Configure Mouse Scroll Wheel for Elevator Trim

[dmwierz]

Folks,

 

I just mounted an older trackball vertically, attached to my Saitek throttle quadrant, hoping to use the scroll wheel as a elevator trim wheel....but, I can't get it recognized in DCS.

 

See photo below.

 

Is this possible? The scroll wheel IS recognized in DCS as a mouse scroll wheel.

[Thermal]

Scroll Wheel's create events/keypresses, they are not an axis. So you will need to make m.scroll up = trim up and m.scroll down = trim down.

 

Alternatively, the trackball might have software where you can re-map the buttons/wheel to keypresses?

 

If that does not work you might need something like autohotkey to translate wheelup/wheeldown to keypresses.

[dmwierz]

Scroll Wheel's create events/keypresses, they are not an axis. So you will need to make m.scroll up = trim up and m.scroll down = trim down.

 

Alternatively, the trackball might have software where you can re-map the buttons/wheel to keypresses?

 

If that does not work you might need something like autohotkey to translate wheelup/wheeldown to keypresses.

 

Thanks, but unfortunately, I have no idea what most of that means, other than "the trackball might have software where you can re-map the buttons/wheel "

 

m.scroll up = trim up? m.scroll down = trim down? autohotkey? I guess I'll go off the the land of Google.

 

Having flown a bit IRL, trim wheels are, if I'm not mistaken, not always on/off switches. I've flown some aircraft with trim switches on the yoke, but planes such as the Cessna 172 have elevator trim wheels that, IIRC, roll almost limitlessly forward and backward.

[Sokol1_br]

No - just because game controls don't allow you map mouse axis for any control in axes command tab.

 

You can use a mouse scroll wheel - what is a encoder*, pressing a button when turned up and another when pressed down in games who have a given command, e.g. ZOOM programmed for use encoder, what is not case of trim in planes of this game.

 

* Saitek Trim Wheel use an encoder and not a analog potentiometer, but their firmware translate this encoder button up/button down press in a progressive axis.

 

The way that trim work in games have little to do on how they are IRL - wheres trim can by controlled turning a wheel that mechanically move trim tabs, or by buttons/switches who control electric motors that move trims, but with game developer design choices, that if want can program e.g. elevator trim in mouse scroll, but generally they use this scroll for another functions, example "zoom" that don't exist IRL planes. :)

 

Your best choice to use this device for trim is try do some script with Autohotkey.

Edited March 26, 2018 by Sokol1_br

[dmwierz]

Ok, thanks for the help. Looks too much like programming, and I just don't have the time to play around with that. Yeah, I'm an engineer, and sure I could probably figure it out, but I'm already struggling to get enough time in my sim as it is, what with working two jobs. Don't want to be spending time programming ad debugging stuff like this. I'll just use the buttons on my flight stick or throttle.