POV Hat Adds its Own Commands!

[jahman]

Howdy!

I´m re-programming the CH Products USB Yoke POV-Hat switch in my quest to forever banish joystick, button and keyboard configuration in FSX (to run all configuration centrally from FSUIPC to avoid conflicting configurations and generally speaking, to keep my sanity).

My environment:

Running: FSX and FSUIPC v. 4.205, reading all axes in "Direct" mode.

With: CH Products Yoke, Pro Pedals and Throttle Quadrant.

Without: CH Control Center

Also: GoFlight MCP-PRO and EFIS Modules

Aicraft: FSX stock Beech Super King Air 350

FSX: Joysticks and POV-Hat switch disabled

What I´ve Done:

I´ve programmed my POV-Hat switch with the 8 PAN commands (UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, etc.) all on "Key Pressed" with no repeat and no commands for "Key Released".

The Problem:

In the External Fixed View...

- PAN_DOWN works fine, with about 6.5º down for every click.

- PAN_UP does pan up again with about 6.5º down for every click, but strangely, a PAN_LEFT appears in-between for the duration while the hat is kept back.

- PAN_LEFT does pan left, but by a whopping 165º and only while the hat is held left. Once the hat is released, the view reverts to the view before the PAN_LEFT. Recall, no command is programmed for button release.

- PAN_RIGHT is actually a 45º pan to the left (or 315º to the right)! Once the hat is released, the view reverts to the view before the PAN_LEFT. Recall, no command is programmed for button release.

- The compound pans (left-up, left-down, right-up and right-down) also seem to all have a mind of their own.

My FSUIPC.log:

[Continuation log requested by user]

Running inside FSX (SimConnect SP1 May07)

Module base=61000000

10978531 System time = 04:05:35, FSX time = 15:38:02 (19:38Z)

10987187 [buttons] 52=P1,32,C65735,0

10987187 FS Control Sent: Ctrl=65735, Param=0

10987187 *** EVENT: Cntrl= 65735 (0x000100c7), Param= 0 (0x00000000) PAN_DOWN

10987828 [buttons] 52=P1,32,C65735,0

10987828 FS Control Sent: Ctrl=65735, Param=0

10987828 *** EVENT: Cntrl= 65735 (0x000100c7), Param= 0 (0x00000000) PAN_DOWN

10989047 [buttons] 56=P1,36,C65734,0

10989047 FS Control Sent: Ctrl=65734, Param=0

10989047 *** EVENT: Cntrl= 65734 (0x000100c6), Param= 0 (0x00000000) PAN_UP

10989844 [buttons] 56=P1,36,C65734,0

10989844 FS Control Sent: Ctrl=65734, Param=0

10989844 *** EVENT: Cntrl= 65734 (0x000100c6), Param= 0 (0x00000000) PAN_UP

10990484 [buttons] 56=P1,36,C65734,0

10990484 FS Control Sent: Ctrl=65734, Param=0

10990484 *** EVENT: Cntrl= 65734 (0x000100c6), Param= 0 (0x00000000) PAN_UP

10992297 [buttons] 54=P1,34,C65672,0

10992297 FS Control Sent: Ctrl=65672, Param=0

10992297 *** EVENT: Cntrl= 65672 (0x00010088), Param= 0 (0x00000000) PAN_RIGHT

10992937 [buttons] 54=P1,34,C65672,0

10992937 FS Control Sent: Ctrl=65672, Param=0

10992937 *** EVENT: Cntrl= 65672 (0x00010088), Param= 0 (0x00000000) PAN_RIGHT

10993765 [buttons] 58=P1,38,C65671,0

10993765 FS Control Sent: Ctrl=65671, Param=0

10993765 *** EVENT: Cntrl= 65671 (0x00010087), Param= 0 (0x00000000) PAN_LEFT

10994422 [buttons] 58=P1,38,C65671,0

10994422 FS Control Sent: Ctrl=65671, Param=0

10994422 *** EVENT: Cntrl= 65671 (0x00010087), Param= 0 (0x00000000) PAN_LEFT

10998500 Sim stopped: average frame rate for last 20 secs = 11.3 fps

Any pointers most appreciated!

