Old CH F16 Flightstick

[fortkentdad]

I have an old (as in more than 10 years old) joystick It's a "F16 Flight Stick" by CH. It has not been used in eons but I just bought some flight games & a simiulator (Flight Gear, IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover and Warbirds Dogfights). BUT this CH Flightstick has a 15 pin gameport connector and my new PC does not have a port like that. I checked on ebay and I can order an adaptor - but a little on line research suggests that those $10 connections do not work on a flightstick - may work on a simple joy stick but not a flightstick?

Is there anyway I can hook this old stick onto my new system - or is this yet another trip to Memory Express.com - IF so what stick is recommended?

[supaflyx3]

Just get a new stick, I'm pretty sure there aren't any adapters for the joysticks, they're usually brand specific. Get a cheap logitech stick, it's probably 100 times better as well.

[Patramix]

adapter do indeed exists

those CH sticks are made to last,

do a search for USB Game Port Adapter, they are not easy to find, but they do work. i know a few guys with 6-7+ year old sticks, including CH, that still work as good as the day they bought them.

and the cheap Logitech stick wont come close to the CH stick btw ;) even if its the original CH F16 replica (unless the insides are all rusted out, CH makes high quality stuff for the US military, there civilian products are among the best imo).

[moocow]

I got the entire CH F16 set at home, including the rudder pedals. I tried those adapters but at most only get the axis and 4 buttons to work. I finally gave up and got a converter chip and hack apart my joystick and throttle. I used the BU0836 chip since I got joystick and throttle to convert (end up getting a used pro rudder on Craigslist). If you only have a single joystick, you could use the BU0836X, which is solderless. You will need to use a box cutter to break circuit board connections in order to make the conversion. Took me a long time to figure out how to do it and it still doesn't work correctly because I can't hold down 3 buttons at the same time since the recommended diodes actually render the buttons useless. SimHQ forum would be a place to start doing research.

Precision USB Joystick Controller BU0836

[fortkentdad]

It does not look good for my old stick. I did find the USB-gameport adaptor Joystick Adapter for 15 pin Gameport to USB | eBay , it is "plug and pull" and promises
"Do you have an old game port devices and dont be used in new computer? This adapter, Just plug and pull as a USB port devices and your old device works well again!
I hope his product is better than his english, but he does warn that "Not compatible with Logitech Wingman Joysticks, Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback joysticks." and although he does not list the CH Flightstick as non-compatible I suspect that it would suffer the same incompatibility as the others listed.

[fortkentdad]

;From what I've found on line it looks like my old CH Stick is heading into the wild blue yonder.
SO now the quest is for a new flightstick.
But which one. From the post above seems CH is a good brand - but a tad pricey. CH Products Flightstick Pro 3 Axes 12 Button F-16 Handle Side Throttle Wheel USB Joystick $99.00
There are several others ranging from a Logitech for under $20 to systems well over $200.00
I suspect that going for the cheapest item on the shelf is not the wise choice.
But how far up the product line do I need to go to get a reasonably good useable flight stick. If I "get int" this new hobby of flight simulations then maybe I'll open my wallet wider and get a top line product. I see Logitech 3D, Thrustmaster and Saitek all whhich offer a range of products. some are just the stick - others incorporate a throttle for two handed flight.

I was surprised to see none come packaged with flight games - thought that would be an obvious marketing gimic.

[supaflyx3]

Logitech Extreme 3D Pro USB Joystick 12 Buttons 1 Rapid Fire Trigger 8 Way Hat Switch and Throttle one of the best flight sticks you can buy.

[fortkentdad]

The Logitech 3D stick I can get on Amazon for $32 - they say that the MFSR is $81, $41 over at Newegg + S/H - Amazon has free shipping. Tempting.
Comparing that one to Thrustmasters T Flight Hotas with separate throttle control T.Flight Hotas X PC / Playstation® 3 | Thrustmaster $48 at Amazon.

Will spend some time googling reviews of these two.

[SugarJ]

I just found an old SB Live PCI sound card which has a 15 pin game port on it in my box of goodies. Let me know if you want it. Just cover shipping.

[fortkentdad]

X52 Pro Flight System Or for a few dollars more - Saitek X52 - (not the pro version) for $107 on Amazon.ca I'm leaning towards the ones with a throttle. This one has a separate throttle meaning it can be positioned where my hands fit best - the Thurstmaster does have a detachable throttle but as far as I can tell that means you can use it connected to the joystick, or the joystick alone - can't seem to find out if the throttle works when detached from joystick.

$32 for the Logitech Joystick 3D - lots of support and Logitech is very well known.
$47 for the Thrustmaster T Flight with throttle - reading good reviews on the flight sim sites
$107 for the Saitek X52 - includes a small display on throttle which is distinct from the joystick.