Ruggbutt

The link I had in my original post is no longer active. I bought it as a refurb for $51.00.

Have a Happy Birthday.

The last Saitek product I owned was an X-45. The software has changed also so I'm not familiar with it.

Correct.

In FC control panel look at the column that represents your X-52 HOTAS. Remove all keyboard commands from that column. By default DX (Direct X) keys are assigned to the buttons on your HOTAS. Then re-map your buttons however you like. Are you using the SST software?

What a brave little man. S!

May god bless you!

Since we're all waiting for DCS: Warthog I've been collecting new gear for my pit. I checked out the Genovation 35 key. Retail is $129 on these buggers and I thought that was a bit much, till I found the site I just linked you to where they're selling refurbished models. Almost 1/3 the price. You program them with the software and you plug them in. The keybinds are programmed into memory within the keypad itself. No software running in the background. I removed all the plastic key caps and plugged in my deluxe thermal label maker and put symbols on all the keys. It'll work!

Since we're all waiting for DCS: Warthog I've been collecting new gear for my pit. I checked out the Genovation 35 key. Retail is $129 on these buggers and I thought that was a bit much, till I found the site I just linked you to where they're selling refurbished models. Almost 1/3 the price. You program them with the software and you plug them in. The keybinds are programmed into memory within the keypad itself. No software running in the background. I removed all the plastic key caps and plugged in my deluxe thermal label maker and put symbols on all the keys. It'll work!

HBD! I don't even think I remember my 30th. I was hammered.

It's really fun. I have an FPS squad I play with and we're having a blast. Already maxed out my main character so I started on a new one.

I do too! The thing is, CH has their act together. They may not have the newest and the shiniest hardware on the market but they work. Every time. I had a "negative" that I didn't put in the review as it wasn't pertinent enough to include. It was more of a wish list in that I'd love to see a split throttle. I've been eyeballing the newest release from TM but I don't want to drop $500 for hardware that's ending up DOA within the first month of use. I've been burned by TM and their Cougar once before. And even if I wasn't hearing reports of their new HOTAS throttle dying I'd still have an issue with their software. I've seen screenshots of task manager where some people are reporting 1.5 gigs of memory usage (spiking) with the software. That's unacceptable to me and I have 12 gigs of RAM in my gaming machine. How much memory does CH Control Manager use (and I should have put this in my review)? 8mb when the GUI is open. When you're done with the programming and "downloading" your profile? None! Nada, zip, zilch!!!! See what I mean about CH having their act together? The fact of the matter is that bar none CH's software stands head and shoulders above anything else out there. Bob Church was on top of things when 64 bit drivers needed to be released. Then Vista drivers. Then Win 7 drivers. You'll find that the folks at CH care about their product and supporting it. As an aside I fly Flaming Cliffs 2 and I'm flying the new DCS A-10 beta. I have awesome profiles for both and I don't feel I have to upgrade to new hardware when I can do anything I can imagine doing with CH's software. When you combine that with hardware that doesn't die it's a no-brainer. And for the price of what people are paying for the new TM HOTAS I can get a CH Fighterstick, Pro Throttle and Pro Pedals, have shipping paid for and enough left over to buy 3 brand new copies of DCS A-10. That's value.

Yes you can. You can install CH Control Manager and map the throttle however you like.

Merry Christmas to all who participate. For those that don't, it's Festivus for the rest of us.

Looks to me like a test. They were asked to eval the platoon. The DI's did what they do.

No doubt! You still get the blame for "making" me buy the DT225. I love that thing.

I reviewed the G940. You'll notice what I'm still running in my pit................

