CH Products

[lqcorsa]

I was wondering if anybody's used any of the CH Joysticks. I'm thinking about getting rid of this X-52 and moving to something a little more comfortable, but I'm not quite ready to spend the money on a Cougar. The only problem with CH, is I'd have to buy Throttle + Stick + Rudder Pedals. This is the 2nd or 3rd X-52 after taking it back twice for wires shorting out, and even this one has problems. The rudder twist is so sketchy, and freaks out when you move it, that its pretty much useless... Saitek :nono:

I'm also working on a mod for my X-52 spring though, made out of a blank CD case cover. It squashes the spring down some, adding tension to it. You can add more rings on to increase tension further, and visa versa.

[Cali]

I have CH Fighterstick, throttle and pedals...I couldn't be any happier. I have had them for about 6 years and they work like I just took them out of the box! I would recommend them to anyone. Before I had them I had a X45 and after 6 months of use the spring started getting loose. The CH programming software is outstanding, you can do anything with it. A friend of mine Rugg is a pro at it,

The cougar looks nice and I have never had one so I can't comment on that. If I had the cash I'd buy one and compare it to the CH stuff.

[Juggernaut]

Hi,

I had the gameport version and now the USB versions of the CH fighterstick pro and throttle (and now the USB rudders too).

Going on 9 years with CH products and not a single problem with them at all - ever. No spiking at all.

I have used two new Cougars, and while they feel awesome because they are metal, they both had problems with spiking and random "inaccurate" inputs. There is an upgrade for the cougar that is very expensive and eliminates the problems of the boxed version that many (but not all) people have.

Go for the CH - you would not regret it.

I hope this helps,
Juggernaut

[T_Flight]

I've got all the CH stuff. 2 years ago I bought the CH FS USB, Pro Throttle, and pro pedals. I started to gro tired of the throttle. It is not a rotary type throttle. It is a slide type with very short throw. It doesn't have the afterburner or idle detents. It also is missin gthe range and elevation knobs which is required if you plan to do "burn throughs" of jammer contacts. It also did not have a uncage button since the manual range knob is nonexistent.

I recently bought the Cougar HOTAS, and have not been happier. It is missing nothing, becasue it is a totaly scale piece of hardware. It has the all the stuff that I listed above that was missing from the CH. I could not see going back after getting this Cougar. I have done a few minor mods to it, but none of them were expensive. Total price of the mods was exactly $0.00. All it cost me was some time, a spring I had laying around, some plastic name tag material, some clear packing tape, and some grease. I also had to rotate my speed brake switch so that it slid properly.

I have experienced no spiking, and the pots are just as precise as my CH was. In fact, the spec on the pots in the have 10's of thousands of positioons to them, and they feel totaly smooth to me. I've done a mnaual calibration and have noticed no spiking at all. Spiking is caused by dirty or worn out pots. They can be removed, disassembled, and cleaned if you know how, then reassembled with just a few household tools.

Later on I plan to either buy an Uber NXT or a FSSB mod for it, but it's not required by no means. Thrust master will work with customers if they have an issue just like CH will. You can get the parts you need to keep them going. The only parts for the COugar that cannot be replaced are the metal parts of the handles and the cases, and the knobs. Everything esle is available. Youi can get new gimbals even.

If you want a HOTAS that truly has it all, there is only one. I've flown every other stick there is with the exception of the Saitek products, and there is simply no other stick I've been able to find that has all the switches, knobs and fubnctions exactly as they should be. If you are flying an F16 the Cougar HOTAS is a dead wringer! It even makes a darned good F22 stick though not exact. The Cougar even has a functional AP Paddle! No Plastic!!! Every HAT and Button is metal.

Making this post has made me want to go fly, so see 'ya guys. I'm off to the server to pound the ground, and spalsh any Mig's that get in my way! :thumb:

Price for my Cougar was 180 dollars. Price for my CH stick and Throttle was 220 dollars. The Cougar was actually less. I use the CH Pedals still for my rudder.

[lqcorsa]

I also had to rotate my speed brake switch so that it slid properly.

What do you mean by this? How was it sliding incorectly before?


If you are flying an F16 the Cougar HOTAS is a dead wringer!

