Ch eclipse vs saitek pro and saitek cessna, best for buttons and fluid motion?

[theskyisthelimit 48]

I have a serious issue with my old ch flight yoke, so much i'm pretty sure its on its last legs, constantly twitches on ailerons, or will settle then suddenly the range is way off (after trying multiple usb ports/hubs, cant get it to stay settled anymore)..

At any rate.. I've pretty much settled on a ch eclipse yoke ($200 amazon).. Ive read the comparisons on this yoke, with the saitek pro (more, $214?), vs the saitek cessna yoke ($?? cant find)..

It always seemed people liked the fluidity of the ch eclipse over the saitek pro.  The saitek pro also has that quadrant which sucks up more desk space (i think).. not a huge deal breaker but a consideration.. meanwhile the cessna yoke was supposed to be great because the roll axis moves to 180 degrees ? (more realistic, actually i forget what the real range is in a cessna 172?)..

I guess there are no other options at $200 or less out there.. i mainly wanted to maintain button ability.. i think the eclipse lists 144 "functions", not sure what that means.. and seems to only have buttons in the middle (less desireable).. the old ch yoke i have has them on the handles on the sides, this one doesnt.. while i guess they've only moved, it does make things a little trickier for VR use (90% of what i do).. need those buttons and need them easily accessible.

So i'm still leaning towards the eclipse..

Any thoughts?

Thanks

[vp49p3 216]

On ‎5‎/‎5‎/‎2017 at 10:26 AM, theskyisthelimit said:

I have a serious issue with my old ch flight yoke, so much i'm pretty sure its on its last legs, constantly twitches on ailerons, or will settle then suddenly the range is way off (after trying multiple usb ports/hubs, cant get it to stay settled anymore)..

At any rate.. I've pretty much settled on a ch eclipse yoke ($200 amazon).. Ive read the comparisons on this yoke, with the saitek pro (more, $214?), vs the saitek cessna yoke ($?? cant find)..

It always seemed people liked the fluidity of the ch eclipse over the saitek pro.  The saitek pro also has that quadrant which sucks up more desk space (i think).. not a huge deal breaker but a consideration.. meanwhile the cessna yoke was supposed to be great because the roll axis moves to 180 degrees ? (more realistic, actually i forget what the real range is in a cessna 172?)..

I guess there are no other options at $200 or less out there.. i mainly wanted to maintain button ability.. i think the eclipse lists 144 "functions", not sure what that means.. and seems to only have buttons in the middle (less desireable).. the old ch yoke i have has them on the handles on the sides, this one doesnt.. while i guess they've only moved, it does make things a little trickier for VR use (90% of what i do).. need those buttons and need them easily accessible.

So i'm still leaning towards the eclipse..

Any thoughts?

Thanks

The CH buttons are not the red ones on the front.  Those are really non-functional--when you activate them by turning the knob switch to a certain button, it changes what each of the other switches does on the rest of the yoke--hence the 144 programmable functions.  I never used that feature because I couldn't always remember which button did what when I switched. The Eclipse still has push button switches on each of the handles, which I used for PTT and another function.   The CH also has two hat switches and two rocker switches-one of each on each of the the handles, and also has the two gray toggle switches on the base of the yoke.  I found all those to be more than adequate for simming and intuitive to use. I would definitely recommend the CH.  Mine went for 5 years, and was still working fine when I sold it.

[theskyisthelimit 48]

25 minutes ago, vp49p3 said:

The CH buttons are not the red ones on the front.  Those are really non-functional--when you activate them by turning the knob switch to a certain button, it changes what each of the other switches does on the rest of the yoke--hence the 144 programmable functions.  I never used that feature because I couldn't always remember which button did what when I switched. The Eclipse still has push button switches on each of the handles, which I used for PTT and another function.   The CH also has two hat switches and two rocker switches-one of each on each of the the handles, and also has the two gray toggle switches on the base of the yoke.  I found all those to be more than adequate for simming and intuitive to use. I would definitely recommend the CH.  Mine went for 5 years, and was still working fine when I sold it.

Ah excellent thanks.. the amazon pictures didnt really do justice to indicate where these other buttons were.

So effectively (at least in VR), having 2 hat switchings is/could be like having 16 more "buttons" too, plus the two? on the handles combined.  I forgot about the rocker paddles too.  Should be good to go then.

Shame it doesnt have the full 90 degree bank angle on each side like the S. Cessna yoke (real life?), but i also read about drawbacks to the pitch on the cessna one too.

Some people i think liked the Saitek pro for throttle detents?  I've never used those, i think thats for big tin craft unsure.  Sure seems the eclipse is the winner of the two, short of spending $500 on hefty hitter ones with less buttons.

[Patco Lch 1,465]

1 hour ago, theskyisthelimit said:

forgot about the rocker paddles too.

I'm curious. Exactly what are the rocker pedals for? Substitute for rudder pedals?

[pmanhart 176]

7 hours ago, PATCO LCH said:

I'm curious. Exactly what are the rocker pedals for? Substitute for rudder pedals?

Yes, they substitute for rudder pedals.

 

As for the original question, I've owned a Saitek Pro Flight Yoke, a regular CH Yoke and a CH Eclipse Yoke. My favorite of all was the CH Eclipse Yoke because of the following reasons:

1. Fluid elevator movement (the Saitek has a detent in the center which makes it extremely difficult to use during landing)
2. Lots of buttons
3. Easily repairable/modifiable
4. Rudder pedals on the yoke (for when I'm too lazy to dig out my actual pedals...)

For me, #1 is the primary reason I prefer the CH yokes (either one really) over the Saitek yokes.

[theskyisthelimit 48]

15 hours ago, pmanhart said:

Yes, they substitute for rudder pedals.

 

As for the original question, I've owned a Saitek Pro Flight Yoke, a regular CH Yoke and a CH Eclipse Yoke. My favorite of all was the CH Eclipse Yoke because of the following reasons:

1. Fluid elevator movement (the Saitek has a detent in the center which makes it extremely difficult to use during landing)
2. Lots of buttons
3. Easily repairable/modifiable
4. Rudder pedals on the yoke (for when I'm too lazy to dig out my actual pedals...)

For me, #1 is the primary reason I prefer the CH yokes (either one really) over the Saitek yokes.

I guess if i could, i would repair the old ch yoke, just for the sake of repairing it if it were that easy, but i'm not so sure the aileron axis twitching/instability is something that can be fixed.. pretty sure the circuitry must be hosed in some way.  Still prefer the new yoke though, spec wise.

[188AHC 2,138]

I finally wore my CH USB yoke out after more than 15 years of use. I replaced it with the Eclipse and am very happy. Never been  a fan of Saitek.

[Glynn 405]

26 minutes ago, theskyisthelimit said:

I guess if i could, i would repair the old ch yoke, just for the sake of repairing it if it were that easy, but i'm not so sure the aileron axis twitching/instability is something that can be fixed.. pretty sure the circuitry must be hosed in some way.  Still prefer the new yoke though, spec wise.

Your potentiometers are worn out, CH used to sell replacements. check their website.