[feltoar]

I recently got a new joystick (first in many many years), its a Saitek Cyborg Evo. Ive been using it with the absolute minimum deadzone. I noticed that while playing when the stick isnt held the ship will slowly pull to the side. When looking at the drivers the joystick kind of flickers to the side of the center bar where is is supposed to rest, when untouched. I can slightly bring it to settle where it should using my hands.

I can remedy it by increasing the deadzone to 2 in FS2. Although I read somewhere (I think here), that if a NEW stick is misbehaving even slightly it should be replaced? That is my question. Even though I can easily fix it now should I be considering a replacement, will it get worse? I have very little experience with joysticks and have no idea if the play I have at the moment is normal (afterall, deadzones exist for a reason).

[edit]When the joystick is first plugged in everything is fine. Its after being used a bit that it flickers in a direction.

Also, does anyone have any tips for taking care of joysticks? Im currently keeping mine in its original box.

[Retsof]

Weeeeeeell, I have my deadzone and my sensitivity at half in Freespace 2.  And as for taking care of it, I keep my Logitech Wing Man Force 3D joystick in the cubbyhole in the computer desk a few cm off the floor next to the computer tower.

[Herra Tohtori]

I would recommend getting a replacement. Pots never get any better when they start going bad, and flickering on the center area is usually the first sign of things starting to fall apart. Followed by spiking, lacking feedback area on some ends of the axes, and so on. Just go in the shop and say that one axis is off-centered and flickers around the deadzone and you'll likely have no problem getting it replaced.

Of course, with the Cyborg Evo there is the chance that it's simply a mechanically non-centered (or possibly slightly loose) sensor, in which case you *can* go inside the stick and slightly tilt the offending sensor so that when the spring centers the stick, the sensor is also centered. Of course, if you do this you can pretty mch kiss goodbye to warranty (technically anyway, you can always try to deny you did anything...).

My stick does has somethign like this going on, the roll axis indicator is slightly off-center but it doesn't really flicker or spike, and reaches both ends of the scale... so it's just a mechanical fluke in my case. But the flickering kinda sounds bad to be honest on your stick.


Also, I've noticed that a couple drops of some kind of oil (or silicon) in the spring gimbal system, especially between the plastic sleeve and the stick, tend to prevent wear and tear that eventually increases the mechanical deadzone of the stick. But for now, just go and get that replacement stick.

[Mongoose]

The Cyborg Evo has a sort of auto-calibration system that resets itself if it started out off-center.  All you should have to do is move the stick to all its extents in-game, and it should reset its center point.  I have the same stick, and it's always worked fine.

[feltoar]

Well I think Ive deduced its mechanical. Its the spring mechanism and the disc below it used to center the stick. There is about a millimetre of play which the stick is picking up and the stick will return to where ever it wants inside that play area, sometimes dead center sometimes not.

[edit]Dam, Im at a loss. The problem goes away when replugging the joystick and comes back after lengthy play.

[colecampbell666]

Probably fatigue. My EVO Force has never failed me, BTW.

[Dysko]

I got 2 Logitechs with the same problem since I bought them.

Then I grew up, and I learnt that I mustn't buy Logitechs

Now I have a Saitek X52, and so far it hasn't given me any trouble. I bought it 6 months ago, and it's the joystick (err... an HOTAS, to be precise ) that lasted more (and I hope it'll last a lot of time, since it's quite expensive).

[colecampbell666]

I got 2 Logitechs with the same problem since I bought them.

Then I grew up, and I learnt that I mustn't buy Logitechs

Smart boy. Never buy a logi****. They die instantly.

[Nuke]

i had a problem like that with my x52, so i went and got a ch stick/throttle/rudder setup. though after reading about the cougar i wish i woulda went with that one. considering i spent over $400 bucks on the setup i now use and the price of a cougar is around $300 (though the cougar lacks rudder pedals). but since the cougar is made out of metal and is designed with replaceable sensors, excessive modability, the potential of it lasting forever is really large. ch does sell replacement sensors, but will void your warranty when installing them. either stick is rock solid though.

