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Archived from The Control Center, 1999. Hardware, prices and links are historical.

Suncom F15 Talon

Originally published on joy-stick.net, 10 September 19995/5 sticks

F-15E Talon

Manufactured By: Suncom

Retail Price: $29.99

Review Date:9-10-99

Compatibility, affordability and realism. Thats what we all want, right? The F15-E Talon offers all three in a sleek looking stick that will really stand out on your computer desk. The stick has the same look (and size) of an actual F15 controller. It uses a standard gameport and either a AT or more common PS/2 keyboard plug; works in both DOS and Windows environments and is very reasonably priced.

In addition to all of that it offers programmability of most of its buttons through a simple interface. It does not require a programming utility like many of the digital sticks currently available (they require a specific operating system and use system recourses even when not in use). Since it is an analog controller you can, and should, take advantage of its expandability. Adding external throttle and rudder controls is an task easy; you just need to figure out where to hide all the wires.

There are a few misses too. To keep to the analog standard and preserve the realistic looks a throttle was left off the controller. You can easily add one but it is an additional expense. Rudder control is something else that is missing from this stick. Again, something you can add but it will cost you.

Features 92%-

  • Realistic look and feel
  • 4 way castle switch
  • 4 way hat switch
  • 4 buttons
  • Touch and go programming
  • 4 programming slots

Appropriate For-

  • Flight Sims (MS FlightSim 98, Flight Unlimited II, Airwarior II, Dawn of Aces, etc.)
  • Space Sims (Descent Freespace, Rouge Squadron, Mechwarrior III, etc.)
  • Racing Games (Star Wars: Racer, Need For Speed High Stakes, Motocross Madness, etc.)

System Requirements-

15 pin gameport, Windows 3.1, 95/98, AT or PS/2 keyboard connection.

Price -

The ~$30 price tag for this highly programmable, realistic stick is great.

Warranty-

1 year limited.

Performance 85%-

The F15-E Talon has a pretty powerful sounding name. It also has a powerful look and feel. In use its a great performer. The programming, which can be done "on the fly" adds to its versatility. Its only obvious drawbacks are the lack of a throttle or rudder control. Each can be and were added to the stick to add to its realistic offerings. For testing purposes though the stick stood alone most of the time as a single controller.

As I mentioned above, the stick easily sets up with a throttle and rudder control but without them something is missing. Flight sims such as MS FlightSim 98 played well as long as you did not need to adjust your speed or fine tune an approach. The lack of throttle or rudder controls made using the stick troublesome for most flightsims. I finally assigned the rudder to the left/right hat and the throttle to the up/down of the same hat switch using the touch-and-go programming feature of the stick. It was better than using the keyboard directly but just didn't have the same effect as some other controllers that have these features already.

Racing and space sims performance varied. The big factor once again was the throttle. The lack of rudder control was less of an issue due to the nature of the games/sims. The stick did well with space sims where I am usually matching the speed of my adversaries anyway. With most racing games I mapped the gas/brake to the up/down action of the stick. The only racing game where the throttle was missed was Star Wars: Racer since you are racing a few feet above the ground and its nice to have the extra axis to control the pitch of the jet engines that are dragging you along at 600+ MPH.

Motocross Madness and other motorcycle racing sims played well also. I simply used the trigger button as the gas, one of the other buttons as the brake and the stick to control the pitch of the bike when airborne.

The stick excels as part of a multi-controller setup. Testing was done using the F15-E Talon, SIMPED-vario Pedals and the SFS Throttle. This setup is hard to match! It offers a highly programmable (easy too) setup with realistic pedals to boot. None of the issues mentioned above cam up with the complete setup.

Setup 89% -

Setup of the F15-E Talon involves a couple, simple steps beyond a typical joystick. With the system off connect the 15 pin connector to the gameport. Then unplug the keyboard connector from your system, replace it with the Talon's keyboard plug and plug the keyboard into the other end of the Talon's plug. Turn on the system.

Since the additional buttons on the Talon emulate keyboard presses the joystick is set up as a 2 axis, 4 button joystick in the game controller panel. Once selected go to the properties and calibrate and test the stick and buttons before attempting to use the programmable buttons.

** Software -

** No software is provided or necessary.

Programming of the stick buttons and switches is achieve using the touch-and-go programming. To program an action simply put the stick into programming mode by sliding the program switch to the appropriate position. Then press the button on the controller you wish to program; while holding it down press the keyboard key you wish to assign to it. You can also assign a button in rapid-fire mode (repeating) by following the same steps described above but pressing the keyboard key twice.

Documentation 90% -

The manual for the F15-E talon is a 5 language manual of 22 pages. The manual guides you through the setup, calibration and programming of the stick. Also included in the manual are troubleshooting tips, warrantee information and details on other controllers in the F15-E Strike Fighter Series.

The Suncom website just recently saw a complete restructuring. Each controller now has a base page with links to pages holding drivers, troubleshooting information, the manual in pdf format and purchasing information.

Overall Rating 87.6% ** -

The F15-E Talon is not the best single-controller solution. As a first purchase on the road to a complete HOTAS system you can't do any better. The easy programming interface, great look and feel, and affordable price make this an easy stick to recommend to those looking for the first piece in their flight system control setup.

Pros-

  • Touch and go programming (no program needed to assign buttons)
  • Realistic look and feel

Cons-

  • The keyboard pass-through plug makes switching of controllers a bit more complicated

Similar to-**

Review date as printed on the original page. Images from the original page are not reproduced.