Problem with additional Saitek throttle quadrant

[Guest Mik75]

Hi there!

I just got my additional throttle quadrant today to have more axis to control multi engine turboprops with my Proflight Yoke system. I'd like to have the set up like this:

TQ1: spoiler axis, engine 1 power axis, engine 2 power axis

TQ2: propeller axis, condition lever axis, flap lever

So far, everything went pretty flawlessly, it worked out of the box without installing the Saitek driver or software. My problem is, that within FSX's controller calibration, the first two axis of the additional quadrant, are shown as X-/Y- axis, similar to the aileron- and elevator axis of the yoke. So I don't have the values from 0 - X, but some sort of neutral value in the middle, just like one needs to have for a yoke.

That way, the spoilers and engine 1 can't be controlled properly.

The throttle quadrant is plugged into the yoke's USB connector.

Where is the fault, what am I doing wrong?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[rjmcgill 13]

Get rid of the Saitek drivers and get yourself a registered copy of FSUIPC and use it for assignment and Calibration. I promise if you learn to use fsuipc with it you will not regret it. Pete will help, just not as much because of a squabble he has with Saitek. I am a registered user and it works better than any other. You can fine tune it if you will. Cpt out. Use SPAD drivers they are free.

[Guest Mik75]

Get rid of the Saitek drivers and get yourself a registered copy of FSUIPC and use it for assignment and Calibration. I promise if you learn to use fsuipc with it you will not regret it. Pete will help, just not as much because of a squabble he has with Saitek. I am a registered user and it works better than any other. You can fine tune it if you will. Cpt out. Use SPAD drivers they are free.

 

No Saitek software or driver is installed. I have a registered copy of FSUIPC, but I always feared that setting up the controllers would be to hard....

[Guest Mik75]

Ok, I tried it!

I deleted all assignments within FSX and assigned the axis via FSUIPC. Elevator and ailerons works without any problems. But when I move the first two levers of the additional quadrant, FSUIPC shows me strange values. The third lever works without problems, but the first two levers have their zero value quite close to the end of their movement, at the bottom, very strange. The original throttle quadrant works just fine.

Worth noting are two things:

The first two axis (the left and middle one) are shown as X-/Y-axis, just as is FSX, and when plugging into the yoke, FSUIPC doesn't recognise the new TQ at all, it has to be plugged directly into the computer...

[rjmcgill 13]

Man you have me stumped. I have two quads just as you. I use a powered USB Hub for all of my stuff. I have the Saitek Panels as well. From what I read you are plugging it into the usb hub on the yoke. I tried that as well and it wouldn't work for me. I went to Best Buy and bought a USB hub that has power and it works that way. So that may be your problem. Try and plug directly into the computer and restart the machine. I assume your using Windows 7 and it should pick it up. Just remember if you plug or unplug with FSUIPC running it creates problems. So as much of a pain as it is, the sim has to be off and set up before you try again. I hope this make sense and maybe I can help you get this going. You can PM me if you need further assistance and I will do my best to help you get set up. Once it all works you will love it and then you will tweak and tweak. Good luck Cpt out.

[Guest Mik75]

Man you have me stumped. I have two quads just as you. I use a powered USB Hub for all of my stuff. I have the Saitek Panels as well. From what I read you are plugging it into the usb hub on the yoke. I tried that as well and it wouldn't work for me. I went to Best Buy and bought a USB hub that has power and it works that way. So that may be your problem. Try and plug directly into the computer and restart the machine. I assume your using Windows 7 and it should pick it up. Just remember if you plug or unplug with FSUIPC running it creates problems. So as much of a pain as it is, the sim has to be off and set up before you try again. I hope this make sense and maybe I can help you get this going. You can PM me if you need further assistance and I will do my best to help you get set up. Once it all works you will love it and then you will tweak and tweak. Good luck Cpt out.

 

Thanks for your effort! And you know what? I got it going! Even when plugged into the yoke, the second TQ was recognised correctly and assigning went quite good. I had to calibrate the first two levers of the second TQ that way, that their "0" point is a bit before the point where the lever reaches its physical idle position. While the Z axis shows all the values from -15.xxx to +15.xxx, the X- and Y-axis show that strange behaviour that the zero is very close to the physical idle position and then, that values go more or less directly from 0 to -15.xxx. That made it impossible to calibrate and assign the axis via FSX.

Whatever, the method mentioned above worked nicely!

