CH Pro Pedals Won't Calibrate Properly

[Strider_EB]

Hi everyone,

I'm a newbie to this forum (my first post) so please pardon me if I step on any forum etiquette.

I'm having a problem calibrating my CH Pro Pedals USB. I noticed the problem a couple of months ago (I've had my pedals since 2000), when I was getting a constant left rudder deflection when the pedals were at rest in their center position. I re-calibrated repeatedly in the Windows Game Controllers panel, with varying results (sometimes it made the problem worse, sometimes better, but never completely fixed the problem). Today I learned that the CH Control Manager 3.0 exists, so I downloaded it to try it's calibration routine. Unfortunately it hasn't fixed the problem. Everytime I calibrate it it's always off to one direction or the other. What's more is that the raw data readout looks erratic as I move the pedals. The number for the Z axis jumps all over the place. I'm assuming it's supposed to show a linear progression from zero to 255 as I see w/ the toe brakes (X and Y axes). Can someone render some assistance? Thanks!

[Null_â„¢]

Yo,

You very well may have a bad potentiometer. I have a set of gameport Pro Pedals that do the same thing. They are always drifting a bit and I have to apply slight pressure to the left rudder pedal.

Someone suggestested to me once that my pedals were working as intended because applying slight pressure to the left pedal is what helicopter pilots have to do because of rear rotor torque. I don't know if that's true or not.

I never did fix the pedals. They are collecting dust and are soon to be consigned to the scrap heap.

Regards,

Null_â„¢

[MichaelCHProd]

Strider_EB

What are the values you see when you move the rudder axis back and forth in the Test Screen now?

Are you using a USB hub?

What chipset is your USB host controller?

Where did you get the Pedals?

Where are you?


Null_

What version of Windows are you seeing this in?

How long have you had your game port pedals?

Are you still looking to get them up and running or have you moved on to bigger and better with USB controllers?

[Null_â„¢]

Michael,

Win98SE

6 yrs. - actually got them from CH Products that way; RMA.

Moving on to USB soon - Fighterstick & Pro Throttle 1st; Pro Pedals soon enough.

Regards,

Null_â„¢

[MichaelCHProd]

Run JCENTER and tell me what the numbers look like for the pedals.

[Bob Church]

One note on pedals. Windows does not and never has attempted to calibrate a center position on anything but the X and Y axes. For pedals, it just collects the minimum and maximum values and assumes the center is halfway in between. If your pedals seem to calibrate okay, you're just lucky in that they happen to land close enough to the mid-value that they don't cause problems.

If all you fly is Flight Simulator, FSUIPC will calibrate them. If you use Win98, the CTJF utility on my website may sort them out for you. The Control Manager drivers will calibration center if you use those. If you must use Windows calibration, the only thing you can do is to miscalibrate. It's a little hit or miss, but after a couple of tries you can usually get it to line up. The trick is to calibrate normally and then see which way the pedals want to drift. If they tend towards the left, recalibrate but don't push the right pedal all the way forward.

What happens is this. Suppose your pedals are delivering 0 at full left, 255 at full right, and 110 when they're centered. Windows will pick up the 0 and the 255 okay. The midpoint, 128 (more or less) will be assumed to be the center value. Our test pedals are delivering 110, so to Windows it seems that their 18 counts left of center and so it drifts left. If you calibrate and only push the right pedal out until the value is 220 though. Windows gets 0 and 220 and when it splits the difference it comes up with 110. That matches your real center value and so you go straight. You might have to make a couple of attempts, but you can usually get it lined up okay.

There's another problem that affects analog pedals, but for USB that's the main one.

Hope this helps!

- Bob

The StickWorks
http://www.stickworks.com

[Strider_EB]

Originally posted by MichaelCHProd@Apr 4 2004, 09:27 PM
Strider_EB

What are the values you see when you move the rudder axis back and forth in the Test Screen now?

Are you using a USB hub?

What chipset is your USB host controller?

Where did you get the Pedals?

Where are you?


Null_

What version of Windows are you seeing this in?

How long have you had your game port pedals?

Are you still looking to get them up and running or have you moved on to bigger and better with USB controllers?
Hi Michael,

I'll answer your questions in turn:

"What are the values you see when you move the rudder axis back and forth in the test screen now?"

Okay, sitting at rest right now the rudder axis reads 135. The Z-axis graphic display shows the ball one full square above the center line. Moving the left pedal full forward gives a reading of 82, and letting it fall back to the center again gives 82, although a couple of other numbers flashed by on the way down. Moving the right pedal full forward gives 233, and then it displays 208 when it falls back to center.

I'll repeat the test again. Moving left full-forward gives 14, falling back to center gives 82. Moving full forward gives 82, falling back to center gives 82. These numbers aren't making much sense to me after reading the ranges that Bob Church mentioned.


"Are you using a USB hub?"

Yes I am.


"What chipset is your USB host controller?"

I'm seeing three USB host controllers in my Device manager, one is titled "NVIDIA PCI to USB Enchanced Host Controller." The other two are titled "Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller." I checked the properties and couldn't find any chipset information. Could you tell me more about what exactly I should look for?


"Where did you get the pedals?"

I think I got them from Amazon.com. I have to admit I'm not 100% sure because I got them back in 2000 and I've changed my account since then so I'm unable to go back and check.


"Where are you?"

I live in Indianapolis, IN.


I hope this gives you some useful information. I'm looking forward to hearing your insights. Thanks for responding so quickly!

[MichaelCHProd]

You wouldn't happen to have access to another PC would you?

[Strider_EB]

Originally posted by MichaelCHProd@Apr 5 2004, 07:50 AM
You wouldn't happen to have access to another PC would you?
No, I'm afraid I don't.

[MichaelCHProd]

Then the only thing I can think of is to issue you a RMA number so you can send them in for us to look at. Send me and e-mail and I will get it going.