Newcomer / Intro HOTAS has gone the way of the Dodo...

McGyverCP

McGyverCP
Well, it appears that my HOTAS One is going the way of the Dodo bird. I was playing last night, breaking in the new G5 multicannons w/Corrosion. They appear to do better on taking out bad guys. Had to hit the various Material traders to move some stuff around so that I could finish it out, but was able to get grade 5 level on all the guns.

So after I finished with Tod, I headed back to LHS 20 to fuel up, top off anything that needed it and hit the High Res 1.63 ls away. Was able to in the words of Ed Gruberman, "Trash some Bozos". But when I would go to collect the dumped materials from the wrecks, I noticed that I was having a difficulty scooping them up. So I pulled off to a quiet spot and watched my ship's movements. The uncommander Left Yaw problem is back with a vengeance. I have to give constant counter rudder to counteract it. Then, I am getting intermittent Right movement from my paddle key on the throttle. Doesn't do it all the time, but enough that it is noticeable. This is why I believe it felt like the materials were always drifting to side when I was trying to scoop them. Also, the throttle tends to have jitters when in the neutral (middle) position. This is a big pain when trying to dock. Nothing like settling down on the pad and then your ships starts moving forward at 20 mps!

I have sent an email to Thrustmaster to see what I can do to fix it. But as there are no trim tabs like there were on their OLD products (as in like a decade or two ago or so) and putting in a dead zone won't really fix the problem, I am waiting to see what they say. I bought it in April, and didn't use it until July (after I finished my major exploration trip), I am hoping they will work with me. We will see.

I am so use to the HOTAS now, that I am not sure if I could go back to just a KB&M. If I have to buy a new one, I will have to determine whether to stay with the Thrustmaster ones, or look at another company...Time will Tell.

So for now, currently in space dock. Having a frosty beverage and looking out the viewport at the stars.

Take Care and Check Six Commanders! o7
 

gorankar

gorankar
It is rather sad that Thrusmaster's older stuff was of much higher quality than their current stuff. I was rather dissapointed with the Warthog. My FCS/WCS2, ACM game card, and rudder lasted me over a decade. They still worked great when I retired them when I pretty much had to switch away from Xp. MS decided game ports were no longer going to be supported in Vista and later OS. They had good reason, but it was still a loss.

Now if I can actually manage to catch what I want from Virpil in stock or VKB finally releases their throttle, I will have to give them a try.
 

Krieger

Krieger
I have a T.Flight HOTAS X (PC) and it shows jitter in the yaw channel (stick twist) only. On some days the jitter is quite bad on other days it's gone. After some experimenting I found that static electricity is at least part of the problem. On bad jitter days the jitter dies off quickly after I remove my hand from the stick. When I stretch my hand towards the stick (but before I touch it) the jitter picks up again. Also the small mechanical gap around the neutral position plays a role. If I twist the stick gently to the left or right to close the mechanical gap, the jitter is gone.

This summer I didn't have this problem (moist air). Now it's winter time and the dry cold air helps static electricity to persist.
 

Chris Simon

Chris Simon
Archvillain said:
Dying HOTAS is the universe telling you that you're allowed to buy an even moar expensive dream-HOTAS :D
Click to expand...
Fully support this. :LOL:
I'm on my third HOTAS since the launch of Elite.

Learning to fly with a new HOTAS is almost as fun as starting the game for the first time. :)

Naturally, try to RMA it first before jumping onto the next shiny thing.
 

heman86

H
its reallys ed up that thrustmaster still selling a product with a well known problem (yaw stops working after a few months). there is no way they dont know about it, but still they sell it instead of fixing the problem or design a new and working joystick
 

Para Handy

Para Handy
heman86 said:
its reallys gently caressed up that thrustmaster still selling a product with a well known problem (yaw stops working after a few months). there is no way they dont know about it, but still they sell it instead of fixing the problem or design a new and working joystick
Click to expand...

I have a 4 year old HOTAS-X (on secondary PC) that still works perfectly and a spare one that gets an occasional proving run that is still pristine after 3 years. So luck of the draw really.

That said, my main PC uses CHPro Fighterstick and Throttle (both even older) - built like brick dunnies and should outlive me. Pay for quality is the best bet. ;)
 

Tyres O'Flaherty

Tyres O'Flaherty
I could be that your HOTAS is perfectly OK and that your rig is at fault*.

Try a different USB port as suggested but, if that fails too, you could perhaps consider one of these:

www.overclockers.co.uk

8Pack Supernova XLTD - Limited Edition Intel i9 9990XE Extreme Overclocked PC

Intel Core i9 9990XE Limited Edition 14 Core/28 Thread Processor, Asus ROG Rampage Omega Motherboard, 128GB 3200MHz G.Skill TridentX Royal, 2x Nvidia RTX 2080Ti With NV-Link, 2TB NVMe SSD, 20TB Store
www.overclockers.co.uk www.overclockers.co.uk

Or, if you are feeling flush, one of these (although the CPU's are a little dated now):

www.overclockers.co.uk

8Pack OrionX2 Dual System Extreme Overclocked PC - Intel Core i9 10980XE & Intel Core i7 10700K

Intel Core i9 10980XE @ 4.6GHz & Intel Core i7 10700K @ 5.0GHz! THREE Nvidia RTX 3090s...Two PCs - One insane system!
www.overclockers.co.uk www.overclockers.co.uk

* this is an attempt ay humour. The machines listed are for people with serious wonga.
 

