Other than toe braking, are there any other reasons to switch from gameport to usb?

Gameport hardware is no longer found on new machines, for one thing. My game machine is over 2 years old, and I had to buy a second sound card to get a gameport. Since the hardware is becoming obsolete, it won't be long before the drivers no longer work on the latest generation of operating systems. (For example, my parallel-port scanner is no longer supported by Windows XP.)I expect that my CH yoke and pedals will outlast quite a few computers. When I bought them, I didn't have USB on my old 133, so gameport was really my only option. If I were buying new ones (which I hope I don't have to) I'd get USB.

I don't know where you are as far as flying in the real world but you'll diffidently need to upgrade your Yoke/Peddles not only for the sake of USB but for realism... The Peddles on the USB model have both toe brakes and a sliding back and forth motion that astonishing simulates correctly what you'll deal with in a real plane while taxing. You can't beat it if your using FS for training purposes. It will diffidently give you more confidence in using your feet to turn the plane versus the yoke like you would in a car (believe me it's a hard habbit to break and will scare the pants off you on your landing roll until you get used to using your feet). You can't go wrong with the CH USB Peddles/Yoke combination, they give you what you need before you take the plung into the real world...

Since we are on the subject of Yokes/Pedals, I am having trouble with the throttle. I have one made by PFC that I bought a couple years ago. Runs off the USB, and everything connects via the Yoke itself. In other words, the throttle and the pedals both run through the Yoke into the port. Here is my issue: The throttle wants to "spike" on me all the time. I have never been able to get it calibrated the way I would like, but it was usuable up until here lately. Now, when I slowly apply the gas, it will spike all the way to full, then back to idle. It won't hold a specific setting. It constantly jumps up and down. Also, when I reduce throttle back to idle it will suddenly go to full throttle and stick there for a few seconds. Anyway, thought you gays and gals might be able to help me out. I have tried everything I can think of, with no luck.Thanks,Dave

It sounds to me like you have a conflict in your MSFS control assignments. Go into MSFS and remove all control assignments for the throttle except for the one you want.TonyDigital-Flight

Hey Tony,That was fix action number 154. LOL! No seriously, I'll give that a shot, but I won't really need to worry that much. Just one of those little annoying things with FS. It won't even calibrate correctly so it's a conflict with the PC somewhere. Just wondering if anyone has had the same problems with any other systems, and what thier fix action was.Check your inbox!Thanks,Dave

Keep in mind that you can get an adaptor which will allow a gameport joystick into a USB port. I ran into this problem with my latest computer when I realized that it didn't come with a gameport! I just went to Radio Shack and picked up an adaptor. It was a lot cheaper than buying new pedals, as the gameport ones worked fine for me.

First Dave, is your throttle a gameport device or is it USB. Either way it sounds like a bad device. I use CH products and one thing I

Ah, I can ask the man who owns one! How well does that gameport-to-USB adapter work? Do you get good response through it? I'm happy with my gameport setup now, but in the future I'd rather spend the $16.95 at Radio Shack than spring for a whole new yoke-and-pedals set to get USB.I've also heard that this setup might allow the use of toebrakes even with the older gameport CH pedals. Have you tried that?

"The Peddles onthe USB model have both toe brakes and a sliding back and forth motion that astonishing simulates correctly..."The CH gameport pedals also have that "astonishing back and forth motion"The only difference are the toe brakes,which are easily converted to USB. Just buy a cheap USB joystick and use the existing variable resistors for toe brakes. Remember, these pedals are used for car sims also.Tony in Miami

Hi Dave AS025,This sounds like the classic case of a bad pot. You can try cleaning it (most electronic stores offer cleaners in aerosol form, and you can also get "sealers" that might help preserve the carbon wiper if it's not already damaged too bad).The best option is to contact the manufacturer for a replacement pot. Best to buy several... they're cheap and will certainly need to be replaced again soon.Pots are inherently lousy motion detection devices. The only way to really deal with pot spiking is to use the device at a low resolution (which is exactly what most flightsim gear manufacturers do).Hope this helps,Greg

>Ah, I can ask the man who owns one! How well does that>gameport-to-USB adapter work? Do you get good response>through it? I'm happy with my gameport setup now, but in the>future I'd rather spend the $16.95 at Radio Shack than spring>for a whole new yoke-and-pedals set to get USB.>>I've also heard that this setup might allow the use of>toebrakes even with the older gameport CH pedals. Have you>tried that?The adaptor works well. I have heard people using the same thing that got the toe brakes working. I have not been able to get them working myself. I searched the forums and followed the instructions, but nothing on my PC. It wasn't a big deal for me anyway, as my main goal was to avoid having to replace perfectly good pedals. If you search the forums you will find people who say they got it to work. As far as installation, it is really simple. Just plug the gameport cord into the adaptor, then plug the USB cable into the PC. My PC (running WinXP) detected it as a generic USB gaming device. I calibrated the rudder, and all works fine in the sim. As far as I can tell, there is absolutely no difference between performance through a regular gameport. They work just like they did before. They go left, they go right, etc :) The only minor problem I have had is once in a while the pedals lose calibration. This only happens when the computer starts up, it has never happened in the middle of a game. This has only happened a handful of times since fs2004 came out. All I do is pull out the usb cable and plug it back in. Then I quickly re-calibrate them. The pedals never did this before when I used a regular gameport. This happens so infrequently that I don't worry about it.The other option is to look for a second soundcard with a gameport, or a dedicated game port card. I actually had an old, old gameport card which supported two gameport joysticks (we needed this for multiple joysticks before the joys of USB), but it was only ISA and my new PC didn't have an ISA slot either. To me this seemed like overkill, so I took a chance on the adaptor and have used it ever since. Hope this helps. If you need more info, let me know.

Hey guys thanks for the replies. It's hard to say if it's gameport or USB. The throttle itself (remeber plugs into the yoke) is a gameport connection. (If that makes sense). But overall when the system plugs into the PC it's a USB device. I haven't had any other problems, with anything else. This has just started recently, within last 2 weeks, and I have had this for approx a year. Anyway, thanks again for all the replies. I really haven't had time to sit down and start to "diagnose" the real problem yet. If I find anything I will post.Dave

I have just bought the CH products USB Yoke and pedals.All is great apart from the fact that although I assign the prop lever to the Sim yoke it doesnt work.Throttle and mixture, no problem but whatever I do the RPM/PROP doesnt workLeft brakes Xright brakes Y rudder Zailerons X axiselevator Y axisMix Y rotationPROP Z rotationthrottle Z axisAny help please Peter

Hi guys,I've a question to USB Yoke&Peadl owners;I've a MS Sidewinder Precision 2 Joystick without Force Feedback and I'm very happy with it's quality. This stick has no noise at all, I think MS used something diffrent than standart potantiometers.Do you have noise with your USB yoke and Pedals and what do you think about it's lifetime?I don't want to spend USD 400+ (yes with shipping it'll cost a fortune to me) for a noisy stick or 1-2 year lifetime product..