Sorry Airspro, no luck. Thanks for thesuggestion though, I appear to be running DX 7.0 (unsure about a? number is 4.07.00.something something). DX diagnostic shows CH combatstick functioning normally.
Also tried a reinstall of AH, USB stick did not work with any previous versions, hi or low res. Its very possible my memory is goofy, as this is a fairly new stick, possibly it has never worked with AH (old stick was non-usb, it definitely worked). Whew, sorry so windy, no solution yet.