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#3170413 - 01/02/11 09:29 PM "Ideal" TrackIR and monitor placement?
- Ice Offline
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Registered: 06/23/05
Posts: 7543
Loc: Philippines / North East UK
I don't know how this entered my mind but I was thinking of raising my monitor so that the center of the monitor is eye level. At the moment, it sitting on my desk and the top bezel is eye level for me, and TrackIR sits on top of that. One reason I'm contemplating this is that TrackIR loses connection when I look up, so I can't look vertically up in sims, just about 60 degrees or so. It also loses connection when I look down too much, which becomes a trouble for looking at radio frequencies in DCS A10.

So I was wondering if anyone had any ideas about monitor height placement and TrackIR placement. Has anyone tried a TrackIR that was below the monitor?
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#3170486 - 01/02/11 11:59 PM Re: "Ideal" TrackIR and monitor placement? [Re: - Ice]
Slap Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 04/01/03
Posts: 2974
Loc: London UK
Hi Ice. I built a shelf above monitor at the same height as the reflective dots are on my cap(I use the TrackClip on cap). In fact what I did was to fix the TrackIR upside down on the underside of the shelf using small easy-to-bend frame-to-wall fixings...All you need is a pair of pliers to bend the brackets into the desired shape to house the TrackIR legs and a few screws to fix the brackets. It has the advantage of making the TrackIR unit rock solid and as the shelf is connect to the wall there are no vibrations from desk as you pound away with joystick and throttle as you desperately try to evade someone on your six biggrin...Also by having the TrackIR underneath the shelf it frees up the top part completely. Just remembert to turn the TrackIR 180 degrees in the software setup or else you will have to sit upside down biggrin.

You could also just experiment using the software and see what position gives you the best reception.

Another thing you could try is to reduce the head movement by way of the software that is required when you look up/down.

Either way it's worth spending some time/experimenting to find that "TrackIR sweet spot".

Good luck!
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#3170523 - 01/03/11 01:27 AM Re: "Ideal" TrackIR and monitor placement? [Re: - Ice]
IV/JG7trumps Offline
Member

Registered: 05/18/04
Posts: 829
Loc: Perth australia
i run mine on top of my monitor and offset to the left so that it is directly in line with my vector unit on my headset.
seems to work very well.

Craig
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#3170580 - 01/03/11 06:01 AM Re: "Ideal" TrackIR and monitor placement? [Re: - Ice]
- Ice Offline
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Registered: 06/23/05
Posts: 7543
Loc: Philippines / North East UK
Yep, my TrackIR is offset to the left as well. Tried it on center but lost tracking quickly when I turned my head to the left.

Slap, I don't understand why you'd have to turn the TrackIR upside down... any benefits? My desk and monitor are pretty solid and I play with DCS A10 so not much "vibration" problems there. And looking up is only required as I turn into my target, I look up to visually acquire it again as I come in.
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#3171092 - 01/03/11 07:09 PM Re: "Ideal" TrackIR and monitor placement? [Re: IV/JG7trumps]
vocatx Offline
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Registered: 03/29/06
Posts: 1921
Loc: Voca, Texas
Originally Posted By: IV/JG7trumps
i run mine on top of my monitor and offset to the left so that it is directly in line with my vector unit on my headset.
seems to work very well.

Craig


Seems to be a problem with TIR. I've got mine offset to the left as well...
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#3171810 - 01/04/11 05:57 PM Re: "Ideal" TrackIR and monitor placement? [Re: - Ice]
JAMF Offline
Frugalite & P-38 fan
Senior Member

Registered: 05/29/10
Posts: 3520
Loc: The Netherlands
Would be nice if NaturalPoint would make it possible to team up two TrackIR units. Increase accuracy and always tracking 3 dots, even when one unit's view is blocked.

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#3171816 - 01/04/11 06:11 PM Re: "Ideal" TrackIR and monitor placement? [Re: JAMF]
- Ice Offline
Hotshot

Registered: 06/23/05
Posts: 7543
Loc: Philippines / North East UK
Originally Posted By: JAMF
Would be nice if NaturalPoint would make it possible to team up two TrackIR units. Increase accuracy and always tracking 3 dots, even when one unit's view is blocked.


I'd +1 that!
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#3171907 - 01/04/11 09:01 PM Re: "Ideal" TrackIR and monitor placement? [Re: - Ice]
IV/JG7trumps Offline
Member

Registered: 05/18/04
Posts: 829
Loc: Perth australia
But there is no need, just offset it to the side and it works perfect every time if you are using the vector unit, that is unless you are carrying out some radical chair gymnastics, in which case there is no help wink the hat clip or the old single bit of reflective tape may require the centralising of the receiver unit to the Center of the monitor and may be a bit more flakey with response, but then that is why they created the vector unit.

Craig
_________________________
The problem with the World is stupidity. I'm not saying there should be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?

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#3172540 - 01/05/11 04:34 PM Re: "Ideal" TrackIR and monitor placement? [Re: IV/JG7trumps]
JAMF Offline
Frugalite & P-38 fan
Senior Member

Registered: 05/29/10
Posts: 3520
Loc: The Netherlands
Originally Posted By: IV/JG7trumps
But there is no need, ...
I sometimes had the view stuck, from the camera loosing sight of one dot. Think of a GPS unit seeing 4 satellites instead of just 2, where it would need 3. Having two cameras tracking, false reflections are easier to filter out and positional accuracy should be markedly increased. That would be totally worth it to me.

Besides that, with larger and more screens (eyefinity etc.) being bought by the simulation crowd, side to side head movement will increase too. If HMD units were to become affordable, it would be nice to be able to rely on two TrackIR units and not get an extra mems/gyro unit to track the head position.

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#3172884 - 01/06/11 07:39 AM Re: "Ideal" TrackIR and monitor placement? [Re: - Ice]
IV/JG7trumps Offline
Member

Registered: 05/18/04
Posts: 829
Loc: Perth australia
Ah, good point, I had not taken the multi monitor crew into consideration, good point mate smile

Craig
_________________________
The problem with the World is stupidity. I'm not saying there should be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?

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