Newbie Difficulty Configuring Multiple Throttles

[ramrunner800]

I am trying to configure my saitek proflight throttle quadrant to use one lever to control both mixture levers of my aircraft, and to do the same with the prop lever. In both cases, I have gone to the "assign axis" box, moved the appropriate lever through its entire range of motion, and then selected the two commands I want to correspond to this.

In the sim, both controls move, but they do not move in unison, which usually results in catastrophic failure in the flight. Is there something obvious I am doing wrong? Any help is much appreciated.

[Pete Dowson]

I found your query in the FAQ subforum, which is the repository for standard answers. I've moved it here, to the Support Forum, for proper handling.

I am trying to configure my saitek proflight throttle quadrant to use one lever to control both mixture levers of my aircraft, and to do the same with the prop lever. In both cases, I have gone to the "assign axis" box, moved the appropriate lever through its entire range of motion, and then selected the two commands I want to correspond to this.

You mean that you assigned two commands to the same axis? That's one way of doing it, but it certainly isn't the best way by far. The facility for multiple assignments has applications in complex circumstances, but really that isn't one of them usually.

If you are wanting only one mixture and one prop axis for any aircraft, no matter how many engines (up to the 4 supported by FS), you'd be better off using the same generic axis as FS would assign normally -- i.e. Axis mixture set and Axis propeller set, respectively.

If you really did want to control only two engines, and use another pair of levers for the mixture and prop of the other two engines when using a 4 engined aircraft, then you are besy assigning one pair to engine 1 and the other to engine 2 controls, and then, in calibration, check the appropriate mapping option(s). FSUIPC can automatically map 1->12, 2->34 for 4 engines, and also handle 3-engines for you too.

In the sim, both controls move, but they do not move in unison, which usually results in catastrophic failure in the flight.

Hmm. Each control is sent separately, because they are, obviously, separate controls, but they should certainly move the levers almost simultaneously, within a fraction of a second of each other. If not there's something seriously overloading your PC. ON FS9 and before the controls are Windows messages, so are subject to normal Windows message queueing. On FSX they are calls to SimConnect, and may be subject to interception by other programs, particularly complex add-on aircraft. But I've never ever seen a separation which could possibly cause any "catastrophic failure" -- how does such a catastrophe occur? Please explain that.

The only way, ever, that there will be absolutely simultaneous action is if you use the normal single generic controls, whether in FSUIPC or in FS directly. I assume you have a reason for assigning in FSUIPC rather than FS? Perhaps you need to excplain that too so I can understand what it is you are aiming to accomplish.

Regards

Pete