Range very poor, even in dark room

[philg]

Hi,

I've got a TrackIR 5 with the TrackClip Pro.
Running TrackIR V 5.2.200 (Build 14548)
Windows 7 x64, 3 screens.
Both devices are plugged in to a powered USB hub on 2 separate ports. All USB Hubs have power save deactivated in device manager.
I use it for MS Flight Simulator X and it's awesome, this thing has totally changed my flight simming experience!

The problem I'm having is in the range is very limited with the TrackClip Pro compared to the reflective TrackClip (less than 3 feet compared to about 5 feet for the reflective one). The symptoms are (in the TrackIR app in camera view) flickering of the 3 points between green and red, and the left LED of the TrackIR camera flickers between green and off. I get the 3 distinctive round dots, and I don't see any other green or red items in the camera view.

I've tried using it in a dark room but that makes no difference.

If I sit really close to the desk then its usable (not too comfortable though!) I should point out that my 3 screens are at the back of the desk, then I've got my keyboard on the desk and my joystick on the keyboard tray. I've measured it, My headset is exactly 3 feet from the camera. At 2.5 feet it's better, 3 green dots, at 3.5 feet it's 3 red dots.

One other thing I've noticed is sometimes it's range gets worse, but if I flip between Precision view to Standard and back to Precision view it fixes it. Why is that?

I bought this second hand about 6 months ago, but I don't know its purchase date, nor how much the previous owner used it. The TrackClip Pro has Copyright 2006 on it. It's not physically damaged in any way.

What advice can you offer?

Here's a screen capture

Many thanks in advance,
Phil

[NaturalPoint-Dustin]

Hi Phil,

Thank you for the detailed explanation. Have you tried plugging the TrackIR and TrackClip Pro directly into the computer? DO you get the same results? Having to cycle precision view, standard, than precision concerns me. This could be an internal hardware issue with the device. You may also submit a ticket at:

help.naturalpoint.com

[philg]

Hi Dustin, thanks for the prompt response.

In fact, no I haven't tried plugging the devices directly in to the computers USB ports. I will try that.

Just a final quick question, is the TrackClip Pro just using the 5v from the USB port or does it communicate with the computer over the wire? Could it potentially be plugged in to a standard USB charger instead, or could that damage it? Obviously the camera does need to be connected to the computer.

Thanks again,
Phil