use analogue ministick to operate the Jester menu

[Dopey]

hi

 

did anyone already try to use a ministick to operate the jester menu? I do not have track IR (yet) and find pressing keys for the correct commands taking too much the eye of the screen

 

I have a TM TWS 16000 and wondered if the analogue ministick could be used for this purpose. 

 

thx, Michel

[Skysurfer]

Actually I never thought of that, might give it a shot.

[Concentric Arc]

Just a thought. If you have a web camera you can use something like OpenTrack and AI Track combined, to emulate track IR. It also works with the jester menu to choose your commands just by moving your head around. It isn't perfect, but it sure upped my game. I was able to get rid of all the POV switches to look around.

[Dopey]

50 minutes ago, Concentric Arc said:

Just a thought. If you have a web camera you can use something like OpenTrack and AI Track combined, to emulate track IR. It also works with the jester menu to choose your commands just by moving your head around. It isn't perfect, but it sure upped my game. I was able to get rid of all the POV switches to look around.

hi Concentric, i have opentrack working from my tablet which sort of works. And maybe i need to play around with the settings but it is too nervous for me. And the ministick in the f14 is not assigned yet so i thought a good alternative

 

[Concentric Arc]

2 hours ago, Dopey said:

hi Concentric, i have opentrack working from my tablet which sort of works. And maybe i need to play around with the settings but it is too nervous for me. And the ministick in the f14 is not assigned yet so i thought a good alternative

 

 

Yeah fair enough, I tried using my phone camera the first time over wifi with open track it didn't work very well. But with a normal USB web camera, AI track and Opentrack running it works surprisingly well. It did take a bit of work plus a few youtube tutorials to get it working right.

 

I can look around the cockpit easily, push all the buttons. Use the Jester command wheel by moving my head around. Look out my canopy to track targets while turning with no lag. I think buying the "Web Camera" was the item I needed to make it work good. Again I don't think its as good as trackIR. But it was cheap and will hold me over till I buy TrackIR. Anyways cheers and happy flying.

[Dopey]

10 hours ago, Concentric Arc said:

 

Yeah fair enough, I tried using my phone camera the first time over wifi with open track it didn't work very well. But with a normal USB web camera, AI track and Opentrack running it works surprisingly well. It did take a bit of work plus a few youtube tutorials to get it working right.

 

I can look around the cockpit easily, push all the buttons. Use the Jester command wheel by moving my head around. Look out my canopy to track targets while turning with no lag. I think buying the "Web Camera" was the item I needed to make it work good. Again I don't think its as good as trackIR. But it was cheap and will hold me over till I buy TrackIR. Anyways cheers and happy flying.

 

good advice, maybe that is the trick to get opentrack working better with a webcam instead of the tabled

[DimSim]

I use mini stick on joystick to operate Jester menu.

I kept making mistakes moving my head.  The mini stick feels natural to use. Briefly tried mini stick on throttle, but joystick was more intuitive. I actually use a modifier as the mini stick has a primary action.

[Dopey]

1 hour ago, DimSim said:

I use mini stick on joystick to operate Jester menu.

I kept making mistakes moving my head.  The mini stick feels natural to use. Briefly tried mini stick on throttle, but joystick was more intuitive. I actually use a modifier as the mini stick has a primary action.

 

Hi DimSim,

 

good to hear. But how did you accomplish that if I may ask.

[DimSim]

On 2/12/2021 at 11:22 PM, Dopey said:

 

Hi DimSim,

 

good to hear. But how did you accomplish that if I may ask.

It's a Virpil stick with analog mini stick.

I use the Virpil software to make the mini stick also output button presses for each four directions for the stick.

That way the analog stick is also a 4 way hat for any aircraft where targeting displays do or don't support analog controls.

For the Jester menu, I bind a modifier on throttle and the mini stick 4 dir buttons to Jester menu dirs.

Feels good to use. Pressing the mini stick is also a button, which works well as the Toggle Menu.

 

I actually had to check if that binding was axis or button.  It feels like axis, but is actually button.

 

I see you have the Thrustmaster TWS throttle.  I used to use that also, and loved the mini stick. My current throttle also has one in the same place.

I briefly did try that mini stick and it worked also.  The joystick one just felt a bit better, or I tried it more and stayed with it.  I do use the throttle mini stick for some aircraft targeting displays. The joystick is a more recent acquisition, so I'm migrating some controls to it.

Edited February 14, 2021 by DimSim

[Fundati]

On 2/14/2021 at 3:20 AM, DimSim said:

I see you have the Thrustmaster TWS throttle.  I used to use that also, and loved the mini stick. My current throttle also has one in the same place.

I briefly did try that mini stick and it worked also.  The joystick one just felt a bit better, or I tried it more and stayed with it.  I do use the throttle mini stick for some aircraft targeting displays. The joystick is a more recent acquisition, so I'm migrating some controls to it.

Sorry to revive a dead thread, but could you talk a little more about how you bound the Ministick on the TWCS throttle to control the Jester menu? (also, didn't know it was also a button, sweet!)

 

Which software did you use, or did you use an already mapped axis in DCS?

[DimSim]

20 hours ago, Fundati said:

Sorry to revive a dead thread, but could you talk a little more about how you bound the Ministick on the TWCS throttle to control the Jester menu? (also, didn't know it was also a button, sweet!)

 

Which software did you use, or did you use an already mapped axis in DCS?

With my current joystick, I used its own software to make the mini stick also behave like a 4 way hat or simply 4 buttons. DSC appears to only allow button bindings for the Jester controls.

It's been a long time since I used the TWCS throttle, so memory is a bit fuzzy.  I don't remember if the Thrustmaster software allowed the mini stick to also raise button events. I never used the advanced Thrustmaster software which did have a lot of configuration options.  I did briefly use Joystick Gremlin which allows axes to be converted to buttons and very many more things. Joystick Gremlin was very powerful and not too difficult to use, at least when following a guide.

That's all can think of. I suggest Googling how to get buttons from the mini stick axes, and consider experimenting with the advanced Thrustmaster software or Joystick Gremlin. Petitioning Heatblur to add native axis support sounds reasonable also, but you may not want to wait for the result (I see you've pretty much done this in your other thread.).

Edited August 7, 2022 by DimSim

[Fundati]

15 hours ago, DimSim said:

Thrustmaster software or Joystick Gremlin

Really appreciate it!

[r4y30n]

Axis commands would be nice in the future since that’s sort of how head tracking selection works.