Cougar FSSB vs Warthog stick

[afrodeesyak]

Hi all,
I currently have a Cougar HOTAS setup and am interested in the FSSB upgrade (http://www.realsimulator.com/html/fssb_r3_warthog.html ). Am I better off upgrading my current stick, or just buying a Warthog stick (+TUSBA) ? I could always do the FSSB upgrade to the Warthog in the future.

How does the FSSB Cougar stick compare to a stock Warthog? How do the two sticks compare if they both have the FSSB?

Also, do you find a big difference between the R1 and R2 versions of the FSSB for Cougar?

Many thanks!

[Guest]

Firstly, love the name!

Stick - the WH stick buttons “feel” different compared to the WH. Tougher. More resistance. The CMS switch also goes IN aside from up/down/left/right. Paddle switch is bigger and more accessible. With a FSSB mod, I don’t think they’ll “feel” any different in the X- and Y-axis. If you’re asking for opinions between Cougar+FSSB vs. WH, then get the FSSB. If money is no object and you are asking between Cougar+FSSB vs. WH+FSSB, I personally would go with the WH+FSSB with the Cougar throttle but with a HALL sensor mod, extended arm, and a proper guide rail.

A stock Warthog or any stock stick would not be in the same league as a FSSB-modded Cougar.

[Stevie]

+1. WH stick (with Arend’s pending WH FSSB3 mod) and a Cougar TQS with TUSBA is the full stop way to go. I prefer the TUSBA R2, but that’s because I am building a cockpit and want as many options as I can get. I have a TUSBA R2 and seeing as it gets you to 12 bit rez over the Cougar’s 10, I tend to feel that the Hall mod for the Cougar TQS becomes optional with it…MMV.

[BlackGio]

@-Ice:

I personally would go with the WH+FSSB with the Cougar throttle but with a HALL sensor mod, extended arm, and a proper guide rail.

I’m interested in. What is the benefits of a hall sensor? Is it more precise? Can you point me to a mod available in the web? And for the extended arm and guide rail? Can i buy a mod for those too? Thanks!

[NamelessPFG]

Hall effect sensors are contactless instead of rubbing a metal wiper across a resistive surface, so they don’t wear out, jitter and lose linearity like the stock potentiometers do. Couple that with being drop-in replacements for voltage divider pots (as long as the reference voltage isn’t too low), and they’re a common mod for good reason. (If only it were as easy for the slew control microstick, due to the shaft differences between Hall-sensored PS3 sticks and the stock dual-pot stick…)

Anyway, I own a FSSB R2 Cougar, once owned an FCC-1 Cougar, and used to have a stock Warthog stick, so I’m fairly experienced with all of this.

The Warthog has a much nicer stick grip, but the stock gimbal is trash by comparison. Not as trash as a stock Cougar, but either way, you’re going for a force-sensing mod. I doubt you’d want to spend the extra money just for a somewhat nicer stick grip when the FCC/FSSB mods are expensive enough as is, but if by some predicament you end up with a chance to get your hands on a Warthog grip on the cheap, go for it.

Support-wise, you can’t go wrong with Arend or RealSimulator. Both stand by their products. The FCC-2/3 has the advantage of a smaller stick base option for pit builds, but the FSSB R1/R2 is rated to hold up to a considerable amount of force - even more than the R3, if you can endure holding that much displacement force over significant periods of time.

The TUSBA would be a more enticing option if it didn’t mean giving up Foxy/TARGET support along with it. I think I’d rather just whip up my own adapter with MMJoy2 and a Teensy board if it came down to that, since the Cougar throttle is a passive device (no microcontrollers or anything, just pots, switches and matrix diodes). Hopefully, the change in controller means we can use the full range of the throttle rotaries without the weird asymmetrical end deadzones you get when connecting it to the Cougar stick proper, but I haven’t heard any confirmation of that from TUSBA owners.

Oh, and there’s one very important thing if you decide to go with a force-sensing stick for that authentic F-16 feel: HARD-MOUNT IT. I’m dead serious on this, you don’t want it lifting off your desk all the time!

[Guest]

I hard mount my stock WH stick and wouldn’t want it any other way

[BlackGio]

I already have FSSB R1! Now interested in Hall sensors and throttle extended harm guide

[Guest]

I take absolutely NO RESPONSIBILITY to your wants/needs/purchase decisions after watching this video. If you cannot be responsible for your actions, DO NOT WATCH the video. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!

Now wipe that drool off your face.

[Stevie]

Seen this, bought that…:headb:…

[Guest]

Not surprised with YOU, Stevie!!

[Stevie]

…I also have a real F-16 throttle arm assembly - with friction wheel/plate…8).