HOTAS Hands On Throttle And Stick. The HOTAS can do many important functions in the cockpit without having to look down. It's how fighter pilots control their aircraft while keeping their heads out of their cockpit, increasing their situational awareness. It decreases workload. How can that help the virtual pilot? As computers get more powerful flight sims are becoming more complicated to navigate in. Even the most simple of flight sims has dozens of commands that need to be chosen quickly. There's an urgency. Looking down at your keyboard and remembering the right sequence comes only with lots of virtual flight hours under your belt. Many of us have a "cheat sheet" we rely on because time can be of the essence in a virtual dogfight. There are several offerings of HOTAS available to us flight simmers. Some are inexpensive and some are (IMHO) overpriced and over-hyped. You can buy a joystick for as low as $30 or spend $600 or more on an old design heavily modified by aftermarket offerings. I'm going to review a tried and true design that has had longevity in the market for at least a decade. I'll explain the capabilities of the software as well, a good HOTAS isn't just a pretty piece of hardware. CH Products CH Products is located in Vista, California. It's literally in the shadow of Camp Pendleton. I say this because it's a product that's made in the U.S.A. They've competed with products produced cheaper elsewhere and still are a driving force in the market. There are several reasons why this is, and I'll get more into detail about that later. One thing that most people don't realize is that CH also produces joysticks for real aircraft. They produce commerical controllers for industry as well. If you've played a video game with some kind of joystick controller in an arcade you've most likely had your hands on CH Products. Requesting units for Evaluation I contacted Debby McDowell at CH Products and requested a Fighterstick and Pro Throttle for evaluation. The response was quick and a request back for my home address. I received the Fighterstick (FS) and Pro Throttle (PT) within a few days. That is by far the quickest I've ever received a unit for evaluation, including some that I paid for with my credit card! I'd like to say that I've heard that CH is on top of things customer related. I've had experience with CH Products in the past so it's much more than something I've heard. I've experienced it. More on that later. My history with CH I own several CH Controllers, the FS and PT being two of them. I'm a member of CH Products forums, the CH Hangar. I've uploaded profiles for the community as well as providing custom graphics for those that have purchased one of CH's MFP units. As a CH owner I've found the CH Hangar (or to us cool kids: The Hangar) to be one of the best resources available for programming the CH controllers. Since I've had my current CH HOTAS for 6 years I thought long and hard about what was the best way to do a review for CH Products. I've gone through more joysticks and HOTAS than I can shake a stick at. Some lasting only months. Unpacking I opened the boxes with the new controllers and found that nothing had changed with the packaging. It was the same as mine had been 6 years ago. I double checked to be sure, I still have my original CH Products boxes. The controllers haven't changed in appearance. They look identical to the ones I own. Software - CH Control Manager CH Products isn't just about hardware. A good HOTAS has programmable software that will allow you to customize which button/hat sends which commands to your game. CH's sofware is called Control Manager (CM). It's an extremely versatile software that allows the user to do everything from programming simple keystrokes and macros to full blown scripting of how your CH Products controller operates. Any new software can be overwhelming to the new user. I've helped out countless people over the years who had questions about how to do this or that with CH Control Manager. I've also been the guy who needed help and guidance. I found it at The Hangar. Bob Church, the creator of Control Manager was often one of the guys who answered my questions. He would carefully explain how and why things worked the way they did. He also offered scripting examples. If you dowload one of my profiles at The Hangar you'll see I have heavily scripted my controllers and Bob is just one of the guys there that has helped me learn how to use Control Manager. There are a few others as well, and I feel I have to name them by name: Ken "Ghost" King, Ulf, Michael CH (he works for them) and Revvin (who is the owner of The Hangar) are just a few. The answers always came quickly. Some answers I got in an hour or two. The worlds record for the longest wait (for me) was 18 hours! I've never seen this kind of tech support from anyone, regardless of whether they make shoes or computer gear. Where else can you talk to the guy who wrote the software? I dare say, nowhere. Except The Hangar......... It's time for some examples of what scripting can do for you. Some don't fully understand what scripting is, so I'll give you the quick and the dirty. With scripting you can make a controller do something that isn't programmed for in the sim. For instance, I fly fast movers (jets) in the sims I own. I can't count how many times I'd forgotten to drop my airbrake over the years. That is, until I learned about scripting. I now have a script running in CH Control Manager that will automatically