Rig upgrade story.. X65f / Warthog / X55 pro ?
- Thread starter Mr. Bluffet
- Start date
my take on the x65f, from another thread:
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=38195&p=718991&viewfull=1#post718991
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=38195&p=719174&viewfull=1#post719174
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=38195&p=719197&viewfull=1#post719197
In addition, the upper right hat in the stick sits too flush to the stick itself, has to be raised 3 - 6 mm to be easily reachable.
tl;dr
I cannot recommend it for a new purchase. It's out of production, out of software support, and Windows 10 is coming. We'll get no new drivers from MadCatz if the W7 ones don't work.
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=38195&p=718991&viewfull=1#post718991
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=38195&p=719174&viewfull=1#post719174
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=38195&p=719197&viewfull=1#post719197
In addition, the upper right hat in the stick sits too flush to the stick itself, has to be raised 3 - 6 mm to be easily reachable.
tl;dr
I cannot recommend it for a new purchase. It's out of production, out of software support, and Windows 10 is coming. We'll get no new drivers from MadCatz if the W7 ones don't work.
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Hi there,
The worst/greatest thing about CH stuff are their looks, totally uninspiring. The basic design has been around since the late 90's I believe with the only change in connectivity from gameport to usb.
Do not be taken in by this.
The Fighterstick, which is their top of the range joystick is a copy of an F16 fighters one. That should say something in itself because the design and effort to make sure everything is as well placed as it could be was carried out by an extremely able design team to impress no less the people who procur fighters for the USAAF.
The throttle, again no looker but check this out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceOdOytgT64
Pedals are functional but with the s/ware that comes with CH stuff you can combine all 3 (stick/throttle/pedals.) into one controller as far as games are concerned. This gets rave reviews from everyone as until you have used it you cannot believe how useful being able to do that is.
CH flight sim stuff is but a very small part of what they do as CH make control systems for industry.
This means that although they do not use a non contact mechanism for their products they use the very best available mechanical one's and their longevity and accuracy is well known.
I have had my pedals since Longbow 2 (97-98 ish ?) and they have given me good service since then. Having said that I am just about to replace them as I have to use an adapter because they are gameport which is unsatisfactory as I lose a lot of the functionality, they still work fine though
Tbh, I prefered the feel of the throttle on my X52 as the CH pro one feels just like a slide as compared to the satisfactory smoothness and clunk of the X52. The only other thing the X52 scored better on imo was the LED display and the lights ? Amount of buttons and their placement plus usage and quality was inferior to the CH imo.
After using the CH stick everything else feels just wrong to me lol, try one.
Pedals, functional as I said.
Do I sound like a CH fanboy
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Agree on the curves adjustment and deadzone setting and bolting down you recommend.
Haven't done any of the shielding on cables or anything though and mine works like a charm.
Well, almost. outer two hats on throttle and the control box buttons ain't no recognized by ED... but ED is not too complex in it's controls, so don't really need them anyway. Probably could map them hats to keys in Saitek software to access them.
Thrustmaster T-Flight HOTAS - a quarter the price of the Cheapest X series stuff and a steal at the money. I hunted all over for a Saitek just after Christmas and they were nowhere to be had, so I 'settled' on a T-Flight because it was cheap in the meantime. I'm glad I did and saved all that cash, it's a superb stick and ED has a default mapping for it straight out the box. HOTAS is definitely the way ahead, but I wont be lashing out hundreds on a Saitek now.
The reason for getting unrecognized buttons is, AFAIK, that Xinput doesn't go over 32 buttons.
You're right about using the saitek software. Creating a profile that maps characters to unrecognized buttons is the way I solved this.
As much as I like my Warthog and Cougar, I have a fondness for my old CH stick. It's the basic, two button stick from years ago (gameport) but uses the same gimbal mechanic and material as their fightersticks which they still make after all these years.
Could never fault it. The plastic is very strong and durable, probably more so than the cast metal of the Warthog and Cougar sets. The motion, whilst a lot lighter than the Warthog, is still very precise.
I have fond memories of many hours playing X-Wing and Tie Fighter with that stick - had a TM Weapons Controls System and Combat Stick at the time but opted to use the CH stick instead because I preferred the motion and accuracy of it. It still sits in one of my boxes whereas the other sticks are gone...
