Condor Joystick/Rudder

[Peter von Tresckow]

As much as it pains me to part with my vintage Thrustmaster F16 FLCS,
throttle, and rudders, I think it's time to move into the 21st century and
get a USB setup. What is the current consensus on what joystick/rudder
combo to go with??

Thanks

Pete

[Terence Wilson[_2_]]

Saitek yoke and rudder. Works well in Condor, FS9, FSX, X-Plane. I've had mine for 3 years are so and use it a lot. No issues.

[Paul Remde]

Hi Peter,

I sell the Logitech Extreme 3D Pro Joystick and CH Pro Pedals. Customers
seem very happy with them. I use them and I'm happy with them.
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com/condor.htm

Best Regards,

Paul Remde
Cumulus Soaring, Inc.

"Peter von Tresckow" wrote in message
...

As much as it pains me to part with my vintage Thrustmaster F16 FLCS,
throttle, and rudders, I think it's time to move into the 21st century and
get a USB setup. What is the current consensus on what joystick/rudder
combo to go with??

Thanks

Pete

[Dan Daly[_2_]]

On Jan 7, 7:31*pm, "Paul Remde" > wrote:
> Hi Peter,
>
> I sell the Logitech Extreme 3D Pro Joystick and CH Pro Pedals. *Customers
> seem very happy with them. *I use them and I'm happy with them.http://www.cumulus-soaring.com/condor.htm
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Paul Remde
> Cumulus Soaring, Inc.
>
> "Peter von Tresckow" *wrote in ...
>
> As much as it pains me to part with my vintage Thrustmaster F16 FLCS,
> throttle, and rudders, I think it's time to move into the 21st century and
> get a USB setup. What is the current consensus on what joystick/rudder
> combo to go with??
>
> Thanks
>
> Pete

I have the same as Paul; happy with both. The stick isn't force
feedback, if that is important to you.

Dan

[Bill D]

On Monday, January 7, 2013 6:51:06 PM UTC-7, Dan Daly wrote:
> On Jan 7, 7:31*pm, "Paul Remde" > wrote:
>
> > Hi Peter,
>
> >
>
> > I sell the Logitech Extreme 3D Pro Joystick and CH Pro Pedals. *Customers
>
> > seem very happy with them. *I use them and I'm happy with them.http://www.cumulus-soaring.com/condor.htm
>
> >
>
> > Best Regards,
>
> >
>
> > Paul Remde
>
> > Cumulus Soaring, Inc.
>
> >
>
> > "Peter von Tresckow" *wrote in ...
>
> >
>
> > As much as it pains me to part with my vintage Thrustmaster F16 FLCS,
>
> > throttle, and rudders, I think it's time to move into the 21st century and
>
> > get a USB setup. What is the current consensus on what joystick/rudder
>
> > combo to go with??
>
> >
>
> > Thanks
>
> >
>
> > Pete
>
>
>
> I have the same as Paul; happy with both. The stick isn't force
>
> feedback, if that is important to you.
>
>
>
> Dan

I've been using the Logitech "Extreme 3D Pro" for several years (Since I found it in a discount bin for $15.) I decided pedals were too much hassle so I learned to use the twist grip for rudder. This works so well (for me) that I'm sometimes discomfited by simulators with a pedal set-up.

[Daniel Sazhin]

Pete,

I use a Sidewinder 2 Force Feedback stick and Saitek Pro Flight Rudder
Pedals. The Sidewinder has been the best stick I have ever used and gives
the most "feel" to the glider. They haven't been made in almost 10 years,
but are pretty cheap on Ebay.

Daniel Sazhin

At 21:35 07 January 2013, Peter von Tresckow wrote:
>As much as it pains me to part with my vintage Thrustmaster F16 FLCS,
>throttle, and rudders, I think it's time to move into the 21st century
and
>get a USB setup. What is the current consensus on what joystick/rudder
>combo to go with??
>
>Thanks
>
>Pete
>

[akiley]

On Monday, January 7, 2013 4:35:24 PM UTC-5, vontresc wrote:
> As much as it pains me to part with my vintage Thrustmaster F16 FLCS,
>
> throttle, and rudders, I think it's time to move into the 21st century and
>
> get a USB setup. What is the current consensus on what joystick/rudder
>
> combo to go with??
>
>
>
> Thanks
>
>
>
> Pete

I have a Saitek Cyborg X which is nice because it has two throttle levers on the left side. One I assign as trim and the other for spoilers. It's been working great till last month, one of the throttles stopped working. Aaron

[John Carlyle]

I second Daniel's recommendation. They offer a wonderful "feel" to the Condor glider - almost lifelike.

