Pot or Rotary Encoder for Trim box

[Badders46]

Hi all,
 
Quick question - would you use a potentiometer or rotary encoder for a trim axis in DCS? I fly WW2 stuff mainly and find my hat switch too sensitive.
 
Thanks

[Nikolas_A]

Potentiometer, so you know where your trim is set

[flyco]

Some trim in some aircraft is not available for potentiometer use.  Others use the joystick trim button.  The only ones I use a pot for are those in pre-1960s aircraft, such as the Spitfire.

[LeCuvier]

On the Bf-109 I use an axis (left throttle lever).

On the FW-190 (both) the POV hat on my joystick grip (no axis available).

I find rotary encoders generally too slow for the trim axes (plus, I have only two).

On the P-47 I use the POV hat as well, but have reduced the "sensitivity" (gain value) in "clickabledata.lua" because in fact I found it too fast.

[Savvy]

Generally a pot would be used for absolute values in older aircraft. If you used an arduino you could get clever and do both with a pot.

 

I did that with a WWII flap lever. I added a small switch above it to switch between analogue and button mode. In analogue mode it would send directly as a joystick axis, in button mode it would send multiple upflap or downflap button presses based on where the lever was positioned. So that let me use it for the 109, and P51/Spitfire

[Savvy]

Here's a photo of what I did a long time ago, hopefully it makes a bit more sense. The trim wheel goes into a pot, and the flap lever has the little switch to swap between modes.

 

All ran off a Arduino Leonardo which allows it to show up as a joystick in windows.

Edited February 3, 2021 by Savvy

[No1sonuk]

I've tried rotary encoders into DCS-BIOS for the P51 trim wheels and it failed miserably.
I've found the potentiometer on a joystick board (Bodnar BU0836A) works very well.

[Badders46]

Thanks a lot for the replies... Apologies for having not replied, I didn't get an alert about your replies.

Thanks, that has helped me a lot

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