The better Yoke for FSX?

[simbio 56]

Spain in the list of countries so that makes me wonder if they actually sell their products outside Spain

Word Not Allowed did buy from them and I think He live in austria, you could ask him details for transaction.

I'll try to convince myself I can justify this HUGE cost!!

LOL I am trying myself to understand this, but there are no good yoke, throttle etc in the market as long you can afford FSC or jetmax.

So if you think that you will stick in this hobby for some time, it's a good investiment and you can always resell it later.

[1Wolf 8]

I've got both the CH Flight Yoke (Not the Eclipse) and the Cessna Branded Saitek Pro Flight Yoke. For me, the jury is still out on which one I like better. They both have good and bad points. Rather than saying one is better than the other, I'll just point out my own opinions and findings and maybe they'll help you out.

 

As far as realism goes, I can only compare to small GA aircraft....Cessna 172, Piper Warrior, that sort of thing. Thats all I have hours in. I've never flown a complex/high performance aircraft or a twin.

 

Overall, in general, as far as "Feel" goes, when flying in FSX the CH Products actually does a pretty decent job of creating the illusion of a small aircraft at speed. What I mean by "at speed" is that, in a real aircraft, as your airspeed increases so does you control effectiveness. As your airspeed increases there is more resistance in the yoke and smaller movements translate to more movement of the aircraft. The controls are much stiffer at cruise. The CH Products kind of feels that way. It does a decent job of it.

 

On the other hand, when an aircraft gets slow...like on final....the controls have little resistance, alot of play, and it takes alot of movement to translate to much control of the aircraft. For example, when landing a real Cessna in a crosswind and throwing cross-control in there....you might find yourself really working that yoke. If you touch down in the correct attitude...holding that nosewheel off the runway until it drops on its own...you'd have that yoke pulled all the way back to its max travel. So, with this respect, at slow airspeeds I suppose the Saitek is more authentic being that it offers less resistance and is...for lack of a better term..."mushier".

 

However, when it comes to realism its those 'detents' that people keep mentioning that blow it for the Saitek. Real aircraft (at least the ones that I've flown) don't have detents. And while some might make the argument that forward movement through the air, exerting pressure on the control surfaces, stabilize a real yoke and make it stay centered....those people would be more or less correct. However, in a computer yoke on a flight sim it just doesn't translate well. It doesn't "feel" right. Also, even for an aircraft going slow on final, the Saitek is WAY too mushy. My understanding is that some rather ingenious fellow here on AVSIM posted a "fix" for the Stiction issue with the Saitek Yoke. However, its going to make it MORE mushy when it is already far too mushy.

 

When it comes to convenience it really depends on what you are mounting it to. I just use a run-of-the-mill office desk and the leading edge of the desk is bullnosed. The CH Products Flight Yoke doesn't seem to like to mount to it due to the bullnose. I have to insert a piece of plywood between the yoke and the desk to make a right angle at the front of the desk for the CH Product's clamps to get a better purchase on. Even then, the clamps don't hold it very well and it'll move on the desk. I have to use a set of C-clamps from my woodshop to hold it in place tight.

 

This, in my opinion, is where the Saitek wins points. It shines here. The mounting system for the Saitek yoke works great with my office desk's bullnosed front. I have to hand it to Saitek here, they really came up with a pretty cool mounting system. The other benefit the Saitek has is that the yoke's casing is flat on the top so I can set my keyboard right on top of it. For me, that works out great. Using the CH Products yoke I'd always either have to stretch the keyboard around the side of the yoke or leave it behind the yoke and reach around to get to the keyboard. Its also nice that the Saitek Yoke comes with a throttle quadrant. Its much nicer than the tiny "mini" throttle/prop/mixture controls on the CH Products. The only downside is that the Throttle Quadrant for the Saitek uses a PS2 styled plug that plugs directly into the Saitek Yoke instead of a USB. So...that means you can't use the quadrant with another controller. I couldn't use the Saitek Quadrant with my CH Products yoke. I believe that the separate standalone Quadrants that Saitek sells have the USB plug and can be used alone....but NOT the one that comes WITH their yoke.

 

The other nice thing is the software. I happen to like the Saitek SST programming software. I prefer NOT to map anything within FSX. For my own uses, I prefer to map things using the controller's software so that I can map any FSX Buttons AND my TrackIR controls all in the same profile. I can't speak for how robust the CH Products software is because I've never used it. For the CH Products yoke I've always just plugged it in and used the windows default drivers. I've never installed any sort of software for it.

 

I can't speak of any of the more expensive boutique options folks have offered here. I'd have to sell a kidney for one of those

 

So hopefully some of those issues will help you with your decision. For my own preference, it really comes down to perceived realism and the illusion of flight (CH Products) to features, software, and mounting system (Saitek).

 

Hope that helps!

[arizona84 0]

I perfer SAITEK yoke and I'm using it. :wub:

[zetato 8]

I have both the CH Flight Yoke and the Saitek and I prefer the CH. With the Saitek, there's some weird thing going on with the yoke shaft. I don't really know how to explain it, but it kind of "sticks" when it's in the neutral position so when you pull back on the yoke it requires a bit more force but then it suddenly lets go and you really notice it in the sim. The CH has a smoother action and I also prefer the less complex mounting mechanism on the CH.