drop my airbrake if I move the throttle all the way forward. No more flying around in afterburner at 350 knots wondering what the heck is wrong with my jet..........Another example, programmed countermeasures: The main sim I fly has offerings of chaff, flare or chaff/flare on a toggle. I wanted something more along the lines of what the real jets can do so I scripted my Control Manager profile so that I can release a set amount of countermeasures in a set amount of time. One setting is 4 pairs of flares, one second apart. Instead of having to program the flare button and press it myself 4 times, I have it scripted so that once 4 pairs are dropped in the correct spacing the script stops. I also have another hat switch programmed that will release 4 pairs of flares and 4 chaff bundles 100 milliseconds apart. I start the sequence and it automatically stops. In the sim I fly when using wheel brakes there's only off and on for brakes. I have a script for that as well. When I press the wheel brakes on my CH Pro Pedals I get the equivalent of pressure sensitive braking. I press the brakes down 1/4 of the way and the script sends the wheel brake command 10 times a second to the game. I press halfway down it sends the command 15 times a second. 3/4 of the way, 20x a second and if I press the pedals all the way it sends the braking command constantly, as if I'd locked up the brakes. "I don't care about scripting" What about those people who don't want to mess around with scripting, what can Control Manager do for them? There's plenty. Control Manager by default has DX (Direct X) commands mapped, so you can program just a few buttons/hats while using default mapping for the sims you fly. You don't have to install Control Manager if you don't want to, the CH Products controllers are plug and play. You'll want to install Control Manager, trust me. You'll also want to peruse the fantastic Control Manager for Dummies guide that Ken "Ghost" King created. It's available on The Hangar. There are several different ways to program your hardware. You can use a CMC file for example. A CMC file is a text document that has all the available commands for your game/sim. You create a new profile by choosing from a list what hardware you have and you assign the CMC file to that profile. You can then pull down commands from the CMC file and assign them to the button/hat of your choosing. Say that flaps down is CTRL F, you don't have to remember that when you're programming. You choose the hat or button you want to program, right click and choose "Flaps Down" from the list of commands. You can download a CMC file for just about any sim made, they're all at The Hangar. You can also right click and choose to record your keystrokes and hit your control and f keys. You can also choose a "List Mode" to program your commands. Let's say you want to use your castle hat-right to send a zoom command, but your sim has two (or more) levels of zoom. Program them one at a time in List Mode. The castle hat right with repeated key presses will scroll through all your zoom levels and back to no zoom if you like. It couldn't be easier and with all the help available at The Hangar you'll be up and running in no time. Installation Installing Control Manager is a cinch. Go to the CH Products website and download the newest version Control Manager. They don't provide a CD with the software because often it will be an older version as Bob Church updates Control Manager regularly. You can run Control Manager with XP, Vista, Windows 7 in both 32 and 64 bit. Control Manager was first retail sim controller software to be available for the new OS platforms. CH and Bob are about leaving no customer left out. To install the software make sure your controllers are unplugged. Install the software and follow the prompts. Drivers will be installed. Then plug in the hardware. If you're using a USB Hub make sure you're using a powered hub. I'm running 5 CH controllers off of a 7 port Belkin powered hub and they never lose power. Once you've plugged in your controllers more drivers will be installed. You'll get confirmation that your hardware was installed correctly. Hardware CH's Fighterstick and ProThrottle are made of a glass filled polymer. Some folks call it "plastic" but that's like saying a Ferrari is just a car. Remember earlier when I told you that CH makes joysticks for real aircraft? It's not just "plastic" folks. I've dropped my Fighterstick several times from counter top height to the tile floor. There was no damage to the stick. CH uses quality parts in their controllers. They use high end pots (potentiometers) and switches rated for an extremely high amount of cycles. Don't let the word "pots" scare you away. Some of the competition likes to tout the fact that they're using "Hall Effect Sensors" in their hardware. They say that Hall Sensors are more "accurate" than pots. Maybe cheapie pots...... I have a 1961 Fender Stratocaster guitar. I played as a professional musician for 13 years and not once have I had to replace a pot in my Strat. That's because Fender used quality pots in the construction of that guitar. CH uses quality pots as well. There's no way they'd have survived 6 years of my abuse if they didn't. I used to own an X-45 HOTAS. At the time CompUSA sold warranties on them for about $25. It's a good thing I bought the warranty because I went through 3 of them in a year. Their cheapie pots kept dying on me. CH is more than just tough on the outside, it's about tough