Flickering In zoom view

[Spankinvicar]

Hi.  This is my first post on these forums so apologies if Ive posted in the wrong section or on something that has been dealt with numerous times before.  

 

I play DCS with head tracking and use the zoom view on a slider axis on my hotas a lot.  The flickering is awful and very off putting and I find myself trying to find a sweet spot for that as much as anything else and even when I do find a sweet spot it never lasts long.  Is this something that a lot of people get.? and if so is there a fix for it.?

 

Thanks in advance for any replies or help. 

[Flappie]

Hi. I assume your head tracking device and your slider axis are permanently conflicting. I have no such issue. My only custom setting is stored in the TrackIR profile: smoothness, nothing more.

 

Here are all my settings:

 

TrackIR software

(sorry, it's in French - "Lissé" means "Smooth" and "Lissage" means "Smoothing")

 

TrackIR Z axis in DCS (default settings)

 

Slider axis in DCS, used as Zoom View (default settings)

 

Try to check the "Slider" setting above, maybe it will help.

 

Also make sure there's no other axis bound to the Zoom view command.

Edited January 1, 2021 by Flappie

[Spankinvicar]

Thanks for your reply Flappie.  Ill have a look through my settings and see if there's anything obvious that stands out as different to yours.

[Mars Exulte]

If your zoom axis is on a cheap potentiometer they can flicker, ie jiggle back and forth. Look at the axis where you can see it's current position either as a visual or numerical value. If it's not steady, then it's a bad sensor on your controls (common on Saitek controls). You'll need to try to either filter it out or replace the sensor.

 

Also make sure the TrackIR zoom axis is disabled in their software, you don't want two different things trying to control the same axis.

Edited January 1, 2021 by zhukov032186

[Flappie]

You're right. It also happens with the G940 sliders because of the damn screw.

[jonsky7]

I also have this problem if by flickering you mean the zoom pulses in and out ever so slightly. As zhukov032186 pointed out about potentiometers they do have a tendency to become dirty inside through rubbing of metal on metal of the internal components.

 

You can test your joystick using this website 

 

https://gamepad-tester.com/ 

 

It gives a very high resolution readout of the axis

[YSIAD_RIP]

Seems to be a common problem with the Saitek / Logitech X-56 sliders and dials on the throttle too. 

Try to use a MODIFIER when doing any ZOOM. That way the jittery zoom will go away as soon as you let go of your MODIFIER button. 

For example my Zoom View Binding is: Pinkey + JOY_RZ.

 

Good luck.

[imacken]

I have the same issue with a fairly new Virpil CM2 throttle.  Don't think the potentiometer is at fault here.

[jonsky7]

21 hours ago, YSIAD_RIP said:

Seems to be a common problem with the Saitek / Logitech X-56 sliders and dials on the throttle too. 

Try to use a MODIFIER when doing any ZOOM. That way the jittery zoom will go away as soon as you let go of your MODIFIER button. 

For example my Zoom View Binding is: Pinkey + JOY_RZ.

 

Good luck.

 

That's a good idea, never knew you could do that, Thanks.

 

12 hours ago, imacken said:

I have the same issue with a fairly new Virpil CM2 throttle.  Don't think the potentiometer is at fault here.

 

Maybe and maybe not, you could always open the https://gamepad-tester.com/ and check for numerical changes.

[jonsky7]

Edited January 2, 2021 by jonsky7
wheres the text gone????????????? arrrrggggghjhjhjhh

[imacken]

11 hours ago, jonsky7 said:

 

Maybe and maybe not, you could always open the https://gamepad-tester.com/ and check for numerical changes.

Thanks. I got perfect results on that (very useful) test page.

[jonsky7]

17 hours ago, jonsky7 said:

 

 

I had written about this program i found with a tutorial on how to use, but all the text disappeared when I posted it. 

 

vJoy is a driver that creates a virtual joystick on your PC.

There are a few programs that use the driver like Universal Control Remapped, and Joystick Gremlin.

 

I have found one program that features a noise filter called Joystick Curves.

 

Tutorial

Go to https://www.xedocproject.com/joystickcurves.html

 

Download and install the vJoy driver towards the bottom of the page.

 

Once done, open up "Setup USB game controllers" in Windows and verify a new joystick shows called vjoy device, see first picture.

 

Now download the Joystick curves program from the Web page and run it. See second picture.

 

Select your physical joystick and the axis you have jitter on from the drop down selections, picture three.

 

For the destination select vjoy and device and choose any axis you like, I have chosen yaw, picture four. You can verify by moving the axis and seeing the results in the green test box on the right.

 

Check the noise filter box and select the amount of filtering, using very high numbers make the virtual axis act weird, I went with 2 and it seems to be working. Picture five.

 

Picture 6

Open DCS and go into the controls setup. Delete the zoom axis binding from your physical joystick column, see 1

You should now have a new controller column called vjoy device, see 2

Bind the zoom axis in this column by moving your physical axis on your joystick.

See 3, this is now your noise filtered axis.

 

Initial testing has proven positive for me.

[Spankinvicar]

Thats worked for me YSIAD, Thanks.  Its a bit cumbersome because it doesn't seem to let me use a modifier from my hotas (x52) and i have to use a keyboard modifier along with the axis but i'll get used to it and its a lot better than the flickering.

 

I understand what you all say about this being a Saitek fault but how come its only DCS its a problem in.?  at least for me anyway.  You'd think it would happen in all games you use the slider axis in if it was a wear and tear issue, wouldnt you.?

[jonsky7]

59 minutes ago, Spankinvicar said:

Thats worked for me YSIAD, Thanks.  Its a bit cumbersome because it doesn't seem to let me use a modifier from my hotas (x52) and i have to use a keyboard modifier along with the axis but i'll get used to it and its a lot better than the flickering.

 

I understand what you all say about this being a Saitek fault but how come its only DCS its a problem in.?  at least for me anyway.  You'd think it would happen in all games you use the slider axis in if it was a wear and tear issue, wouldnt you?

 

Did you try adding a new modifier using the modifiers button, bottom left of the controls menu, there you will see two boxes named modifiers and switches.

Under the modifiers box, click the add button. Select your joystick from the device name drop down menu. Then push the button you wish to use as a modifier

[Spankinvicar]

1 hour ago, jonsky7 said:

 

Did you try adding a new modifier using the modifiers button, bottom left of the controls menu, there you will see two boxes named modifiers and switches.

Under the modifiers box, click the add button. Select your joystick from the device name drop down menu. Then push the button you wish to use as a modifier

Jesus... a year Ive been arsing about with this stuff and got nowhere. You lads have sorted me out in a few posts.

Thanks Jonsky