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I recently bought a Saitek pedals and yoke (Pro Flight, not Cessna) setup to get back into FSX (it has been quite a while and my old joystick won't Z-axis anymore).

 

I'm noticing that I can't seem to get the yoke to perform evenly for rolls (X-Axis I think).  At first, it had a big deadzone (not configured, but in practice) to the left.  I had to rotate left about 15 degrees before anything would start happening.  Rolling right worked A-OK.  So, I did the Saitek registry fix to recalibrate.  Now it is improved, but there still seems to be a bit of a center deadzone that isn't defined but is at least close-ish to centered now.  There also seems to be a bit of deadzone at either end.

 

I've seen the internal gearing and that all seems to move OK, so I guess I'm asking this:  Is this likely a hardware issue with the yoke's sensor (at least for the extreme far side dead zones)?  Is it still just configuration trouble?  Would it be worth the investment to license FSUIPC to use its calibration facility?  I'd like to hold off on that for a while if possible, unless it will fix this (just spent all that other money on hardware this month!).  I feel like the issue is kinda making my maneuvers less smooth since I don't know exactly when the flight controls will actually kick in.

 

I searched around, but didn't find this exact issue.  If it's already out there, can you please point me in the right direction?

 

Thanks!

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Hi,

 

Sorry, I don't come with a solution but with the same problem. However, it seems to be less severe on my yoke but I still have a dead zone on the ailerons axis on the left side.

When I rotate the yoke to the right even slightly, the controls in FS reacts instantly as soon as the yoke moves. But when rotating this axis to the left, I have to go up to 2 or 3 degrees before I see any change in FS.

I did not install the drivers from SAITEK and did all the calibration and buttons assignment through FSUIPC registered version. When adjusting the axis in FSUIPC, there is an input and an output value. The figures shown in the input are consistent with the reaction of the planes. When turning the yoke to the left, this figure does not change before I rotate as far as 2° or 3°. But, when turning it to the right, the figure increases as soon as I start to rotate the yoke.

I did not dare to open this brand new yoke so far as I don't want to void the warranty. But I will do if I'm sure that I can fix this problem directly on the hardware.

 

So Drdoak, have you find a solution to this problem since you made this post?

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I did not dare to open this brand new yoke so far as I don't want to void the warranty. But I will do if I'm sure that I can fix this problem directly on the hardware.

 

So Drdoak, have you find a solution to this problem since you made this post?

 

If it's still in warranty why don't you send it back? It's not performing as it should.

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If it's still in warranty why don't you send it back?
For 2 reasons:

First, I bought this yoke oversea so I have to wait for my next trip to bring it back. And I'm not sure to get a new one straight away...

And I want to be sure that this is not a software problem before. I had a look at some youtube videos showing the inside of this yoke and I can't figure out how I can have a dead zone on this axis just on the hardware side. The movements of the shaft are continuously transmitted to the potentiometer via a wheel. There is no dead zone on the hardware side. It can still be a problem on the potentiometer but I think there is little chance that my problem comes from there.

 

I will do further testing, try the saitek's softwares, try some FSUIPC tweaks and so on before considering to bring the stuff back to the shop.

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I made a mechanical adjustment that moved the dead zone out of the center position. The pinion gear interface can be adjusted for each axis. I moved the spot where the gears meet while having the x-plane axis/centering page open to see the effect each slight change would have. The pitch adjustment was easier than the roll axis. Before my adjustment, there was about 0.5" of travel (pitching up) until the software would detect motion. After my adjustment, the dead zone is in a yoke pitch position that is not as critical and infrequently used. Same situation with the roll. Just moved the dead zone to a more extreme roll position. After making the change, just click to center on the new poison and/or recalibrate. After these changes, the response around the center position is immediate and I don't even notice the dead zones since they are in more extreme positions. Good luck!

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Hi,

 

Sorry, I don't come with a solution but with the same problem. However, it seems to be less severe on my yoke but I still have a dead zone on the ailerons axis on the left side.

When I rotate the yoke to the right even slightly, the controls in FS reacts instantly as soon as the yoke moves. But when rotating this axis to the left, I have to go up to 2 or 3 degrees before I see any change in FS.

I did not install the drivers from SAITEK and did all the calibration and buttons assignment through FSUIPC registered version. When adjusting the axis in FSUIPC, there is an input and an output value. The figures shown in the input are consistent with the reaction of the planes. When turning the yoke to the left, this figure does not change before I rotate as far as 2° or 3°. But, when turning it to the right, the figure increases as soon as I start to rotate the yoke.

I did not dare to open this brand new yoke so far as I don't want to void the warranty. But I will do if I'm sure that I can fix this problem directly on the hardware.

 

So Drdoak, have you find a solution to this problem since you made this post?

