I have a TrackIR 5, and rarely use it?

[SkipperMac 1]

Can't understand people who don't like TrackIR. Bought it about 3 years ago after nearly 20 years of serious simming. I'd wanted it for ages, but didn't realise just how much of a game changer it would be. Now I literally couldn't fly without it - pause and re-centre buttons on the yoke for fine radio work, and various camera views from OpusFSX accessed via the hat switch ... perfect!

 

But if you don't like it, you don't like it. Fine, but instead of letting it gather dust, sell it on eBay ... I'll guarantee you'll make someone very happy when you take their Christmas pocket money in exchange.

[mr340 56]

Hi!

Just increase the null zones of the axis and put the smoothing level at values around 60-80. That should improve things dramatically!

 

Thanks Michael i will try this because my neck hurts pretty bad lol . If they ever have any plans for a track ir 6 i hope it has less wires . I enjoy track Ir is just all the wires an stuff an the fact that i have to wear a cap or sometimes headphones with the track clip .

[lateagain 45]

I use IR5 with the basic clip that it comes with. Don't have (or want) a headset so the extra clip price is saved. Not mad about wearing a baseball cap for the clip but find it so much more realistic to be able to move and look around within my seat in the virtual cockpit. Only use 2D pop-ups where the virtual cockpit click spots are poorly implimented. I think the essential thing is setting it up right in the first place. I agree that the external view limitations are irritating but as a GA Low and Slow virtual pilot it's essential IMHO for realistic approaches.

 

It maybe less use to PMDG jockeys established 9 miles out on "short finals" on the ILS but hauling a 185 over some trees into a tight strip there's just no substitute? BTW I've read lots of articles about using it with EZDOCK so that's just a set-up issue. I am interested in EZDOCK but I'm less convinced that that is useful for my type of flying. I'd say I use it 90% of the time. Only reason not to is quick checks of add-on reskins or taking shots of scenery where easy use of outside views is more useful. I must RTFM and sort out these "pause buttons" because then I'd use it even then. The "set-up" screen that comes with the software is excellent for making sure you have a centred and "normal" view and head rotation. Very easy to use and you can save customised set-ups.

 

I bought mine from the main distributor and phoned to check if I needed the extra clip or reflective spots. They were very helpful and saved me the money on those as they were not useful for me. Put it this way my throttle quadrant, yoke and rudder pedals each cost about the same and sit gathering dust (I still use the logitech joystick I first bought to fly with). The Track IR I wouldn't be without.

 

Geoff

[ryanbatc 12,991]

95% of the problem (imho) is not having the proper profile. The default ones are HORRIBLE. I almost returned mine the day I bought it because of this.

 

For any of you guys that don't like it I urge you to try out the profile "Seth - Flight" found at the naturalpoint forums (under TIR profiles, first or second post). It should even help the tubeliner pilots

 

In addition to that^ getting to know your Pause and Re-Center keys are important. Pause when you need to manipulate a tiny clickspot in the VC and Re-Center after the view get's skewed a little over time... or you're just uncomfortable.

 

Heart you all!

[LHookins 3,105]

In addition to that^ getting to know your Pause and Re-Center keys are important.

 

Absolutely! And assign them to joystick buttons, it'll make your life a lot easier.

 

Pause when you need to manipulate a tiny clickspot in the VC and Re-Center after the view get's skewed a little over time... or you're just uncomfortable.

 

I expected to have to recenter a lot, but found out with TrackIR5 that if you move your head to about the same place it was the last time you recentered, your view will "snap" to the correct location. This helps when I've been looking some odd place and TrackIR got confused about where my head should be.

 

The only time I recenter now is when I want to raise or lower my normal viewpoint. For example, before I land or start to taxi, I'll scoot down in the chair and recenter, then when I return to a normal sitting position my viewpoint will be elevated. While this isn't as precise as moving my view around with keypresses, I find it very natural. If my neck gets stiff from holding my head too far up or down, I'll look in the opposite direction and recenter, and I can hold my head in a different position for the same viewpoint (Gawd I hope that makes sense).

 

Another thing is that just because you have TrackIR doesn't mean you should never pause it. Your viewpoint doesn't HAVE to be linked to your head the entire flight. You can pause TrackIR and do everything you'd normally do if it wasn't installed at all: shift your viewpoint, look around with mouse look or the hat switch, whatever. During a long flight I'll often pause TrackIR with my viewpoint straight ahead, and use the hat switch to check instruments occasionally. Of course, I'm using 1.5 cockpit zoom (which would be impractical without TrackIR), so some panning around is necessary. As with the recenter command, you really need a joystick button set up for pause.

 

People talk about zooming in on their instruments: you don't have to. Just lean forward.

 

Getting your profile set up to your liking takes some experimentation. I went through three profiles before I settled on one I liked. I have to fine tune it more than most because I have limited neck motion, but then I can use TrackIR for therapy as well.

 

Hook

[des182001 1]

Personally I can't use this thing in FSX, but in DCS A10C it's a must!

[stretch1365 40]

Hi all,

 

I agree with the above comments, play around with the profile for FSX in TrackIR5 and learn how the curves affect the movement of your head in relation to the movement in the sim. Smoothing works well too!

 

Only time I don't switch it on is checking new skins and repaints, occasionally I tried flying without TrackIR5 when I've just installed a freeware plane and just want a quick spin round the circuit but it's so difficult after using TrackIR5. I really can't fly without it and that's in FSX too.

[747-fan 19]

I rarely use mine. I find that I can't look far enough down or high enough up with it without it losing signal and going bananas. Decreasing the movement needed to look that far only seems to make it too twitchy again. For me it's a no win situation. After my first few weeks I got past the "sit as still as possible" bit without getting a headache, but two years down the line I never could make it work well enough.

[KingGhidorah 209]

I rarely use mine. I find that I can't look far enough down or high enough up with it without it losing signal and going bananas. Decreasing the movement needed to look that far only seems to make it too twitchy again. For me it's a no win situation. After my first few weeks I got past the "sit as still as possible" bit without getting a headache, but two years down the line I never could make it work well enough.

 

 

 

One thing to keep in mind is that you need to have it plugged in to a powered hub, so you might double check that. Also, if you are experiencing problems with the vertical coverage, I've found that it helps to bring up the GUI with the infrared view (where you see the 3 dots) and if necessary, bend the vertical bar of the hat track device until you get good vertical coverage. I found that the upright bar tends to lean back a little too much and if you just bend it so that it sits more forward and vertically, you can increase the head angle before it 'cuts off.'

[ryanbatc 12,991]

Personally I can't use this thing in FSX, but in DCS A10C it's a must!

 

I also use mine in Rise of Flight. Though it doesn't seem quite as good as FSX.