I have been searching for a good controller (ground side, handheld) that will work with Mission Planner.
The idea is:
Most everything I'm working on involves long-range communication and control. That is why I'm using 4G. A 4G/LTE link works great for telemetry and live video, but I want control as well. I want to be able to fly in "manual" mode when I want to. If my craft is in AUTO mode, and is flying on its own somewhere, and I see something that I want to look at more closely, I want to be able to switch to manual mode, go over and take a look, and then go back to AUTO mode.
Everyone is using 2.4Ghz for control. That is too limiting. I want to use 4G for CONTROL as well. That means that I have to send that control information over a protocol called MavLink. My laptop computer can generate MavLink packets and send them to the craft over 4G. But how do I get my commands into my laptop?
The program I use in my laptop (Mission Planner) has a provision for using a Logitech C310 game controller to generate commands. This thing is a joke! It does have two short "joysticks" but both snap to the center when released. That is OK for a game, but for a copter that is armed and sitting on the ground, slipping off the throttle will make it take off. That is dangerous.
I tried to fly using the Logitech controller. I don't think I could ever learn to do it.
There are some other controllers that look good - they are used for flight simulators and have two joysticks. But they have a very narrow range of outputs (the maximum to minimum values are not adequate). And only one or two have more than 4 channels (roll, pitch, yaw, throttle). But I need at least 5 since I also need a MODE (auto, manual, return to launch, etc).
I have contacted Logitech and several other companies to try to get them to build a suitable controller. No one is interested. So I have been working on my own, and it is almost working. Hopefully, I'll get that going in the next week or so.