Cougar
From Wiki
The Cougar is a USB throttle and stick HOTAS from Thrustmaster replicating the controls of the F-16 fighter jet. The real controls of a F-16 are not made of metal, they are made of resin.
The Thrustmaster Cougar has metal handles and bases.
Key features of the Cougar are:
- USB connectivity
- metal stick and throttle including the cases and the gimbals (gimbals translate movement of the stick into movement of a potentiometer)
- a very powerful programming software system called Foxy
- automatic calibration as well as manual calibration
- some predefined game profiles
- adjustable resistance for the throttle
The throttle features two detents for idle and afterburner positions. The Cougar uses high resolution potentiometers for all stick axes. The Cougar has a gameport for the attachment of pedals with a gameport interface. Once the pedals are attached they can be configured through the Cougar control panel like any other axis. However Thrustmaster do not make a gameport rudder, you will have to either 1. make one, 2. use a discontinued product like the old Thrustmaster gameport pedals (rare) or purchase another brand gameport pedals such as Simpeds or modified CH pedals.
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Community
The Cougar HOTAS is a very hotly debated gaming peripheral with passionate supporters and ardent detractors. More than any other HOTAS, the programming capabilities are not for those prepared to do a significant amount of learning to custom program the HOTAS. It is not a HOTAS for a begineer wanting an easy entry into HOTAS use with simulations. It does not feature the programming simplicity of the Saitek products for example. But the programming is incredibly capable, for example it is possible to adjust the sensitivity of the stick inputs "on the fly" in-sim through assigning that to a button, for example to reduce sensitivity when attempting in-flight refueling.
Reliability
While the HOTAS is metal, the use of potentiometers that rely on physical contact means they will eventually wear out (possibly after many years of completely satisfactory use). Some HOTAS like the Saitek X52 with contactless hall effect sensors in the stick X and Y axes still have potentiomenters on rudder and throttle controls. Early manufactured numbers of the Cougar lacked grease on the gimbals within the stick, this combined with poor quality soft metal for the gimbals can lead to the gimbals being worn down resulting in a sloppy stick. It is recommend that the presence of grease is checked on purchase and this grease maintained to prevent wear. This involves undoing the four screws on the bottom of the stick and opening the casing and checking. Some Cougars had alignment problems with the speedbrake switch that would cause the housing for the speed brake switch to break, this has apparently been fixed on Cougars produced recently. If you knock the Antenna dial on the throttle hard enough you can damage the potentiometer causing it to spike and requiring its replacement. The Cougar springs and rubber boot around the bottom of the stick provide significant resistance initially, this does become less noticeable after continued use of the stick, either because the resistance lessens through use or you develop a Popeye arm on your right side.
Mods
Very expensive modifications are available for the Cougar to replace the gimbal system within the stick to improve the input characteristics (including replacing potentiometers with hall effect sensors) and improve reliability. These modifications such as the U2Nxt can cost more than twice the actual cost of the HOTAS. The U2Nxt modification including hall sensors cost over $600 AUD. The Real Simulator FSSB force input modification for the Cougar costs over $700 AUD.
The cheapest gimbals mod to correct slop in the gimbals is Magoos Mod (on Viperpits.org) at 80 Euro.
Purchasing
Cougars can only be bought second hard now and do show up on Australian Ebay or Gumtree. When purchasing a Cougar check the shipping costs. They are heavy at around 9 kg boxed and the original box has the dimensions of 32cm x 43cm x 25cm. If you are thinking about buying a Cougar you may want to chose the newer metal Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS that features a dual throttle and hall sensors.
Support
The best support for the Cougar HOTAS including product information, support, documentation, tips and tricks is the Cougarworld site. It is located at http://www.cougar.flyfoxy.com
To contact Thrustmaster, go to the following site, register and lodge a support request through their support system. Response times are normally very good.
http://ts.thrustmaster.com/eng/index.php?pg=email
To ask for spare parts post-warranty, use the support link to send an email requesting the part using the part number in the first column of the parts list below. Thrustmaster will respond with an email with the cost and Pay Pal payment instructions. The cost for a replacement Antenna potentiometer in 2009 was around $9 AUD including shipping to Australia from Canada. Parts now come from France and cost at least 30 EURO for shipping + the cost of the part.
Downloads
Misc Information
The hall sensors used in the U2Nxt mod are Midori QP-2HC Single Shaft Contactless Hall-IC Angle Sensors.
