Saitek TQ questions

[Toly]

Hi Folks,

I am thinking of bying two Saitek TQs for a twin engine configuration. I'd like to know how easy it is to set up the permanent profiles for different aircraft in FS9 - one for King Air, one for 757. Also, does it have the option of table-top suction mount? I'd like to have it top-mounted if that's possible. And, last but not least I see people have mixed feelings about Saitek yoke... how are you guys happy with their throttle product?

Thanks!

[David Rogers]

You need to Google!

There is a 'wild fire' of debate and discussion about the new Saitek products. The long and short of it is that Saitek designed a fantastic product but made serious mistakes when it came to choosing the factory in the far east where it could be manufactured. As a result, an 'unknown' volume of the the Yoke and TQ products are faulted and suffer from 'phantom' button presses that (believe me) will ruin your flight.

How many are affected? Saitek insulted our intelligence by suggesting 1%; however there are dozens of people on the Saitek Support Forums who have had their faulty units replaced 1, 2, 3, even 4 times! ..... and all have continued to be faulty.

The man who so often saves the day - Pete Dowson - has (to an extent) saved the day by releasing an interim update of FSUIPC that has a new piece of code in it that lets you set an 'Ignore transients' command (and poll interval), that can effectively be programmed to ignore the phantom button presses.

I have done this and am using the Saitek Yoke and TQ again.........

.........but there is a price. You need to press and hold each button slightly longer than is natural, in order to get the button press.

Clearly Pete has helped the 1,000s of affected users out there but his work does not remove the fact that Saitek released 1,000s (10s of 1000s would be closer) of faulted products.

On the plus side, when the phantom button press problem is not ruining the experience, the yoke and throttles are a delight to operate and use and if / when Saitek ever clear up this mess, there is the promise of a great product.

[Toly]

Thanks David! I did Google it but my lovely FW at work denies most of the relevant sites So far my impression had been that only yokes were affected that way, but since you say, it's TQs as well, I guess I should explore other options.

Thanks again

[David Rogers]

I believe it's the throttles too (certainly my throttle was actually the worst offender for the phantom button presses), although the throttle that comes with the yoke, plugs into the yoke, whereas the seperate TQs will obviously go straight into a USB, so may be ok.

I'm not intending to be a 'Saitek basher' but as someone with direct experience of the Yoke & TQ 'farce', I would advise real caution until there is evidence out there that all the duff units are out of the stores and the new units are in circulation.

[BlackWidow]

Toly I have just the TQs i have not been using them but only because i have my X52 i will hook them up to the PC today and see if i can get any bugs to show up.

[Toly]

Cool, please keep us posted if the throttles themselves are OK. Also, product description mentions that the throttles can be simply placed on top of the desk... I wonder if their vise-like grip is actually detachable, to make for a clean desktop appearance?

Thanks much!

[BlackWidow]

Give me a bout 10 min and i will take some pics of the TQs in place showing the locking device its actuallly not to bad.

[David Rogers]

Cool, please keep us posted if the throttles themselves are OK. Also, product description mentions that the throttles can be simply placed on top of the desk... I wonder if their vise-like grip is actually detachable, to make for a clean desktop appearance?

Thanks much!

The vice grip screws on, so yes you can not screw it on if you don't want to use it.

It can be screwed on in 2 positions (forward or aft), so pretty versatile. If you don't want to use the vice, the main throttle unit can also be secured to a wooden desk with just a small blob of blu-tac in each corner. It's a pretty light device.

[BlackWidow]

Toly sorry I was unable to get images of the TQ's today I had a honeydo list that ended up taking me all day to do. I will get some images up tommorow. again sorry about that.

[Toly]

I purchased and tested Saitek 3-lever throttle and it seemed to behave well in terms of 'phanthom menace' effect... I didn't have enough 'flight' time to confirm it for sure. Once, it dropped the gear at leveling out, when the power was reduced to idle, but I wonder if it was the throttle misbehaving or Aeroworx King Air has a 'safety' gear extension feature... hmm. The throttle itself is a good looking piece of hardware and is authentic enough for many semi-serious simmers like me. Without having the yoke, it did feel quite weird flying King Air with 3-lever throttle on the left and joystick on the right. I guess two separate sets of controls are in order for civilian/ combat sims. The sad part is, now I have to return the throttle because they don't sell the yoke separately, without it.

Perhaps we should wait a little and see if and when Saitek gets their act together... Amazon states they have fixed it, but many people still say they haven't..