Cougar U2Nxt

I've previously grumbled about the problems with the Thrustmaster Cougar joystick. I managed to get IJs U2Nxt gimbals mod and Cubbys HS2+ hall sensors for my Cougar, this is how it went.

The U2Nxt is a replacement for the gimbals that translate movement of the stick into turns of potentiometers. The HS2+ hall sensors replace the existing potentiometers with hall sensors. Potentiometers rely on resistance and involve friction and so eventually wear out or produce inaccurate readings (spikes). Hall sensors are contact-less and use magnetism and should last a very long time and produce consistent readings.

The old gimbals and the U2Nxt with hall sensors

Ordering

IJ was great to deal with and had my gimbals to me two days after I ordered them. The gimbals are exceptionally well designed, the construction quality and attention to detail is absolutely incredible. They are a work of art and I just looked at the gimbals admiring their form and finish for some time! My gimbals were supplied with a CD containing detailed instructions with photos, a spare spring and all the nuts, bolts, spring washers and washers needed including a small simple spanner to fit the hall sensors. The springs needed are pre-attached to the gimbals and IJ sells spares. All up amazing work by IJ and total satisfaction.

Cubby had issues with Internet access at the time I ordered and took a few days to respond. I received the hall sensors from the US about three weeks after my first email to him. The kit consisted of two hall sensors with wires attached, hardcopy instructions and cable splicers to join cables. It also contained a 3 mm hex (Allen) key and some new screws not intended for the hall sensors but for the joystick handle, more on this later.

I also ordered a U2Nxt identification plate from Red Dog. He was great to deal with even after I stuffed up by paying in Aussie dollars and then making up the difference in a second payment of US dollars. He posted the plate within a day and I had the plate from Belgium in about a week. He included a instruction sheet for removing the existing label.

De-construction

Pulling apart the Cougar following IJs instructions was pretty straight forward. It took about an hour to get it apart and pull out the old gimbals. You just need a phillips head screwdriver, needle nose pliers and a 2.5mm hex key. I was a little worried about either stripping the thread of the screws or damaging the circuit board, but it went fine. The biggest pain was the eight hex screws around the top of the joystick base. Mine had white gunky thread locking stuff on them that made them very difficult to remove. At the end of the disassembly there is a tiny spring clip that is a little tricky to remove and very easy to lose.

Installation of the U2Nxt

I found the installation of the U2Nxt a little fiddly. I had to file the base of the stick to fit the U2Nxt as per IJs instructions and I had some inital problems aligning the hall sensors until I realised my thumb was turning the pot end as I held it.

I then made my only stuff up. I cut the existing plugs off the existing potentiometer leads way too short (about 1 cm) having not read Cubbys instructions to leave several centimeters. This in itself wasn't a problem if I had soldered the leads. But I used the spicers supplied with the kit and they need a centimeter of lead to stick into them. I used the splicers to join the existing plug cable the the hall sensor cable and despite making sure the cable was in the spicer all the way before crimping and not stripping away the sheath it didn't hold the very thin hall sensor wire. That is I crimped the slicer and the hall sensor wire pulled right out. This happened to three different cables leaving me short spicers and forcing me to cut off the bad spicers now attached to the plug leads losing already limited cabling on the plug wire making it very, very short.

Wish I hadn't used the splicers

I soldered the remaining wires together and honestly, while I understand Cubby has provided splicers to make it easy so you don't have to solder, I wish I hadn't bothered with the splicers myself. I should have soldered all the wires as the splicers look very messy and hacked on. I was careful when soldering the wires to use pliers to provide a heat sink on the hall sensor end of the joint as Cubbys instructions warn the hall sensors are easy damaged by heat from soldering.

My U2Nxt installed. Messy splicer wiring hidden by circuit board

Reassembly of the stick with the U2Nxt was straightforward following IJs instructions. IJ has provided a very clever mechanism to adjust the centring of the stick using a hex key to ensure it stands upright after the U2Nxt is installed. IJ supplied eight new hex bolts, they were silver unlike the black originals. I think the silver looks a lot better than the originals.

Calibration and testing

The initial feel of the joystick was very good, noticably much better than the stock gimbals. I then reflashed the stick successfully only to have the joystick disappear from Windows which was a bit disconcerting. But a PC reboot fixed that. I was then a little alarmed that the minimum and maximum amount of deflection of the stick reported in Cougar Control Panel was very small, also the X and Y axes were reversed (ie left=right, up=down).

Inital problem with lack of deflection of the X and Y axes.

That was fixed by reversing the axes and altering the axis shaping in the Cougar Control Panel.

Cougar Control Panel Axis Shaping.

Then it was ready to go and it got it's first go in Falcon4:Red Viper. I've only had about ten minutes so far. It feels very good, still getting used to it.

Sexy!

I then found I had a Cougar problem I hadn't heard of before called the clunky stick. This is the problem that Cubby addresses with the extra screws that he helpfully includes in his HS2+ hall sensors kit and is described on this site. There is also a mention of the problem and a different fix in the U2Nxt instructions. Basically a loose fit of the handle causes the occasional clunk. I haven't yet tried the fixes, at the moment I just want to try out the stick and the fixes are destructive in that they permanently rethread the screw holes.

Took about two hours to install the mod and some mucking around in Windows after that.

I'm really happy I got the mod, and it is a relief - I wasn't very comfortable spending lots of money on it and there is a fair bit of risk involved - getting the components and putting them in successfully. It is an expensive mod and if you've seen my dodgey DIY rudder pedals you'd know I don't like spending money. But it was either mod my Cougar or get rid of it completely. Out of the box with the centre play of the poorly constructed original gimbals my Cougar was complete rubbish and a huge disappointment. The mod has fixed that problem providing a smooth and good feeling stick. There are still some niggles with the buttons and rotary dials and the feel of the throttle, but at least the major problem is fixed and I can use it without complete frustration.

Looking back I'm not sure I would go through this again. I definately wouldn't recommend buying a Cougar with the problems it has out of the box - unless you plan and are able to mod it and are willing to accept a lot of risk that your investment might not work out. I reckon you are better off using Saitek if you want an inexpensive, good value stick or CH Products if you want higher quality.

But with the U2Nxt mod, the Cougar is a completely awesome HOTAS.