TCA Airbus Throttle Quadrant setup woes

[phred]

Hi All,
I'm absolutely struggling with trying to get the TCA throttle quadrant working correctly through MSFS panels or setting it up via FSUIPC7 (licensed - Euros converts to over $30aud so is expensive for me!).  
Been working my way through a tutorial, only to be stopped at hurdle 1 where one should select a  'Profile Specific' setup - only the 'Profile Specific' option is greyed out, so I can't even set that up.
Plus the TCA throttle itself when going into a the TCA Q-ENG 1&2 control options area in MSFS I can set it up to recognise the slider, but it doesnt work properly. Gets to 1/3rd of the way up the slider twds full throttle then it immediately flicks straight up to full throttle as if a button was pressed (stuffed if I can locate that button anywhere!).  I have a T.16000 throttle plugged in, and have removed that throttle assignment just in case it was interfering but no diff there.

So if anyone can tell me in more laymans terms how to either setup the TCA throttle to work I'm all ears! (I'd like it to work on turboprops like the Pilatus porter etc) but has been infuriating to use thus far.
Thanks,

David.

[John Dowson]

Hi David,

6 hours ago, phred said:

Been working my way through a tutorial, only to be stopped at hurdle 1 where one should select a  'Profile Specific' setup - only the 'Profile Specific' option is greyed out, so I can't even set that up.

If it is greyed out is it also checked? If so, then the aircraft is already assigned to a profile. If not, then make sure you have MSFS running with an aircraft loaded and ready-to-fly.

6 hours ago, phred said:

Plus the TCA throttle itself when going into a the TCA Q-ENG 1&2 control options area in MSFS I can set it up to recognise the slider, but it doesnt work properly. Gets to 1/3rd of the way up the slider twds full throttle then it immediately flicks straight up to full throttle as if a button was pressed (stuffed if I can locate that button anywhere!).  I have a T.16000 throttle plugged in, and have removed that throttle assignment just in case it was interfering but no diff there.

So you are assigning using MSFS and not FSUIPC? Sorry, but I cannot help you with that. If assigning in FSUIPC7, we recommend using an empty profile for your controllers in MSFS, at least initially, although you can mix your assignments between MSFS and FSUIPC7 if you need to.

7 hours ago, phred said:

So if anyone can tell me in more laymans terms how to either setup the TCA throttle to work I'm all ears! (I'd like it to work on turboprops like the Pilatus porter etc) but has been infuriating to use thus far.

Setting up the TCA does seem quite problematic - there have already been various threads on setting up the TCA with various aircraft.
The configuration will be dependent on the aircraft being used, so if setting up in FSUIPC make sure that you use profiles.
And also make sure that you have calibrated the throttle first - see 

https://ts.thrustmaster.com/download/accessories/manuals/TCA_Quadrant/TCA_Quadrant-Throttle_Calibration.pdf

Here are a few other posts on setting up the TCA which may (or may not!) be helpful:

John

 

 

 

[phred]

Thanks for the reply John,
Very much appreciated.  I did try searching for references to the TCA throttle in the forum, but couldn't see anything relevant to my issues, which is why I posted.
So thanks for the links to what you've located - thats handy.

Yes the profile box is ticked.  But I cannot figure out how you get to a profile in MSFS that then allows the box to be 'unticked'!  
Every time I try to modify the settings in a controller and apply the settings MSFS then prompts for it to be saved in a new profile.  Very strange system.

Its such a shame you have to set it up for each aircraft.  I was hoping the throttle would work with all aircraft, and those with thrust reversing would auto-detect the thrust reversing functionality of the throttle, but I guess that's expecting a bit too much! lol.

I'm seriously considering getting rid of this throttle and buying a VKB controller setup (https://vkbcontrollers.com/ ) lots of great reviews, and love the modularity and ability to pull it all apart for modifications etc.  Programming it can't be any more painful than this TCA setup surely?! (or is it a case of the grass is always greener elsewhere!) - at the very least I should have done more homework on what throttle setup to buy, I'm really regretting this purchase.

I'll battle on.

