rec.autos.simulators

   Great news.  

   I had a chat with Andy yesterday, he called to let me
know my CDS2 was being shipped, with a new internal wiring
harness.  

   I asked what would be needed to acquire a CDS 4000 as a
commercial customer, how many people I would need to go in
with me to qualify.  He told me not to bother.  

   He told me to watch ECCI's web page http://www.racesimcentral.net/
for an announcement of ECCI's new consumer product this month.  

   He said the unit would be under $1000 and, it was the best
unit ECCI has ever built.  

   He was jazzed.  

   Me to.  

                                                       Larry

Why did you need the new internal wiring harness?

A curious CDS2 owner.
Brandon

   Andy is proud of his new wheel, but I've told you all that
he said I could.  

   We didn't talk about the shape or layout of the pedals.  

   I don't know what the pedals on a 1948 Ford tractor look
like.  

   I've never had problems with the roller pedals on the
CDS2, and I picked up an ultra-cheap Ligitech Wingman so I
could race while the wheel was in the shop, and I had no
problem with the pedals for that either.  

   I drive my cars, real and simulated, with one foot for
both gas and brake, pivoting the forward part of my foot
around my heel as I go from accelerator to brake.  I'm don't
know if the pedals for the new unit look like those on the
ECCI customer page http://www.ecci.net/consumer01a.htm.  If
it looks like the pedals pictured on that page, I'm wondering
if I can use this technique.  

   We'll see.  

                                                       Larry

   For the last several months the up-shift button would
work fine for most of whatever track I was on.  Then it
would fail consistently on fast left turns.  This happened
for either of the right buttons.  There was break in the
wires of the harness that would separate when I turned
the wheel through a range.  

   Don't worry.  I've been told "We've never seen a problem
like this before" by countless customer service techies.  
Andy said the same thing about seeing any problem with the
internal harness on the CDS2.  If you look at the reel used
to feed the wires to the buttons on the twisting wheel, you
can see that it is extremely gentle.  

                                                     Larry

FREAK! HERETIC!

BURN HIM! BURRRRRRRRN HIM!

--
MRSisson

LOAD "GPL",8,1
RUN

Thanks Larry, you're right, that's kind of weird.  I've been abusing mine
for just over 6 years now with nothing but pot replacements. <knock on wood>

I would like to get some stiffer springs in there though, I'd like a little
more tension when I turn the wheel.

Brandon

I would buy a high quality force feedback wheel.  I know many of you
don't think high of them, but I feel it gives a quality and feel of
how the car is handling that you don't get with non-ff wheels.

I do not like the notchiness that I feel with them and to me they just feel
unnatural

I have tried the Act-Labs Force RS, the Momo and the Logittech.. returned
them all immediately.

   My only experience with force feedback wheels are
in video arcades.  They weren't bad.  I've never used
an FF wheel for a PC sim.  

   What FF wheel/sim combinations do you think of as
high quality?  

   What kind of information, like nearing limits of
adhesion, is transmitted?  

                                               Larry

I'm very curious about the new wheel, after having tried almost every
high-quality sim-racing controller on the planet.

FWIW: If you'd like to read my view on driving with a HQ controller as
opposed to the plastic toys, point your browser to
http://erl.racesimcentral.com/editorial1.htm.

Bring 'em on!
---
Joeri J. Cox

European Racing League - Taming The Tracks Since April 2000
http://erl.racesimcentral.com

ERL is proudly sponsored by BallRacing Developments, Ltd.
http://www.interactiveracing.com

XP has to have USB version BTW, I thin win2k same.

I used to love FF, and still do for stuff like Rally Trophy, but have
yet to be even basically satisfied with the way it is working for
NR2003.  I can usually tell what the car is doing based on yaw and
sound, and more and more I find myself turning FF off as it has become
a distraction.  I dont have the time or patience to try to sort it all
out.  I'd rather be racing.

And now, I am really noticing the notches.  And so, am considering
going the non-FF route, at least for this sim.

$1000 bucks though... yeow.  Hard to justify before the CFO when you
have as many other hobbies as I do.

cheers,
Gerald