TrackIR5 information

[persius]

I'm looking at buying a TrackIR5 and wanted some input from users.    I found TrackIR5 on ebay and wanted to know if anybody purchased the same item.  If so, are you satisfied with the product?   

 

Thanks

[LeCuvier]

I have purchased my TrackIR Pro 5 in 11-2015 and used italmost daily since. It's still working as on the first day, just the cap is getting a bit dusty.
It has never given me any trouble and once you've got the settings right it does an excellent job giving visibility all around you. Only one little annoyance: when the sun shines into the room and creates reflections on furniture etc, the TrackIR can no longer distinguish between signal and noise and the view gets erratic. I have to draw the curtains.
I don't know whether newer versions are less prone to be disturbed by sunlight reflections. Anyway, I'm happy to continue using what I have. I've looked at VR, but decided against it as I need visibility of my button box.

Edit: After writing this I found that there are settings that might help with the relections. I'm going to try these.

Edited April 10, 2022 by LeCuvier

[PLUTON]

Me mine is 3 years old but 3 years of faithful and loyal
services, it even hurts my heart to sell it
because he was faithful to me.
I switched to vr and as said I can no longer go back to 2d
but don't hesitate it's another life track ir 5 and a good
material

[rob10]

Had mine for 10+ years and it is a HUGE upgrade from no head tracking (i.e. using joystick hat or keyboard to look around).  Highly recommend it.  Haven't dabbled in VR yet.

I do agree that if you have direct sunlight/reflection off a "shiny" floor surface (hardwood, laminate etc) can be a problem.  Bright room is fine, just not direct sun or direct reflection of sun.

[janitha2]

I made one with visible light LEDs and open track it was dirt cheep and it works great but you do have to mess around a lot with the settings 

[MadKreator]

Bought a used one off eBay a couple years ago. I use it with a powered head unit ( similar top the track clip pro, just battery powered) and its been great. The track ir camera is sensitive to background reflections. On my headphones the pieces that hold the ear pieces on to the head strap are shiny and that was enough to cause some glitchiness/ stuttering when turning my head to the right, I just painted the shiny silver parts black and never had an issue since. On certain occasions I will get a twitch because of a reflection off of my RC Airplanes that hang on the wall behind me with their glossy covering, but increasing the light threshold in track ir software seemed to fix all of that 99.999% of the time.  There are free and cheaper options ( have tried several over the years) which will work, but none are as good as track ir.  Tip with track IR: since tha camera is 120hz refresh rate, if you cant hold a steady 120 fps ( or very close to or higher ) in dcs, then limit the fps to 60 in the gpu software ( invidia control panel, not sure what and uses) and it will smooth track ir out a lot. If your fps in dcs is in between 60 and 120, say 75-85 on average then  trackIR will still work fine but won’t be quite as smooth as if your fps is 120+ or capped at 60

Edited April 11, 2022 by MadKreator

[xqzro]

It's hard for me to imagine using any flight sim. without TrackIR. My only issue is that the small silver reflectors have started to peel off after a years use. I emailed the company about replacements and got crickets. Shame. I had to remount them using a glue stick. Take care of the product after purchasing as it tends to be on the delicate side. Definitely recommended though. 

Edited April 13, 2022 by xqzro

[Sacarino111]

On 4/13/2022 at 1:12 PM, xqzro said:

It's hard for me to imagine using any flight sim. without TrackIR. My only issue is that the small silver reflectors have started to peel off after a years use. I emailed the company about replacements and got crickets. Shame. I had to remount them using a glue stick. Take care of the product after purchasing as it tends to be on the delicate side. Definitely recommended though. 

 

Hi @xqzro

Same here. My reflector also got old and dirty and damaged, so I went to a sewing shop( a shop where you can buy tissues and/or complements and found reflections tapes, like the ones used by the police an their arms or similar). Cut it to size, glued in place with double tape (in case I have to remove it) and bang, solved.

Saludos.

Saca111

[xqzro]

Excellent idea. 

