plunge. I determined that there would be no use getting the wheel if
I couldn't get the ball so I went ball hunting first. Academy only
had tennis, racquet and hand balls. No squash. They recomended
Oshmans. REI didn't have any balls at all prefering kayaking,
mountian climbing and cycling. Whatever. Decided to pop in to Best
Buy as it was between REI and Oshmans. Nice wheel. One on shelf.
Oshmans doesn't have them either though they have every other type of
ball known to man, woman and ET. Beginning to wonder if Austinites
play squash. I don't even know what the hell squash is other than a
game where men play with balls. Lots of those. (Freudian?)
Wondering if I should get the wheel w/o the ball and ask one of you to
send your 2nd half to me. Would hate to leave you w/o a nose
protector though. See a sporting goods store that I'd not known about
as I head towards freeway. U-turn and ask them. They at least have a
spot on the shelf to check. It's empty. But upon calling the other
store, much closer to where this journey started than any other store
involved, confirming that they have some. Both Yellow and Red dot.
What's the difference? Is Yellow dot for a different brand of
wheel/pedal? Stop at Comp USA on the way as I get a discount there.
$199.00 for $170.00 + tax. Nice to save $30 bucks as I think I've
spent that in gas. Stop on way home to get ball. They have it. Now
I know why these are so hard to find. Thier too small. I'd lose alot
of them too. Probably many lost and homeless little squash balls
around Austin just waiting and hoping to be found. Somebody will
start a movement to save them soon and request government funding.
They'll probably get it. Cut ball in half without cutting fingers.
Good sign. Extract wheel from box and decide how I'm going to work
this with my CH Pro Throttle, CH Pedals, and CH Janes Combat Stick.
Not to mention my homebuilt wheel. Too many controllers.Try to pass
wheel thru Pro Throttle as I do with homebuilt. FF seems to work.
Install software and it can't see the wheel. Power cord made wheel
move. Pro Throttle blocking data. Unplug Pro Throt and plug wheel
in. Joystick Properties is happy now. Wheel feels nice in the test
modes. Nascar collectibles on top of monitor begin to roll as table
shakes with FF effect. Take Earnhardt down as he's been having a
rough time lately. Leave Rusty up there. Maybe he'll hit Gordon
again. :-) Load MTM2, came with wheel, and have some fun. Video not
smooth. Stops every 2-3 seconds for about 1/4 of a second. Turn off
awhile. FF is fun. Blue Screen of Death. Huh???? Re-Boot. Boot
Hangs. Keeps***. ALOT. Start to panick. Re-seat processor &
memory. Only attach the basic's, Power, Monitor, Mouse, Keyboard.
Works. ???? Attach wheel again. Works. ????? Re-Attach everything
else and Re-Boot. Hangs. Hmmmm. Remove Pro Throttle keyboard pass
thru from keyboard circuit. Boots. MS and CH don't get along.
Seperate the two untill they've decided to get to work out thier
differences. Silly Peripherals. MM FF Wheel ROCKS. Try GPL. I
still suck but can look a little better doing it now. More
controllable. Especially the breaking. I don't overshoot by as much
anymore and the hay bails are starting to recover. Ranchers and grass
eating animals are happy. Try Viper. Why O Why does the Viper engine
decide to pull the wheel just long enough for you to resist it and
then release it completely. Fish tailing more often than not. Times
MUCH slower. Feels like I'm driving in a VERY gusty and strong
crosswind. Place last. Damn. Exit, don't save. Hmm. what else do
I have??? NFSIII. Been on shelf since homebuilt wheel doesn't like
Windows and I don't like deleting and re-installing controllers all
the time. Which I'll be doing alot more of now. :-) NFSIII ROCKS
with FF. Kicking butt. Played till 3:30 am. Still get Blue Screen
Of Death occasionally. Have any of you had this problem???? Updated
MS FF software, NFSIII and MTM2. Viper should allready be up to date
and GPL 1.1 not out yet. Apparently to be released in the proverbial
"2 weeks". :-) Any one race NFSIII online?????
I highly recomend this wheel. It's great. Only other problems
I've had is the pedals sliding on the carpet. Placed a 1x10 piece of
wood beneath them and they don't slide anymore. Wood does a little.
Plan on cutting grooves in wood to prevent it from sliding. Plan on
making***pit for racing & flight sims so shouldn't be a problem
afterwards. WARNINGS: If you have CH gear you'll need to completely
disconnect it AFAIK. Also if you have little metal cars and planes on
top of your monitor you should remove them. SR-71 took a nose dive
attempting to set a new speed record. Missed Earnhardt by 1 inch. :-)
16 inch fall not enough time to set speed record. Might try again
later. :-)
Steve-S
+-----------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| And quickly he's subdued | Split_S3 on IRC |
| Thru constant pained disgrace | Steve-S on TEN |
| The young boy learns their rules | Unforgiven (-unfg-) on Warbirds |
| Metallica | Dweebs of Death |
+-----------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| Dale Earnhardt | Dale Earnhardt Jr |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+