Testie hotas reviews

[JaqHass]

Lots of people don't even know what hotas is. So i would like test to provide short and consistent hotas reviews, easily availible to anyne who know nothing or not enough about the subject. How to choose the right setup basically.
So if anyone could let me know, right here in this thread, what hotas you have i would greatly appreaciate it.
Simply put, just pulling pre existing youtube vids doesn't come off as very sincere.

And yes. Almost not at all dyslectic.

 

[gladestone]

Well as a beginner in my old org it was mandatory for many of us to get a hotas if we where to be a fighter pilot..So i had to learn a lot an a lot i did learn..First bought the starter stick x52, was ok just fealy to plasticky to myself..So for many months ive been saving an thinking of what stick to upgrade to.After many months of pondering if i should wait for cig..I changed my mind an bought a warthog, not a single regret so far..Even though i had some headaches at first an we worked them out nexstar an myself..Although i gave him a headache it works great an i am loving the stick..Its all in what you can afford though..Not every one can afford a warthog at a whopping 500 american dollars, perhaps more overseas or less..Great stick though worth every penny..Talk around see what people think of the rhino an other sticks..Just my pure thoughts on the matter..

 

[Montoya]

Lots of people don't even know what hotas is.

Who are these people and what planet are they from?

 

[JaqHass]

Btw, if we could also take a wack at how to mod sticks, like with springs and so forth, that would be a great addition. The more info the better at this pont.

Idk montoya. Pluto? Either that or some wierd place called tellus or terra or something. Didn't scientists find some two legged primative freaks there?

 

[Ranger BearBlood]

Well as a beginner in my old org it was mandatory for many of us to get a hotas if we where to be a fighter pilot..So i had to learn a lot an a lot i did learn..First bought the starter stick x52, was ok just fealy to plasticky to myself..So for many months ive been saving an thinking of what stick to upgrade to.After many months of pondering if i should wait for cig..I changed my mind an bought a warthog, not a single regret so far..Even though i had some headaches at first an we worked them out nexstar an myself..Although i gave him a headache it works great an i am loving the stick..Its all in what you can afford though..Not every one can afford a warthog at a whopping 500 american dollars, perhaps more overseas or less..Great stick though worth every penny..Talk around see what people think of the rhino an other sticks..Just my pure thoughts on the matter..

lol bet they didnt see gimbals coming must have hit em like a truck

 

[NudieBird]

Ch Setup here... started with a T-flight Hotas X moved up to a x-52p a couple months after. The x-52 started breaking down after about 3 months. Moved up to a CH and have don't think I will ever change. Have been running with ToysRme setup from the forums and it rocks! The analog thumbstick on the throttle is really incredible. My only complaint is the pedals have cups on the bottom which gets a tad uncomfortable during extended sessions.
Thrustmaster Warthog maybe the king of sticks but CH is the power behind the crown. Less $$ and the most flexible software in the business.

You can't go wrong with a company that builds professional sticks for everything from combines to wheelchairs.

For over 30 years, CH Products has been a leading manufacturer of Industrial joysticks and Hall effect control devices including fingertip joysticks, industrial trackballs and handgrip controllers. Joysticks from CH Products are used around the globe in flight and military simulation and home entertainment markets as well as many industrial applications including camera controls, medical instrumentation, agricultural vehicles, mining machinery, military robots, industrial automation, electric wheelchairs, material handling equipment.

Manufacturing Excellence

CH Products’ joysticks are produced in a vertically integrated operation with injection molding, screw machining and final assembly performed in over 100,000 square feet of manufacturing space in San Diego County, California & Tijuana, Mexico with final quality inspection and packaging always performed in Vista, California.

Design Innovation

CH Products is a pioneer in the joystick industry and one of the first manufacturers to incorporate Hall effect sensing into motion control devices. Our American and European design teams use state of the art design tools to develop innovative products for demanding applications. Our electrical, mechanical and industrial engineers use advanced software programs including: Solid Works 3D modeling, Mastercam and Cadence OrCAD, all designed to help produce reliable and cost effective products that will meet stringent design requirements.


http://goo.gl/0RM4Iw

http://goo.gl/R7IPUu

http://goo.gl/1FhDvU

 

[JaqHass]

That's great bird. But why not make a video review and link me where to download it? :)

 

[Krystal LeChuck]

I'm using the now discontinued Thustmaster HOTAS Cougar. I've been using it for about 11 years now. It is probably the best purchase I've done in regards of hardware. It is sturdy, reliable and very easy to repair when signs of time start popping up. So far I have replace my stick axis pots once since one of them was spiking after like 6 years of use. I contact Thrustmaster and they sent me a bag of 4 complete pot replacement sets. I had to fiddle with the ANT ELEVATION pot because of its structure it is easy to get loose on its mount and you have to open up the throttle and tighten it. The stick on its 11th year started chipping away paint on the base but I'm surprised it didn't happen much earlier.