Cheers,

jahman

(SABE)

[Pete Dowson]

I´ve programmed my POV-Hat switch with the 8 PAN commands (UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, etc.) all on "Key Pressed" with no repeat and no commands for "Key Released".

Sorry, I'm not much help there. I've never used those controls. However, one FSUIPC user did sort it all out and supplied all the details, which I included as an example in the FSUIPC User Guide -- look for the boxed section entitled Example of assignments for HAT programming for smooth panning.

Regards

Pete

[jahman]

Pete,

Many thanks for your kind reply.

Unfortunately the difference between the settings you suggested and mine is only the PAN_RESET_COCKPIT command on POV button release.

In any case I added that command but I still get the unexpected behaviour I mentioned in my initial post.

Are the PAN commands not reliable via FSUIPC4?

Cheers,

Andrew.

(Let me know next time you´re near SABE, I´ll show you around! :-)

[jahman]

Pete,

While working on posting.php?mode=reply&f=54&t=66778 I changed all my joystick "ForD" settings from "D" to "F", as you suggested.

Now the PAN commands work as expected! Perhaps the joysticks in "D" mode were causing some interferece?

Note that to exactly replicate FSX POV Hat behaviour, a "Repeat" must be added to each hat position while the corresponding "Button Up" command must remain NULL. This is a slight difference from the POV Hat seetings on p. 30 of the FSUIPC4 User Guide (Basic).

Kind regards,

Andrew.

[jahman]

Apologies for the multiple posts...

Why "direct"? I would really not advise that unless you explicitly want to use the actual values, with no calibration, scaling and so on. That hardly ever applies -- it is intended for "soft" axes (ones controlled by software) such as those programmable with an EPIC card.

(From: posting.php?mode=reply&f=54&t=66778 )

With "Direct" switched to "F" I of course couldn´t use FSUIPC joystick calibration to set the thrust reversers. I gather therefore when you said "Why Direct?" you actrually meant Why "Raw"?

So I switched all my joysticks back to "Direct" from "F" and then eliminated the "Raw" part.

Guess what?

The PAN command behaviour changed!

Now I can no longer get the POV hat to work properly, because on Button Release there pan action reverts to the previous state (even though all eight POV Hat buttons have NULL entries for button release).

So there definitely seems to be some connection between axis modes (Raw, Direc, FS) and PAN command behaviour.

Any chance you can verify this?

Cheers,

Andrew.

My FSUIPC.ini:

[General]

