analog controls, zoom bouncing

[DeadSpy]

since ive set up my x52, ive had problems with zooming in.  Ive got my zoom FOV set up to the analog slider on the throttle control, and everything is great if i am zoomed in 100% or 0%, but anywhere in between i get significant 'zoom bounce' where the zoom level is bouncing between two adjacent analog readings in the controller.  this isn't terrible in aircraft, but it is horrendous in GVs when trying to line someone up at...say...2200 meters.  does anyone know how to correct this?  i dont believe scaling the axis will work because all it will do is change "how significant" the bouncing is...i guess it would be okay if i knew that i was always going to be shooting at something the same distance away.  "dampening" only slows the bouncing, and at that minimal degree of change with the slider, it doesnt even really do that, and 'dead zone' doesnt have any effect on this whatsoever.

It seemed that when i was using my x45 with a 'spinner' control, this never happened. poor x45 stopped working though and the rudder control was much better on it.

[TequilaChaser]

how about trying to use the advanced tab / scaling enabled and make it start from near zero on the left and step it up in a nice sweeping arc to 90 on the right.then add about a 1/4" up on the Dead Band and a 1/4" on the Dampening scales....then calibrate it...on calibrating leave a small area on each end of the slider ( example stick a straight tip screw driver in the slot on each end, as you move/calibrate the full motion  ) so when you click finish, you have absolute when all the way forwad zoom or absolute no zoom......

just a thought......hope it helps......

[DeadSpy]

thanks TC, Tried it exactly as you said it, and still have bouncing.  the bouncing comes from analog inputs where the game reads something like 39572 and then 39591 and it bounces back and fourth between the two readings.  regarding scaling, i would like to keep a nice linear zoom curve, makes it easy to instantly zoom by feel to the right FOV me thinks.

[hyster]

i have the same thing. the way i limit the bounce is calibrate every time i play and when i do the slider move it slowly.

[DeadSpy]

rgr, great advice hyster with calibrating slowly...unfortunatly i just tried it and it hasn't solved the problem;  the bounce is almost nauseating when zoomed in with a tank.

[Hazard69]

Since its bouncing rather rapidly.....I'm assuming that the sliders spiking.....have you tried upping the damping?
If the bounce is rapid enough, damping might help damp it out...

Just my $0.02 

[TequilaChaser]

the bouncing comes from analog inputs where the game reads something like 39572 and then 39591 and it bounces back and fourth between the two readings. 

only thing to control this is gonna be rasing the dead band scale, me thinks......to stop the spiking........ may also want to possibly try using an USB powered Hub instead of hooking it up to an onboard USB connection point........

[DeadSpy]

Thanks guys,
I tried powered USB hub, no change.
I increased damping, zooms in/out a lot slower, but i think that because the zoom level is bouncing from like 73.2%-73.4%, damping has made a 1/100th second bounce a 1/50th second bounce...i.e. it bounces half as fast, but 50 bounces in a second is still as impossible to aim/shoot with as 100 bounces/second
I tried increasing dead band; the bouncing becomes exaggerated.  The game now has fewer points in the analog action to work with (because we're eliminating the center of the scale) but it still zooms in 100% over that decreased (say, 80% or 40%) number of analog points.

[TequilaChaser]

out of curiosity, why are you using the ZOOM feature? er nevermind.....as for Aircraft, I would try to learn to shoot your opponent without using the Zoom feature.the Zoom feature actually decreases your field of view and can cause you to miss that incoming guy wanting to pick you........

I fully understand wanting to use it for GVing though........ since I am not much on the GV aspect of the game, sorry I can't help you any more further than I have.

try looking up Whels, any of the LTARs or horn ( do not know his current ingame game id ), but anyone who is one of the TOP GV players........

good luck

[DeadSpy]

rgr, i'll see if he has anything to say.

regarding using it for aircraft, ive got it mapped to the stick so i can use it quickly.  its nice to look at the f4u 2k away and see if he's right side up or upside down, i fly typh primarily, so its good to know which way the bad guy is pointed, which way he's ruddering, etc, as i start a slashing attack.  in aircraft i usually zoom in then right back out, going to full 100% then back to 0%, so bouncing isn't a problem with aircraft.  the problem is when im trying to hit bombers at 1.5k in an ostie, or going GV v GV, or especially in a shore batt

[Wayout]

I do the same but to make it work properly I had to calibrate the slider within Aces High.

[Mace2004]

I have the same problem with the analog controls on the X52.  While the stick uses hall-effect sensors the analog wheels and slider are simple pots which are not very precise and they get worse over time.  You can easily see the output from the pot "jittering" in the X52 control panel which is what causes your zoom to jitter.  As you noted, increasing the damping only decreases the jitter rate.  Increasing dead-band will not fix the problem completely.  If you expand the dead bands (there are dead bands at either end of the range and at the center) over the entire range then you'll get no movement at all.

Keeping the pots clean with a good electrical contact cleaner helps and may be all you need.  You can get it at Radio Shack and it comes in a small spray can, usually with an extension tube to apply it.  Also, the pots on each stick seem to vary a bit.  Some are good, some not so good but all will tend to get worse with age.  In my case, I never could find a real workable solution for the "precision" slider and have switched the analog zoom control to the throttle thumb wheel (the one on the side around the clutch button).  I also mapped the zoom toggle on/off to the throttle mouse button. 

The wheels have a center detent that the slider lacks and it serves as a good physical reference.  This is also the position of the center dead-band so I increased the size of the dead band a bit to eliminate the jitter but that only works when the wheel is at the detent.  You can also bring in the dead bands at both ends of the range a little bit to eliminate jitter at max and min settings.  You're out of luck at intermediate settings unless simple cleaning does the trick.

The center position is a pretty good average position for air to air gunnery and it gives you a bit better view of your target without becoming boresighted on the target. I use the mouse button to quickly toggle zoom on/off for quick visual checks.  Full zoom is good for GV gunnery, JABO or to check out details like which ack batteries are down.