multiple controllers,separate?

[Daveroo]

ok..my main controllers are CH yoke,2 throttle quads,and peddles,im going to add the heli-kit in a few months,and i was thinking about a HOTAS for "fighters" ect.

id like to leave them all plugged in to the computer (yes i have enough USB ports) thing is..how do i keep the yoke from interfering with the hostas?..ect...again is this onto the FSUIPC? and the fact that i should program each aircrafts controllers separately?

ORRRRR

can they be turned on and off ( easily) before flight?.

[manfredc3]

There is no way to turn controllers off/on in fsx/fs9 before flight.

You will have to create separate profiles in FSUIPC, for the axis for each type of aircraft you fly by controller yoke/joystick.

If you don't the "jitter" of an axis of the controller, not used for the specific, will be causing unwanted behavior or the aircraft.

My suggestion:
The rudder pedals and throttle quadrant are usually ued for all aircraft, so connect then to USB ports on the backside of your computer case.
Connect the yoke and joystick to the front side usb ports, mark them, and connect only the one you will be using for your flight, BEFORE starting your flight simulator. Just make sure to contact the yoke and joystick always to it's own marked usb port, or the flight simulator will changed the device hierarchy, and your assignments will not work.

This is how I switch between yoke and joystick. It is easy, and prevents the unwanted "jitter" effects and button/axis assignments to get messed up.

[Daveroo]

ok..good advice...you and several others have been a big help to me...thank you very much..Dave

[fliger747]

You can disable axies for a particular purpose in settings. I disabled the twist rudder axis since I use pedals. I think you can just assign the duplicate controls to something else.

good luck. Tom

[Chris Sykes]

You can have multiple assignments of the same axis for different controllers in FSUIPC, for instance i have the TM Warthog and Saitek Cessna Yoke and Trottle Quadrant which shares throttle 12, Aleron and Elivator Axis between them. One thing that FSUIPC advises in the manual is to set the controller letter assingments as this may aleviat the changing assignment issue.

One hardware option is a USB switch which ive been looking at as i play BF4 and the Warthog wont work with so i looked at reconnecting the old X52...

[JimmyRFR]

I use FSUIPC; it's one of the areas where it adds a huge amount of functionality.

I have multiple sets of controls hooked up and I generally leave them all plugged into a large powered USB hub. Currently plugged in, I have rudder pedals, a yoke with it's attached throttle quadrant, a second throttle quadrant, a saitek throttle/prop/mixture controller, a trim wheel, a saitek switch panel, a x52pro stick with it's attached throttle, and finally, a cheap saitek stick modded into a floor mount cyclic. The switch panel is run through SPAD (which works awesome), but almost everything else is run through FSUIPC.

What I do is to select each controller in FSX and delete every single axis and button assignment - with the exception of the rudder pedals, since of course I use them in every thing I fly. Then, every time I load up a new plane I setup all of the controls on the controller I choose. This lets me use the type of controller appropriate to the plane, and none of them ever interfere with each other. A bit of work to set up initially for each new plane, but well worth it when you consider that once setup I can switch from flying my 737-200c, to my C172, to my 407, to my F-86 without ever needing to reassign controls.

There are a few exceptions; for example, the Q400 requires the yoke and throttle quadrant to be assigned in FSX, and I usually map the hat switch for panning around the VC in FSX as well, since it's smoother than doing the same in FSUIPC.

I also use the letter assignments within FSUIPC, which helps make things a bit easier if you ever need to unplug stuff. Also worth remembering, is to make a copy of your FSUIPC config file so that you can potentially save yourself the time of going through it all again if you ever needed to reinstall.

Also, one of the other advantages of using FSUIPC for this stuff is that it has a large amount of functionality for tweaking the response curves for your yoke, as well as mapping ranges of your throttle quadrants. For examples, my one Saitek TQ never quite hits a full read when pushed full forward; so in FSUIPC I edit the range of travel so that by about 95% of lever travel it is sending a 100% signal to FSX.

[spotlope]

Jimmy, are you using FSUIPC's controller profiles for that? They make quick work of doing those sorts of assignments.

[JimmyRFR]

Jimmy, are you using FSUIPC's controller profiles for that? They make quick work of doing those sorts of assignments.

If you're referring to being able to have a profile for each type of plane, then yes, of course. I also sometimes base new profiles off of similar profiles and adjust accordingly. However, there is such a wide variety of planes & helicopters installed within my sim that I have quite a few profiles that I've made from scratch - twin prop, twin jet, single (yoke+TQ, yoke+TPM, stick+TPM), helicopter, military jet, etc, etc.

In my opinion, FSUIPC is absolutely irreplaceable for keeping in check such a wide variety of controls tailored to a wide variety of planes.

[Naismith]

The new Saitek looks very sexy
http://youtu.be/QIM_kt_18yI Shame I cannot afford it :-(