Confused about axes ranges, still?

[pilotjohn]

So there are some aircraft where I need to use an Lvar to control an axis (throttle, rudder, aileron etc.).

For these, I generally (now) declare a preset in my events.txt and do the needful scaling to make it work.

However, I'm confused as to what ranges are to be expected from FSUIPC, despite the ranges shown in FSUIPC axes window as -16384 to 16384.

For example, the COWS DA4X rudder range the RPN preset receives from FSUIPC appears to be this full range.

However, the FFX HA420 throttle range the RPN preset receives from FSUIPC appears to be -1024 to 1024 (or 1023, whatever).

Given that FSUIPC has now idea whether I'll be doing throttle, rudder or what the axis is used for, why are these ranges different?

 

 

[John Dowson]

37 minutes ago, pilotjohn said:

For these, I generally (now) declare a preset in my events.txt and do the needful scaling to make it work.

However, I'm confused as to what ranges are to be expected from FSUIPC, despite the ranges shown in FSUIPC axes window as -16384 to 16384.

But an axis and an lvar are two completely different things. If you are assigning an axis to a preset, it is the axis value that is sent to the preset as the parameter. It is then up to you to calibrate/adjust that value in the preset RPN to whatever is needed.
An lvar can accept a range of values, and every lvar is different. Some lvars only hold a 1 or 0, others can hold a range, and that may be from 0-100, -100 to +100, 0 to 1, etc. It is up to you to determine the range and scale the axis range accordingly.

The range of values an axis sends depends on the axis. Standard joystick axis usually send values in the range -16384 - +16383, but some (especially those using potentiometers) can have a range of 0-1024 or -1024 to +1024. 

Calibration is used to calibrate the axis range to the range expected by the control being used.

49 minutes ago, pilotjohn said:

However, the FFX HA420 throttle range the RPN preset receives from FSUIPC appears to be -1024 to 1024 (or 1023, whatever).

There are quite a few MF presets that calibrate to that range, and some for other ranges (0-1024 being another common range). You need to look at the preset code and description for such 'potentiometer' presets and update or change to your axes range.

1 hour ago, pilotjohn said:

Given that FSUIPC has now idea whether I'll be doing throttle, rudder or what the axis is used for, why are these ranges different?

Because different hardware/drivers use different ranges for axes.