Hardware & Technical Used HOTAS

ykza5

Y
Hi commanders.

How many of you have purchased used hotas? how well have they performed so far?

I've read that ones like saitek don't have that much life expectancy but there are good deals on ebay right now. I'm still thinking about it because I don't want to pay for one and have it last me only a month or two.
 

Stoo

Stoo
At £40 for a T-Flight HOTAS I didn't see the point in buying secondhand :)

No doubt though, like anything sencondhand, there will be wear and tare. Like buying a car, you have no idea if it's been ragged by the precious owner who says they looked after it well ;)
 

ykza5

Y
Stoo said:
At £40 for a T-Flight HOTAS I didn't see the point in buying secondhand :)

No doubt though, like anything sencondhand, there will be wear and tare. Like buying a car, you have no idea if it's been ragged by the precious owner who says they looked after it well ;)
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Agreed though many products can be bought used and still have a lot of life expentancy. An example will be my Mesa Boogie amplifier that was made in the 80's and I bought it used. Still rocking to this day.
Now I don't expect a used hotas to last as long. Just wanted to know if someone had this experience
Also the deal on the T flight is no more and here in US they are $180 and above
 

ColeusRattus

C
I bought a T-Flight Hotas X for 35€ new and I was quite happy with it, but then, on a whim, I also bought a used Saitek X52 Pro for 100€. I use it for about a year now on multiple flight games and sims (FS X, MS Flight, Il2 1946, Cliffs of Dover, DCS World, etc) and I have not encountered any durability problems with it.
While the Saitek is more versatile, the one thing I preferred about the T-Flight was the seesaw axis on the throttles back, which was a much better way to control rudders than the twist of the stick (which is also available, but can be locked tightly, unlike with saiteks stick).

So, I guess the T-flight is a good way to see if you even like playing with a HOTAS setup.

EDIT: T-Flight for $180? That's insane! Try ordering it from europe. even with shipping, it should be considerably cheaper even than the cheapest offer on amazon.com, which is ATM well over 80 dollars...)
 
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bassman

B
I guess you could keep an eye out for something that was obviously a vanity purchase with good intention but little actual use. Not that I've ever done that myself .... ehem ...
 

Antmax

Antmax
I bought a X52 that looked brand new but did have some problems. The bottom of the metal shaft rubs against the dozen or so 2mm wires that come out the bottom from all the buttons and hats in the stick. The metal wears away the insulation off of those thin wires causing havoc over time.

Fortunately even with basic soldering skills it's easy to fix. I ended up replacing about 5 wires with slightly thicker ones from inside a USB cable over a period of about 3 months. It's been trouble free the last 9.

So Saitek probably isn't the best quality, but is pretty easy to work on. All the faults can be worked out. Sensitivity and accuracy can be improved immensely just by removing a couple of pieces and relocating existing magnets with blutac lol.

A dab of superglue in the right spot where the plastic handle is connected to the metal shaft via a 2mm thick pin. And all play in the handle disappears adding more precision.
 

Adept

Adept
Globusdiablo said:
I would steer clear of used HOTAS. Most have taken a beating. Just my 5 cents.
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The exception is CH gear. If a reputable ebay user, a sim pilot is selling his or her CH peripherals, there's a good chance they are just as good as new. Mine sure were (Fighterstick and Throttle)
 

flexy123

F
Got a used CH Pro USB Throttle for €40

As for joysticks..I got a Thrustmaster T.16000M extremely cheap but would agree that for joysticks you might be better off with new ones.
 

Mudders

M
i took a gamble with a saitek x45 off ebay at £30. mainly for rudder and ministick (for thrusters) both on the throttle (serious rsi with twist rudder)

i was expecting a ragged bit of gear, probably requiring some fixing and if it did work it would break after a day or two.

its sweet as a nut, even for a 13 year old stick, but i think i got lucky.

Used ch pro throttle and new £30 quid stick was one option i considered.
 
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