Calibrating the Pots

Important

Before you use your controls, it's necessary to calibrate the pots. This is really a simple process that places the dials of your pots at the proper settings. Without doing this, you'll get really weird responses from your wheel and pedals. You're going to need a meter for this and it need not be anything  too spectacular. I use a pocket multimeter that I bought at Radio Shack for about $25. It's digital, which gives more accurate readings than the analog type but, either kind will do the job.

The Wheel

The dial of the wheel pot has to be at the middle of its total calibration when the wheel is at the neutral position. First, loosen one of the setscrews on the PVC pipe that connects the wheel pot and the wheel shaft. Then attach the meter to the two leads of the pot and take a reading with the dial turned all the way to the left and then all the way to the right. You should get something like 2.1 to 89 ohms of resistance at the two extremes. Don't worry if your readings are slightly different from this, but they should be in that range. The mid point is around 43.5, which is where you want the dial set when the wheel is at rest (neutral position). Try to get as close to this as possible, then tighten the setscrew and you're done. As long as the amount of resistance is relatively the same for both left and right turns , you're okay.

The Pedals.....Single Axis

First, loosen the arms from the two pots so that you can turn the dials without turning the arms. Attach your meter to the gas pot leads and adjust it to read around the middle of its calibration. If it's like mine, this would be about 43 Kohms. Then, do the same with the brake pot and set it at the maximum amount of resistance, about 89 ohms. Tighten the arms back to the pots and check your readings. You might have to redo this several times to get it right, but be patient. As long as your readings are close, everything will be fine. Next, attach your meter to the disconnect plug that hooks up the pedals to the wheel. With both pedals up, or at rest, the reading should be anywhere from 110-120 Kohms. When the gas is pressed all the way down, it should be 150-160 Kohms and 70-80 Kohms when the brake is pressed all the way down. Again, these readings are approximate and you may find slight differences with your pots.  Just try to get the two pedals to read the same "amount " of resistance from the neutral position readings. For example, if your neutral reading is 110 and the gas pedal reads 150 when pressed down, then you want to try for a reading of 70 with the brake pedal pressed down. The gas and brake readings will then be both 40 from the neutral position of 110. If you've done all of this to your satisfaction, then plug it in and fire it up!

Dual Axis

Since it's possible to use the entire resistance range of each pot in dual axis wiring, you may set them both to full left when the pedals are at rest. Note: If you intend to switch back and forth from single to dual axis, configure the pots as you would for single axis.

Configuration problem?

If you can't get Windows 95/98 to recognize your wheel, Here's a good tip that I got from Alison Hine's   "Eagle Woman" webpage - To persuade Windows to recognize your wheel, add a clutch pot to it. You don't have to actually add a physical pedal, just a pot wired to the wheel satisfies windows need for a forth axis...works like a charm!

Also, try Thrustmaster's Home Page, and download a utility called ProPanel, in the Support section. This program will be added to your Control Panel, and can be used instead of Game Controller.