Hans v Martell

Hans v Martell
On the Thrustmaster Flight Stick X and similar devices, the first failure will be the little wires connecting to the potentiometers breaking due to the motion they are subject to. These devices are built so that the body of the potentiometer moves with your control inputs, while the slider is kept stationary. Thus the wires are being bent all the time.
This is easy to repair for anyone who can handle a soldering iron.

The second (and final) failure will be ever increasing jitter due to the resistive tracks in the potentiometers being worn out. There is nothing much to be done at this point, Thrustmaster do not supply spare parts and these potentiometers are special, you won't obtain them from the market. Well, at least I failed to.

However these things are, in comparison, dirt cheap and work very well until they're done. I have bought the very same thing again ;)
 
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McGyverCP

McGyverCP
Thanks for the replies...I sent Thrustmaster Support an email explaining the problem going on and received the generic "We have received your email blahblahblah". I am waiting for a real person to respond with a reply. Hopefully, they will come through with an RMA for this. If not, then I will be looking at something else. While it was only approx. $85.00, that is still bit of money to put out for something that only lasted for approx. 150 hours of game time.

Time will tell...but until then, I am going to start looking for a replacement if necessary.

Take Care and Check Six Commanders! o7
 

McGyverCP

McGyverCP
heman86 said:
its reallys gently caressed up that thrustmaster still selling a product with a well known problem (yaw stops working after a few months). there is no way they dont know about it, but still they sell it instead of fixing the problem or design a new and working joystick
Click to expand...
Well, I guess they feel that you can sell a lot of product...once....Twice if they didn't learn the lesson the first time. That is why I am hoping for them to do the RMA. At least I can hopefully get another one so that I can get out of it what I feel I paid for.

The only reason I got rid of my old Thrustmaster Top Gun stick was that it was no longer supported by the newer operating systems that came out (read Windows). Later, I bought the Microsoft joystick and it eventually hit the trash heap because it was no longer supported by Windows 10.

And since when did Logitech start making higher-end equipment?!? was looking at the X52 and X56 HOTAS systems they offer...Look good and mostly good reviews for the price. If all else fails, maybe they will get my credits...time will tell.
 

McGyverCP

McGyverCP
d8veh said:
There's a guide on how to fix the T1600 Yaw axis problems here. I can imagine that all the cheaper Thrusmasters use the same system for yaw, so just take apart and replace the potentiometer.
https://www.reddit.com/r/hotas/comments/9h5va3 Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/hotas/comments/9h5va3/t16000_yaw_fixed/
Click to expand...
Thanks, Something to keep in mind. I had read on the Net someone saying that it was hard to get the potentiometers for them...So if all else fails and I don't want to buy a new one, it could be worth a shot.
 

McGyverCP

McGyverCP
And speaking of Thrustmaster...

Just received an email that I believe was translated using the Thargoid to English dictionary...

Basically from what I can decipher...

- I am to download the software for the joystick to my computer. Check - Did that when I got the joystick.

- "Once downloaded it proceed with the installing" - Check - See "when I got the joystick"

- "Then restart the computer, place the switch from the back side of the unit on the PC position and connect it straight into an USB port from the computer - Check - See "Got Joystick" - Note: this one kind of threw me for a second until I remember that this is a PC/XBox joystick and there is a switch on the back to change from one to the other.

- "Then access the control panel of it - Check - I have done that several times.

- "See if in this control panel the feedback received for the yaw axis is exhibiting the same abnormalities as the once received on the XBox One console - Hmmm, As this was purchased solely for use on a PC, and I do not own an XBox One, This is a moot step in the process. But, I am sure it would do the same thing on an XBox as it has on my PC.

- "In case it does then make a short video recording where we can see the disparity betweek the physical position of the yoke and the feedback that you are getting in the test panel. Send us the Video to <<Censored by the Thargoid Liberation Front>>.

- "To the same Cloud link please also upload a copy of the invoice for the unit and a picture of the sticker placed on the bottom side of the joystick unit. - Thank God I didn't delete the email receipt from Best Buy! I'm surprised they don't want to talk to the joystick to prove it is still alive and I haven't thrown it into the closest black hole.

- "Kind Regards, Your Thrustmaster Customer Support Agent, Octavian" - Yes, I kid you not, that is what his(or her) name is. Mind you, I basically have to give them my life history, but they can use some dead Ceasars name, or Klingon, or Romulan, or something.

So the next step is to jump through their hoops and see where the rabbit hole goes...

Fun times Commanders! o7
 

Hans v Martell

Hans v Martell
The guy on Reddit did a better job than me, he spotted the right potentiometers (y)

Thing is, you can't use ordinary ones which have a rotation travel of 270°, whereas those used in the Thrustmaster sticks have a travel of only 40°.
Now if you were to stick a 270° type in, the limited physical movement of the stick would only use a small part of the resistive track, resulting in a likewise small change in output voltage.

Not sure if the operating system's calibration utility would be able to compensate for this, however even if it does most of the resolution will be lost, which is not a desirable result.

The idea with the hall effect sensors is highly tempting, they won't ever wear or get contaminated. Although by the way he describes what he did I suspect there was some luck involved in making this work, it is sure doable and I think I'll give it a go :)
 

McGyverCP

McGyverCP
Well, finally got the reply back from Thrustmaster...Basically, Cut the cord off, take a picture, send it and your information to us, and we will send a replacement.

Figured that would be the results. Now I can get back to playing again...hopefully the new stick will last longer. We will see.
 
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