CH HOTAS axis spiking

I have a CH HOTAS + pedals setup, but there is one thing that irritates the hell out of me - throttle spiking. The throttle sometimes jitters and the same thing happens with the wheel on the Fighterstick which I use for zooming. I know what you are all gonna say - bad pots. Well... How about NO!

I had the same problem with my previous HOTAS the X-52, the turn knobs I used for zoom were always bouncing, but I figured it's not top of the line gear, the pots probably get old. I did not investigate even though this issue occurred only in DCS.

Now CH is another matter - they use quality pots and this should not happen (it's 5 months old). But the view still bounces and the throttle sometimes bounces. I was ignoring the issue, but today was the last straw. I checked the axis calibration - rock solid stable. I checked with Dxtweak - rock solid stable. Every other game - rock solid stable. Not a twitch, no jitter, not a point up and down. So I go back into DCS, zoom my view a little and the disco is on again until I find the sweet spot.

What I am trying to say is - it's not the hardware - it's DCS. It either cannot precisely read controller inputs, or something else is screwed. :mad:

I think it's more to do with 'filtering'....as in, in DCS there isn't any filtering going on. In FSX and others there is definitely filtering going on which smooths out the input data somewhat. DCS reads the values 'raw'.

On the upside, if you're using Hall Sensors the input is 100% solid.

If you used a calibration tool to view the raw output from the CH stuff, I'm certain you'd see that same jitter. At the end of the day, they're only pots.

I checked with Dxtweak - rock solid stable.

As I have already stated, I used a calibration tool. The RAW input was NOT jittering.:mad:

sorry, I missed the part where you said you'd already used DXTweak. You're absolutely certain that you didn't see any Jitter whatsoever in DXTweak? Move the controller *slowly* through it's range of motion. If the values in there are flickering between values that's your jitter.

If you don't see any jitter whatsoever then I'd consider donating those particular pots to science ;)

If I use DXTweak and compare my Saitek Pedals (pots) to the TM Warthog (Halls) the difference is plain as day.

I have already done all that, DXTweak does not indicate any spiking whatsoever. The fact that they are pots does not mean they are crap, they just have smaller resolution than Halls. As I have mentioned, this an almost new HOTAS. Also Saitek does not use quality pots, they are better than Logitech, but hardly close to CH stuff.

What do your values do in Control Manager? What range do they go to/from in the calibration screen? What's your in game frame rate?

CM shows the same as DXTweak, axis go full range, no issue, no spiking, no numbers bouncing. Framerate is good 30+ FPS all the time. I was also looking into USB poling rates. I have a Razer Deathadder mouse with a refresh rate of 1000. After setting this to 500, the zoom axis seems to spike a little less in DCS, but it might as well be a placebo effect. Any ideas?

maybe set curves? I had this before, set curves, re-calibrated using CM, now its good.

You mean the curves in the CM?

no in DCS. around the spikes. I think its a pots issue, but mine I can't live without. I've saved some money for another CH round in case all 3 fail. I'm not a fan of TMWH although hall effect is cool, I live in Egypt, and if I order from friends coming over, airport security would give a big (****en) face and may not even allow it, or even screw up the magnetization by the big assed metal detectors. CH is far better as a pot. At least changing pots is straightforward, but remagnetizing a sensor needs some factory or specialized equipment which we dont have here. I always use a drawing brush around for cleaning and a damp cloth for polish. Bought since Aug 2012 and still working like first day (because I maintain).

Depending on the age and usage, I recommend cleaning the potis from time to time. I just recently had to clean mine as well. Depending on the software, there was an unpleasant jittering on almost any setting. After cleaningte values are back to normal.

Be advised, though, that opening the housing breaks warranty. :-)