-John

On Tuesday, January 8, 2013 10:49:25 AM UTC-5, Daniel Sazhin wrote:
> Pete,
>
> I use a Sidewinder 2 Force Feedback stick and Saitek Pro Flight Rudder
> Pedals. The Sidewinder has been the best stick I have ever used and gives
> the most "feel" to the glider. They haven't been made in almost 10 years,
> but are pretty cheap on Ebay.
>
> Daniel Sazhin

[soartech[_2_]]

> I use a Sidewinder 2 Force Feedback stick and Saitek Pro Flight Rudder
> Pedals. The Sidewinder has been the best stick I have ever used and gives
> the most "feel" to the glider. They haven't been made in almost 10 years,
> but are pretty cheap on Ebay.
>
> Daniel Sazhin

Daniel,
What does Force Feeback mean? Does it have little motors inside the
stick?
Is this feature supported by Condor?

[JP Stewart]

On Tuesday, January 8, 2013 1:01:39 PM UTC-5, soartech wrote:
> > I use a Sidewinder 2 Force Feedback stick and Saitek Pro Flight Rudder
>
> > Pedals. The Sidewinder has been the best stick I have ever used and gives
>
> > the most "feel" to the glider. They haven't been made in almost 10 years,
>
> > but are pretty cheap on Ebay.
>
> >
>
> > Daniel Sazhin
>
>
>
> Daniel,
>
> What does Force Feeback mean? Does it have little motors inside the
>
> stick?
>
> Is this feature supported by Condor?

Yes and yes. Force feedback tries to make the stick respond to stick forces in the plane. It is usually pretty good, however I have not found it to really make a huge difference. I prefer the Saitek X-52 Pro because it is very smooth and has a good bit more stick travel (Vs. the Logitech joystick) which makes it feel more precise to me. Try some out and find what you think feels right and remember to join us on US Nightly Soaring every day (except Monday) at 9PM eastern. http://gliderracing.com/pub/

JP

[Piet Barber]

I have a Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback 2 joystick. Unfortunately, after upgrading to Windows 7, the force feedback part doesn't work anymore. Now it just slops around with no tactile center. I haven't been able to give ground instruction on a flight simulator since this upgrade. This is terribly disappointing since the operating system upgrade was done by Microsoft, and the hardware made obsolete by the same company now makes it more or less useless.

What I would really like is a force feedback joystick that closely represents the style of control column you see in real life gliders. Something that doesn't sit on a table, but is positioned on a chair, and be grabbed in the customary fashion that a normal flight control stick is grasped. And something with a mini-throttle built in that I could use as a trim-tab. I don't need all those 85 buttons and control hat that all the modern joysticks have.

[Martin Gregorie[_5_]]

On Tue, 08 Jan 2013 15:05:34 -0800, Piet Barber wrote:

> What I would really like is a force feedback joystick that closely
> represents the style of control column you see in real life gliders.
> Something that doesn't sit on a table, but is positioned on a chair, and
> be grabbed in the customary fashion that a normal flight control stick
> is grasped. And something with a mini-throttle built in that I could
> use as a trim-tab. I don't need all those 85 buttons and control hat
> that all the modern joysticks have.
>
If you can find something like an old CH Pro gaming stick (two buttons on
the stick, throttle wheel and X and Y trim pots it shouldn't be too hard
to adapt it. Make a stick of the right length from alloy tube and mount
it on a box or whatever so it has the right relationship to your chair.
Fit a mechanical link from your stick to the the CH Pro stick so it will
follow your stick's movements. Take the handle off the CH Pro and put it
on the top of your stick and wit up its two buttons in case you find a
use for them. Lengths of bicycle brake cable can be used to connect home
made brake and trim levers to the throttle and trim pots on the CH base
or use that sort of linkage to make the throttle into an airbrake and
build a mechanical trim setup with springs on the stick (would be more
realistic since the CH trim pots don't physically affect the position of
its stick).

Of course, the CH Pro is an old-style stick that plugs into a game port
and it may be hard to find a game port adapter to fit a modern PC.
However, I bet you could do a similar butcher job on a cheap modern USB
stick and simply discard all the buttons etc you don't need.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

[WAVEGURU]

I'm using the SGS 2-32 joystick and rudder combo...

