This is a problem I have had for a long time. I am using a CH yoke, CH rudder pedals, and CH throttle quadrant. The problem is that the controls are always twitching and jumping. Doesn't matter if the engines are running or not. They twitch at different times, in other words not all at once. One time it may be the throttles (particularly the left one) or the mixture, or ailerons, etc. No set pattern.

 

I have everything calibrated through FSUIPC and all controls work ok and don't cause any problems.

It's just kind of irritating seeing the things jumping. Also, when the flight controls are twitching I can go outside and the flight control surfaces are following suit.

 

I've checked all connections, cleaned pots all to no avail. It also did this on my other computer before I got my latest one. I don't think it is the physical controls since all three seem to be affected.

 

Any ideas? Any chance the FSUIPC may be causing this? I hesitate to deactivate FSUIPC to troubleshoot because all my calibrations are how I want them. Don't want to mess them up. Thanks for any guidance or info.

 

Jim

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Hi Jim,

 

Well, they all "twitch" a little. It's how much they twitch by that matters. I'm assuming you don't have the Control Manager installed. "Installed" is all that matters, whether you're using a map or not doesn't really make any difference.

 

What you need to check is the "Raw Value". Start into the normal Windows calibration. You don't really want to calibrate, at least not for this, but if you start into the calibration routine, early on there'll be a checkbox to "Show Raw Data" or something like that. Check that and it will show you the numbers coming up the wires from the controllers themselves.

 

Digital systems can't do better than a one-count bobble. They don't do fractions, so if it's at a point where it should be 127.5 for example, it will show you 127...128...127..128.., etc. It averages out but it twitches when it does. With calibration you'll sometimes see a couple of counts because of the way the calibration works.

 

How much "bobble" are you seeing? It helps to know that, it narrows down the list of possible problem. If you do have the CM installed drop to the desktop, run the CM GUI, open the calibration screen, and watch the "Raw Data" display. Same thing.

 

Best regards,

 

- Bob

 

The StickWorks

http://www.stickworks.com

Hi Bob,

 

No, I didn't have CM installed so I installed it and checked the raw data as you suggested. The fluctuating controls shown by the numbers are the rudder, left throttle, left mixture, ailerons, and elevators. All are fluctuating by 1. (89-90, 252-253 ,253-254, & 114-115. So you think this is ok?

 

As I stated, it doesn't really cause me any problems - just doesn't look normal. I can live with it though. I just wanted a fix if there was one.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Jim

Hi Jim,

 

>> No, I didn't have CM installed so I installed it and checked the raw data as you suggested. The fluctuating controls shown by the numbers are the rudder, left throttle, left mixture, ailerons, and elevators. All are fluctuating by 1. (89-90, 252-253 ,253-254, & 114-115. So you think this is ok? <<

 

Yup, that's fine. Which axis was the 89-90 on? The CH stuff generates raw values of 0..255. If it centers, the value will usually be about half that, ideally 128 but it's doesn't need to be exact. Calibration will sort it out unless it's a long way off. It could be just a throttle axis that's not set at max or min, I'm just curious as to whether we should look at why it's there. If it is a centering axis, (X, Y, etc.) then the trim wheel probably needs to be centered, there's a weak detent at center that's usually close enough, if it gets a long way off, it can create problems.

 

>> As I stated, it doesn't really cause me any problems - just doesn't look normal. I can live with it though. I just wanted a fix if there was one. <<

 

It's just not really much force. One count is about 0.4% of full scale and it only stays in effect for one frame, you get a chance to correct it each frame by moving the stick. You don't notice that, but when you're flying that's what happens, so you end up adjusting it so often that it's not a problem unless the frame rate drops to a low value. I used to get mail from people all the time - "My joystick works great except when I'm at low altitude. What's wrong with it?". Well, there's no way the joystick knows the altitude or cares. What had happened was the aircraft had gotten down into the ground clutter, usually at landing time, the frame rate had dropped way down, and things would get difficult to control with a strong tendency to overshoot because of the low frame rate.

 

Anyway, "1" is as good as it gets, after calibration you might see "2" at certain positions, but there's not much you can do about it, and it usually doesn't really bother anything anyway.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Best regards,

 

- Bob

 

The StickWorks

http://www.stickworks.com

Jim,

 

I think you are looking at this from the wrong end. If you have FSUIPC installed, you can use it to completely cure what you describe. I have exactly the same CH hardware as you and have NONE of the problems you describe. I did when I first installed the CH Control Manager. I just could not get it to work consistently and in a "controlled" manner. It may be a great piece of software for others but, not for me.

That being said, I uninstalled CM and used FSUIPC to assign all the control axis functions as well as the button and switch functions. Also use FSUIPC to calibrate all your axes.

Then go into FSX controls and delete all the duplicated functions, for example, you don't want FSX controlling your throttles and your CH Quad also controlling them. Anything you are controlling with your CH hardware needs to be deleted in the FSX controls for the same hardware.

Then you can also use the FSUIPC sensitivity curves (SLOPE in the GUI) to adjust the sensitivity of everything from brakes to ailerons.

 

I'm sure there are differing opinions on this but, I have been running my hardware in this manner for literally years with only the occasional hiccup, usually caused by FSX over-riding the controls.

Hi Joe,

 

Thanks for chiming in on my problem.

 

I never did use CH Control Manager. Have always used FSUIPC. I just installed CM to take a look at the raw data as suggested by Bob.

 

I thought I had deleted all the FSX controls so there wouldn't be a conflict but guess I hadn't because they were still there. Anyhow, I deleted them again and all references to controls in the Control Settings section. Didn't help. Seems strange to me that I get the twitching on three different devices - yoke, pedals, and throttle quadrant.

 

I have often wondered if this is a wide spread problem or just my setup because I don't think I have ever seen another post concerning this.

 

I am tempted to remove FSUIPC and see if it still happens. Hate to lose my settings though because I have quite a few planes that I would have to recalibrate and reassign the button functions. As I previously stated, it isn't causing a problem. Just looks strange.

 

Thanks for you input though.

 

Jim

There's an FSUIPC.ini file that has all your settings. You could save it then reuse it after you reload FSUIPC. You could also open the .ini file with notepad and cut and past just the aircraft sections to your newly created file.

When you calibrate your axes, do you see the "twitching" happening while your hardware is static with no input? Maybe you have a bad USB controller on your pc? Have you tried checking or deleting and reinstalling your hardware in Device Manager.

You definitely have some issue, you should not be seeing what you are.

Thanks for the advice Joe. I'll investigate further and report back.

 

Jim