Does anybody have anyone of these:Saitek Radio Panelhttp://www.saitek.com/UK/PROD/pfradio.htmSaitek Autopilot Panelhttp://www.saitek.com/UK/PROD/pfmulti.htmI am interested to know what the build quality is like and whether you consider to be a worthwhile purchase.ThanksRhydian

got the radio one...pretty much the same as the switch panel in terms of build quality.dont think the multi (autopilot) panel is out until friday in uk.main gripes with radio are: left hand (black) switches are extremely tight, so much so i end up pushing the whole panel around the desk (despite it being attached to the Switch panel) rather than turning the knob.on the other hand, the silver knobs are very loose...dont feel too precise. Read a review somewhere also complaining about this.needs proper usb connection (doesnt like being connected to saitek yoke usb...assume its power issue)And the Radio panel was shipped with an allen key that is too small to remove the screws from the saitek yoke (should i want to mount the panel on top of yoke). The allen key that came with the Switch panel was also too small.....not sure what Saitek are playing at.

Thanks for the review of the radio panel Shockboy2000 (great name by the way!)I suppose you get what you pay for.

Thanks for the review of the radio panel Shockboy2000 (great name by the way!)I suppose you get what you pay for.

Just saw the Saitek Pro Flight Radio and Multi Panels. I am so getting them! :(

Just saw the Saitek Pro Flight Radio and Multi Panels. I am so getting them! :(

I asked them specifically about compatibility with FS9 and here is their reply:Greetings from Mad Catz, As of now it is currently only compatible with FSX however further down the line they are going to be releasing a patch for FS04. If you have any additional questions please let me know. Brad Poteet Customer Support Tech. 619-321-3530 1-800-659-2287I find this odd as once you install the software there is a short cut to:Launch the Flight Sim 2004 Plug In.It works fine for me in FS9 and have made at least 6 flights of about an hour each with a lot of work for the radio in and out of LA basin with no issues. I do have my NAV1 only hold one frequency when using the active/standby toggle the standby frequency becomes active and the active does not return to standby. It works fine on NAV2 and both COMS. Not a big deal.I recommend the radio panel very highly.John

######os! All the sites say the Radio Panel and Multi Panel are FS2004 compatible! Of course, these same morons were saying the Switch Panel was backlit, too...My opinion of Saitek is starting to change for the worst, they care absolutely nothing about FS2004 and its continued wide usage...to their own detriment.

######os! All the sites say the Radio Panel and Multi Panel are FS2004 compatible! Of course, these same morons were saying the Switch Panel was backlit, too...My opinion of Saitek is starting to change for the worst, they care absolutely nothing about FS2004 and its continued wide usage...to their own detriment.

Well, it does function for me under FS2004. Even with the NAV1 issue, it is so much better than using a mouse or programmable keyboard. My .02.John

True that. Saitek has indeed had a share of misrepresentation of its products in the past, probably mostly by vendors. When the Switch Panel first emerged, a lot of vendors were promoting a feature that never existed: backlighting. There were even many purchasers who bought it who were told it'd work in FS2004 without problem...and discovered the contrary. The saving grace here was Krosa and their FS2004 interface. It'd be interesting to see if Krosa would consider working on a programme which allowed the Instrument Panel to display the default GPS; looking at how well-equipped the Panel is with buttons and dials, and with adequate screen area and sharp detail and colour, it shouldn't be an impossibility, should it? That might help sales among those who can onnly afford one of them...like me. If it can be done, darn right I'd buy an Instrument Panel display. I'd buy the Instrument Panel, the Radio Panel and the Multi Panel all at once, I got a car selling in a few days. $$$!

True that. Saitek has indeed had a share of misrepresentation of its products in the past, probably mostly by vendors. When the Switch Panel first emerged, a lot of vendors were promoting a feature that never existed: backlighting. There were even many purchasers who bought it who were told it'd work in FS2004 without problem...and discovered the contrary. The saving grace here was Krosa and their FS2004 interface. It'd be interesting to see if Krosa would consider working on a programme which allowed the Instrument Panel to display the default GPS; looking at how well-equipped the Panel is with buttons and dials, and with adequate screen area and sharp detail and colour, it shouldn't be an impossibility, should it? That might help sales among those who can onnly afford one of them...like me. If it can be done, darn right I'd buy an Instrument Panel display. I'd buy the Instrument Panel, the Radio Panel and the Multi Panel all at once, I got a car selling in a few days. $$$!