on the inside as well. Once in a while their hardware breaks. I've seen people post at The Hangar asking how to warranty their hardware. Often a warranty rep will handle that right from the forums at The Hangar. If you need to speak to a rep you can reach him on the phone. There's very little time left on hold when you call. They want to help you, they don't treat it like a chore. And their warranty? Two years!!! There's no other HOTAS manufacturer out there that offers that kind of warranty. Old v New, Calibration Test I mulled over what's the best way to show prospective customers how reliable CH Products are. There are plenty of people who post at The Hangar that have had their controllers for years. I picked my brain for several weeks before I came up with the (obvious) answer! I requested a pair of brand new controllers that I would pit against my 6 year old controllers. I hadn't handled a new CH Fighterstick/Pro Throttle for many years so I was excited when my new package arrived. My criteria for comparison would be simple: I would test each controller side by side against each other for "feel". I wanted to test dead zones, spring resistance, etc between old and new. Then I would plug both in, run a calibration test on them and check the pots for spiking. In CH Control Manager when you calibrate you move your controller and the movement is shown not only in a digital graph but by numerical value. The value range is from 0-255. For example, when the Fighterstick is centered, at rest both X and Y value is 128. In moving the controllers to each extreme I moved as slow as possible to see if there was any spiking or "skipping" of the numerical values, which would show wear or damage to the pots. For the "feel" test I kept it simple: I wore a blindfold and my girlfriend swapped out controllers (several times) to see if I could feel the difference between my gear and the new test examples. Test Results I was mildly surprised at the results. For the "feel" test I couldn't tell the difference between my Fighterstick and the new Fighterstick. The same results occurred for the Pro Throttle. I had (incorrectly) guessed that the new gear would feel "tighter". There was literally no difference! Under the calibration tests both old and new performed identically. All pots went from minimum to maximum (0-255) with no spiking or skipping of values. For all intents and purposes there was no difference between old and new. This will surprise many of you. I'm used to offerings from other manufacturers that just don't hold up. I had a Cougar last 6 months before I needed replacement parts. I went thru 3 X-45's in a year. I've owned just about all of the joysticks available and CH Products are the first controllers that have 1) been used constantly for 6 years 2) that still work! To be fair, I got about 3 1/2 years out of my old Microsoft Sidewinder and it was still working last time I plugged it in. When comparing modern releases CH exceeds the reliability of everything else out there. As far as I know, this is the first test of it's kind and CH wins it hands down! Final Thoughts When I originally purchased my CH Gear I was fed up with my previous controllers not working when I expected them to. CH was roughly the same price as the several other offerings and I thought I'd give them a chance. I heard other CH owners speaking positively about them so I jumped in head first. I consider myself fortunate that the events laid out as they did. I've come to love CH and Control Manager and the fact that I can do absolutely anything I like with the software. I can speak to Bob Church directly on The Hangar regarding programming questions. Bob helped me out with a script not a month ago. No where in any flight sim community will you be able to speak not only to the software creator, but people like Debby and Michael who are instrumental in the every day operations of CH Products. Never have I seen customer service managers do their job sometimes as a result of a forum thread. These things are more common than not and they all happen on The Hangar. When you take all of these positives and add them up, you have a company who delivers a product that is superior to anything else available. The CH Community is amazing and way back when I was a newbie who had no clue about programming there was a forum dedicated to helping someone just like me. 6 years later nothing has changed, the new CH owner can post his concerns and have all his questions answered. Bang for the buck CH Controllers are WIN! They're moderately priced and made in the U.S.A. You'll find no cheapie chinese electronics inside. This cannot be said about every other option from other manufacturers. You can pay $500 retail for some of these controllers and there have already been unacceptable failure rates along with software that's unfinished. Buy CH. It works. Every time. I'd like to thank Debby for sending me the eval CH gear. Michael (CH), Bob Church, Ulf (and ex-Cougar guy) and Ghost 531 for all their help past, present and future for all their scripting help. Be sure to check out Ghost's "CH for Dummies Guide", it's a must read. Last but not least Revvin deserves a huge thanks for creating and keeping The Hangar up and running for the community. Other Products CH also offers two different kinds of yokes, Throttle Quadrant, Pro Pedals, MFP (Multi Function Panel), several other joysticks, and DT225 Trackball. The trackball is amazing, I use it for my radar and targeting cursor in game.

