CH Throttle Quadrant & Pedals - Settings?

[larshgf 2]

Hi,I have installed the CH Throttle Quadrant in order to be able to control propeller, throttle and mixer for left and right engine independently. First i calibrated via FS9 but my two left handles (= X and Y axis for propeller control) made a "jump" in the upper field. This was fixed when I installed CH Control Manager and used the calibrating tool in this program.Now I have this problem with the two leftmost handles ((= X and Y axis for propeller control) that when flying I want to reduce RPM to - for instance - 2050 RPM the needles of the 2 engines do not follow each other allthough I move the handles absolutely toghether. It's kind

[rambow 0]

Hi Lars,When I first got my CH Throttle Quadrant about a year ago, it had me tearing my hair out - and I don't have a lot of that to spare! What finally straightened me out and got me flying straight was a Power Point Presentation I found on the CH site. It led me step-by-step through the process of setting up my Quad/Yoke/Pedals to work together perfectly - and it did not use the Control Manager to do it. Everything was done directly inside FS2004. Worked like a charm. The really peculiar thing is the so-called help desk people at CH seem to know very little about it, and depending on who you are talking to, very little about FS either! This slide show was also incredibly hard to find on their site. I don't know if that has changed, but I doubt it.After I had things working smoothly, I tried to help another user via numerous e-mail exchanges through this process with the PP show. Complicating things was that before coming to me he had spoken to CH support a number of times. They told him some really bizarre things were at the heart of his problem, blaming everything and everybody else but themselves, of course. This was not true. They had this poor guy re-installing FS and about every add-on he had, none of which had anything to do with the real issue, which was compatibility between their own products and their setup. They did NOT guide him to their excellant slide show - I did, and I had to stumble across it too!Don't get me wrong. I love the CH Products devices and have used them for many years with zero mechanical problems. Take into account the fact that I take my own gear along to the MAAM World War II Weekend show where many greasy little hands have abused it for the last five years trying to fly a B-25 like an F-16 and this is quite a testimonial to the ruggedness of CH controls! But my advise: Do NOT call them about any software or installation issues! The so-called help-desk people I and this other poor soul dealt with hadn't a clue about the actual issue. Maybe that has also changed recently. One can hope, and pigs might fly! Do what you are doing here - ask your fellow simmers for help.For me the whole issue was the three different CH devices fighting it out with each other over conflicting control assignments. To give praise where it is due, whoever put together this slide show DID know his stuff. I'll bet he does not answer phone calls or e-mails in the CH customer support department!I have, as a service, uploaded this PP file to our Avsim support site so you need not search the CH pages high and low for it.http://www.avsim.com/~maamdev/ch_quad_pps.zipIt's 15 MB, but if it does for you what it did for me, it will be one of the best downloads you ever made. One very strong caution: Be very careful to follow it's instructions absolutely to the letter and in the exact order shown. If you miss one step, as I did the first couple times I went through the routine, it won't work. I have the luxury of a two-monitor set-up, and it's almost essential because the instructions, though well illustrated, have a lot of steps that must be adhered to. If you are very familiar with FS, as I like to think I am, you can get into trouble, as I did, by skipping happily through what I thought was the normal set-up and calibration routine for my trusty yoke or pedals. But when the quadrant, which FS does not recognize, since it is newer than the sim, is thrown into the mix it is NOT normal and you will find you must do some contra-intuitive and irregular things to get all three controls singing from the same page. Being able to have FS2004 up and running while you step through the instruction slides is a big, big help. Otherwise you better have a photgraphic memory. It would perhaps have been a better idea to have a printable version of this slide show. The PPS is flashy and cool, but kind of a dumb idea for the average user. Can you print a PP presentation? So if you don't have a two-monitor desktop, (or that photographic memory)I suggest you beg, borrow, or steal a laptop or another computer that you can set up beside your FS-running rig to display the show as you perform each step as instructed. You will see what I mean.The good news is, once you get it working it's a fabulous system. Being able to steer BT or the DC-3 around using one hand spanning those two throttle knobs is about as cool as it gets - not to mention as real. :-)Good luck.Bill RambowMAAM-SIM http://www.fssupport.com/maam/maamsim_neon.gif

[larshgf 2]

Hi Bill,Thank you for the tip. I downloaded the PPS and made the setup as proposed there.But I still have problems with my CH Pro Pedals. The last day the problem has changed and now it is my right brake that wont function.When I press the right pedal down the red sign in the left down corner saying "DIFFERENTIAL BRAKES" is flickering a few miliseconds, and then dissapear and the right brake does not function. The left brake is steady and do function ok.I dont think its a hardware problem because:1) The pedals reacts completely normal when I test them in the calibration program within FS9. 2) I have tried to assign the rigth brake to a throttle on the yoke with exactly the same result.Do you happen to see any solution on this problem?Best RegardsLars

[rambow 0]

Sorry, Lars. You now have the sum total of my CH knowledge, or just about. I can only suggest you go through the slide show routine once more, double-checking as you go. As I said, it took me three tries to get it right, but then the problems never reappeared.Perhaps someone else here has another suggestion. Have you tried the general FS forums yet? We are a rather specialized mob here and someone who flys those big blowtorch monsters may have had a similar experience and know a solution. Please let us know what the outcome is.Bill RambowMAAM-SIM http://www.fssupport.com/maam/maamsim_neon.gif

[larshgf 2]

Hi Bill,I had to uninstall FS9 and every add_on aircraft and scenery. Installing the FS9 again together with the MAAM DC3 resulted in a right brake with normal function. It gave me a problem with my two left throttles om my CH Throttle Quadrant though, because the propeller control for engine 1 and 2 was jumping suddenly from mid to max value (dont know why?). I then handled this problem by downloading the CH Control Manager ver 4.0 and calibrated the CH Throttle Quadrant in this program (because the normal calibration procedure did not fix the problem). Maybee my Throttle Quadrant have a harware failure of some kind. I'll figure that out I hope. This Flightsim hobby is not always a relaxing "have a nice flight" buisiness, but sometimes turns into a frustrating and time-consuming experience. That's life I guess, but unfortunately I can't figure out exactly what solved my original problem except that I know it must have been software-related.Best RegardsLars

[larshgf 2]

Hi again Bill,Just made a short trip with the DC3 from MAAM. It's an experience and I guess it's worth all the trouble I've had...;-)Thanks for a well done job!--Lars