Hi Jason,
Sorry to bug you with even more questions, but as a proud owner of a once functional Suncom Hotas, I noticed something missing in the release pics of the 940. I notice no pics of the throttle grip show the front of the throttles. So my question is this: Are there any switches and buttons on the front of the throttle grips?

Either way, I may be in the market for this setup, because I've been yearning a dual throttle unit for some time.

Well, thanks in advance.
--T

Serious Flight sim nerd....charming

Pssssst, Check out our Day 3 Report from E3 The Technology section...

I LOVE HOW THIS THING LOOKS...

any one know how the mapping software is?
is it anywhere near flexible like the CH Products CH Control Manager?


HONESTLY, if i can not manipulate the input, then the controller is useless....

Talon,

More pics here:

http://www.engadget.com/photos/logitechs-g940/

Sokol1

The front of the right throttle has two buttons located in line with your index finger, and a Rotary in line with the middle finger. There are no buttons on the left throttle.

Hello Mark!

This is from a thread I started on the official Logitech forums, where I sadly didn't get any replies:

First I'd like to say that I'm looking forward to the new G940, I fell in love with the looks the first time I saw it.

Finally a FFB HOTAS! Woot!


A few questions:

1) Are all major axes besides X and Y (especially throttle- and rudder axis) contactless (hall sensors I assume) or are pots used? I absolutely HATE pots wearing out, considering the low price of hall sensors (lower than pots and they can last for a lifetime!)

2) I heard some negative comments about the FFB by Immersion Corporation used in other products (too unprecise, sluggish, too weak).
Is the G940 using the same technology as in other sticks or was a custom (better) solution incorporated?
-> How does the FFB compare to the MSFFB2 which sadly is still the best FFB stick up until now.

3) Is it possible to get photos from the front side of the stick and throttle? -> CHECK. Got photos.

4) Is it just me or would'nt the trimming controls be better situated on the throttle?

5) From the description it looks like there is a button for the thumb on the sidestick. Many modern fighter planes have a hat-switch there and up to 4 hat switches in total on the sidestick. I'd rather see a 4-way hat switch there, but maybe it's just me again

6) FFB is "only" on the sidestick, right? Or does the throttle have some vibration effects, too?

7) Why no ministick (like on the Cougar or the X52 for example)? -> CHECK. There IS a ministick.


I wish you the best of luck with this product, if the FFB is right, you already have a customer.

I suppose that they had to pick a number.
And the X45/X52 has a similar amount of buttons/hats.

How do they handle the 14 axes?
(2 stick, 2 throttle, 3 trim, 3 pedals, 2 microstick, 2 rotaries)
Will they all be analog directX axes or will some work as buttons? (one for up and one for down)
Can we use all analog axes or only 8? (directX allows only 8 per controller)

You will be able to use all 14 axes at once due to how the Logitech Gaming Software works and how the devices are reported to Windows. There is only one USB connection, but there are actually three devices.

The axes are as follows:
1. Joystick pitch
2. Joystick roll
3. Joystick "POV hat" up/down (the "hat is actually a 2-axis microstick)
4. Joystick "POV hat" right/left
5. Joystick base wheel (labeled "TRIM 1")
6. Joystick base wheel (labeled "TRIM 2")
7. Joystick base knob (labeled "TRIM 3")
8. Left Throttle
9. Right throttle
10. Throttle rotary wheel operated by left thumb
11. Throttle rotary wheel operated my left middle finger
12. Rudder
13. Right toe brake
14. Left toe brake

The hat switch on the throttle is not a microstick. Only the joystick has FFB; there is none on the throttle.

While we are used to throttle microsticks, we've never had one available on a joystick before. I would hazard a guess that it is easier to use on the joystick than it is on the throttle.

Mark Starrett told us that the Logitech software will be capable of taking the analog josytick "hat" and mapping it digitally so that its extremes of motion can generate keypresses (like the "band" programming in Saitek SST software). I beleive in the Logitech nomenclature these will be referred to as "zones"; Mark can correct me if I'm wrong.

All of the trim and rotary axes have very crisp center detents. The throttle has very subtle and silent idle and afterburner detents. I asked Mark about a way to compress 100% of the electrical response of the throttle into less than 100% of it range of motion; you can do this with the Cougar throttle and it is quite useful for use with the adjustable detents (you can do it with the CH throttle, to, but without detents there is much less of a point). Mark said that there was no way to do this using current Logitech software, but that he would into the functionality.

From an overall programming standpoint the G940 looks much more capable than any other Logitech product and not as capable as a Cougar or CH HOTAS. You can program separate commands for each HOTAS mode; in fact you have to. You can, as I mentioned above, digitally program zones into the joystick's microstick; hopefully this feature will be applicable to all 14 of the G940's axes. And you can program macros for any button, which is a long-standing Logitech feature. What you can't do is program the sort of logical statements that you can with the Cougar or CH HOTAS: button outputs that are dependent on the state of other buttons or axes (with the exception of the shift button, of course). Most people don't use these features anyway.

Another interesting feature is the backlit buttons on the throttle base. These can be programmed via lua (used by Lock On / Black Shark) or SimConnect (used by FS2004/FSX) to provide bi-directional communication with certain sims and control the lights based on the state of things in-game.

Thanks Ghost, Mark, Sokol and others who are sharing information on the unit.

All I have left to say at this point is, "SOLD!!!!!"

--T