CH Products - Question regarding map creation using....

[Cruachan 705]

CH Control Manager.This appears to be a useful utility. I don't know about the rest of you but I am finding it hard to understand how best to use it.My controllers are the Flightstick, the 3-levered Flight Sim Yoke and the Pro Pedals. All work fine simply by plugging into a USB port. Windows XP supplies the drivers. They are calibrated for use in FS2002 using FSUIPC.I have 2 USB ports installed on a FRONTX Panel that sits in an unused bay on the front of my desktop unit - very useful as it saves all that guddling around the back.What I would like to do is have my pedals connected permanently in a rear USB port but I have found that their presence interferes in games that do not need rudder input and this effectively renders the Fighterstick unusable. Disconnection of the pedals resolves the problem but it would be nice not to have to each time - wear and tear on the port connectors and all that.From what I can gather the CH Control Manager should allow me to create maps which may or may not include the pedals in the combo. By that I mean I could have, for example, a map for the Fighterstick + Pedals and a map for the Fighterstick on its own (without having to unplug the pedals). This sounds fine in theory but in practice I haven't been able to get it to work. It may be what I want to achieve is not possible or maybe I just don't understand fully how the whole thing works. So, any help would be appreciated.My other query relates to FSUIPC. If I calibrate my devices through CH Control Manager (which currently I am not using) would this interfere with any calibration done through FSUIPC or will FSUIPC simply override any other calibration settings? Needless to say I prefer to continue using the calibration settings arrived at using FSUIPC.Thanks.Mike :-wave

[spotlope 0]

Hi Mike,Your basic assumption is correct. CH Control Manager allows you to create sets of controllers and map their functions for use in specific sims or games. If you don't include a certain controller in a set, its input will be ignored. The two things you must be sure of are:1. Make sure you have mapping enabled (one of the buttons on the top bar of control manager)2. Make sure once you load a controller set you activate that mapping using the green arrow button on the Control Manager button bar. Otherwise nothing will happen.Also, Control Manager allows for basic controller calibration. You may have to fiddle with your FSUIPC calibrations occasionally (I do) but by and large I set my calibration in Control Manager and then forget it for long periods of time. Every now and then I have to do a little tweak in FSUIPC, but those settings tend to stay put.Hope that helps!

[Cruachan 705]

Hi Bill,Thanks for your helpful response. Will the Control Manager allow me to have all 3 controller devices connected permanently?Am I correct in assuming all I have to do is enable the appropriate mapping, after creation, for a device combo to work.I would like to create the following controller virtual devices:1. Fighterstick on its own (#1)2. Fighterstick + pedals (#2)3. Yoke + Pedals (#3)If the selected "Control Manager Device #1, 2 or 3" has its map enabled will it be the only device listed in Game Controllers even though I will still have all 3 devices connected through their respective USB ports?I know I still have a problem with an R/C controller which is not USB and connects via the sound card's gameport. I don't think this can be mapped as a virtual device using the Control Manager. It still works fine with the R/C sim so long as I disconnect the other devices. I guess I can live with that.Mike

[spotlope 0]

Basically, yes. That's exactly how it works. The one limitation (and you seem to know this already) is that it only works with CH products. I've got a FighterStick, Yoke, Pedals and a Pro Throttle all connected all the time, and have several mappings that are a lot like the ones you mention. It's really a rather cool bit of software!

[Guest RonB49]

Hi Mike,When I first got my CH USB yoke and pedels I had fits trying to use them with the Control Manager. Even using the Windows drivers alone would sometimes give unpredictable results. Upon advice from someone in this forum, I downloaded a program generically called Clear Controller. It is a small executable (exe) file that goes out, finds, and deletes leftover game controllers and/or controller artifacts from previously used joysticks, etc. If it doesn't find anything it doesn't do anything. I ran it once and it cured all of my problems.Perhaps someone remembers what the name is and where to find it. If not, let me know and I'll look around my harddrive for it. R-

[Cruachan 705]

Hi Ron, BillThanks both for the feedback.Regarding the 'Clear Controller' proggie I suspect this may be a dead end for me as I have only ever used the 4 controller devices with my 'XP Home' based system:3 devices are USB and have only ever used the drivers installed by Windows. I did not even attempt to install drivers that came on the CH Products CDs along with their respective controllers. There seemed to be no need as Windows came up trumps so effectively this time with its supplied drivers :)My 4th controller driver is caled RealFlight_ControllerW2K and this has to be loaded each time I use my dummy Futaba Skysport controller (connected permanently to the gameport). After a session I find I have to remove the driver from the Game Controller Applet to avoid interference with the USB devices. Only takes a moment so no big deal.Mike

[Cruachan 705]

:-wave

[Guest]

I tried to use the CH controller software because I hear it is a very powerful tool in assigning various commands to various controls but was unable to use it because it kept readjusting all the settings on my USB cordless mouse. I finally gave up after resetting the mouse everytime I used the computer over a period of a few days only to find it set to a totally different speed and orientation when I next tried to use it. Deleting the CH Control Software and reloading the Mouse drivers was the only thing that would bring it back to being stable. Too bad because I really wanted to assign some extra functions in my cockpit.http://www.ktone.org/images/FSD_ken.jpg