As you can see, it's a 2-axis 2-button joystick. Also it's a diminutive unit that very closely approximates the size of a typical TX’s stick. I can also tell you its movement and feel are very similar.
Recently, I had the opportunity to pick up another one on EBay for only a dollar! Now if I could hook the two together, I would have a 4-axis 4-button unit to emulate a TX’s sticks.
To do this, I needed two additional items. The first a gameport splitter:
And the other, a DB-15 to USB cable. WWW.CableGuyUSA.com has a very nice unit:
Now hook the two joysticks to the splitter cable and then plug the splitter into the above unit. Finally plug the unit into a USB port. Make sure you put the unit on setting three.
Fire up your computer and open up Gaming Options (Start-> Control Panel-> Gaming Options). You should see in the Gaming Option's window: 4-axis 4-button joystick. If you don't, unplug the USB connector and re-plug it in. The rest of the setup should be familiar: Calibrate the sticks in Gaming Options and FMS (under analog).
This is a really sweet setup. It works perfectly, and feels identical to an R/C Tx. You don't have to worry about Tx batteries, some complicated interface, or damaging your Tx (you might drop it in your excitement or damage the RF section). The cost was very reasonable. The splitter, the DB-15 to USB unit, and the Mach I was around $20.
Finally I need to add one important item. To vary the engine speed without holding the stick, you'll need to disable the tension on the throttle axis. To do this, push down and lock the small square box on its axis.
Al