But here is my next problem:

I would like to use the Saitek yoke with the TQ for the aircraft with yokes, and for the stick a/c, I would like to use my Logitech G940. The thing is, that after assignment of the Saitek equipment had been done, plugging in the G940 led to a mess. The aileron axis was on the throttle, elevator on the tie break etc.

Since only one control system is plugged in at a time, FSUIPC seems to create duplicate names for the controllers (Joy #1, etc). Is there a way to get that sorted, or can I specify which a/c works with which control system via the profile settings? I never done this before, so I don't have a clue...

And, by the way, my first two traffic patterns in the NGX with FSUIPC controlling my input, were really great! ;-)

Thanks again in advance for your help!

[RickB1293 9]

If you're having trouble assigning throttle axes in FSUIPC, try this procedure. 
 

Look for each Saitek device in the notification area of your taskbar. If not there, open Device Manager (right click Computer/Manage/Device Manger) and look for Saitek Pro Flight Yoke and Saitek Pro Throttle Quandrant entries under Human Interface. There should be two entries for each devices, one ending in (HID) and the other in (USB). All four of these drivers must be listed. If not then reload your Saitek drivers or look for updates at http://www.saitek.com/uk/down/drivers.php.
 

Once you see the notification icons, right click on each and select Control Panel. This should open an applet on your desktop showing all of the sliders, switches and hat switch. Move each lever and exercise each switch to make sure they are being read through windows. If all of your controls work properly in their prospective control panels, leave the windows open and load FSX. Select the aircraft you want to setup the yoke and throttle quadrants for then load it into any airport, it doesn't matter which because you won't be flying at this time.
 

Start FSX and go to Options/Settings/Controls. Click on CONTROL AXES. Next to Controller type enter Saitek Pro Flight Throttle Quadrant and delete all of the FSX axis settings. if you're setting up the yoke at the same time then go to Saitek Pro Flight Yoke and repeat. This ensures that FSX won't compete for control of the axes. A note of caution: Unless you're going to use FSUIPC for every aircraft, you'll have to reset the axis defaults when you change airplanes. Take a look at Pete's How To manuals to find the best way to work with FSUIPC and FSX.

Once FSX  has loaded everything up, open FSUIPC from the AddOn menu. Select Axis Assignment tab. If you are making the assignments profile specific (which I strongly recommend) move your levers on at a time. Click Rescan between each axis movement. You should see Joy# followed by two boxes in the middle of your FSUIPC setup screen. My lefthand throttle quadrant is Joy# 0 and the righthand throttle quadrant is Joy# 2. Each control lever should display a unique number. For instance, my throttles are, from left to right:
 

0,Z=L1          0,U=L2          0,V=L3          2,X=R1          2,Y=R2          2,z=R3
 

When FSUIPC recognizes each axis you should see In and Out numbers reel off from -16384 when the lever is all the way down to +16384 when in the up or full throttle position. Make sure these numbers move their full range for each axis, write them down so you have a record of your sedtup in case something craps out on you.

 

You can assign an axis or operate each lever as a series of switches. For instance, for my PMDG 737NGX, I setup the flight yoke and additional throttle quadrant (giving me six levers) as follows:

0,Z  (Spoiler)          0,U (Throttle 1)          0,V (Throttle 2)          2,X (Flaps)          2,Y (Landing Gear)          2,Z (Unused)

 

The first four levers are set as follows:

 
Under "This side to send axis values". Tick Send direct to FSUIPC Calibration then tick the first box. Click the right hand selection arrow and choose Spoilers from the drop down menu. Do the same for the next three levers selecting the appropriate action from the drop down menu. Retest by clearing the Joy# box pressing Scan each time. If each axis is properly assigned and the lever range is as above you're ready to move on to calibration.
 
To calibrate the axis select joystick calibration from the FSUIPC menu. Go to Screen 6 of 11 Where the trim, spoilers and flaps are listed. Moving the first lever, should cause the In and Out values to count up and down. The direction should correspond the assignment screen. You'll see three boxes marked Set. Move the lever to the bottom end of travel without going into the bottom switch area. Press Set over the right hand number which should read 16384, it may be one or two lower, that's okay. Now move the lever all the way to the top. The number under the first box should read -16384, press Set. Under the first box you'll see a box labelled REV, for the spoiler control check this box and it will reverse the axis as required in FSX for some unknown reason.
 