Boggs

https://www.facebook.com/NWSkysports

[Beeper]

On 01/08/2013 03:05 PM, Piet Barber wrote:
> I have a Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback 2 joystick.
> Unfortunately, after upgrading to Windows 7, the force feedback part
> doesn't work anymore. Now it just slops around with no tactile
> center. I haven't been able to give ground instruction on a flight
> simulator since this upgrade. This is terribly disappointing since
> the operating system upgrade was done by Microsoft, and the hardware
> made obsolete by the same company now makes it more or less useless.

Over in a Linux group, someone found a partial fix for the floppy stick.
http://scribblette.livejournal.com/643709.html

[Bart[_4_]]

On Jan 8, 3:05*pm, Piet Barber > wrote:
> I have a Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback 2 joystick. *Unfortunately, after upgrading to Windows 7, the force feedback part doesn't work anymore. *Now it just slops around with no tactile center. I haven't been able to give ground instruction on a flight simulator since this upgrade. *This is terribly disappointing since the operating system upgrade was done by Microsoft, and the hardware made obsolete by the same company now makes it more or less useless.

Apparently, it does work for some: http://forum.condorsoaring.com/viewtopic..php?f=15&t=14804

I have W7 64 bit and am planning to get Condor and MSFF2. I hope that
the combination will work fine. If it does not, then I will simply run
Condor in a virtual machine under WinXP.

Bart

[Tony V]

On 1/13/2013 12:01 AM, Bart wrote:

> I have W7 64 bit and am planning to get Condor and MSFF2. I hope that
> the combination will work fine. If it does not, then I will simply run
> Condor in a virtual machine under WinXP.

You may be disappointed with the VM. On my machine, the response time to
mouse and keyboard inputs is noticeable slower than normal. Whether or
not it's too slow for Condor, I don't know.

Tony "6N"

[Bart[_4_]]

On Jan 20, 10:59*am, Tony V > wrote:
> You may be disappointed with the VM. On my machine, the response time to
> mouse and keyboard inputs is noticeable slower than normal. Whether or
> not it's too slow for Condor, I don't know.

I have not experienced anything like this (I use VMware Workstation/
Player). What do you use?

Bart

[noel.wade]

Bart -

I have (and use) Condor on Win7 64-bit. It works fine, just make sure
you have at _least_ 2GB of RAM (that's for Win7, more than Condor)!

--Noel

[Bart[_4_]]

On Jan 21, 11:55*am, "noel.wade" > wrote:
> I have (and use) Condor on Win7 64-bit. *It works fine, just make sure
> you have at _least_ 2GB of RAM (that's for Win7, more than Condor)!

Noel,

I am sure Condor works fine under Win7 - it's a supported product
after all. CPU/RAM will not be an issue; I have plenty.
It is the Microsoft force feedback joystick that worries me a bit.

Bart

[Ian Kennedy]

"Bart" wrote in message
...

On Jan 21, 11:55 am, "noel.wade" > wrote:
> I have (and use) Condor on Win7 64-bit. It works fine, just make sure
> you have at _least_ 2GB of RAM (that's for Win7, more than Condor)!

Noel,

I am sure Condor works fine under Win7 - it's a supported product
after all. CPU/RAM will not be an issue; I have plenty.
It is the Microsoft force feedback joystick that worries me a bit.

Bart

Bart,
I'm using Win7 64 bit with Condor and a Microsoft force feedback
joystick....no problem.
Cheers
Ian K

[Bart[_4_]]

On Jan 23, 10:50*am, "Ian Kennedy" >
wrote:
> I'm using Win7 64 bit with Condor and a Microsoft force feedback
> joystick....no problem.

I am happy to report that my MSFF2 arrived today and works just fine,
including force feedback :-)

Bart

[[email protected]]

Condorks,

I'm finally ready to get set up Condor and I need suggestions for suitable computers. I'd like a laptop for portability and I don't want to spend a lot. Considering some of these $300 range new cheapo laptops or better yet cheaper and used. One of my computer gurus suggests that a non portable super cheap used windows machine might run the program better than any lap top. Lots of those avail at local university surplus.

I have a decent older Macbook and have read you might be able to run Condor on it with a Windows system within the Mac system. Anyone doing that? I'd imagine it to be sketchy.

Since I'm starting from scratch I can pretty much get whatever processor and ram suited to the task. I have a number of friends and students who ought to join the Condork Club too so lets figure out the cheapest and easiest way to bring them (and me) on board!

