I bought it when they were first released so however long ago that was, it's never been at all sticky.

my modded x52 creates circles, not diamonds.

what did you do?

Well, to begin, the HAT and buttons:

I used the joystick about a year of heavy user, and all the buttons on the handle itself are OK. I use the HAT switch to FOV changes, and it's reliable untill now, no problem at all in using it. The other buttons, all OK, can do dive bombing and snap shots precisely.

The base buttons are almost useless, as the "throttle" slider. Bad positioning. I never use they at all. The "twist rudder" is crap, as any other.

The TM16000M is really good if you want a cheap joystick, with some of the better X/Y axis sensibility and precision in the market. I don't know if it will last for 5 years or more, but for the price, even two years of flawless use is better than the others options in market.

In ergonomics side, I get rid of the hand rest in the base of handle (it's fully customizable in this matter, you can put the hand rest left/right or not using it at all, very nice) and use it with ahome made elongated tube in central position. I can fly for hours with total confort and precision.

The TM16000M really looks cheap and nasty, but it's by far the best joystick for the price, having in mind only the joystick itself. Others like CH have great construction, but not so good accuracy and cost more. The X52 and X52Pro don't have the same precision, as all the other Saitek joysticks.

If you are thinking about a "worth the price" joystick, with some of the best X/Y precisiona and reliability in the market, TM16000M is a bargain. I can't recomend it enough.

People are now rushing to buy Warthog. TM16000M uses the same HALL sensor that Warthog and G940 uses, in a simple construction. We pay a lot for things we don't really need.

Now I'm waiting some cheap plastic flight sim pedals with HALL sensor! :-P

I doubled the number of Magnets but fitted them over the existing ones. Sensitivity has improved and no deadzone. I modded mine long before I saw the vid posted in this thread.....

ok, kinda "special" mod then.



The slider is quite useful for proppitch. ;)

Base buttons and flips: Lock tailwheel, bomb-bay, start engine - basically stuff you dont use that often. Wouldn't miss them either...




One thing I dont get: Why do so many recommend the 16000 although it is not a Hotas?!



Remember: You only get what you pay for - the x52 should be around $15, cost, without R&d and marketing.
So, cheap usually means it really IS xxxx.

Was that basically just sticking extra magents on top of the current ones using their own attraction?

As I said, the problem is the position. Using the slider to something really dynamic in IL-2, like Prop Pitch, is troublesome with the T16000M slider, and the buttons are really bad to map important controls, they are too near, irregular shape, etc. The keyboard is far better to that.

I, as "so many", recommended the T16000M as PART of a HOTAS solution (the "And Stick" one). People only think about a HOTAS that is sold as a package? Why not to buy a Joystick, a Throttle solution and Rudder pedals? If people stay stuck with closed packages, maybe lost a lot of opportunities.

I use in IL-2 one modded T16000M, a Saitek Throttle Quadrant and "improvised" Rudder Pedals, and can fly as good as an owner of a G940, X52Pro and any other expensive HOTAS solution, maybe even better - in terms of control input, not overall hability, of course... :-) .

My X52 suffered a slight lag in both X and Y axis only in one direction. I ended up placing one circular ceramic magnet on just one side of the hall effect for both axis and these are just slipped on using their own attraction. It also cured the 'off centre' problem. If I go into Il2 hardware input there still seems to be a slight 'dead zone' but checking the X -Y raw data using a third party utility indicates otherwise. I will try the 'slide by' mod shown earlier in this thread based on the results of the precision test posted as mine still produces a diamond shaped pattern.

I ordered the X52 Pro. This is the best circle i can draw with my actual Thrustmaster Hotas X :grin:

In the mean time, can please somebody give me a good IL2 mapping for buttons? I don't want to use the profiler yet, just how who have the x52 mapped in the IL2 the commands...

Thank you very much
Alberto

Most will have keyboard assignments mapped in the IL2 Control menu and then use these to programme their X52's either using the Saitek SST programming utility. Your best bet is to list the commands that you need and note the location of the various X52 switches and axis controls.

When you go into the controls menu just select the command you want and press the appropriate switch. Prop Pitch, TRim, flaps can be assigned to the rotary/slider controls and these are listed at the bottom of the IL2 controls menu. You will not be able to use the mouse or the throttle switch marked 'I' if you use the X52 with no SST installed and the MFD will be pretty much redundant.

I prefer to use the Microsoft driver and Xpadder for programming both my X52 and x52 Pro rather than Saiteks driver and their SST software as it is easier with all switches/axis available for programming, more versatile, requires no 'Magic HID' installs or changes to the Windows OS but I lose the MFD functions and the Mousestick (neither of which are of any use to me anyway!)