Saitek has admitted to have inserted into the firmware a central dead zone, and there is no way to remove it.

I have disconnected the potentiometers from the original controller board (inside the yoke) and than I connected them to a Leo Bodnar BU386 card. Now it works like a charm!! Its really sensible and very precise. At the same time I removed one of the two springs on the pitch axe to have a smoother movement.

[fs4fun 366]

I've used both the Eclipse and Saitek Pro yoke/throttle quad and much prefer the Saitek. The Eclipse seems to be designed for either car racing games or flight simming while the Saitek was clearly more focused on flight sim. I think this resulted in Saitek being a better overall design. For example with the Saitek throttle quad you can have the engine, prop, flaps and gear controls positioned in a similar way to what you see in the cockpit. The TQ sliders also make it easy to set up reverse thrust, prop feather etc, and I like the longer travel of the sliders. You could of course add a TQ to the Eclipse setup and get the same thing, but the Saitek gives you this out of the box.

 

I also like the Saitek clamping system and flat top being a convenient place for the keyboard as mentioned in an earlier post. My desktop has an odd curve to it and mounting the CH so it would be lined up with the screen was near impossible, but no problem with the Saitek. I also really like the clock and timer functions on the yoke face.

 

Finally, I ran into a lot of quality issues with the Eclipse, both hardware and software, but have had no issues with the Saitek. I do have CH pro pedals, and they have been excellent. The only issue I ever had with the pedals was that they tended to slide on the hardwood floor, but solved that problem by putting them on top of a $10 rubber door mat.

[B777ER 2,492]

I have the PFC yoke, rudder with toe brakes and throttle quad. They gave lasted me 10 years! They are so old they are not even USB connections, they are serial port. I have to use multiple serial port connector to USB adapter to get it to work with newer computers.

 

While I really like them the next step up from this for me is going to be the jetmax console. That is truly immersive but yet i can still fit it in my bedroom office.

 

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 2

[SolRayz 392]

I have the Saitek yoke but did some pretty serious modifications to the shaft spring system to remove the detent at centerpoint. Also had to greese up the shaft well with plumbers grease. I also replaced the spring for the aileron axis for less resistance. I also opened the yoke handle itself and gorilla glued where the plastic components meet the metal shaft to eliminated wobble.

 

After all that, the yoke is tolerable and can be handled one handed.

[WebMaximus 372]

I've now been in contact with the Spanish reseller of PFC controllers and I found out that to get a similar setup that I'm used to including a yoke, pedals and a throttle quadrant it would cost me approximately 3000 Euro and that is just a little bit too much for a normal desktop setup.

 

So, I'll now try out my son's old Saitek yoke, throttle and pedals for a while instead comparing this setup to my old CH setup. So far I really like having a separate throttle but I don't like the feeling in the yoke when flying the NGX and especially not on short final...I find the CH yoke much easier to do minor adjustments with but maybe it's just that I need to get used to the Saitek yoke.

[duckbilled 310]

BTW, the Saitek TQ has gotten funky over the years. It is very twitchy. Yoke is still fine.

 

Still, the PFC stuff is way too expensive. Anyone have a better product than the ones mentioned for less than $200?

[ron6468 1]

3000 eu for a PFC sounds very high. The price in US$ on their website is between $620 & $720 depending on which desktop you want. Pretty certain that's even a lot less in euros.

Check on duty, taxes and freight and you must be better off ordering it direct.

www.flypfc.com

[simmerhead 885]

BTW, the Saitek TQ has gotten funky over the years. It is very twitchy. Yoke is still fine.

 

Still, the PFC stuff is way too expensive. Anyone have a better product than the ones mentioned for less than $200?

 

Yep my TQ is hopless after 2 years. Too bad Saitek couldn't take the quality up a notch. I'm sure customers would mind 25% increase in prices if quality was improved.

[WebMaximus 372]

No no 3000 Euro is not only the yoke but also the TQ and pedals plus the module needed to mount the TQ in.

 

I figured should I have decided to buy a quality yoke I wouldn't want to stay with a cheap, plastic pair of pedals and TQ.

[Spook 96]

Yep my TQ is hopless after 2 years.

 

 

http://www.youtube.c...&v=UOw9Cu_-cEI#

 

I done this and its like new again. Im now able to set the trottle to the decimal piont. ( 66.8...66.9 70.0..ect)

[simmerhead 885]

I done this and its like new again. Im now albe to set the trottle to the decimal piont. ( 66.8...66.9 70.0..ect)

 

Thanks for the heads up, but if I wanted to build my own TQ I'd bought a different kit.

 

Besides, I don't remember the Saitek ads or manual saying anything about it having to be taken apart and fixed to get it to work properly... Maybe I should send that link to Saitek so they can learn how to manufacture their TQs properly.

[ron6468 1]

Approximate numbers:

550 EU - PFC Yoke

400 EU - GoFlight Throttle system

150 EU - Saitek Pro Rudder Pedals

 

The Go Flight throttles arent the most amazing but they are pretty durable.

The Saitek Pro Rudder set is actually very good

The PFC is the best you can get