The HOTAS is an exact replica of the F-16 Falcon HOTAS. You get the same stick as the Warthog and a throttle with single engine control, a microstick, 2 rotary pots, one 4 way microswitch and two 3-way switches. The controls have been more than enough for me to fully control Elite Dangerous from the stick (granted I use headtracking), and I don't even touch keys on Arena Commander as everything is bound on the HOTAS as well.

It is very heavy to use, requiring a decent amount of physical effort to move the stick and it will be a good workout. There is however pressure sensor mods that change the stick for 150euros on the market. Also there are complete gimbal replacement mods for better gimbal action for around 70-80euros.

You can find the Cougar on e-bay from 250 to 400euros.

 

[lex]

X52 pro served me well for several years, it's still alive.
I got X55 as upgrade, was truly disappointed in quality of manufacturing (lots of loose buttons/loosy throttle lock/etc) in two units, but i know @Tooterfish have unit without this defects.
Ended up getting warthog. It feels absolutely amazing, it's very precise... After i got it out of the box, i spent like 20 mins simply clicking switches with dumb smile on my face. Stick was very hard to move for first few days, but after week or so it started to feel more natural.

Oh, and warthog does not have rudder axis like X55 or X52, so after few weeks you will be looking for rudder pedals. That's 100-500$ depending on model.

So far, my recommendations, from cheapest to most expensive:
1) Logitech extreme 3d pro if you want stick
2) Thrustmaster HOTAS X if you want HOTAS for cheap
3) Saitek X52 Pro
4) HOTAS Warthog.

Also:
1) Logitech g940 (HOTAS with rudder pedals)
2) Saitek X-65F
3) Thrustmaster Hotas Cougar
All of them is great choice if you can find them, of course. They are not produced anymore.

There is also VKB stuff, ie https://flightsimcontrols.com/store/joysticks/vkb-fat-black-mamba-for-non-eu/ - those sticks are built by flight sim enthusiasts.

Haven't used CH stuff, they're hard to find where i live.

 

[Krystal LeChuck]

For people that are in need of rudder pedals but don't want to spend the extra cash, if you have a racing wheel with pedals you can use those together with a program called UJR to merge both pedals into one axis like a rudder.

 

[JaqHass]

Interesting though. I take it you have pedals then, chuck?

 

[Krystal LeChuck]

Interesting though. I take it you have pedals then, chuck?

Yeah I have a Thrustmaster Force Feedback RGT Pro set as well (with 3 pedals, adjustable) and I thought it would be silly to invest in rudder pedals as well and I also didn't want to have things taking up too much room under my desk.. It works real well with UJR. What the program does is that it basically allows you to create a virtual joystick with inputs from other game devices for its axes, and it also allows combining them into a single axis.

 

[JaqHass]

Sweet :). How is your experiance with diferent brands and series within diferent brands?

 

[Krystal LeChuck]

Sweet :). How is your experiance with diferent brands and series within diferent brands?

I've been using Thrustmaster since my very first "flightstick" on a 286 that I used for Chuck Yeager's Advanced Flight Simulator. I've had experience with the T1600 as well. All of their stuff that I've tried are built to outlive the user. I've also bought some cheap joysticks as quick replacements on various long trips that I went on. Some of them include Chinese OEM brands, Cyborg and others. They were all "decent". Joysticks are very simple devices to manufacture and are very difficult to break. Most of the times the problem will be a dirty pot or something that can be repaired with little to no effort if you have basic knowledge.
Were most cheap joysticks suffer is on gimbal design and spring tension. Cheap ones have very bad springs that tend to loosen too much with use. However nothing is stopping you from replacing said springs with better ones and make something great out of something cheap.
However I think I'm the worst person to ask since for me something isn't truly broken until it disintegrates...

 

[JaqHass]

Well that's good to know too. But i was refering to pedals.

 

[Frisbeerocker]

Are you going to be making video reviews, or just a text-based write-up of pros/cons for different sticks?

 

[Tortilla the Hun]

Who are these people and what planet are they from?

*slowly lowers raised hand*

Yeah, right? Heh...

>.>

More on topic, after doing some light reading, I'm tempted to find a decent one for cheap to at least try out.