Considering Track IR

[Calvin Waterbury]

Thanks for the advice, Calvin.

Just to clarify: are you saying that it's good to be able to pause ("freeze"?) the TIR in order to make fine adjustments on small knobs, e.g. OBS, altimeter, etc.? If so, I was actually wondering how folks did that with a TIR - and now that you mention it, a "freeze" option seems to make a lot of sense. I've also got EZDok, so things should get interesting... but the video posted above seems to shed light on how to make them work in concert.

I wasn't able to get going with the new gadget last night .... but hopefully tonight.

Hi Cyrus,

Yes, but I am suggesting more than that. The conventional wisdom is to let TIR run and freeze it momentarily to set buttons, switches, etc. My method was to *only* unfreeze TIR when it made sense and leave it frozen otherwise. My experience with the "conventional" method was strewn with numerous resets due to wild wanderings of the view when I would look elsewhere, like when something distracted me. If I leave the TIR view frozen I can interact with my real world environment without effecting TIR and when I need to interact visually with my sim environment a quick click of a button and I am in business!

Again, this in *my* way of using TIR. I'm not saying it is the best way, but it works for me and I never have a sore neck.

[Ryan B]

That kinda defeats the point of using TIR...

Obviously I agree there are some shortcomings... but generally I think it's realistic that your head moves around a little. Check out keith's latest headcam video on you tube...

[Calvin Waterbury]

That kinda defeats the point of using TIR...

Not for me. Like I said, it's *my* method. I don't even think of freezing/unfreezing. It is second nature to push the button now. Keep in mind I also said to use TIR when it makes sense. Personally, I think the TIR folks are missing an opportunity. Given the need for freezing is for the purpose of allowing the ability to click buttons, switches, etc. the freeze function should be a user-configurable auto-freeze activated by mouse movement.

Obviously I agree there are some shortcomings... but generally I think it's realistic that your head moves around a little. Check out keith's latest headcam video on you tube...

Thanks! I 'll give it a look.

[Ryan B]

Well you could assign it a mouse button... I actually do that for XP10.

But I noticed there's some lag between the time when I press the button and when the view freezes in XP10 - it's instantaneous in FSX.

[Matthew McGill]

I bought a TrackIR this summer (TrackIR 5). Thought it was nice, but didn't appreciate how amazing it was until I was forced to use the keyboard and mouse on a different computer. That definitely made the investment worth it.

Granted, X-Plane view manipulation is much more friendly than FSX. The above experience was with FSX.

[Cyrus]

After all the helpful advice and suggestions on here, I wanted to provide a brief update...

I finally got everything set up a few days ago (just in time for big Birthday Bash fly-in/out last night!) and, although it's too early to give an experienced opinion, here are my initial thoughts on TrackIR 5 + FSX....

> It's made visual landings and pattern work MUCH easier. Seriously. Huge benefit here.

> So far, I've found it to be of limited value for IFR flights (especially in IMC conditions).

> The first day or two, I had a bit of a neck ache and could feel eye strain. I think turning up the sensitivity helped, and now I don't need to move my head so far.

> I turned off the Roll axis, as I didn't find it all that useful (I mostly fly with the Carenado Baron 58 and keep the yoke turned off for switch access anyway).

> Accuracy has exceeded my expectations. 99% of my flying is after dark, but I did have to tweak the background light settings (in "Camera") during the day, as I have a big window behind me where bright sunlight floods in and the head movement was acting crazy for a while. Got that fixed.

I mapped my left Saitek yoke button to "freeze" and the right button to "center" (which also overlaps with my main EzDok forward facing view). The only thing I miss now is having the brakes on my yoke.... Need. More. Yoke. Buttons!

I'm weaning myself off the autopilot as much as possible and I really think having TrackIR is giving me a strange level of extra confidence to do this.

All in all, I love it.

[Pieces]

I mapped my left Saitek yoke button to "freeze" and the right button to "center" (which also overlaps with my main EzDok forward facing view). The only thing I miss now is having the brakes on my yoke.... Need. More. Yoke. Buttons!

Sounds like you need some rudder pedals. I haven't been using my yoke lately because I got sick of the trim issues and the centering force. So I'm currently using the x-52 and waiting for my IRIS dynamics force feedback yoke.

The x-52 allows for some awesome control mapping. I have the radios (1/2 com and 1/2 nav frequency selection and flip flop), navigation (heading, course selection) and AP parameters all bound to various buttons on the stick. Makes hand flying much easier.

That along with TrackIR makes the whole process pretty smooth.

[Cyrus]

Yes, for about the same cost, I had to decide between the TrackIR 5 and Saitek rudder pedals. I've been using Microsoft's "coordinated" flight model since the early 1990's, so I figured I could wait a little longer on the pedals. But I've been seriously considering starting real world training again (after < 10 hrs in a C172 almost two decades ago), and I know I need to start getting my feet in the game at some point.

I love my yoke and throttle quadrant, though. Now THAT I couldn't live without.

Incidentally, here's are the next things on my wish list (in no particular order)...

> Saitek rudder pedals
> RealAir Duke v2
> A2A C172 Trainer
> FSFlyingSchool software (very impressed with the demo)
> More buttons/switches/panels (slowly building up a real VC without the family noticing! )

Oh... and a faster computer