[haloboy100]

This problem doesn't seem worth the effort to fix. just set your deadzone to 2, and you should be done. Sure you can't control your stick for super ultra precision sniping, but that doesen't really make a difference anyway.

I can't see why people hate logitechs so much. They are pretty reliable things...my $80 logitech attack three lasted a helluva lot longer then my  $150 microsoft super ultra forcefeedback thing (forgot the name, but that old thing was HUGE!). My attack three is off-center by perhaps a millimeter on the left side, but i easily fixed that by reducing the deadzone to 2. Other then that, it hasn't given me any problems in years.

[colecampbell666]

This problem doesn't seem worth the effort to fix. just set your deadzone to 2, and you should be done. Sure you can't control your stick for super ultra precision sniping, but that doesen't really make a difference anyway.

I can't see why people hate logitechs so much. They are pretty reliable things...my $80 logitech attack three lasted a helluva lot longer then my  $150 microsoft super ultra forcefeedback thing (forgot the name, but that old thing was HUGE!). My attack three is off-center by perhaps a millimeter on the left side, but i easily fixed that by reducing the deadzone to 2. Other then that, it hasn't given me any problems in years.

My reason: I had two WingMan Attack 2s die on me, one started turning to the left and wouldn't reverse after a month, the other was defective. My WingMan Force 3D (or something like that) was also defective. My Saitek has never failed me. logi**** does make good keyboards and mice/webcams/pretty much everything except joysticks, the only good thing about their sticks is that I got FS2 with them.

[haloboy100]

Wow. You people must be either really intense or really stressed players, since my attack three has lasted me for probably more then 3 years without any problems at all.

[Herra Tohtori]

Attack 3: Raptor pilot's choice!



 


Anyway, Logitech has a history of sucky QC on it's joystick department. You may get a good one that lasts several years with minimal degradation, or you might end up with a POS stick that is usesless after few months of use... the worst are the sticks that last through the warranty until you start noticing anything, then go bad in a few days.

[colecampbell666]

Wow. You people must be either really intense or really stressed players, since my attack three has lasted me for probably more then 3 years without any problems at all.

I'm not an intense player, like I said, all three were defective.

[Dysko]

the worst are the sticks that last through the warranty until you start noticing anything, then go bad in a few days.

Strangley enough, that's exactly what happened with the first Logitech I had. I don't remember the name, but it was the joypad with the gravity sensor.

You people must be either really intense or really stressed players

Probably that's part of the problem. I started flightsimming in 1992, and I still play a lot with flight sims. So it's probable that my joysticks break apart due to intese use

[Mongoose]

I'm very light on the controls myself (I have a beloved 10-year-old MS Sidewinder 3D Pro that's still going strong, thanks to a community USB adapter mod), but my Logitech Wingman Force 3D went south within half a year.  It's fairly obvious that the problem is electronic instead of mechanical, since the Windows calibration sensors go nuts while the thing is standing perfectly still (and, if I have the force feedback power cable plugged in, the thing yanks itself around as though it were possessed).  In contrast, my few-years-old Saitek Cyborg Evo has served me perfectly well (though I do wish the wrist rest was able to be moved up further than its highest setting).

[Nuke]

i think when i get the money im gonna grab me a couple of these, and mod the **** out of my x52. i can make the sticks independent units, and combine with ppjoy or other utils as needed. if i can find a 16 bit per axis board that would be better. the throttle i might stick a better lcd in it that can display more data. the x52 had really comfortabler grips, the only reason i keep it around is the potential for modding.

[MP-Ryan]

Someone forgive me, but this has to be said:

Joy Sticks: How much play is too much?

When it starts to chafe, use lotion and take a few days off.

*runs*

[haloboy100]

Someone forgive me, but this has to be said:

Joy Sticks: How much play is too much?

When it starts to chafe, use lotion and take a few days off.

*runs*

was waiting for that kind of comment to come up.

[Bob-san]

It takes a lot to make it chafe.