Vector won't track downward movement

[texasrut]

I received the vector expansion yesterday. Unfortunately, I've already stopped using it. It absolutely will not track down. Both yaw and pitch up work great, however I can't look down to see my instruments in PF. The view will move down slightly then stop responding, untill I pull my head back up. Sometimes it will violently jump to a downward view of the lower half of the cockpit. I can move left and right, but it refuses to go back up unless I shake my head hard.

After scanning the message boards I tried placing my head 32" away and 2" from the unit but it accomplished nothing. I edited my profile so that the pitch curve looks more like a huge cliff, didn't help. I covered the strip on the trackhat (as well as used a different hat), that didn't work either.

When I look down, the Head Guage in the software shows the head get larger and move slightly to the left. Sometimes it flips upside down. I have to shake my head to get it centered again.

The trackhat and dot tracking works fine, but I'd certainly appreciate any suggestions on getting the vector working properly. I've tried 4.02 and 4.021 with the the same results

Thanks

[Barred]

Texas, out of intherest when using your Vector are the 3 reflectors merging into one line in your tracking view?

Or possibly when you are dropping your head the reflectors are not reflecting enough light back because of their angle. Another thing worth looking at is if the bottom reflectors are horizontal when you are at your 'resting' position in relation to the sensor.

Try in the settings of your tracking view, 'light filtering' if none of the above is happening. Try increments of 10 at first to see if that makes any difference, then in 5's to fine tune it. Do not go as high as 200 as that can cause tracking irregularities. Or if it is on try turning it off.

I would also look at the posibility of other light sources refleting into the sensor as that could also cause problems.

Good Luck and post if that does not help.

[ January 12, 2005, 09:35 AM: Message edited by: Barred ]

[Harlock]

I have the same problem, all I do is constantly hit F12, I'm going to "play" with non-mirrored axes tonight, with mine if you have the "Face" view and move down the head flips upside down. I found that to be when one of the rim reflectors goes down two far.

What you can do is edit the profile, edit pitch, unselect mirror values and shift the curve.

[Barred]

Harlock (and Texas) try positioning the reletave positions of the sensor and reflectors so that in rest they are at right angles to each other when you are at 'rest'. as well as the 32-36" distance and 2" above.

[DarkSoul]

i have that kind problem too and my trackir is about 30" away

no problem with dot tracking but when i change to vector tracking does lost tracking when i look down

and there are some wild movements after that... i have to recenter tir often...

otherwise great product...very smooth view

[texasrut]

Pointing the trackir down does seem to help. It still get weird rolls now and then from looking down, but is somewhat stable, and I don't get locked in the downward view often.

Are the developers aware of this problem? I was unable to find it anywhere else on the boards.

Thanks for everyones help.

[reaper20]

This is the same issue I described in -Standing on my head- "http://forums.naturalpoint.com/cgi-bin/ ... 2;t=000088" Current best solution I have found is to have the TrackIR unit 36" away and 2"~4" above your head. The 3 dots centered in the top half of the tracking window. That's the easy part. The hard part is that very small adjustments make a big difference. The angle of the TrackIR to your head, and how your hat sits on your head can mean the difference between play and frustration. Sometimes moving the bill of my hat 1/2" up or down will make all the difference.
My best efforts so far (in Pacific Fighters, Falcon 4) result in good response from a few degrees down view to all the way up (and slightly behind to the view limits). Looking down results in view stuck down (or standing on your head in Vector interface windows). Re-center by hot key, or moving Vector out of camera view (shaking your head). All titles running in Vector mode are twitchy and unstable. Lomac is way too twitchy for Vector.
I'm running all my combat sims in dot mode due to current Vector problems. Dot mode with the TrackIR 3 Pro is very smooth and stable in all titles. Vector is promising, and really is fun in FS 2004 and Aces High II, but Natural Point has a bit more work to do on centering/stability issues. The first round of Vector software was released just before the holidays. I'm sure we'll soon be seeing driver updates that address these issues. The potential for Vector is just too good to ignore.
Matt Jones

[Combathanger]

If you have the vector UNIT above your head 15�, you need to wear the hat 15� above horizontal to assure keeping the reflectors at an acceptable angle to the UNIT. Typically I see people with the hat flat at horizontal and the unit 20 degrees above their head.....this means that when they look down 20-30 degrees, they are trying to get the UNIT to maintain tack at an off angle of 40-50 degrees....and it doesnt work very well.

Take a look at the clip...the reflectors are curves for left right but not up down...so it is MUCH more important to keep a good up/down angle. You get past 30 degrees and tracking becomes erratic.

this simple change in your hat orientation can make a HUGE difference.

[Jim]

Wow, this has to be the biggest thread in one day for one topic.

We are aware of the issue and are working to make the drivers more "stable".

The real culprit, besides when it gets "stuck", is not having the unit aligned to the hat properly. This can be a somewhat sensitive arrangement, as the FOV of the camera is not that big and the hat can cause it's own set of problems, like how you wear it on your head. In general, it is good to have the hat and unit facing eachother straight on, or with the unit slightly higher up, as described in the quick start guide and the previous post to mine.

We will work to make the tracking more robust.

[steku]

My (partial until NP fixes this problem) solution is to have all three dots in upper half of tracking screen (by pointing TIR device down a little from horizontal position) when in neutral position. This way you can point your head lower while reflectors are still reflecting light to TIR. But this solution limits you in looking up what is not important in civilian sims but can't be dangerous in war planes where you should have your head on a swivel.

In my opinion the culprit is shape of reflectors - maybe it will work better if the reflectors were spherical instead of cyllindrical.

[ January 12, 2005, 12:01 PM: Message edited by: steku ]