Amber Lamps.

It's replacing a Core2Duo e8500 rig, 4 gigs of OCZ Reaper RAM that's overclocked to 3.91ghz on air. The couple of parts that aren't shown in the pic below are the X-Fi Titanium, 150 gig Raptor and 1 tb Caviar Black (32mb cache). I already have it put together with Win 7 installed, it boots into the OS insanely fast. Still have to tie the cables down and clean up the inside of the case then it's on to overclocking. I've also disabled the paging file, no need for it with 12 gigs of RAM.

Crytek=Great gaming engines and really crappy story lines

Since I've written the story some things have changed. I have my Obutto back. I've spent the better part of a week (nights only) putting my "new" pit together. I have a lot of gear, and I decided (for the time being) to implement only what I'm using right now. So that means the touchscreens have gone. Maybe not forever but for now I don't miss them. Here's a shot of the new pit and I'll explain how I've modified it with common items that you can get from any hardware store. I happen to be competent with tools and have metal working experience but what I've done here most anyone can do with a few tools and some patience. And a night shot, I fly in the dark: The first thing I wanted to do was to incorporate my 46" Samsung. I purchased a wall TV mount for the Sammy as I figured that was the best way to mount the unit. It turns out that the TV was a little farther away than I wanted it to be so I went to plan B. I decided to use the wall mount and attach it to the existing TV mount that came with the Obutto. It turned out that using the existing mount made the TV too close, so I came up with another solution. I turned the TV mount around backwards. It was useless as a TV mount at this point but it's a fantastic mount for my powered USB hub and the interface for my lighting system. A bit of velcro stuck those nicely out of the way but easily accessable. I decided to drill directly into the uprights for the monitor mount that Obutto provided. I recommend buying a nice hardened bit for steel. I killed a couple of light duty bits. I then decided that I wanted to mount my trackball underneath my CH Pro Throttle. In my old pit it was directly to the left but when I placed it underneath the stick I found it was a bit easier to reach. I picked up a couple of stiffener plates (used for housing trusses), the correct size drill bits and some metal self tapping screws. After fitting the parts I primed and painted them and set them aside to dry. I fitted another plate directly behind the one the trackball was to be mounted on. This would hold one of my X-Keys Pro units. I did all the drilling and fitting, painted and primed that as well. I installed the parts the next day and with several strips of industrial grade velcro (sourced from Home Depot, it's in aisle with the screws). I also purchased and L shaped bracket (used for mounting posts to concrete) primed, painted and attached to the keyboard tray. This holds my CH Throttle Quadrant. As a note, I didn't purchase the Lexan table top from Obutto so I had to figure out a compromise. The keyboard tray that comes with it mounts on a swing arm and you mount it right or left handed. Since both the throttle and the CH Fighterstick would be in the way of the swing action of the keyboard tray, it was essentially an "extra" part. I turned it around backwards and screwed it into the mount that holds the racing wheel (or flight yoke) and now I had an adjustable keyboard tray that is rock solid. I'd like to mention that when getting in and out of the pit I use the edge of the tray to push on as I exit and it's rock solid. A tribute to Obutto as I only modified what sat on top of it. Here's a shot of the left side of my pit. In the picture above you'll notice a round black and silver unit mounted low on the frame of the Obutto. It's my Buttkicker, you can read my review here in case you missed it. I've stated before I have cable management issues. I purchased a whole bunch of different sizes of split loom (1/4"/1/2"/3/4"/1") and covered the usb cables from my controllers. The split loom also hides the wires from the lighting. It makes for a clean and industrial looking installation that suits itself well to the no-nonsense look of the Obutto. You'll notice that black zip ties play a prominent role as well. Right side pit: Overhead shot so you can see placement of all my controllers. Everything is in there nice and cozy, just like in a real cockpit. Logitech Z-680 sub and 300 watt Buttkicker power amp. The lighting for my pit consists of puck type LED lights that are sold at stores like Home Depot for under the cabinet lighting. I bought the more expensive LEDs as they use much less power than a halogen or incandescent light. The fact that LEDs run cool is the main reason I chose them though. Can't have hot lights melting my controllers or burning my skin. I hope ya'll like my new pit. It's amazing to fly with. Everything is in the perfect place and the Obutto chair is just plain comfortable. As you've seen in this thread the Obutto can be configured for each individual's tastes and needs. I can't stress how impressed I am with this unit.

No way this is ready for Christmas.

Wow.