Virtual Pilot wheel no good?

On Sat, 01 Feb 1997 14:08:00 +0200, Antti Rauhala <snip> <snip> I have used the CH Virtual Pilot for as long as I've been driving Papyrus simulators and I am very happy with its performance and also the laptimes it has provided me with. I assume you may have a defective wheel, your driving style isn't suited for the Virutal Pilot (as mine wasn't for the Thrustmaster T2) or your wheel lock settings in your setups aren't suitable for Virtual Pilot (also check linear- vs. non-linear steering). Greetings, Pekka Heino _____________

I have that setup and don't have a problem with it so I took some data you may be able to use to see if yours is working. I have Nascar2 and ICR2 so I took the data from those programs. N2: When I go to calibrate joystick 1, the initial values are at about 630 for the X and 125 for the Y. When I go full left the value goes to 68 on the X. Full right the value goes to 930. Full in the y value goes to 19 and full back the value goes to 601. If I repeat ICR2: When I go to calibrate joystick 1, the initial values are at about 295 for the X and 58 for the Y. When I go full left the value goes to 32 on the X. Full right the value goes to 440. Full in the y value goes to 9 and full back the value goes to 284. If I repeat this If I test in Win95 Control panel the cursor does not travel full to the corners of the box initially but if I calibrate then repeat the test then full travel on the yoke goes to the corners of the box. I like the setup. I thought since everyone in this group seems to love the T2 wheel and pedal that that would be better so I tried them for about a week. I didn't like them and my times did not improve so they went back to Best Buy. The T2 wheel is much stiffer to turn than the CH yoke and therefore it seemed less responsive to me. I disliked the T2 pedals even more. The T2 pedals slide on the carpet (yeah I know you can prevent that) and I like the way the CH pedals pivot more from the center. I do run the programs in non linear steering or joystick rather than wheel or linear steering as is normal for a wheel combination.

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>I have a Virtual Pilot steering wheel and CH pedals. >I bought the equipment last summer. The pedals are ok, but I've never >been satisfied with the wheel. I think originally the wheel has been >designed to be a flight control, but people said that it's ok for car >simulators as well. I've been quite busy, so I never really had time to >examine my equipment until now. >The wheel has a mechanical turning agle of 90 degrees. (funny, the >manual says "360 degrees precision..." ;-) It would be sufficient, I >think, but today I noticed something. In real life, the wheel only gives >me approximately 45-50 degrees. When I turn left, the joystick port >values decrease from 300 to 13. When I have turned the wheel about >20-25 degrees, the values stop to 13. The wheel keeps turning for >another 20 degrees, but no change in the joy port value. When I turn >the wheel right, the same thing happens,the joy port value increases >from 300 to 598. After 20-25 degreesthe wheel keeps turning, but the >values stay at 598.

snip >Does anybody know if my wheel is working as it is supposed to? Do I have >a damaged or otherwise defective wheel? Or is it just a poor wheel in >general? Is it possible to change the potentiometers? The guarantee is >still valid, so maybe I could get a new the wheel if it is not ok. >Any information on this would be very much appreciated.

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>The wheel has a mechanical turning agle of 90 degrees. (funny, the >manual says "360 degrees precision..." ;-) It would be sufficient, I >think, but today I noticed something. In real life, the wheel only gives >me approximately 45-50 degrees. When I turn left, the joystick port >values decrease from 300 to 13. When I have turned the wheel about >20-25 degrees, the values stop to 13. The wheel keeps turning for >another 20 degrees, but no change in the joy port value. When I turn >the wheel right, the same thing happens,the joy port value increases >from 300 to 598. After 20-25 degreesthe wheel keeps turning, but the >values stay at 598.<snip> >So the wheel gives me a very poor driving precision. <snip>

I have the same setup. The CH pro pedals are great! I finally broke a spring (just like the T2 guys). Fortunately, the pedals pivot so it felt really wierd (no return force) but I could still finish the race. As for the VPPro wheel, I have ran alot of good races with it but I'm sure an ECCI or Thomas Super Wheel would be much better. First, I had to add some hardware to get a decent angle and to secure it. I can move the desk by using the wheel as a handle now. I use a hose clamp to hold the yoke all the way back so it doesn't "telescope" when I'm driving. It also has the "free play" at both ends of the turning range. I don't know if it's exactly the same as yours or not but.... It has always required a real soft touch. In fact, I run linear steering with 5 degree lock at almost every track (NCR1, I haven't played NCR2 enough yet). When I ran NonLinear I didn't have to go all the way down to 5 degrees but it was more difficult to recover a loose race car with it set that way. The problem with 5 degrees is that if you spin, it's very difficult to turn the car around on a tight track. That's why my favorite feature in NCR2 is the wheel spin. All in all, it sounds like your CH VPPro is acting like mine. It's hard to say if it's worse or not. BTW, you forgot to mention the centering notch. Try being super smooth with a light touch (big track like Dega) going back and forth over that stupid notch! The extra buttons and hat switches on it are nice. It would be pretty cool if you could use those hat switches for pit settings etc...

yup you got it right. It's basically a digital controler, that's how low the deg of turning is. Go with the T2 or the GP2+CH pedals. The T2 has about 260 deg of turning and makes driving sims 100000X better abd more fun.

I have the Virtual Pilot Pro/Pedals combo and I have no problems with it . The pedals are what make this combo though. The only problem was that they pivoted in the middle which I found annoying. Heres my "extreme fix". I have a piece of plywood about 2.5 feet wide by 4 feet long. I bought a fiberglass racing seat with padding and it is bolted at one end. On the other end I have a smaller piece of plywood which runs almost vertical up from the "Floor" I screwed my pedals to this wood by going around the edge of the base of the pedals so as not to go through the base (the***heads are what holds the pedals on on all 4 sides). I mounted the pedals upside down though. This gives a much more realistic "hanging pedal" feel. I then fastened a 2x4 running up straight from the floor with another running horizontal on top of that. Attached to this piece is a small rectangle of plywood which holds my wheel and a keyboard and mouse. I added plenty of bracing so there is no flopping around during driving. It is fairly easy to get in/out of as I built it while out of work with a broken kneecap and could not bend my leg at all (I'll stick to driving the virtual race cars thank you). It is now very fun to drive and I have $100 in the whole thing which is what I paid for the seat. -- "You stick to driving your typewriter and I'll stick to driving the racecars"-Freejack David W. McFarland '87 LX hatch