History=D6NCUKQKZYQ47Y9PM2VG4

TCASid=Flight

TCASrange=40

AxisCalibration=No

DirectAxesToCalibs=No

ShowMultilineWindow=Yes

SuppressSingleline=No

SuppressMultilineFS=No

WeatherReadFactor=2

SimConnectStallTime=1

GraduatedVisibility=No

LowerVisAltitude=0

UpperVisAltitude=25000

UpperVisibility=10000

MinimumVisibility=0

MaximumVisibilityFewClouds=0

MaximumVisibility=0

MaximumVisibilityOvercast=0

MaximumVisibilityRainy=0

SetVisUpperAlt=No

VisUpperAltLimit=0

ExtendMetarMaxVis=No

OneCloudLayer=No

CloudTurbulence=No

CloudIcing=No

GenerateCirrus=No

SuppressCloudTurbulence=No

MaxIce=-4

MinIce=-4

UpperWindGusts=Yes

SuppressWindTurbulence=No

WindTurbulence=Yes

SuppressAllGusts=No

MaxSurfaceWind=0

WindLimitLevel=200

WindDiscardLevel=400

WindAjustAltitude=No

WindAjustAltitudeBy=2000

DisconnTrimForAP=Yes

ZeroElevForAPAlt=No

ThrottleSyncAll=No

WhiteMessages=No

ShowPMcontrols=No

MagicBattery=10

RudderSpikeRemoval=Yes

ElevatorSpikeRemoval=Yes

AileronSpikeRemoval=Yes

ReversedElevatorTrim=No

ClockSync=No

ClockSyncMins=5

ClearWeatherDynamics=No

FixWindows=No

OwnWeatherChanges=No

TimeForSelect=4

LoadFlightMenu=Yes

LoadPlanMenu=Yes

PauseAfterCrash=Yes

ShortAircraftNameOk=No

WindSmoothing=No

WindSmoothness=2

WindSmoothAirborneOnly=Yes

SpoilerIncrement=512

ZapSound=firework

AxisIntercepts=No

WeatherRewriteDelay=10

ProcessGlobalWeather=No

[WideServer]

WideFSenabled=No

AdvertiseService=1

Port=8002

Port2=9002

[GPSout]

Port=

Speed=4800

Interval=1000

PosTo6Decimal=Yes

Sentences=

GPSoutEnabled=No

[AutoSave]

AutoSaveEnabled=Yes

Interval=120

Files=1

SaveOnGround=No

Next=1

1=Fri 234623

2=Mon 202741

3=Mon 204137

4=Mon 201942

5=Mon 202142

6=Thu 053815

7=Thu 053915

8=Thu 054014

9=Thu 054114

10=Thu 054213

[JoystickCalibration]

ExclThrottleSet=No

SepRevsJetsOnly=No

ApplyHeloTrim=No

FlapsSetControl=0

FlapDetents=No

ReverserControl=66292

Reverser1Control=66422

Reverser2Control=66425

Reverser3Control=66428

Reverser4Control=66431

MaxThrottleForReverser=256

AileronTrimControl=66731

RudderTrimControl=66732

CowlFlaps1Control=66162

CowlFlaps2Control=66163

CowlFlaps3Control=66164

CowlFlaps4Control=66165

MaxSteerSpeed=60

SteeringTillerControl=0

Elevator=-16384,0,0,16256

Aileron=-16384,0,0,16256

Spoilers=0,65535

ElevatorTrim=-16380,-512,512,16380/16

PanHeading=-1,-1,0,31500

Rudder=-16384,0,0,16256

LeftBrake=-16256,16384/16

RightBrake=-16256,16384/16

MapThr12to34=Yes

MapThr12to123=Yes

Throttle1=-16384,-10922,-10662,16383

Throttle2=-16384,-10922,-10922,16383

MapCowl1to1234=Yes

MapCowl12to123=Yes

MapCowl12to34=Yes

Mixture1=-16384,-10662,-10662,16383

Mixture2=-16384,-10662,-10662,16383

PropPitch1=-16384,-10792,-10792,16383

PropPitch2=-16384,-10532,-10532,16383

SlewAlt=-16380,-512,512,16380/16

SlewSide=-16380,-512,512,16380/16

SlewAhead=-16380,-512,512,16380/16

SlewHeading=-16380,-512,512,16380/16

CowlFlaps1=0,16380/16

[buttons]

1=P2,16,C66537,1

2=P2,18,C66538,1

3=P2,17,C66537,0

4=P2,19,C66538,0

5=P2,20,C66494,0

6=P2,21,C66494,1

7=P2,22,C66495,0

8=P2,23,C66495,1

9=P1,4,C66079,0

10=P1,5,C66080,0

11=P1,6,C65759,0

12=P1,7,C65758,0

29=P1,2,C66172,0

30=P1,3,C66173,0

31=P1,1,C66514,0

33=P1,0,C66513,0

34=R1,10,C65607,0

35=R1,11,C65615,0

38=P2,0,C66609,0

39=P2,1,C66612,0

40=P2,2,C66616,0

41=P2,3,C66615,0

42=P2,4,C66624,0

43=P2,5,C66617,0

44=P2,6,C66626,0

45=P2,7,C66625,0

46=P2,8,C66628,0

47=P2,9,C66627,0

48=P2,10,C66618,0

49=P2,11,C66623,0

50=P1,9,C66852,0

51=P1,8,C66853,0

52=R1,32,C65735,0

53=R1,33,C65857,0

54=R1,34,C65672,0

55=R1,35,C65856,0

56=R1,36,C65734,0

57=R1,37,C65854,0

58=R1,38,C65671,0

59=R1,39,C65855,0

[Keys]