I am indeed flying the F-16 as a Falcon 4.0 ace, but I also enjoy occasionaly taking a bus across the pond in Microsoft's sim. Therefor, if I wanted to spend hundreds of dollars, I might as well just buy a yoke, and keep my Saitek, right? :red:


Price for my Cougar was 180 dollars.


How on earth did you get one so cheap? They sell on Ebay for roughly $240, and that doesn't even include the rudder pedals and mods I'll have to buy!

[T_Flight]

The switch itself inside the handle was offset 30 degrees to the spd brk slider thus making it very hard to slide. i was aware this could be an issue on some stiocks when I got it, and it turtned out to be an easy fix. It's an actual switch inside there. Basically a toggle. The slide, slides the toggle, but the toggle was offset slightly and wasn't "paralell to the throw.

Don't know on the Yoke and all of that. I've been focusing on fighters myself. MSFS would be cool with a Yoke. I masy get back into MSFS after I build my new system. I wanna try FSX. All the previous versions have had very unrealistic flight models. The Extra 300, and the "Patty" Extra 300S is very bad. I'm hoping FSX will be alot better but I need more computer for it. The mods for the Cougar are not required. I did have tio fix those couple of things I talked about earlier, but there are no expensive mods that you *have* to buy for the Cougar. They are nice to have, but definitely not required. I am flying mine with stock gimbals. I greased up the stick gimbal and fixed the spd brk switch, and that was basically it.

Actually, I got mine off Ebay. Lemme go dig up the guy I got it from. He had 22 of the HOTAS setups when I bought mine. I'll post another post with the buisness "handle" he uses on Ebay. I'm going right now to do that. :smile:

[T_Flight]

The seller was okland06 and he currently has no listings for sale on them.

Guess I got a heck of a deal. Might wanna surf around the next few days. Prices do tend to fluctuate there.

The total price I paid was exactly 181.99, plus the shipping. It is heavy. The thing weighs about 20 pounds...no exaggeration, it really does.

I didn't factor in the rudder pedal price, because I had to buy those anyway. I bought the CH pedals, and am still using them, but if I had to buy a comnplete setup, I'd still have to buy the rudder pedals.

When I got into combat flight simming, I bought the full deal. HOTAS, Pedals, TIR 4, VAC, a good headset. Then I bought the new Cougar off Ebay. I've also flown with a cheapy Logitech stick, and a MS Sidewinder Gameport version back around MSFS 98 timeframe.

The reason I got the Cougar, was because it was totally scale. I knew I'd be flying F16's alot for a long time to come. I knew there was some little things about the Cougar that need attending to (note I said *little* things). Later I plan to go with one of the mods, but I'll be flying it stock until I wear the Gimbal out, and that will be a while. So far it has about 100 hours of actual flying on it, and still is flying great. Those are logged hours in Falcon 4:AF. Those are just the online hours flying MP on the server. I'd have to go back into my other logbook to see the rest and I can't remember how much practice time that includes flying SP.

[Cali]

I've got all the CH stuff. 2 years ago I bought the CH FS USB, Pro Throttle, and pro pedals. I started to gro tired of the throttle. It is not a rotary type throttle. It is a slide type with very short throw. It doesn't have the afterburner or idle detents. It also is missin gthe range and elevation knobs which is required if you plan to do "burn throughs" of jammer contacts. It also did not have a uncage button since the manual range knob is nonexistent.

I recently bought the Cougar HOTAS, and have not been happier. It is missing nothing, becasue it is a totaly scale piece of hardware. It has the all the stuff that I listed above that was missing from the CH. I could not see going back after getting this Cougar. I have done a few minor mods to it, but none of them were expensive. Total price of the mods was exactly $0.00. All it cost me was some time, a spring I had laying around, some plastic name tag material, some clear packing tape, and some grease. I also had to rotate my speed brake switch so that it slid properly.

I have experienced no spiking, and the pots are just as precise as my CH was. In fact, the spec on the pots in the have 10's of thousands of positioons to them, and they feel totaly smooth to me. I've done a mnaual calibration and have noticed no spiking at all. Spiking is caused by dirty or worn out pots. They can be removed, disassembled, and cleaned if you know how, then reassembled with just a few household tools.

