttons :-)

the throttle on the stick is used for rudder (I turned this off with control manager)

Have fun

[LePaul]

You're going thru the same thoughts I am, Animal...I was on the CH website and wondering if I want the Pro stick (seems top heavy...had a Suncom Talon for a short time...F-15E stick...too heavy).

Fighterstick, throttle and rudders...wish they had a "bundle" offer for all 3.  Already have the IL2 software!

All 3 items are $149.95 on the website, totalling $449.85

Eek.

I could buy a lot of parts for the R2 D2 I'm building with that  

[gofaster]

Check the prices on Amazon.Com.  They're about $20 less than what's on CH's site.

I'm using a CH Combatstick and regular CH pedals through a game port, looking to move to USB next chance I get.  From a budget perspective the Flightstick and Pro Pedals might be the way to go if they don't come out with the regular Pedals in USB.

[LoneStarBuckeye]

I just did a quick search at http://www.nextag.com, and if you take the lowest prices available, you can have the USB Fighterstick, USB Pro Throttle, and USB Pro Pedals for $282.

- JNOV

[LePaul]

Originally posted by LoneStarBuckeye
I just did a quick search at http://www.nextag.com, and if you take the lowest prices available, you can have the USB Fighterstick, USB Pro Throttle, and USB Pro Pedals for $282.

- JNOV

Wow...... !!

[LePaul]

TheNerds.Net seem to have the best prices all around....thanks for that link