Cheers,

David

[John Dowson]

7 hours ago, phred said:

But I cannot figure out how you get to a profile in MSFS that then allows the box to be 'unticked'!  
Every time I try to modify the settings in a controller and apply the settings MSFS then prompts for it to be saved in a new profile.  Very strange system.

I am not sure what you mean here...
Please do not confuse MSFS profiles (controller specific) with FSUIPC profiles (aircraft specific). Tjey are completely separate. We recommend creating an empty profile in MSFS for your controller if assigning in FSUIPC7. However, there is no problem mixing and matching assignments between MSFS and FSUIPC7, but make sure that you do not have duplicate assignments (i.e. assigning a button or axis both in MSFS and FSUIPC7) as this will cause issues.
And, if mixing and matching assignments, please remember that the MSFS profiles are device specific, and the FSUIPC7 ones aircraft specific.

7 hours ago, phred said:

Its such a shame you have to set it up for each aircraft.  I was hoping the throttle would work with all aircraft, and those with thrust reversing would auto-detect the thrust reversing functionality of the throttle, but I guess that's expecting a bit too much! lol.

Profiles can generally be used for groups of aircraft, as aircraft types tend to use the same controls (or at least used to!). So you could have a single prop profile (maybe default), maybe a turbo prop profile, a jet profile, a 2/4 engine prop profile, etc. More complicated aircraft, such as the airliners, tend to require their own profile as the controls/procedures can differ significantly.

And the problem with auto-detecting is that reverse thrust works very differently in different aircraft, so you really need to configure this for each type of aircraft, or even specifically for a given aircraft.

7 hours ago, phred said:

I'm seriously considering getting rid of this throttle and buying a VKB controller setup (https://vkbcontrollers.com/ ) lots of great reviews, and love the modularity and ability to pull it all apart for modifications etc.  Programming it can't be any more painful than this TCA setup surely?! (or is it a case of the grass is always greener elsewhere!) - at the very least I should have done more homework on what throttle setup to buy, I'm really regretting this purchase.

Not heard of VKB before - looks interesting. However, probably is a case of 'grass is always greener', as you say. I would have though that there would be more information and help available for the TCA quadrant, as this has been around for a while now and is a relatively common piece of kit.

7 hours ago, phred said:

I'll battle on.

Good luck!

Cheers,

John

P.S. Another problem, especially with reverse thrust, is that Asobo or FBW (or both) seem to keep changing how reverse thrust works in various aurcraft...I tend to get support requests in reverse thrust issues after each update, e,g, see 

 

Edited November 22, 2021 by John Dowson
PS added

[phred]

Thanks John for the advice. 

Apologies for getting things mixed up.  My brain is as confused as ever over this setup.  Its not quite sunk in yet how to separate out FSUIPC from MSFS profiles etc.  Sounds like its going to take a lot of fiddling to get it working.
However I've just logged a job/ticket with Thrustmaster over this TCA quadrant, as I suspect it has a hardware fault.  The fact that their game controller software in their advance tab (without going into MSFS - or even with it running) both axis in the testing of inputs fluctuates differently... the X axis goes from zero to 100% within a half millimeter of movement.  The Y axis slides correctly 1/3rd then flicks to 100%  No amount of recalibrations have fixed it.  So that might be my issue.

I'll let you know how I get on, as its always valuable in forums like yours to note down issues others have had so there's a bit of a knowledge-base to work off.

Thanks again.

Cheers,

David

[John Dowson]

2 hours ago, phred said:

the X axis goes from zero to 100% within a half millimeter of movement. 

That sounds like a digital on/off axis, which is (usually) a registery issue. There is an FSUIPC FAQ entry on how to fix this - it was written for Saitek devices but also applies to other controllers - see 

 

2 hours ago, phred said:

The Y axis slides correctly 1/3rd then flicks to 100%  No amount of recalibrations have fixed it.  So that might be my issue.

Hmm, that does sound strange....

2 hours ago, phred said:

I'll let you know how I get on, as its always valuable in forums like yours to note down issues others have had so there's a bit of a knowledge-base to work off.

Ok - good luck and please do let us know how you get on, or if you need any asistance once you have calibrated with the TCA software - you need to do this first before assigning/calibrating in MSFS or FUIPC.

Cheers,

John