Later on I plan to either buy an Uber NXT or a FSSB mod for it, but it's not required by no means. Thrust master will work with customers if they have an issue just like CH will. You can get the parts you need to keep them going. The only parts for the COugar that cannot be replaced are the metal parts of the handles and the cases, and the knobs. Everything esle is available. Youi can get new gimbals even.

If you want a HOTAS that truly has it all, there is only one. I've flown every other stick there is with the exception of the Saitek products, and there is simply no other stick I've been able to find that has all the switches, knobs and fubnctions exactly as they should be. If you are flying an F16 the Cougar HOTAS is a dead wringer! It even makes a darned good F22 stick though not exact. The Cougar even has a functional AP Paddle! No Plastic!!! Every HAT and Button is metal.

Making this post has made me want to go fly, so see 'ya guys. I'm off to the server to pound the ground, and spalsh any Mig's that get in my way! :thumb:

Price for my Cougar was 180 dollars. Price for my CH stick and Throttle was 220 dollars. The Cougar was actually less. I use the CH Pedals still for my rudder.

Rugg told me how to make a AB detent which works great. All you need is a small piece of velcro and it works like a charm. I have heard many horrors stories from cougar owners, but like I said if I had the cash I would buy one.

[Frederf]

I have an X-45. If you want something better than an X-52 the only thing really is a Cougar.

I have the CH yoke and it's pretty fun for civil aircraft, would recommend if you want your joysticks to have more "breadth" than "depth."

Why does having a Cougar require their pedals? Can't you just use a Couger Stick+Throttle and still use your old CH Pedals?

[ruggbutt]

I have 5 CH controllers and after 4 1/2 years of constant use they're still as good as they were when I opened the box. Not only that but the stick software is bar none the best available. You can do so much more with it than with SST or Foxy (I know, I've owned both Saitek and TM).

For those of you who want an afterburner detent on your CH throttle, click this link (http://www.ch-hangar.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3392&highlight=afterburner+detent).

[Cobra]

has anyone used a Cougar with CH software?

what would need to be done to make it work?

have the best of both worlds ... that kick ass metal feeling with run by the best software!

:smile:

[Cali]

Cobra, I don't think it's possible, unless someone changes the insides to CH stuff.

[Cobra]

that's what i thought.

has anyone done it .. thought of doing it?

with all the mods available i thought maybe someone had a crack at doing this.

:smile:

[Buckshot]

I've never played with CH, but from what I understood the Foxy software is far more capable due to it's programming and scripting capabilities, just not as user-friendly as CH, if that is true, I don't think anyone would want to use CH over Foxy?

[T_Flight]

Yeah, that's basically it. I'm not aware of anything that you can't do with a Cougar and it's Foxy Softare that you can do with a CH. The software is way way more involved in Foxy though.

CH is easier to understand. Foxy takes a little longer to learn. There is a ton of info out there on both of these products though.

The reason I switched was becasue of the Scale Throttle on the Cougar. I wanted the functions where they were in the actual F16. ANother reason was I wanted a setup that the majority of the guys I flew with were familiar with. When you say "Jagstang Profile" ina TS Flight Channel you can get an instant response of "Yes I have flown that profile and am familiar with it".

I still have both my CH and My Kitty. I have not sold my CH and won't. It is a good HOTAS and still is. There is nothing at all wrong with the CH. It's just that I wanted things a certain way, and realistic and the Kitty had all of that.

The Cougar is a completely Scale metal F16 HOTAS. Even the labeling is there. Every detail right down to the AP Paddle, and the two step trigger.

[ruggbutt]

I've never played with CH, but from what I understood the Foxy software is far more capable due to it's programming and scripting capabilities, just not as user-friendly as CH, if that is true, I don't think anyone would want to use CH over Foxy?
The same gentlemen (Bob Church) that wrote Foxy is doing CH's software. Trust me when I say this: CH is more capable and it's ever evolving. You can do more with CH than you can with Foxy. Foxy is being kept alive by James Hallows but the difference he and Bob are night and day. Bob is the original and he's an amazing coder as well as an incredible human being. I got to spend two days with him at E3!