Saitek Radio panel

[harold]

Hi folks,
I am a newbie to this world but have been enjoying the multiplayer system to the extent I forked out enough money (nearly) to fly to the UK and back to buy the Saitek Radio panel. It looks great and did work , sort of.
the issue was that the frequency changed on the active window and not the standby as they should do (operationally not safe changing off the active windows if it takes a bit of time).

I emailed Saitek, they said 'not good, put together wrong, contact your provider'.

I emailed Flight store and they said 'not good' send it back. I asked them to test the second one first. All good so far except, that I have to pay the return postage (not quite the cost of a return flight but close.)

The responses and support advice from both Saitek and Flight Store has been prompt and positive so no issues there but if you are buying from the UK or that direction and it goes wrong (2 year warranty on this item) you pay the bill for the return.

I raise this because I saw someone in this forum commenting on the quality of the Saitel yoke. I had thought of buying this. Maybe not.

appreciate any thoughts on this product line

regards

Harold

[ZKIWI]

QUOTE (harold @ Sep 13 2011,5:41 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi folks,
I am a newbie to this world but have been enjoying the multiplayer system to the extent I forked out enough money (nearly) to fly to the UK and back to buy the Saitek Radio panel. It looks great and did work , sort of.
the issue was that the frequency changed on the active window and not the standby as they should do (operationally not safe changing off the active windows if it takes a bit of time).

I emailed Saitek, they said 'not good, put together wrong, contact your provider'.

I emailed Flight store and they said 'not good' send it back. I asked them to test the second one first. All good so far except, that I have to pay the return postage (not quite the cost of a return flight but close.)

The responses and support advice from both Saitek and Flight Store has been prompt and positive so no issues there but if you are buying from the UK or that direction and it goes wrong (2 year warranty on this item) you pay the bill for the return.

I raise this because I saw someone in this forum commenting on the quality of the Saitel yoke. I had thought of buying this. Maybe not.

appreciate any thoughts on this product line

regards

Harold

What aircraft were you in at the time? Some aircraft do not have a stand by frequency window and as such the standby window is not functional. You can still change between whatever is on standby and active but this shouldn't be enabled either if you ask me. many of the default aircraft only have the active freq for the comm radios.

I have been using the full saitek range for quite some time now and the only problem i have had is with the throttle potentiometers getting a little worn and causing stuttering throttle settings.

I find that using FSUIPC is a much better way of using the yoke, throttle and pedals then the software that comes with the products or FS settings. ( Make sure you disable the controller in FS if you use FSUIPC).

There is also a third party driver for Saitek setup called SPAD which adds extra functions.

[mfraser]

For what its worth..... I have two very expensive COM/NAV panels and a transponder unit from Elite (Like NZD$1200 worth). Sometimes they don't seem to initialise properly and remain blank on starting FS, so I too contacted the manufacturer to see if they knew of a solution. They asked me to send them back for evaluation (At my expense) - only to tell me that they were functioning fine. To rub salt in the wound I then had to pay shipping to have them sent back me!!

[harold]

Hi ZKIWI
I use the Beechcraft Kingair so no issues with that side of it.
In fact the company reports from england it worked fine for them.
I use Windows 7 with FSX. I did all the normal fault correction, reload software, change USB ports et al.
I assumed all the new drivers would have come with a new item but maybe not
I await their response.

What is FSIUPC ?

regards

Harold




quote name='ZKIWI' date='Sep 13 2011,6:54 PM' post='8293076']
What aircraft were you in at the time? Some aircraft do not have a stand by frequency window and as such the standby window is not functional. You can still change between whatever is on standby and active but this shouldn't be enabled either if you ask me. many of the default aircraft only have the active freq for the comm radios.

I have been using the full saitek range for quite some time now and the only problem i have had is with the throttle potentiometers getting a little worn and causing stuttering throttle settings.

I find that using FSUIPC is a much better way of using the yoke, throttle and pedals then the software that comes with the products or FS settings. ( Make sure you disable the controller in FS if you use FSUIPC).

There is also a third party driver for Saitek setup called SPAD which adds extra functions.
[/quote]

[ZKIWI]

QUOTE (harold @ Sep 14 2011,5:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi ZKIWI
I use the Beechcraft Kingair so no issues with that side of it.
In fact the company reports from england it worked fine for them.
I use Windows 7 with FSX. I did all the normal fault correction, reload software, change USB ports et al.
I assumed all the new drivers would have come with a new item but maybe not
I await their response.

What is FSIUPC ?

If it is the default King Air then it doesn't have a standby function on either of the Comm or Nav radios. When you change the freq it changes on the active freq although you can alternate the frees in the active and standby displays of the Saitek radio panel. If you want to see an aircraft that works the way you were expecting have a look at the Beech Baron. It has a comm radio that has both the standby and active frees displayed and you change freq on the standby side and then chop across.

On the King Air i find it easiest to tune the next freq on the other comm radio and then just change which radio i am using to talk to ATC.

FSUIPC is a .dll module that is used to connect many add-ons much like simconnect. It can be used to set weather, control joysticks and controllers, allows multiple settings for joystick buttons. I rate this over the inbuilt controller settings.

[harold]

Hi Zkiwi
thank you that is most helpful, and slightly embarrassingt for me, as I thought it was a module problem, bummer, had better go back and apologise, not that I was rude to them but more nusiance value I suppose.

kind regards

Harold

QUOTE (ZKIWI @ Sep 14 2011,9:07 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If it is the default King Air then it doesn't have a standby function on either of the Comm or Nav radios. When you change the freq it changes on the active freq although you can alternate the frees in the active and standby displays of the Saitek radio panel. If you want to see an aircraft that works the way you were expecting have a look at the Beech Baron. It has a comm radio that has both the standby and active frees displayed and you change freq on the standby side and then chop across.

On the King Air i find it easiest to tune the next freq on the other comm radio and then just change which radio i am using to talk to ATC.

FSUIPC is a .dll module that is used to connect many add-ons much like simconnect. It can be used to set weather, control joysticks and controllers, allows multiple settings for joystick buttons. I rate this over the inbuilt controller settings.

[ZKIWI]

QUOTE (harold @ Sep 19 2011,9:32 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi Zkiwi
thank you that is most helpful, and slightly embarrassingt for me, as I thought it was a module problem, bummer, had better go back and apologise, not that I was rude to them but more nusiance value I suppose.

kind regards

Harold

No problems,

Don't ask how i know this...

Hope it all works now.