Dual Throttles in FS2004

[Jon H]

I have a Saitek Aviator joystick that has twin throttle controls which I have been having trouble setting up in FS2004.
I can assign throttle 1 to "Engine 1 Throttle" in the Options/Controls/Assignments/Joystick Axes menu, and throttle 2 to "Engine 2 Throttle", but only throttle 1 responds in the sim. The only axes that throttle 2 can be used with are elevator, rudder and aileron. This is pretty useless considering it's supposed to be used for throttle.

I've eliminated the possibility of Hardware and driver issues, as both throttles work ok in another flight sim, and all controls work in the properties window of Win XP's Control Panel. Just to be on the safe side I downloaded and installed the latest joystick drivers from the Saitek website, but still no joy.

So, I think it must be a problem with FS2004, but correct me if I'm wrong. Deleting the fs9.cfg file makes no difference, so my next step would be to re-install FS2004.

Has anyone had an experience like this and how can I solve It.
Any thoughts on the subject would be appreciated.

Cheers, Jon

[Zaphod]

Hi Jonathan.
I have no personnal experience with this stick but it was reviewed in a recent edition of "PC Pilot" and they had no problem using it in FS2004. They did mention you had to manually assign the second throttle to engine 2, but other than that no problem.
Good luck.

Zaphod.

[Jon H]

Thanks for the quick reply

I did read the review and I've got throttle 2 set up properly. In fact I've just sent off an email to PC Pilot to see if they have had any other problems.

[Zaphod]

In fact I've just sent off an email to PC Pilot to see if they have had any other problems.

Might also be an idea to drop the Saitek support people an e-mail.  support@saitek.com. Can't hurt

Zaphod.

[Jon H]

[quote]Might also be an idea to drop the Saitek support people an e-mail.

[Jon H]

The problem is solved...

I got it fixed by looking through the fs9.cfg file, and I found the following section:

[JOYSTICK_MAIN {F02FC0C0-9690-11DB-8001-444553540000}]
AXIS_EVENT_00=AXIS_AILERONS_SET
AXIS_SCALE_00=64
AXIS_NULL_00=36
AXIS_EVENT_01=AXIS_ELEVATOR_SET
AXIS_SCALE_01=64
AXIS_NULL_01=36
AXIS_EVENT_02=AXIS_THROTTLE1_SET
AXIS_SCALE_02=127
AXIS_NULL_02=1
AXIS_EVENT_05=AXIS_RUDDER_SET
AXIS_SCALE_05=64
AXIS_NULL_05=36
AXIS_EVENT_06=AXIS_THROTTLE2_SET
AXIS_SCALE_06=0
AXIS_NULL_06=0
BUTTON_DOWN_EVENT_00=BRAKES
BUTTON_DOWN_REPEAT_00=1
BUTTON_DOWN_EVENT_01=VIEW_MODE
...

I changed
AXIS_EVENT_06=AXIS_THROTTLE2_SET
AXIS_SCALE_06=0
AXIS_NULL_06=0
to

AXIS_EVENT_06=AXIS_THROTTLE2_SET
AXIS_SCALE_06=127
AXIS_NULL_06=0


the second throttle now works fine.

It just shows what a little fiddling around can do.

[Zaphod]

Well done Jon! That may well help others who try out the Aviator.

Best, Zaphod.