[Lanzfeld113]

Check out "AIM XYZ" headtracker.

Slightly cheaper than TrackIR and no reflecters or silly headgear.

[JIMJAM]

Just remember if/when you start getting stutters or the screen seems to snag... Before you go tweeking settings for hours trying to solve it, TURN OFF the Trackir first. Some lights even distant, can spook the sensor causing this. Don;t confuse trackir issues with the sim.

Also there is a setting light filter threshold that you can tinker with to resolve this.

But yeah I quit VR for various reasons and trackir is a must have for me since day 1.

[arb65912]

Anybody would like to share the good Trackir profile for F-16 or DCS in general?

 

[silverdevil]

On 7/24/2022 at 11:33 PM, arb65912 said:

Anybody would like to share the good Trackir profile for F-16 or DCS in general?

 

hello. i use trackir pro since before 2015. here is my profile.

SD-Profile1.xml

[Hiob]

On 7/25/2022 at 5:33 AM, arb65912 said:

Anybody would like to share the good Trackir profile for F-16 or DCS in general?

 

The trackIR profile should not be different between aircraft (just the center point of your virtual head position may vary - but that’s a setting that is independent from trackIR). Once you found a profile that suits you, it should work in all aircraft. It’s relatively important to get used to your relative head position, so that you can look to a certain spot quickly. Frequently changing profiles will do you a disservice.

[arb65912]

12 minutes ago, silverdevil said:

hello. i use trackir pro since before 2015. here is my profile.

SD-Profile1.xml 5.95 kB · 0 downloads

Thank you very much, Sir!!!

Will give it a try.

1 minute ago, Hiob said:

The trackIR profile should not be different between aircraft (just the center point of your virtual head position may vary - but that’s a setting that is independent from trackIR). Once you found a profile that suits you, it should work in all aircraft. It’s relatively important to get used to your relative head position, so that you can look to a certain spot quickly. Frequently changing profiles will do you a disservice.

Thank you, I figured out that since I am in cockpit, I just need to put my head in neutral position and use joystick button I assigned to reset Trackir view to center and it works from there.

Yes, changing profiles does not do a good job, unless I change simulator for example and want to fly airliner when I rarely look back but that is different story.

[silverdevil]

@arb65912 - what @Hiob said is spot on. the trackir works with any plane and for me, on a few different simulators. there are lots of tutorials on youtube too. jabbers has a good one. i too always have to recenter and then fix the zoom each flight.

[Bob1943]

Wonder why they quit making the TrackClip Pro?  They have been out of stock for a long time.  Would be nice to have a wireless TrackClip Pro so as to get off a wired leash.  That is what I have been waiting for.

[Hiob]

8 hours ago, silverdevil said:

@arb65912 - what @Hiob said is spot on. the trackir works with any plane and for me, on a few different simulators. there are lots of tutorials on youtube too. jabbers has a good one. i too always have to recenter and then fix the zoom each flight.

I have the recenter (and zoom) on my thumb switch on my stick. I use the recenter frequently in a single flight. Mainly to tilt the neutral head position a bit up and down, depending on the mission. Dogfighting I have my "head" a bit higher to make it easier to look above and behind me, whereas when I do "in cockpit" stuff, I move it down a bit.

Edited August 16, 2022 by Hiob

[arb65912]

@silverdevil : yes, I am pretty set in that apartment by now. Thanks for your help. The things I sometimes fine tune is the dead zones, still experimenting a bit.

@Bob1943:  They have wireless but only on eBay, Google it. I am just waiting for mine to be delivered.

@Hiob: same here, after I fly a bit I recenter. Dogfighting, not for me yet, need a lot of learning but that is FUN! 

[Oilman100]

13 hours ago, Bob1943 said:

Wonder why they quit making the TrackClip Pro?  They have been out of stock for a long time.  Would be nice to have a wireless TrackClip Pro so as to get off a wired leash.  That is what I have been waiting for.

The delanclip is a wireless version and works flawlessly