On the NGX there is a flight detent on the spoiler lever that you can set near the top of travel. I set mine at-512 but it's up to you where you feel comfortable setting this detent. Press the middle Set button (you may have to do it twice to fill both the upper and lower boxes. This should assign and calibrate lever one as your spoiler axis. Continue as above for the remaining axes. Throttles are calibrated separately on page  3 0f 11. You can setup reversers on the Saitek quadrants by going to the Buttons+Switches page and checking Profile specific if appropriate. Drop throttle one into the very lowest point of travel. You should see Joy#_  | __Btn# listed in the center of the screen. Check Select for FS control to the right of the page. Select Throttle 1 Decr from the top drop down menu. Check the Control to repeat... box and select Throttle 1 Cut in the Control sent when button released box. 
 
For setting the flaps lever, FSUIPC recognizes most of the aircraft and will automatically select and program the correct number and location of each detent.

 

The Landing Gear lever is setup as two switches, one at the top of travel, the other at the bottom of travel. I set the active range for each action at around 512. This gave a Gear Up toggle about one inch from the top and a Gear Down toggle about one inch from the bottom. These ranges and functions are entered from the right side of the axis assignment screen for the farthest right active lever by setting the range then selecting the action at point one then doing the same at point two. You can set the lever direction of travel to activate the switch. For Gear Up the switch closes when the lever is moving up and the Gear Down switch closes when the lever is moved down.

For unknown reasons the three position mode switch on the back of the right hand yoke isn't recognized by FSUIPC unless the control applet is opened. I use the switch positions to bring up the CDU and the Overhead Panel. The center position is null.

 

I hope the points you in the right direction. Reading the FSUIPC basic and advanced manuals explains in great detail how to use this snap-in. I have different FSUIPC assignment profiles for each of my aircraft. Once setup it gives consistent control operation and very smooth axis movement.

 

Regards and good luck,

PS:  You have to assign separate USB ports to each of your controllers. When you plug your joystick into the port that FSUIPC just saw as your Control Yoke it assigns a different controller number each time. By using the same port each time you plug in a device keeps FSUIPC from getting confused. For instance, if you plug your Joystick into the left hand port on the front of your computer, ALWAYS plug it in there. Same goes for each of your other flight controllers.

[Guest Mik75]

If you're having trouble assigning throttle axes in FSUIPC, try this procedure.

 

 

Look for each Saitek device in the notification area of your taskbar. If not there, open Device Manager (right click Computer/Manage/Device Manger) and look for Saitek Pro Flight Yoke and Saitek Pro Throttle Quandrant entries under Human Interface. There should be two entries for each devices, one ending in (HID) and the other in (USB). All four of these drivers must be listed. If not then reload your Saitek drivers or look for updates at http://www.saitek.com/uk/down/drivers.php.

 

 

Once you see the notification icons, right click on each and select Control Panel. This should open an applet on your desktop showing all of the sliders, switches and hat switch. Move each lever and exercise each switch to make sure they are being read through windows. If all of your controls work properly in their prospective control panels, leave the windows open and load FSX. Select the aircraft you want to setup the yoke and throttle quadrants for then load it into any airport, it doesn't matter which because you won't be flying at this time.

 

 

Start FSX and go to Options/Settings/Controls. Click on CONTROL AXES. Next to Controller type enter Saitek Pro Flight Throttle Quadrant and delete all of the FSX axis settings. if you're setting up the yoke at the same time then go to Saitek Pro Flight Yoke and repeat. This ensures that FSX won't compete for control of the axes. A note of caution: Unless you're going to use FSUIPC for every aircraft, you'll have to reset the axis defaults when you change airplanes. Take a look at Pete's How To manuals to find the best way to work with FSUIPC and FSX.

Once FSX has loaded everything up, open FSUIPC from the AddOn menu. Select Axis Assignment tab. If you are making the assignments profile specific (which I strongly recommend) move your levers on at a time. Click Rescan between each axis movement. You should see Joy# followed by two boxes in the middle of your FSUIPC setup screen. My lefthand throttle quadrant is Joy# 0 and the righthand throttle quadrant is Joy# 2. Each control lever should display a unique number. For instance, my throttles are, from left to right:

 

 

0,Z=L1 0,U=L2 0,V=L3 2,X=R1 2,Y=R2 2,z=R3

 

 

When FSUIPC recognizes each axis you should see In and Out numbers reel off from -16384 when the lever is all the way down to +16384 when in the up or full throttle position. Make sure these numbers move their full range for each axis, write them down so you have a record of your sedtup in case something craps out on you.