5=189,8,66700,0

6=187,8,66699,0

7=32,9,65752,0

8=69,10,66224,0

9=69,9,66389,0

10=13,12,65553,0

14=89,11,66807,0

16=80,10,65561,0

17=81,10,65552,0

18=89,10,65557,0

19=86,10,66722,0

[Axes]

0=0X,3,D,7,0,0,0

1=0Y,3,D,8,0,0,0

2=0Z,3,D,3,0,0,0

3=1X,3,D,1,0,0,0

4=1Y,3,D,2,0,0,0

5=1Z,3,D,22,0,0,0

6=1R,3,D,29,0,0,0

7=1V,3,D,21,0,0,0

8=1P,3,D,33,0,0,0

9=2X,3,D,9,0,0,0

10=2Y,3,D,10,0,0,0

11=2Z,3,D,17,0,0,0

12=2R,3,D,18,0,0,0

13=2U,3,D,14,0,0,0

14=2V,3,D,13,0,0,0

[Monitor]

Display=9

[Andydigital]

You might want to look at the thread listed below it may help you.

viewtopic.php?f=54&t=66828

Andy.

[Pete Dowson]

Are the PAN commands not reliable via FSUIPC4?

Why ask "via FSUIPC4"? All it does with them is send them to FS. How can they be more or less relaible than via any other way of sending them?

Anyway, please see this thread, where someone has got exactly what he wanted working in FSUIPC4 + FSX:

viewtopic.php?f=54&t=66828

Regards

Pete

[Pete Dowson]

While working on posting.php?mode=reply&f=54&t=66778 I changed all my joystick "ForD" settings from "D" to "F", as you suggested.

Now the PAN commands work as expected! Perhaps the joysticks in "D" mode were causing some interferece?

Hmm. Not sure how that could happen. Buttons and joystick axes are completely separate -- in fact Buttons and POVs are read via the old Windows "joy" API whilst the axes use the new DirectInput facilities. I wonder if these are interfering at driver level. Shouldn't happen of course.

Ah, butwait a mo'. I did provide facilities in FSUIPC4 (only) for programming up to 4 POVs per joystick (P, Q, M and N) in the Axis Assignments facility too. In fact you could use that instead of programming the POV as a set of buttons. I may need to experiment there, if I can get hold of a device with POVs (used to have such things, but these days I'm all PFC). Then you should simply be able to assign it to the standard FSX PAN command used for POVs.

Regards

Pete

[jahman]

Ah, butwait a mo'. I did provide facilities in FSUIPC4 (only) for programming up to 4 POVs per joystick (P, Q, M and N) in the Axis Assignments facility too.

Buttons and joystick axes are completely separate

Alas, not in the users mind! In FSUIPC4 you can program the POV Hat as 8 buttons or as an axis ("P" on the CH Yoke) so as a newbie user I unwittingly did both! :oops:

Thing is the "P" Axis overrides (acts "after") the button programming, and a particular feature of the FSUIPC POV Hat implementation as an Axis is that when mapped to the pan view, the view will always revert to the forward view when the hat is released.

With the "P" axis de-assigned, the POV buttons now all work as advertised! So thread viewtopic.php?f=54&t=66828 (many thanks also to Andydigital!) that also helped with the proper POV settings.

Kind regards,

Andrew.

[Pete Dowson]

In FSUIPC4 you can program the POV Hat as 8 buttons or as an axis ("P" on the CH Yoke) so as a newbie user I unwittingly did both! :oops:

:oops: indeed!

Pete