I completely agree with the above. Act-Labs have the FF wheel technology
down as far as im concerned. I have heard too many negative reports from the
MSFF users (these are people who have had different wheels), too many
negatives to even consider recommending one to a friend. However the only
bad reports I have ever heard about the Act-Labs RS is that it doesnt
translate only the very lightest of FF signals due to its tight belt.
However to be fair, all have said this gets problems gets much better if not
dissapearing with time as the belt starts to set into its natural stretching
(which is why it comes so tight from the factory in the first place). Also
Act-Labs has the most powerfull motor so if you want the wheel to jerk outta
your hand when you hit the wall go ahead, however I dont quite like it that
high. Good thing is you can always turn-down the force if its too much - but
you will never be able to turn up other wheels to match its power.
Even without mentioning that you can add a kick-***shifter that blows the
balls off everything else in its price range (it even comes with different
plates, ie: You want a six speed? Just change the plate!, You want a
2-speed? 5-speed, etc? Just change the plate again) id HIGHLY recommend a
Act-Labs RS FF wheel.
Even without mentioning that it has separate "Engines" you can switch out to
use the wheel with your Play Station, N64, yadda yadda, or even to convert
the wheel to USB for all you USB-happy folk.....
Without either the shifter OR the separate engine feature, id recommend this
wheel. The fact that you can add the fore-mentioned just goes to show that
that ACT-LABS has done their homework & this wheel isnt just another
"Gimmick", but rather the best wheel out there.
> >As for the optical sensors in the MSFF wheel they do not rely on contact
of
> > moving parts, therefore will not wear and will always give a stable
signal
> > to the gameport (maybe USB when they get around to it)
> If only this were the case. Unfortunately the Electro-optical sensors are
> susceptible to dust interference etc. that will also interrupt the
> positioning information. This is just a fact of life. True they will not
> "wear" like potentiometers do (another fact of life), but I emplore you to
> ask Microsoft why they have 9 bits of information coming into their
> processor, and only 6 bits coming out the other end to the computer. This
is
> because they have to due to the enormous amount of "mechanical jitter"
these
> electro-optical sensors produce.
> The time it takes the USB chip or separate A->D converters to translate
the
> analog signal into digital information is considerably shorter than the
> amount of positioning data the computer is requesting. Therefor... there
is
> absolutely NOTHING wrong with using analog pots and translating the
> information into digital bits. In fact... the potentiometers are
accompanied
> by substantially less mechanical jitter than electro-optical sensors,
making
> potentiometers a better solution at this point in time. You have to
> remember... JITTERING is the enemy! It's how you deal with the jitter that
> governs the performance of the wheel/joystick overall.
> I am sure that you are very happy with your MS wheel, and I am glad this
is
> the case. However, I cannot allow others to recommend the MS wheel based
on
> it's technical short comings. I used to think my Nascar Pro wheel was Da
> Bomb for the longest time.... until I tried the Act Labs RS w/PDPI
> gameport.... then I realized what I had been mising all along. Full 256
> positioning resolution (every degree of turn accounted for), no jitters
> whatsoever (the PDPI filtering algorithm is brilliant), and I knocked full
> seconds off my lap times as a result.
> To say that the MS wheel functions great is very subjective and opinion,
but
> it's technical merits are fact, and fall very short of the competition in
> ALL areas. There ARE better out there... I suggest the Logi or the Act
Labs
> F-RS based on their technical merits and overall pleasure of driving (in
my
> experience).
> Just my 2 cents (which is worth 1 in 2 years).
> Cheers,
> Shumi
> http://www.racesimcentral.net/
> > Potentiometers, by definition are analogue devices, this is then
converted
> > to a digital signal for USB devices. This is fine when the pots are in
> good
> > condition but when they start wearing out (as all devices that rely on
> > moving contacts will) the signal to the A > D converter will be unstable
> > therefore the outgoing signal will also be unstable.
> > As for the optical sensors in the MSFF wheel they do not rely on contact
> of
> > moving parts, therefore will not wear and will always give a stable
signal
> > to the gameport (maybe USB when they get around to it)
> > As for going on about positioning resolution, it has plenty for what I
> > require plus has no vagueness in its positioning as an analogue pot will
> > have (Analogue pots are affected by heat dust etc...)
> > The MSFF may have a higher CPU usage than many analogue wheels but I
> really
> > don't notice it in the real world.
> > So when you are looking for pots for your Logitech (or whatever wheel
you
> > have that uses analogue pots) I'll still be racing with optical sensor
> > accuracy using my Microsoft wheel ;)
> > --
> > Ian Parker
> > UKGPL League
> > http://www.racesimcentral.net/
> > http://www.racesimcentral.net/
> > --
> > > Just because wheels use potentiometers does not make them "analog".
The
> > USB
> > > chip will have an A->D (analog to digital) conversion onboard the
design
> > (in
> > > the chip itself, or separatly). Therefor the signal coming out of the
> > wheel
> > > is digital. This is the case with all USB since you are sending
digital
> > only
> > > signals through there.
> > > So I guess the m***of the story is: The mechanical method of
> determining
> > > the position of the wheel has little to do with whether it's digital.
> It's
> > > the method in which you report the information to the computer that
> > counts.
> > > It's when you send analog signals to the computer to "comprehend" for
> you,
> > > that you run into taxation on the system, and the fact that the
Standard
> > > Gameport is time-based only increases that taxation exponentially. You
> > save
> > > a lot of time and taxation by translating the signals to digital
onboard
> > the
> > > controller itself (hence why every controller manufacturer is
desperatly
> > > converting their product lines to USB... including Microsoft and their
> > > "digital technology"...)
> > > It's a common error, and don't feel bad for thinking pots = analog.
> > > FYI,
> > > Shumi
> > > > > All FF USB wheels are "digital" (all USB wheels for that matter),
> and
> > > > don't
> > > > > be tricked into thinking that the Microsoft Wheel and it's
> > Electro-optic
> > > > > positioning mechanisms are more accurate... they aren't after you
> cut
> > > into
> > > > > the positioning resolution to combat the enormous amount of
> mechanical
> > > > > jitter that accompanies such internals. Not to mention the brutal
> > > rachety
> > > > > feeling to it.
> > > > Correct me if I'm wrong, but I know the Logitech and the "Ferrari"
> wheel
> > > are
> > > > anolog, they use standard pots.
> > > > I'm not so sure about the Microsoft, it might be digital.
> > > > I own the Logitech FF, and it's great. I'm not sure about all that
> > > > resolution stuff your talking about, but the logitech is very
> accurate.