 

You can assign an axis or operate each lever as a series of switches. For instance, for my PMDG 737NGX, I setup the flight yoke and additional throttle quadrant (giving me six levers) as follows:

 

 

0,Z (Spoiler) 0,U (Throttle 1) 0,V (Throttle 2) 2,X (Flaps) 2,Y (Landing Gear) 2,Z (Unused)

 

The first four levers are set as follows:

 

 

Under "This side to send axis values". Tick Send direct to FSUIPC Calibration then tick the first box. Click the right hand selection arrow and choose Spoilers from the drop down menu. Do the same for the next three levers selecting the appropriate action from the drop down menu. Retest by clearing the Joy# box pressing Scan each time. If each axis is properly assigned and the lever range is as above you're ready to move on to calibration.

 

 

 

To calibrate the axis select joystick calibration from the FSUIPC menu. Go to Screen 6 of 11 Where the trim, spoilers and flaps are listed. Moving the first lever, should cause the In and Out values to count up and down. The direction should correspond the assignment screen. You'll see three boxes marked Set. Move the lever to the bottom end of travel without going into the bottom switch area. Press Set over the right hand number which should read 16384, it may be one or two lower, that's okay. Now move the lever all the way to the top. The number under the first box should read -16384, press Set. Under the first box you'll see a box labelled REV, for the spoiler control check this box and it will reverse the axis as required in FSX for some unknown reason.

 

 

On the NGX there is a flight detent on the spoiler lever that you can set near the top of travel. I set mine at-512 but it's up to you where you feel comfortable setting this detent. Press the middle Set button (you may have to do it twice to fill both the upper and lower boxes. This should assign and calibrate lever one as your spoiler axis. Continue as above for the remaining axes. Throttles are calibrated separately on page 3 0f 11. You can setup reversers on the Saitek quadrants by going to the Buttons+Switches page and checking Profile specific if appropriate. Drop throttle one into the very lowest point of travel. You should see Joy#_ | __Btn# listed in the center of the screen. Check Select for FS control to the right of the page. Select Throttle 1 Decr from the top drop down menu. Check the Control to repeat... box and select Throttle 1 Cut in the Control sent when button released box.

 

 

 

For setting the flaps lever, FSUIPC recognizes most of the aircraft and will automatically select and program the correct number and location of each detent.

 

The Landing Gear lever is setup as two switches, one at the top of travel, the other at the bottom of travel. I set the active range for each action at around 512. This gave a Gear Up toggle about one inch from the top and a Gear Down toggle about one inch from the bottom. These ranges and functions are entered from the right side of the axis assignment screen for the farthest right active lever by setting the range then selecting the action at point one then doing the same at point two. You can set the lever direction of travel to activate the switch. For Gear Up the switch closes when the lever is moving up and the Gear Down switch closes when the lever is moved down.

 

For unknown reasons the three position mode switch on the back of the right hand yoke isn't recognized by FSUIPC unless the control applet is opened. I use the switch positions to bring up the CDU and the Overhead Panel. The center position is null.

 

I hope the points you in the right direction. Reading the FSUIPC basic and advanced manuals explains in great detail how to use this snap-in. I have different FSUIPC assignment profiles for each of my aircraft. Once setup it gives consistent control operation and very smooth axis movement.

 

Regards and good luck,

 

PS: You have to assign separate USB ports to each of your controllers. When you plug your joystick into the port that FSUIPC just saw as your Control Yoke it assigns a different controller number each time. By using the same port each time you plug in a device keeps FSUIPC from getting confused. For instance, if you plug your Joystick into the left hand port on the front of your computer, ALWAYS plug it in there. Same goes for each of your other flight controllers.

 

Wow! Thanks so much for your detailed answer!

You guys really helped a lot!

It is working like a charm now! I created two base profiles for yoke and stick planes that I can assign to any plane, very good.

And the controls feel so much better with FSUIPC, can't believe that I've never tried that in all these years of simming!

Vielen lieben Dank! ;-)

[rjmcgill 13]

Awesome. I have a Logitech 3d pro by my yoke that I use for Airbus, Heli, and steering tiller. You are on the right path. Bert that should probably be placed as a sticky somewhere for all saitek users. That was a well thought and helpful answer. I hope you both have a wonderful day, Cpt out.

[l_jayma 5]

Mike..

 

Thank you for the details on setting up the saitek throttle...this was very helpful.