I have pretty much the same situation. I have to move the yoke 1-2" to the left before the sim registers left aileron and about 1" back before the sim registers a elevator pitch up. This is a new piece of hardware and I really don't want to open it up if the fix is software related. I've tried calibration in both FSX and FSUIPC with null zones set to zero.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

Mike

I made a mechanical adjustment that moved the dead zone out of the center position. The pinion gear interface can be adjusted for each axis. I moved the spot where the gears meet while having the x-plane axis/centering page open to see the effect each slight change would have. The pitch adjustment was easier than the roll axis. Before my adjustment, there was about 0.5" of travel (pitching up) until the software would detect motion. After my adjustment, the dead zone is in a yoke pitch position that is not as critical and infrequently used. Same situation with the roll. Just moved the dead zone to a more extreme roll position. After making the change, just click to center on the new poison and/or recalibrate. After these changes, the response around the center position is immediate and I don't even notice the dead zones since they are in more extreme positions. Good luck!

Can you explain a bit more on what you mean when you say "I moved the spot where the gears meet"? How was this done? Also what is meant by "just click to center"?

 

Thanks

 

Mike

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The Saitek yoke has a dead zone built in that you cannot get rid of. This dead zone is an artifact of the controller, not of the potentiometer or of the yoke's internal geometry. In my experience the only way to fix it is to connect the potentiometer to another controller. The problem exists upstream of FSUIPC so that will not help.


MarkH

gGzCVFp.jpg
Core i7-7700K / 32Gb DDR4 / Gigabyte GTX1070 / 1080p x 3 x weird / Win7 64 Pro

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The Saitek yoke has a dead zone built in that you cannot get rid of. This dead zone is an artifact of the controller, not of the potentiometer or of the yoke's internal geometry. In my experience the only way to fix it is to connect the potentiometer to another controller. The problem exists upstream of FSUIPC so that will not help.

Thanks

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The Saitek yoke has a dead zone built in that you cannot get rid of. This dead zone is an artifact of the controller, not of the potentiometer or of the yoke's internal geometry. In my experience the only way to fix it is to connect the potentiometer to another controller. The problem exists upstream of FSUIPC so that will not help.

 

^ This.

 

I've sacrificed an used saitek aviator for this purpose and I can report that is works like a charm as both controllers using the same pods.

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^ This.

 

I've sacrificed an used saitek aviator for this purpose and I can report that is works like a charm as both controllers using the same pods.

 

Can you explain how did you do this? I to have a Saitek Flight Sim Yoke and hate that  dead zone. I guess I am not understanding what did you guys did.

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Can you explain how did you do this? I to have a Saitek Flight Sim Yoke and hate that  dead zone. I guess I am not understanding what did you guys did.

 

Cheapest way is to dismantle another joystick and connect the Saitek's potentiometer(s) to it in place of the joystick's own pots. I did it with a Logitech 3D Pro, which is fairly easy because the pots are connected with little plugs. You can pull them off and stick pins into the plugs with wires soldered into them, then run them out through a hole in the case. Similar deal at the Saitek end - you need to cut the wires that go to the potentiometers, then connect them to the end of the wires coming from the other joystick. So what you've done is to bypass the Saitek's controller board. When I plug my Logitech in now, one of the axes is operated by the Saitek pitch axis.

 

The less-cheap way is to buy a controller like the Leo Bodnar BU0836X and connect the Saitek pots to that.


MarkH

gGzCVFp.jpg
Core i7-7700K / 32Gb DDR4 / Gigabyte GTX1070 / 1080p x 3 x weird / Win7 64 Pro

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I would check eBay/thrift stores etc. for an used aviator stick. Its dual throttles have a decent amount of travel which you can still use after the modification, plus you'll have two spare pots for your yoke.

 

Are you still under the warranty? I read some people got their yokes replaced because of this issue..

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Cheapest way is to dismantle another joystick and connect the Saitek's potentiometer(s) to it in place of the joystick's own pots. I did it with a Logitech 3D Pro, which is fairly easy because the pots are connected with little plugs. You can pull them off and stick pins into the plugs with wires soldered into them, then run them out through a hole in the case. Similar deal at the Saitek end - you need to cut the wires that go to the potentiometers, then connect them to the end of the wires coming from the other joystick. So what you've done is to bypass the Saitek's controller board. When I plug my Logitech in now, one of the axes is operated by the Saitek pitch axis.

 

The less-cheap way is to buy a controller like the Leo Bodnar BU0836X and connect the Saitek pots to that.

 

Thanks for the explanation Mark.

 

I found how to bypass the internal controller board where the potentiometers are attached by using the Leo Bodnar BU0836X. I'll be ordering one of these 12 bit joystick board.

http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?showtopic=44922&p=551098

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providing I had the correct drivers installed.All I needed to do was open Saitek Control Panel (which will be showing axis off centre) then unplug the yoke and plug it straight back  

 

After i try this my huge deadzone are much much smaller almost gone!!!! I hope it help:)


Regard,

 

Vichayut Chunjaroen

<img src="http://qatarairwaysvirtual.net/lib/signatures/QTR2996.png" />

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Hi, I created a video on how to fix this issue with the BU0836A. Check it out. Please like and share.

 

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