IR Tracker worth it??

[Fulmar]

I'd guess about 20% of people flying today use it in the game. I did the poor mans version and built my own. Do a search for for it on the boards and you will find a bunch of info and profiles.

20%? Really?  Out of what the 5000 player base, a 1000 have TIR?  I think maybe 3-4 (including my FreeTrack) in my 30+ person squad have it, which would be 10%....

[wngover]

I have Trackir 3 with pro clip. Can't even think of flying without it.  Overtime it will be second nature.

[Wingnutt]

TIR4 + Track Clip Pro here, if it broke, I wouldn't play the game till I got another..  it takes a little getting used to, but within 10 hours or so of use you will love it.

its one of those upgrades you look back on and say "how did I ever get along without that?"

[humble]

TIR was a steep learning curve for me.

I bought it after some 10 years of playing AH using POV hat and going to bed at night with my thumb throbbing from all the working the coolie.

I spent a good month trying every sort of configuration I could think of.  I almost gave it up.  Then I read Mace's description of the "dead zone" issue (my biggest problem) and after I started using his profile things started to get more natural.  At first, I  hated Mace's profile because it gave me that "sitting on a ball" feeling which felt really unstable to me.  I forced myself to stick with it and after about a week things just sort of slipped into gear.  Now (some two years later), it is as natural for me as can be.  I love it!  I would NEVER go back to the coolie hat!

The most recent (about two months ago) mod I've made to my HOTAS setup was to assign the "pinky button" (CH FighterStick) as a macro command that I call my "Gunnery button".  Here's what it does:

  1. Holds the forward view button (KB8).   Mace talks about the effect of this in his doc.  It locks the forward view but allows the side-to-side, up/down, and in/out views to work.  Great for setting up for gunnery.

  2. Turns on Zoom.   Whatever zoom setting you previously used will be in effect.  I also have a HAT on my Pro Throttle assigned to changing the zoom setting so I can zoom in and out while I hold the pinky button in.

  3. Centers TIR.  Now that the forward view button is being held and Zoom Mode is on, the TIR is centered so that my view is straight down the gunsite and I'm all set for firing.

When I press and hold the pinky button, the macro performs the three steps just mentioned.  When I release the pinky button, the forward view button is released and Zoom Mode is turned off.  This allows me to very quickly return to maneuvering.  When I want to quickly get back to "guns ready", I simply press and hold the pinky button again.  It's really worked out great.

Icant find Maces profile anywhere, I'd also love to know how to create the macro you mention....

[SIK1]

+1 on the macro.

[Mace2004]

Icant find Maces profile anywhere, I'd also love to know how to create the macro you mention....

Snap, go to my post above (#7) and follow the link to my TIR writeup. My profile is at the end. As far as Homeboy's macro is concerned I like the idea of automatically setting zoom on but disagree that you should also "Center" TIR at the same time. The reason is that "Center" has nothing to do with your forward view. It only gives TIR a reference cfor when your head is pointing at the center of the screen. If you're maneuvering to a guns solution you may not be looking directly at the center of the screen when you select the macro thus giving TIR a false reference point and it does nothing to stabilize your forward view since you've already selected forward view which locks the view directly forward. Also, I have mapped forward view to the first trigger detent. The second detent (full trigger pull) is "Fire All". I mapped "Fire Secondary" to a different stick button. This way when I'm approaching guns I cage the view forward and just need a little more trigger pull to fire. I do think I may try out adding the auto zoom and see how that works for me. I have an X52 Pro which has the double trigger detent and I believe many other sticks have this feature also. If not you'll have to map this function to another button.

[humble]

I've got the X52 as well....Thx

[HomeBoy]

I'm not sure I'm quite catching on to Mace's objection to putting "TIR Center" into the "prepare to fire" macro.  For me, I position my head where I typically center TIR before I pull the pinky button.  This sets me up looking right down the gunsite exactly like I want.  I can't imagine anything better than that and it has reduced my workload considerably.  Of course, there are plenty of times when I don't want to use this macro while firing.  One example is when I'm leading the target in a deflection shot and want plenty of peripheral vision (like dropping down on a formation of bombers).  If all I want is to "cage" the forward view (or any of the views for that matter), I use my coolie hat as I still have my coolie hat setup for traditional views.  It's the best of all worlds as far as I'm concerned.

All I can say is try it and see what you think.  If it doesn't suit you, change it or abandon it.  That's the beauty of HOTAS, you can set it up any way you want.  It's even better than Mr. Potato Head.   

[Mace2004]

There are two potential problems I see. First, if you're not accurately centered when you hit the macro you're introducing a calibration error. This won't affect your shot but will be apparent after you release the macro. The second is that a snapshot is the same as shooting from the hip. You don't use the sight as much as you point the nose of the plane in front of your target and let him fly into your bullets. By forcing your view to the gunsight (especially with zoom on) you may very well lose sight just before you fire. By selecting just forward view you get the sense of where your nose is pointing without losing the lateral/vertical displacement of your view  If using center the way you are works well for you that's fine, it's just that people understand the effect of that setup.

[humble]

So for the macro your running the X-52 software? I just use the AH mapping to the x-52 as of now...

[Hwkeye]

Well I got my tracker today and I am glad to know I can rely on everyone's help.  I have learned a lot just following the thread.

Thanks guys! 

[Bino]

...It's even better than Mr. Potato Head.   

LOL Homeboy!

I have the older TrackIR3, with the add-on clip.  It only took me about an hour to fall in love with the ability to lean up/down left/right forward/back to see around the cockpit frames in a 109, or to see *almost* to the six view in a Corsair, or to peer around the engine as I called the ball on final to a CV, etc.

FYI, here is a link to my profile

[HomeBoy]

If I had it all to do again, I would certainly give Freetrack a hard look before purchasing TrackIR.

Freetrack 2.2 looks pretty darned impressive.

[Fulmar]

I've never seen (in person) or tried TrackIR, but I assume it is more responsive than FreeTrack.  However, since my flight time in AH doesn't warranty a triple digit expenditure, for the $25 I did fork over for FreeTrack, it was well work it.  I love to mess with electronics (for being an novice) and especially mess with computers.  Other than some construction swear words, I thoroughly enjoyed building my rig.  I've probably have gotten close to 100 flight hours on the setup and it still works like it did the first day, even though I may be rough with it at times.

[humble]

If I had it all to do again, I would certainly give Freetrack a hard look before purchasing TrackIR.

Freetrack 2.2 looks pretty darned impressive.

I have both and there is a fairly significant difference IMO....