Matt

[Tony[_5_]]

On Wednesday, February 6, 2013 10:09:33 AM UTC-6, wrote:
> Condorks, I'm finally ready to get set up Condor and I need suggestions for suitable computers. I'd like a laptop for portability and I don't want to spend a lot. Considering some of these $300 range new cheapo laptops or better yet cheaper and used. One of my computer gurus suggests that a non portable super cheap used windows machine might run the program better than any lap top. Lots of those avail at local university surplus. I have a decent older Macbook and have read you might be able to run Condor on it with a Windows system within the Mac system. Anyone doing that? I'd imagine it to be sketchy. Since I'm starting from scratch I can pretty much get whatever processor and ram suited to the task. I have a number of friends and students who ought to join the Condork Club too so lets figure out the cheapest and easiest way to bring them (and me) on board! Matt

Hello Condork,

I originally bought a Dell D600 laptop, refurbished, and it didn't have enough guts to run condor well on multiplayer races in some of the higher detail scenery. It does meet all the minimum specs on the Condor website and it did do well when flying solo.

So i bought a Dell Precision m6300 refurbished off Ebay for pretty cheap. I bought it because its the same laptop that Frank Paynter flies with so i knew it would work well. It does, now the only excuse i have for getting beat is that I'm slow, not the computer.

[Bill D]

On Wednesday, February 6, 2013 9:38:58 AM UTC-7, Tony wrote:
> On Wednesday, February 6, 2013 10:09:33 AM UTC-6, wrote:
>
> > Condorks, I'm finally ready to get set up Condor and I need suggestions for suitable computers. I'd like a laptop for portability and I don't want to spend a lot. Considering some of these $300 range new cheapo laptops or better yet cheaper and used. One of my computer gurus suggests that a non portable super cheap used windows machine might run the program better than any lap top. Lots of those avail at local university surplus. I have a decent older Macbook and have read you might be able to run Condor on it with a Windows system within the Mac system. Anyone doing that? I'd imagine it to be sketchy. Since I'm starting from scratch I can pretty much get whatever processor and ram suited to the task. I have a number of friends and students who ought to join the Condork Club too so lets figure out the cheapest and easiest way to bring them (and me) on board! Matt
>
>
>
> Hello Condork,
>
>
>
> I originally bought a Dell D600 laptop, refurbished, and it didn't have enough guts to run condor well on multiplayer races in some of the higher detail scenery. It does meet all the minimum specs on the Condor website and it did do well when flying solo.
>
>
>
> So i bought a Dell Precision m6300 refurbished off Ebay for pretty cheap. I bought it because its the same laptop that Frank Paynter flies with so i knew it would work well. It does, now the only excuse i have for getting beat is that I'm slow, not the computer.

FWIW, in an e-mail exchange with Uros several years ago, he said the software depends mainly on the CPU and not so much on graphics cards - his way of saying there's not much benefit to be gained from buying an expensive GPU card.

[Andrew[_14_]]

On Wednesday, February 6, 2013 11:09:33 AM UTC-5, wrote:
> Condorks,
>
>
>
> I'm finally ready to get set up Condor and I need suggestions for suitable computers. I'd like a laptop for portability and I don't want to spend a lot. Considering some of these $300 range new cheapo laptops or better yet cheaper and used. One of my computer gurus suggests that a non portable super cheap used windows machine might run the program better than any lap top. Lots of those avail at local university surplus.
>
>
>
> I have a decent older Macbook and have read you might be able to run Condor on it with a Windows system within the Mac system. Anyone doing that? I'd imagine it to be sketchy.
>
>
>
> Since I'm starting from scratch I can pretty much get whatever processor and ram suited to the task. I have a number of friends and students who ought to join the Condork Club too so lets figure out the cheapest and easiest way to bring them (and me) on board!
>
>
>
> Matt

Using a Mac is totally possible. Use Bootcamp from Apple's website and get a copy of Windows 7 and install. This will take away disk space from OSX though as Windows will need it's own partition to live on along with the space Condor needs. So, if your MacBook is already short on disk space then it'd be an issue.
For me Condor takes 26.65GB with a multitude of sceneries installed and Windows 7 64bit takes 21.1GB with all the updates applied.

Your MacBook should have plenty of CPU to do a good enough job on most sceneries. The only limiting factors I can see are disk space, RAM, and video RAM when dealing with the large texture rich photo realistic sceneries like Alpi3.3. Most of the heavy duty sceneries have to be bought though so many amateur servers stick with free sceneries.

For a reference my system is a early model Mac Pro 1,1 (2006):
2 x 2.67GHz Xeon CPUs
*250GB HDD for Windows 7 64bit
*4GB RAM
*Radeon 5770 with 1GB video ram for Condor
*Nvidia 7300GT with 256MB video ram for OSX

With Condors graphics settings at the highest levels at 1600x1200 res it gets:

*Stock scenery (Slovenia 1.03)
-70fps w/ Radeon 5770
-40fps w/ 7300GT
-265MB RAM used

Even though the Condor developer Uros says CPU is the most important, which is true, a better GPU still helps...

