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84 of 89 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Luck of the draw -- the "phantom key press " issue!, November 2, 2007
Things just went entirely too smooth and totally glitch free which should have signaled that this in itself was not a good omen! Basically I went from the CH Products yoke, throttle quad and CH rudder pedals to the SAITEK system and even bought an extra SAITEK throttle quad to then have '6' programmable axis levers and additional buttons to program. So too, and one of the biggies, at least for me and my sim flying, the SAITEK yoke uses a METAL pitch tube for the yoke pitch control and as opposed to the CH yoke which uses a plastic shaft and hence subtle yoke movement 'sticking' no matter what lubricant I placed on the plastic shaft so I switched to SAITEK and the METAL pitch shaft on bearings. Excellent!
And then ... coming into O'Hare and I hear the jet panel voice begin the "500 above" ... "400 above" ... suddenly from nowhere comes from the aircraft I was flying, "LANDING GEAR UP PLEASE!" ... say WHAT? You guessed it, the "random phantom key press" issue! SAITEK admitted on their own forum that this was a SAITEK yoke factory defect issue [see that forum AND Amazon user comments right here!] . You'll be flying along but when the yoke is turned [or straight ahead for that matter!], things begin to happen on their own! Hence the name "phantom key press" ! The landing gear can go up and down BY ITSELF or normally hat switch activated aircraft views begin to cycle by themselves without any input whatsoever by the user! A decided defect! Worse, SAITEK says some yokes are affected, others perhaps not! That really helps, yes? Sure!
Anyway, I now have to wait until December, 2007, for a replacement yoke and I have 30 days to return the defect item via an Amazon printed-out postage free return label. I was also given the option to wait for the replacement item or cancel the order. I'll wait because the yoke and its separately included 3 lever throttle quadrant is very nice! Problem is, the phantom key press issue is a major consideration because virtually anything can be activated or deactivated by itelf! It's like an unseen hand randomly pressing keys on your keyboard and the simulation acts accordingly!
But I'll still wait because I like the metal tube on bearings making the pitch smooth, the looks of the thing, the on-board three USB slots although the accompanying 3 lever throttle uses a sub-mini pin connector to the yoke, dunno why, because a separately purchased and hence 'by itself' identical 3 lever throttle SAITEK quadrant uses the USB connector. Had it not been for the phantom key press issue I would have rated the whole system [I have the yoke and separate throttle quadrant, a second throttle quadrant and the SAITEK rudder pedals] as "10" stars even though 5 stars is the max allowed. Hopefully, this phantom key press issue defect will be SAITEK factory corrected in a new series. I hope so anyway!
Doc Tony
UPDATE! A LOST CAUSE! A 'replacement' unit arrived and had the identical 'phantom key press' problem! Identical! Wheels going up and down by themselves, views cycling, knee board popping up, all happening at random and making the Saitek yoke/throttle worthless! This is a MAJOR DEFECT in this item and every single Amazon user without exception has commented on it! Every single one! Read it for yourself!
This is not the fault of Amazon but a failure of the Saitek folks to recall and correct a major defect in this product! This time, I returned the replacement for a refund and I'll stick to my CH Products yoke/throttle combination until Saitek can get their act and yoke together! Amazon has been great in this matter, can't ask for better, but they are being given a defective product to sell with known serious issues and issues that Saitek or their distributors have NOT corrected!
Quick clue! You'll know almost immediately if you have a defective Saitek yoke -- when the flight sim loads up and you're on the runway ready for take-off, press the pre-set BRAKE button on the yoke and if you get a sudden change of view from the cockpit where you then have to cycle back to the cockpit view, you have a defective "phantom key press" yoke. It then goes further downhill from there with random commands on its own eqaully random unassisted initiative! ZERO stars now! A defective product by engineering! Read right here at Amazon what the users themselves say! And consistently so for the same consistent problem!
Doc Tony
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32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Phantom Key Stroke Problem Solved?, January 4, 2008
Well I just did some research on this yoke and discovered that Sietek has resolved the phantom keystroke issue. New replacement units are shipping to all US distributers. If you happen to have a defective unit, per a post on Sietek's forum, owners are to call 310-972-9930 for return/replacement instructions. I am going to order one myself but am not sure if Amozon has the new units yet. Sietec refused to post a current serial number of the defective lot but a person on the forums said that he just got his and is working flawlessly with a serial number of SZ005111624. This person with a "good" unit purchased his thru Newegg in CA.
Well I am going to place my order now and I will post an update when I get it up and running.
UPDATE: I recieved the yoke and pedals three days ago and after spending an hour or so configuring the unit I fired it up. The SN# I recieved was 00492657 a call to tech support assured me that I had a unit that had the phathom key stroke problem resolved.
I spent about a total of 20 hours flying around in several planes whith included single engine ceasna's all the way up to the heavy 747. I WAS NOT ABLE TO FIND ANY PROBLEMS WITH MY YOKE. I was very impressed with the quality and performance. I took a gamble but in my case I think it payed off.
Also for anyone wondering if this yoke works with a mac don't worry. I hooked the yoke up to my mac and am running xplane ver.9. The drivers were not needed it was simply plug n play. Xplane recognized the yoke and throttles with no problem. It was very simple to program.
I hope this helps.
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42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Yoke, Worth the Money, But..., October 23, 2007
Purchased the yoke, additional throttle and pedals. Pitch axis is a touch too tight, but other than that, very study and well constructed piece of hardware. The clock makes timed approaches and holds eaiser, and the fluid movement of the pitch/roll axis make hand flying approaches a lot of fun. However..
The unit I recieved is experiencing the same phantom key presses that others have reported. This behaviour is acknowledged by Saitek Support, and they indicate that it only affects some units and are not issuing a full recall. Phantom key presses are quite annoying (i.e. gear coming up on it's own when on a 1/4 mile final). I've tried the "fix" which seems to work for some (using a PCI USB card), to no avail.
One very positive note is Amazon's support. I e-mailed just asking if I should work directly through Saitek USA or Amazon for a replacement (as it's a Saitek acknowledged problem), nothing but an e-mailed question. The result was an e-mail from Amazon informing me that they were sending a replacement unit to me via overnight with instructions on how to send back my faulty unit.
My only worry now is that since bulk units were sent to Amazon, that the replacement yoke will have the same problem. Being that Amazon probably purchased in bulk, if the problem only affects certain serial number blocks, the odds are the replacement will have the same problem (Have a friend who bought same yoke on same day from different vendor, not experiencing this problem).If that's the case, I'll just either return for a refund with Amazon, or exchange directly with Saitek (when they get more in stock).
Other than the the phantom key issue, excellent product!
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