Posted by Andy Geez on September 24, 1999 at 18:44:46:
In Reply to: Question about pots posted by Torgo on September 24, 1999 at 18:18:45:
Gotta stop meeting like this..
Sorry a cut and paste jobie.. =)
Can I use a smaller or bigger value pot on the wheel and pedals(does it have to be 100k)?
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There is no need to. The industry standard, so to speak is 100kohms. Almost every joystick that I've pulled apart (and that's a lot) has had 100k pots in them, though the Thrustmaster T2 has a 200k. I've experimented with smaller values and have found that when you go smaller than 100k, the difference between full left and full right in the game is much smaller - take IndyCar II for example: when using 100k pots, the wheel calibrates at "20" on the left and "500" on the right, which is a MUCH better reading than say, 20 & 50. The larger the difference between the low and high readings, the smoother the steering response in the game. It only makes sense to have as much difference as you can get. In fact, if you go too small (500 ohms is what I tried), some games refuse to even recognize the control. I have yet to experiment with the upper limit, but I don't think there would much to gain as the steering response is just about perfect as it is. You may also run the risk of the game not recognizing the control as it may be out of the range that the calibration routine is looking for. Here's a note from Leen Tuk on his experience with different pot values-read this for another view on which way to go...
First: Great site! It motivated me to build a couple of wheel and peddle systems and they work (and look) great (will try to send photos etc.)
Second: My experiences with various configurations of resistances:
-I originally used a CH virtual pilot and steering in Nascar and Indycar and it calibrated to a range of about 1 - 120 (worked OK in Indycar, Nascar, Nascar II, and GP2)
-I built the wheel and pedals using 100k pots: steering in Nascar and Indycar calibrated to a range of about 1 - 55 ( this worked in Nascar I, sometimes in Indycar ("insufficient range") and never in GP2 ("unable to calibrate joystick device")
-I changed to 1 meg pots: the system worked well and steering in Nascar, Indycar and GP2 calibrated to a range of about 1-550. However, when this second setup (1 meg ) was used on a different machine, it calibrated to about 1-3500+. After a reading of about 3400, the resistance was excessive and the computer read it like no connection.
- When I changed the steering back to 100k on this second computer, the calibrations were about 1-350 :excellent for Indycar and Nascar. (left the pedals with 1 meg pots as the limited range and a lower neutral calibration gave good values (about 250-800).
So: I conclude that: different computers/sound cards respond differently to different values of resistance. Calibration ranges of less than 70 run the risk or being too small a difference to use ("insufficient range"). Ranges of more than 3000 are probably too much resistance at the high end and the computer is unable to distinguish between the high value and a disconnection. The 2 computers I used would probably both have been workable with either 200k or 500k potentiometers.