Saitek & FSUIPC

[dmoblay]

Hi all,

Been talking to Ian P regarding this problem but am concious that everyone probably emails him with their problems so wondered if voicing it to the wider network might generate some ideas.

I have a saitek TQ which is setup through FSUIPC to control FSX. The controller is disabled in FSX, and the axis in FSUIPC is set to control throttle 1 & 2 and then configured within FSUIPC as well.

The joysticks have been calibrated in Windows, but for some reason the 'out' box in FSUIPC shows a '0' output until the lever passes through the 50% mark.

Also, for some reason the throttles are increasing at different rates even though the 2 levers are connected together.

I have a 2nd TQ (Saitek again) and the problem is exactly the same with that one.

It is really annoying as it means that the aircraft veers off in one direction or the other as a result of unbalanced thrust. I know that I could assign all engines to one lever but that defeats the object really.

Can anyone suggest what the problem might be?

Thanks

Luke

[Pete Dowson]

The joysticks have been calibrated in Windows, but for some reason the 'out' box in FSUIPC shows a '0' output until the lever passes through the 50% mark.

Which out box where? The 4 throttles page?

Have you actually calibrated in FSUIPC at all? If so it sounds like you'd done it wrong. If the output isn't -ve below the 50% mark (for reverse thrust), then maybe you are setting it for a reverse zone on an aircraft which has no reverse thrust? If you've selected the "no reverse zone" option, then the only other possibility is that you SET the minimum thrust value at the 50% mark.

Also, for some reason the throttles are increasing at different rates even though the 2 levers are connected together.

If it is very noticeably it will be because you've calibrated them differently. No two joystick axes are ever exactly the same, and FSUIPC has facilities to match them at a number of positions to deal with that, but it sounds like you've simply either calibrated one and not the other or done them both differently and wrongly.

Please RESET both, then calibrate them step by step. You set the minimum, centre idle area (optional, only if you are using a reverse thrust zone) and maximum, in that order, left to right. There are simple numbered steps in the User Guide. Follow them.

If you don't do things properly there's really no point in using FSUIPC for this at all.

Regards

Pete

[dmoblay]

Hi Pete,

Ian suggested ticking the 'no reverse' box and so not setting a middle number - this has resolved the problem on one of the TQ's. For some reason the other one does not want to behave, I am following exactly the same steps, but the throttles are not increasing at the same rate, and one of them keeps jumping in the lower 30% of the axis. I am guessing there is a fault with the pot on this one, I will have a look into that.

Thanks for getting back to me.

Cheers

Luke

[Pete Dowson]

Ian suggested ticking the 'no reverse' box and so not setting a middle number - this has resolved the problem on one of the TQ's.

That would be the correct option if you did notwant to control the reverse thrust on a region of the levers, but if you had wanted that you could have calibrated the middle numbers to be anywhere you liked on the lever movement, not only at the 50% mark. That's just the default.

For some reason the other one does not want to behave, I am following exactly the same steps, but the throttles are not increasing at the same rate

At the same rate as each other, or at the same rate as those on the first TQ? If you mean the latter, I remember that someone else found that -- and we thought this was because they might have been made at different times with different components, non-matching ones.

You might want Saitek to fix that, but you should note that FSUIPC does offer more advanced calibration facilities ("sync pos") for recording places on all throttles (or prop pitch or mixture controls) for which the resulting OUTput matches. This effectively makes the calibration into a curve (well a curve made of several short straight lines), and it works quite well. The more points you calibrate this way the more accurately will they line up.*

and one of them keeps jumping in the lower 30% of the axis. I am guessing there is a fault with the pot on this one, I will have a look into that.

Does it do that no matter what you assign it to? If so it will be the device (maybe the pot), but if it only affects the assignment to a specific finction it is more likely to be a conflict with another assignment.

Regards

Pete

* P.S. I've just noticed that the "sync pos" facility isn't currently documented in the FSUIPC3 version of the User Guide! It is in the FSUIPC4 version, but the facility does apply equally to both. If you are using FSUIPC3, you can read the relevant but missing section here: http://fsuipc.simflight.com/beta/CALIBRES_etc.pdf

[dmoblay]

Thanks Pete, I remembered that I had 'another' saitek TQ that I had taken apart to learn how it worked and forgotten about, so I have put it back together and connected that one up. All ranges are working perfectly now so it looks like I have a damaged/broken pot on the other TQ.

Thanks for your help.