Could never fault it. The plastic is very strong and durable, probably more so than the cast metal of the Warthog and Cougar sets. The motion, whilst a lot lighter than the Warthog, is still very precise.
I have fond memories of many hours playing X-Wing and Tie Fighter with that stick - had a TM Weapons Controls System and Combat Stick at the time but opted to use the CH stick instead because I preferred the motion and accuracy of it. It still sits in one of my boxes whereas the other sticks are gone...
Also loved my old 2 button CH stick - didn't appreciate how good it was at the time (also had a WCS Mk2 but was happy to pair it with a FCS).
I took a trip to local coputer/household electronics supermarket.. they had one .. one stick for people to handle.. however.. they were nice enough to pull a box of warthog out from warehouse and allow me to open it and try it for size.
First impression was that the glove dose not fit. While index finger trigger was ok, pinky and thumb operated ones felt like they were designed for someone with smaller hand -- specifically my reach with with fingers was too great for the stick >> the buttons were at incorrect places/ grith&shape was not right (for me). Same impression with throttle.
as the stick has to be assembled before resistance can be tested.. I did not feel comfortable to push their kindness as I was now unlikely to buy the product (at least on the spot)
Is any joystick / throttle notorious for being designed for people with shovels for hands?
I guess CH production stick/ throttle is now pulling ahead of the rest.
I guess is will be same or slightly better regarding 'how it fits my hand'. Better candidate for 'modding the handle' IMHO.
Now just trying to decide between combat and fighter.
Fighter replaces the side thumb trigger with 4-way hat and one thum 'up' trigger with 8-way hat.
combat has two 4 way hats .. is that enough?
is it easy to config a hat to operate as a basic trigger? dose that kind of config work in practice?
Some videos have comments where people say that they sometimes fail to execute correct action with hat 'trigger' >> this dose make the combat version more attractive ..
First impression was that the glove dose not fit. While index finger trigger was ok, pinky and thumb operated ones felt like they were designed for someone with smaller hand -- specifically my reach with with fingers was too great for the stick >> the buttons were at incorrect places/ grith&shape was not right (for me). Same impression with throttle.
as the stick has to be assembled before resistance can be tested.. I did not feel comfortable to push their kindness as I was now unlikely to buy the product (at least on the spot)
Is any joystick / throttle notorious for being designed for people with shovels for hands?
I guess CH production stick/ throttle is now pulling ahead of the rest.
I guess is will be same or slightly better regarding 'how it fits my hand'. Better candidate for 'modding the handle' IMHO.
Now just trying to decide between combat and fighter.
Fighter replaces the side thumb trigger with 4-way hat and one thum 'up' trigger with 8-way hat.
combat has two 4 way hats .. is that enough?
is it easy to config a hat to operate as a basic trigger? dose that kind of config work in practice?
Some videos have comments where people say that they sometimes fail to execute correct action with hat 'trigger' >> this dose make the combat version more attractive ..
I placed an order for CH productions Fighterstick + throttle. price here is equal to warthog so I do put a lot of faith in the company.
Just to post which path I took and once again thank you people for the time and effort you took to share your views!!
Delivery is scheduled 'March' so fairly long wait still..
Just to post which path I took and once again thank you people for the time and effort you took to share your views!!
Delivery is scheduled 'March' so fairly long wait still..
Nice one ,,, You won't regret that
Your choice obviously, but to me you're crazy to buy the CH kit if you can get the warthog at the same price. Here, the Warthog is about $200US more than the kit you ordered. Either the CH kit is way overpriced, or you can get a great deal on the warthog.
Edit: Unless you're talking about just the warthog joystick, not the full HOTAS...
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I think I have the back door option of returning the CH hotas set should I hate it.
Yes.. Warthog was hotas also. Only 55eur more (65-70 usd) .. CH 310 eur, warthog 367 eur here .. no special circumstances .. CH _is_ expensive outside USA. I did use 'equal' bit incorrectly as my intention was to say 'in the same ballpark'
Yes.. Warthog was hotas also. Only 55eur more (65-70 usd) .. CH 310 eur, warthog 367 eur here .. no special circumstances .. CH _is_ expensive outside USA. I did use 'equal' bit incorrectly as my intention was to say 'in the same ballpark'
