Stick loses calibration.

[AirFool]

Hi,

I'm newly returned to AH, after about 7 years off, but I played the game for about 8 years previously.

I'm using an old Saitek290.

Every couple sorties, my throttle will lose calibration and I can no longer keep WEP turned on.  It thinks the throttle is being dipped, and turns off WEP. 

I've been testing this for several days.  It is definitely not a case of running out of WEP or the engine being hot.  The WEP stops working, but then when I calibrate, right then and there, it works again.  A couple time it seemed like the stick, itself, also lost calibration, but I know for sure, the throttle loses it regularly.

So, I'm pretty sure it's not the game.  If so, I imagine everyone would have issues and it would be fixed.
With my limited understanding of things, I don't see how it could be a problem with the stick either, but I'm asking.....
So, I'm wondering, could this be a Windows 10 problem?

Any thoughts?   I willing to buy a new stick, but I don't want to do that if it's not the actual problem.

Thanks!

[The Fugitive]

It sounds like the stick to me, you did say it was old.

Go into the stick mapping, select the axis your using for the throttle, then click on the "advanced" button in the top left of the page. The swing out will have the sliders as well as two vertical boxes with a green line in it. One box will show the action of the stick (raw), and the other will show the adjusted action.

Move the throttle to full and watch the green lines. They should go to the top/bottom and stay there. If they flutter then your pots in the stick are worn out or dirty. Not sure if the 290 has pots or uses sensors, but they could have moved or are just failing as well.

[AirFool]

Thanks, I'll check that out when I have a chance later tonight.

[AirFool]

You were right.  The green lines were bouncing for the throttle axis. 

I turned on scaling, for the throttle, but flattened it, and turned up damping a bit.  The lines are still now. 

I just flew 4-5 sorties with no problems.  That's a long time.  I think it's fixed. 

The actual stick axis green lines are very still and the stick works good.  I think maybe the stick is sensors and the throttle is a pot.

Thanks for your help!