Hi,I had saved 300 bucks to buy the saitek radio panel and multipanel for my birthday. Not the one to be had twice (switch panel initial failure), I waited to read customer feadbacks about those 2 promising pieces of hardware. I ignored the official "reviews". Well, I am not going to buy them given the big problems reported by simmers. From what I read, it seems that they are pretty much useless. I am disappointed, Saitek has done it once again: selling products which have not been tested before. They don't learn from their previous failures, I can't believe it. what I don't understand too is the fact that some reviewers fail to see problems that anybody can see right away. I am sure they don't even have used the products and write their reviews based on advertissements only.

VRInsight's Mpanel is the cheaper, better and superior alternative. It works like a charm, is stable and sturdy, and I wouldn't want to be without it anymore.

VRInsight's Mpanel is the cheaper, better and superior alternative. It works like a charm, is stable and sturdy, and I wouldn't want to be without it anymore.

Hi,Does the M panel work with any aircraft or are there any compatibilty issues with some addons, as usual?Thanks

Rhydian,I have the Autopilot panel ('Multi Panel'). At this point, I'd say my quick answer would be it's a worthwhile purchase for FSX but not for FS2004. In FSX it works pretty well - the software, once installed properly, loads automatically with FSX, and the panel does what it is advertised to do. There are some issues which others have noted - the selector knob is stiff to turn, and it can be a little tricky to set numbers to the precise value you want... but on the whole, I've definitely found it worthwhile in FSX and I use it all the time. Unfortunately FS2004 is another story. For a start, the software does not load automatically for FS2004 - you have to manually launch it after you have started FS2004. And, annoyingly, everytime you launch the FS9 software it adds itself to the FSX XML, so next time you use FSX it will try to launch both the FSX and the FS9 software. But the issues go beyond that. Really I find the panel next to unuseable in FS2004. There seems to be a big lag between turning the knob and the numbers updating in FS2004, so it takes a minute or more to dial the IAS from zero to 200, for example. And the panel controls seem to keep getting out of synch with the actual settings in the FS panel. And then, mostly, the panel stops working altogether after a while in FS2004, sometimes crashing FS as well. My impression is that it's a good product basically, but the FS9 software seriously needs fixing. I suspect that it could indeed be fixed, as I'm pretty sure these are just software issues. For the moment, I'd say sure go ahead and buy the panel if you want it for FSX, but hold off if your mainly interested in FS2004. As I say, I only have the Multi Panel, but I gather that the Radio Panel uses basically the same software, so I'd expect there may be similar issues. BTW, I have tried updating the software with the latest version from the Saitek website, but that did not help.Happy flying,KenL

Does anybody have anyone of these:Saitek Radio Panelhttp://www.saitek.com/UK/PROD/pfradio.htmSaitek Autopilot Panelhttp://www.saitek.com/UK/PROD/pfmulti.htmI am interested to know what the build quality is like and whether you consider to be a worthwhile purchase.ThanksRhydian

Further to what I wrote before about the Saitek Multi Panel... the problem with needing to load the Saitek software manually each time you use FS9 can be solved by using FS Autostartup (http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID...&DLID=41825) - this does a perfectly fine job of loading the Saitek software after FS loads, and then unloading it when you're finished. It would, of course, have been nice if Saitek had done this properly themselves. I do now use the Saitek multi-panel all the time in FS9, and definitely find it worth having, although I don't actually use the knob to set values much, due to the lag problem mentioned before, and also the fact that turning the knob a lot quickly seems to often make the Saitek software crash (and sometime FS as well). I do, however, use the knob for small adjustments to speed or heading without problems, and I use the buttons, and they work ok with one, fairly major exception. The exception is the Approach Hold button - this behaves strangely, as pressing the button on the Saitek panel appears to work - it turns the APPR indicator on the FS MCP on etc. - however the aircraft never seems to actually intercept the glide path when Approach Hold is turned on via the Saitek panel. I've tried this in several planes, including default ones, with the same result. So for now I'm always sure to use a mouse-click to turn on Approach Hold, even though I use the Saitek panel for other auto-pilot functions (NAV, HDG, IAS, ALT and VS all work fine).Also, as noted by others, the Saitek panel does not work with payware add-ons generally, as the Saitek software is coded to interact with the variables used by the default auto-pilot, and add-ons such as PMDG and Level D use their own auto-pilot software which doesn't respond to the default variables. I'm wondering if it might be possible to find a solution to some of the shortcomings using FSUIPC, but I don't have any results to report yet... other than the fact that the FSUIPC 'reverse elevator trim sense' option can be used to make the Saitek trim wheel work the right way round (by default it works the opposite way to a real trim wheel).Happy flying!KenL