[Dave Nadler]

I recommend this control console:
http://www.nadler.com/backups/ConsoleOverview.jpg
See ya, Dave "YO electric"

[Jim[_30_]]

On Wednesday, February 6, 2013 11:09:33 AM UTC-5, wrote:
> Condorks,
>
>
>
> I'm finally ready to get set up Condor and I need suggestions for suitable computers. I'd like a laptop for portability and I don't want to spend a lot. Considering some of these $300 range new cheapo laptops or better yet cheaper and used. One of my computer gurus suggests that a non portable super cheap used windows machine might run the program better than any lap top. Lots of those avail at local university surplus.
>
>
>
> I have a decent older Macbook and have read you might be able to run Condor on it with a Windows system within the Mac system. Anyone doing that? I'd imagine it to be sketchy.
>
>
>
> Since I'm starting from scratch I can pretty much get whatever processor and ram suited to the task. I have a number of friends and students who ought to join the Condork Club too so lets figure out the cheapest and easiest way to bring them (and me) on board!
>
>
>
> Matt

I just bought a nice Lenovo ThinkPad running Win/7 Pro. Condor will not run on this machine. Talked to Frank Paynter and he believes it is the light weight graphics card. I would have chosen a more powerful one but the computer came preconfigured with the Intel HD Graphics 3000 card.

I have Condor running on my other 4 year old Lenovo ThinkPad under XP Pro. Ir runs fine on that PC which does have a better graphics card. I would also be a little skeptical about using XP Mode under the VM Machine in Win/7. I put a couple of programs there ( e.g. my old version of See You )and they are very very slow loading. I doubt if Condor will like it there.

My best guess is that my problem is the graphics card as Frank suggested. Get a good one and Win/7 Pro running on any decent PC will do the job.

Jim - 77

[[email protected]]

How does one determine if a graphics card will be good enough? I'm thinking of buying one of the new cheap windows laptops available at Best Buy.

[Frank Whiteley]

On Thursday, February 7, 2013 7:00:30 AM UTC-7, wrote:
> How does one determine if a graphics card will be good enough? I'm thinking of buying one of the new cheap windows laptops available at Best Buy.

Although I pinged Matt off group, both BestBuy and Microcenter.com have refurb specials. As in everything computer and Internet regarding cheap, fast, and reliable, pick two! The HP i5 and i7 laptops with Beats audio are media platforms with HDMI output. W8 refurbs are showing up with 12GB of DDR3, 1TB HDDs, etc. I suspect those may be from returns where people gagged on W8 or it wouldn't run their proprietary software package (TaxWorks 2012 for example).

Frank Whiteley

[Jim[_30_]]

On Thursday, February 7, 2013 9:00:30 AM UTC-5, wrote:
> How does one determine if a graphics card will be good enough? I'm thinking of buying one of the new cheap windows laptops available at Best Buy.

I would email Frank Paynter(TA)...he knows this stuff really well. He is a friend from Caesar Creek...

I'm sure he will be happy to help

Jim Price - 77

[[email protected]]

will Condor run well on Windows 8? And what about joysticks and W8? From what I'm reading most are using OS's earlier than W7.

MM

[Paul Remde]

Hi Matt,

Any joystick that works fine in Windows Vista or Windows 7 will probably
work great in Windows 8. In Windows Vista and Windows 7 there is no need to
install drivers for the rudder pedals and joysticks I sell. They just
work - after you "assign controls" in the setup > Input screen in Condor.

I haven't had anyone complain that the rudder pedals and joysticks I sell
don't work in Windows 8.

Best Regards,

Paul Remde

wrote in message
...

will Condor run well on Windows 8? And what about joysticks and W8? From
what I'm reading most are using OS's earlier than W7.

MM

[[email protected]]

Thanks Paul, and everyone else.

A friend is willing to donate a surplus Compaq 9610p to my Condork Training School project

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&taskId=125&prodSeriesId=3357377&prodTypeId=321957&prodSeriesId=3357377&objectID=c01045343

Comments about suitability appreciated!

MM

[Dale Watkins]

I use a Lenovo v570 and Microsoft force feed back 2 joystick with Pro Pedals. Have no issues with flying multiple player tasks. Frame rate is above 40 FPS depending on scenery. Dale (ZEN)