Second trackir "pro" headset clip just broke. First the plastic piece that covers the wires on the back popped off and had to be glued. Then the joint where the little rubber o-ring is broke (again to be glued). Finally the trifecta, when the larger joint near the clamp snapped off (normal use). Believe me I am careful with my hardware and possessions, but this thing is obviously made on the cheap.

 

Sigh..

Get in touch with Naturalpoint. They know it's a design flaw and are VERY good about replacing the Track Clip PRO. When you get your new one, bind the joint with some electrical tape to act as a 'shock absorber'. I've had one replaced and my buddy has had two.

Oh well, I knew why I never bought the TIR... and it will stay so.

 

Word Not Allowed, the Pro Clip has a reputation for being flimsy. It's also an extra-cost item for those who prefer a headset to a cap, and it has IR LEDs to improve performance in marginal conditions, like brightly lit areas with some backlighting.

 

I use the standard cap clip. It looks flimsy, but I've had no problems with it at all.

 

I resisted TrackIR for a long time myself, then bought it because I figured it would be good therapy for a stiff neck. It turns out it has a lot of advantages for that and I've been talking about it to various therapists. In the setup screen I can measure in degrees the amount of motion I have in all directions, and having constant feedback in the cockpit lets me know how I'm doing on any given day.

 

TrackIR is the one thing that's changed my flight simming the most. The ability to look around naturally is a major asset. It is so totally different from using a joystick hat that there's no way to compare them. It's like having an automatic "glance" key for any direction you wish, but you don't think about controlling it, you just turn your head.

 

There's a window post in the way and you can't see the runway? Just move your head to one side or the other. ATC says there's traffic at eight o'clock, you turn your head, no waiting for the hat switch to pan. It's all very natural. Need to steady the view so you can manually tune a radio? Assign a joystick button to pause TrackIR, pause, tune, unpause. Need to raise your viewpoint to land a taildragger? Scoot down in your chair a bit, recenter TrackIR, then move back up. I have this function assigned to a joystick button as well. Crosswind landings in a slow plane? Very natural, because while there's a small dead zone in the center (you can adjust this to your liking), there's no longer an absolute center viewpoint. AccuFeel (and I assume EZDok) will still shake the cockpit naturally.

 

If you already have a webcam, FaceTrackNOIR will do pretty much the same thing. I didn't have one, so I got TrackIR5 and have no regrets. I don't like wearing a cap, but it's worth it.

 

The downsides? Well, you have to wear a cap or a headset to mount the reflector clips. You may experience some motion sickness at first. If you don't have total mobility in your neck, you may experience some soreness after a long flight, but you can adjust the sensitivity to prevent this. Oh, and the biggest one: once you're used to it, doing without it is quite frustrating.

 

You can ask almost everyone... once you use TrackIR you can't go back.

 

Hook

Ok, I just thought of a couple more.

 

First, the TrackIR is NOT a replacement for the hat switch to look around, as people might think when first hearing about it. It's a complete viewing system. You can even still use the hat switch with TrackIR paused, if you wish.

 

Need to "zoom in" on an instrument you can't quite read? Simply lean forward. You can tune a radio without going to a 2D view or manually zooming in.

 

I've got my zoom level set at 1.5, which would be impossible without TrackIR or something similar. The mountains outside are more majestic, the runways are bigger, I can read all the instruments. The ability to glance around at will means that the more restricted field of view doesn't matter so much. I've got a single monitor, and I can only imagine what it would be like on a 3 monitor setup.

 

Most people will prefer to use a wider zoom level, whether to see all the instruments while looking out the front of the plane or just to get a panoramic view. TrackIR allows you to use a higher zoom level and still see everything.

 

Hook

Track ir is without doubt a poor build quality product but an absolutely must have in my opinion, I agree once you use track ir you can't go back. i have had to have a replacement track ir becasue of an incident with the wife and a hoover where it got chewed up. whilst waiting for it to arrive there was no fsx, no track ir means no fsx.

 

I'm surprised Word Not Allowed you are shutting the door on this product and is something i wondered about whilst following your excellent guide , what impact on blurries or other very minor glitches does track ir bring to the game and do you use track ir.

 

once again Word Not Allowed...a big thank you for your guide, it really has made a huge improvement for me. my tip is don't worry about build quality, motion sickness or a stiff neck which i suppose must occur to some people because i have seen these comments before but appear to me a quite frankly silly and extreme scaremongering from somebody who feels motion sicknesss after 15 minutes of being a passenger in a car.

 

I reckon natural point have no problem selling track ir and is probably the reason build quality gets overlooked and the buying price is steep too. More competition in the market place is needed.

extreme scaremongering

 

Oy.

 

I don't get motion sickness. Not in any video game, not in a car or boat or airplane, not even on a roller coaster. The only time I've had it was on a tilt-a-whirl when I was a kid, and could avoid it by keeping my eyes and head straight forward.

 

I had some very mild motion sickness on my first flight with TrackIR, maybe a couple of hours in the plane, but never again. I even know where it comes from. Your eyes have to get used to the motion on the screen not being what you're used to. When you use TrackIR a lot, you can see a similar effect when you have TrackIR paused and try to turn your head; your eyes want to do something different. I brought it up so people could deal with the issue if it happened, and to understand that it wasn't a permanent thing.

 

Not everyone has perfect neck mobility for a variety of reasons. For those who don't, they need to know there may be a problem that can be adjusted out in the TrackIR settings if they wish. Personally, I use it for therapy, and I wanted people to know that's an option. But my problem is rare enough that I doubt there's another person in the entire Avsim community with it.

 

But I agree totally with you that "no TrackIR, no FSX".

 

Another possible downside: TrackIR is sensitive to lights behind you in the field of view of the TrackIR. But really, if you have a window or a light behind your so that it reflects in your screen, you should probably reposition the light or your computer. If you're getting no reflection on your screen, it probably won't affect TrackIR.

 

Hook

Thanks for the tip on contacting Natural Point. Hopefully they will exchange it. Like most, Trackir has been a real game changer. Something about banking and turning your head left/right and getting that surreal view as you look over the city lights. Too bad they built it so crappy though!

Be more careful! It's made of plastic for cryin' out loud! If it was unbreakable it would be made of stainless steel and weigh a ton, then there'd be complaints it gives you neck ache. :rolleyes:

Where is it made? Although based on these posts I think I already know the answer!!:lol:

Where is it made?

 

Hello

Corvallis, Oregon USA, good old American engineering

Where is it made? Although based on these posts I think I already know the answer!!:lol:

 

Starts with a C and ends with A.

 

 

 

 

 

...and of course I mean Canada..wait...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk...typing errors imminent