Best way to connect USB flight controls?

[fppilot 4,371]

10 minutes ago, w6kd said:

Whether or not USB power management becomes a problem depends on how/what you fly...if you fly airliners where you're on autopilot for extended periods and not stimulating the USB port with control inputs, Windows power management detects that the port is not in use and depowers it

Very true, and especially true for devices like Saitek Panels.  I can be performing all sorts of functions with my Saitek yoke but do nothing for an hour or more with my Saitek Multipanel (autopilot equivalent).  If I have Windows Advanced Power Management enabled for the devices and the Multipanel (USB) plugged into the USB port on the yoke, inactivity with the Multipanel will shut down both devices, even if I have the yoke powered with the Saitek AC power adapter.  If I disable Windows Advanced Power Management for the devices I never get power disabled and I have no need to use the power adapter.  At one point just after I built my current system and was experiencing the issue, everyone jumped on the USB 3.0 as the cause.  It was not the cause.  After tackling the APM via Control Panel settings and application of a patch to Windows Registry I have not since had an issue.

Edited March 8, 2019 by fppilot

[fppilot 4,371]

5 minutes ago, bbuckley said:

That explains my experience, I fly relatively short GA flights with lots of various controls inputs. Thanks! I finally understand this.

Good read.  My average flight is just under 2 hours.  The inactivity issue I was having was focused on the Saitek Multipanel.  It is essentially an autopilot module with trim and flaps controls.  I adopted the Multipanel back when I was flying the Carenado C90 King Air a lot.  That model's autopilot is on the lower tier of the throttle quadrant, as is the AP in the Alabeo C421 and the Carenado F406 Caravan II. For those the Multipanel puts the AP controls in a more convenient location. 

When flying most other aircraft I use the mouse and on-screen AP instead of the Multipanel.  It was on those flights that I would lose the Multipanel and yoke.  It was very frustrating as nothing would bring back the yoke.  ex. unplugging and plugging back in.

[AustinLonghorn 5]

Just reporting satisfactory results with a HooToo 9-port HT-UH010 USB 3.0 hub (~ USD$30 on Amazon) and these devices all connected to the hub:

RealSimGear GNS430

Thrustmaster TPR pedals

Saitek Pro Flight Throttle Quadrant

Saitek Pro Flight Radio Panel

Saitek Pro Flight Cessna Trim Wheel

Windows 7, ASUS H97 Plus motherboard, hub plugged into a USB 3.0 port on the motherboard.

I wanted a non-bus-powered USB hub, so that when power was removed from the hub, the devices would truly be disconnected from the host (don't want the whole radio stack, GNS430, etc., powered up all the time when the PC isn't being used for flight sim stuff).  This hub fit the bill and seems to work fine.  Flights in P3D of about 45 minutes or so (KAUS-K11R at about ~ 110 KTAS as an example).

Edited March 8, 2019 by AustinLonghorn

[Radial9 69]

It has been my experience that my GoFlight modules require USB2.0 hubs. All else, my TM Warthog HOTAS, Throttle and Crosswind rudder pedals work fine on powered USB3.1.

I have had fairly good luck with my Hubs not going to sleep. If I get a Win10 update, I have to take serious time and go through all of the devices in device manager to ensure they were not reverted back to having power management turned back on. And the boxes DO get checked back on. Very frustrating.

Daedalus... pretty impressive hanger... how do you find time to fly all those aircraft?

Cheers,

Bob

[ComSimPilot 623]

Thank you all so much for the time to reply to my question by posting your experience and suggestions. I am very grateful. 

@Ray Proudfoot the devices that I want to connect to the hub is the six referred on the second line of my signature.

As far as I know all these devices are all USB 2.0 devices, so I guess buying a USB 2.0 hub would be the safest option. I would assume that backwards compatibility of USB 3.1 as Bob and Bruce suggested would assure that the devices would work, but reading some of the replies, I have some second thoughts now. Maybe a USB 2.0 only hub would be the wiser option. I also understand now (did not know that) that USB 3.1 is the newer version and advisable to use instead of 3.0

As for power management, I am aware of the sleeping function so I would certainly turn off the power saving setting.I forgot that a powered hub would always power the devices, so maybe better buy a hub with a switch to turn the power off when not in use. Still not the most convenient to do every time. The other safe option would be to avoid altogether the hub and buy 2x PCIe cards and try to move my pc tower closer to my rig so to avoid cable length issues. 

Thank you all for your suggestions. You answered my main concern which would be that a hub may not work. The answer is that it should work as far as I understand. I'll think all aspects again and hopefully do the right decision. 

@Radial9 thanks for the comment.:)  As you can imagine this fleet is impossible to satisfy in a frequent basis. I try to fly a different category every time, however depending on available time and mood I also fly what is more convenient each time. My dream app would be an app assigning me flights/aircraft so I don't have to find out where/what to fly each time 🙂

Edited March 8, 2019 by Daedalus

[Ray Proudfoot 8,954]

3 hours ago, Daedalus said:

@Ray Proudfoot the devices that I want to connect to the hub is the six referred on the second line of my signature.

As far as I know all these devices are all USB 2.0 devices, so I guess buying a USB 2.0 hub would be the safest option. 

You should be fine with a USB2 powered hub with that kit. Just to prove how temperamental GoFlight units are I have two GF-166 radio units that are plugged into a powered USB2 hub. If I connect that hub to a USB3 port on my computer the displays will not light. If I plug it into a USB2 port they do.

That)s why I always advise to avoid USB3.

[regis9 4,014]

9 hours ago, w6kd said:

some treehugging waste of gravity

I’ve heard people called a waste of space before, but waste of gravity is a new one for me! I love this, I’m going to steal it 😀