CH Products announce the Multi Function Panel

[Revvin]

Debby McDowell, Director of Sales and Marketing at CH Products has announced that the next product to be released by CH Products will be the Multi Function Panel (MFP). This new product incorporates the programmability of the CH Control Manager software with technology from Ergodex to provide a versatile panel that will appeal to fans of all gaming genre's as well as being a useful device for daily computer use. Up to 16 Multi Function Panels can be connected providing up to 12,800 button combinations. You can read Debby McDowell's press release by clicking below.

(Larger picture here)

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Debby McDowell
Tel: 760-598-2518
Fax: 760-598-2524

Date: Release Date: Christmas 2006

Multi Function Panel makes its way to the CH cockpit

VISTA, California -- Joystick Technologies, Inc., dba CH Products announces today the latest release in their controller product line.

The CH Multi Function Panel incorporates the vast programmability of the CH Control Manager™ software and the Ergodex™ technology, allowing up to 16 panels to be used on a single PC. Each panel comes with 25 repositionable keys which can be placed, removed, and repositioned to any location on the panel’s “active surface”, making each panel completely customizable by the customer. The panel also includes a removable clear tray that allows end users to create and place custom button templates beneath the tray, aiding in the identification of button placement. Additional key trays and sets of 25 keys (keys sets 1-25 and 26-50 available) may also be purchased separately.

The MFP includes two independent “on-the-fly” selectable programmed modes for each button giving users a total of 400 button positions with CM scripted and shifted green and red modes. Add additional panels and keys for up to 12,800 button positions. The possibilities are endless! Each button can perform any combination of the following:

• Keystrokes
• Joystick buttons
• Mouse buttons
• Joystick axis
• Mouse axis

Scheduled to release worldwide for the holidays, this highly anticipated accessory adds more realism, programmability, and versatility to both gaming and daily computer use , making the MFP the next “Must Have” for Christmas!

For more information, email Debby@chproducts.com.



Best regards,

Debby McDowell

Director of Sales & Marketing
Retail Gaming Division

**To subscribe to my Electronic Newsletter, please email your request to media@chproducts.com**
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Over 25 years of innovation and reliability!!!


CH Products
a division of Joystick Technologies, Inc.
970 Park Center Drive Vista, CA 92081
Email: Debby@mail.chproducts.com
Tel: 760-598-2518 Fax: 760-598-2524
www.chproducts.com
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[RogueSqdn]

Will be perfect to go on the side panels of my Akers-Barnes cockpit!

[Walternowi]

Could I use an existing Ergodex DX-1 with the Control Manager or do I need this new control panel to work?

[531_Ghost]

FINALLY!!! I can quit eatin' all this popcorn! You'll need the CH MFP to work with the upcoming CM v5.0

[Zorlac]

on the top right of this image, is the ADI display just a static display? An image printed out and placed under the plastic sheet? Or is there some kind of interactive ability in it? It hard to tell at this resolution....

[LukeFF]

Excellent!

Now, could we just see that pic at a higher resolution?

[LonelyJoe]

This is friggen sweet. Happy day in LonelyJoeLand.

[NamelessPlayer]

Well, it definitely isn't that split-throttle that I wanted, nor is it a MFD with an actual screen. However, I see it as a viable alternative to something like a X-Keys or MasterPilot device. (Besides, it was already said that it wasn't going to replace any current CH gear...)

If any of you are wondering if those gauges do anything, they're probably printed out, just like the DX1 it pretty much is. (If they do slip a LCD display under that surface, though, I'll be highly tempted to get one if I'm not in cheapskate mode...)

Will I buy it as-is, though? Probably not when I can use a cradled Palm m100 for basically the same purpose. (Now if only someone made an app that actually lets me use the thing as an actual MFD in, say, Falcon 4.0...)

[Corsair8X]

This looks amazing! Very excited that the news is finally out. 16 panels is a lot.

@NamelessPlayer: FalconAF and I think also Falcon 4 have a keyboard button associated with each osb button on the mfd as well as each button on the ICP. The CM software would allow you to associate that keyboard combination to the button. Falcon is perfectly suited to this new piece of hardware. You wouldn't need a sepparate app at all - just the panel (I guess times two or three) and the new CM release.

One thing I would really like to see for the future (as I mentioned before) is not just keys available, but later toggles much like what we see on the TQ. That way, like on the TQ, each direction the switch moves could be considered a "press". I think the same could be done with knobs as well. Not with pots, but just a series of contacts surrounding an axis. Each position of the knob (let's say 8 positions) would contact a different point and release a different signal. I'm pretty comfident that both ideas could exist within the same footprint of each key-base. Obviously the same switches from the TQ could be used. These same switches look sturdy enough to act as dials as well. Perhaps just make the colour different to differentiate one from another.

Not saying that the product released is lacking in any way, just think that there's even more potential in it's future.

Great job CH!

[Timc1145]

Finally. I had to give up on the popcorn. Both my internist and dentist have told me that I need thousands of dollars worth of work. You finally announced the product, but will all the dental and intestinal problems you've caused, I won't be able to afford.

Seriously, it is exactly the product I thought it would be, since I saw the pictures of the Ergodex setups at E3. I'm hot to buy at least two of them, if I have enough coins left. I'd like three. I'll probably be lucky to get one initially.

Now, here's a question. The artwork used in the picture is very good. Does the product come with drawing software sufficient to generate a colorful template. What can you tell us about this aspect of the product?