rec.autos.simulators

Anyway, I noticed in the T2 that there's a resistor on the grey wire leading
to the center terminal on the pot (also attached to the brown wire).  I don't
have it in front of me, but I seem to recall reading on the back of the pot
that it was a 200k-ohm.  So I pulled apart my extra T1 and found no extra
resistor (the grey wire went no where) but the pot was a 100k-ohm.  Ok, so
what gives?  How are these things hooked up?

To make a long story short, when cleaning the T2, I broke the lead of the
resistor off close enough that it couldn't be soldered on.  I did the WD-40
thing, and buttoned it back up sans resistor.  Everything works fine.  No,
better than fine, the control feels 100% better. Very smooth.  No jitter at
all in the calibration on GPL.  Now what I can't figure out is whether it's
because of the WD-40, or am I getting finer response because of the removal of
that resistor?

Also, are there any good technical web pages that explain the differences in
how controllers can be set up.  What optimal resistances are?  I thought I
read somewhere that you could even go as high as 1M-ohm on the steering pot
for optimal control, but that some games don't like it.  Any truth to that?

Thanks,
Steve

--
-Steve
[remove "NOSPAM." to reply by e-mail]

My old GP1 used to love WD-40.  Made it smooth as silk for a couple of days.
But try contact cleaner instead.  It stays clean longer.

Steve B.

My second question is that, with separate pedals, all three joystick axis
are being used.  So the clutch in GPL is really a on/off button.  Am I
correct in this?  That is, building a clutch with a Pot has no usage for GPL
and for that matter any other game at the moment?

Nafi

The little grey wire with the resistor on it is used to apply voltage
to Joystick2  at the gameport connector.  It is used so that buttons 3
and 4 (the two on your T2 dashboard) can be recognized and utilized.
SInce yours is no longer hooked up, I would bet that buttons 3 and 4
dont work anymore.  The resistor is there so that the T2 is not
applying a full 5V to activate the buttons ( just a safety measure).
You could probably get away with discarding the resistor and directly
soldering the grey wire back to the center terminal of the wheel pot.,
as long as you have relativley new sound card.  As far as pots go,
WD-40 is not really the best choice for a cleaner.  You REALLY should
use a specific electronics cleaner.  WD-40 will attract all kinds of
dust and dirt and guess what wears out pots, dust and dirt.  Sorry I'm
too late on that bit of advice.  stay with 100K or 120k pots.  You
really wont notice any difference and 1M ohm pots will cause more
problems than they're worth, you were right, sometimes they arent
recognized.  BTW, if you're interested, I have complete instructions
that allow you to easily modify your T2 to make it a dual axis
controller.  Takes only a couple of hours and you'll love having a
seperate gas nad brake.  Requires a little soldering.  Send me a
request via e-mail if you feel up to it.  (over 30 have done so since
Sunday)  Hope the above helps!!

Steve

The "Optimal" rating for joysticks is supposed to be 100K. Sometimes
companies use 200k as only 1/3 to 1/2 of the full range is used by the
wheel or pedals.

Now about that resistor, on the nascar pro, their is a resistor just like
the
one you are talking about and its purpose is to allow the second joystick
be detected when the pedals are in "Combined" mode. When you switch
to "Seperate" pedals, the second joystick is automatically detected.

The reason I know this is because I just designed & built a three pedal
system so I can have a "Clutch" in GPL!!  I completely tore apart the
NascarPro wheel & pedals for wiring information.  My pedals will interface
with the Nascar Pro wheel perfectly. As a matter of fact, I put the same
kind
of connector as the one that came with it and wired it pin-for-pin so as to
NOT have any incompatibilities.  The onlt thing I have left to do is install
the toggle switch for the "Seperate/Combined" pedal for other "Sims"
as not all of them suport "Seperate" pedals!

Hope this help you out.

Oh!,      http://www.oz.net/~wottenad/             (Wally's world of driving
Sim.........)
this is where I picked up the info needed!

GPL will pick up all 4 pedals (2 joysticks x 2 Axis's)
On the Nascar Pro, the wiring from the joystick port
(Sound Card interface) does not have the wires for
all of the Axis's. So I obtained the connectors and
wired it myself.

Heres the connector pinout:
Pin  1: +5vdc                                            to the wheel
(Center Tap)
Pin  2: Joystick A  Button 1                    to the UP shifter
Pin  3: Joystick A  Axis  X                      to the wheel (Outer Pin)
Pin  4: Ground                                         Common for ALL
buttons
Pin  5: Ground                                         - not used -
Pin  6: Joystick A  Axis  Y                      to the GAS pedal (Center
Tap)
Pin  7: Joystick A  Button 2                    to the DOWN shifter
Pin  8: +5vdc                                           - not used -
Pin  9: +5vdc                                           to the BRAKE & GAS
pedal (Outer Pin) also CLUTCH (Center Tap)
Pin 10: Joystick B  Button 1                  to the LEFT button (On the
Wheel)
Pin 11: Joystick B  Axis X                     to the BRAKE pedal (Center
Tap)
Pin 12: (DO NOT USE) Midi                 - not used -
Pin 13: Joystick B  Axis Y                      to the CLUTCH pedal
Pin 14: Joystick B  Button 2                   to the RIGHT button (On the
Wheel)
Pin 15: (DO NOT USE) Midi                 - not used -