VKB NXT Gladiator Encoder Wheels and FC

[Odovacer]

Good day pilots. I have the above joystick and I've been trying to program the radiator and mixture controls to the encoders on the base, but they won't take. I presume its because they are neither true axes nor buttons. I can get the Settings to see that they can go up and down and they get assigned as two buttons each (up/down), but they don't function as such in game.  I guess it's where the encoders are wheels without zero and max positions?

 

Does anyone use the encoders in Flying Circus?

 

 

EDIT: PS. The above pic is from the VKB website. Both of mine show as En1 and En2. No SW1.

Edited May 26, 2023 by Odovacer

[Zappatime]

Hi, I’ve just got a Gladiator, I’d set the righthand encoder (En1) as the ‘pilot head zoom’ and also as ‘external camera zoom’, as ‘external camera zoom’ its operation was fine - the same change rate as using the mouse wheel, but as ‘pilot head zoom’ the rate of change was microscopic, so it could be the settings you have using these are actually working but at very little rate of change for each ‘pulse’ of the encoder. I dont know if you can vary the rate in the VKB configurator software, I’ve not got round to trying that yet. Other than the odd ‘pilot head zoom’ rate I’ve not noticed anything untoward with the Gladiator, I’m very impressed with its quality build and finish.

 

P.S. I use 5 encoders on a diy build button box for prop rpm, engine mixture, aileron trim, rudder trim, elevator trim.

Edited May 27, 2023 by Zappatime

[Odovacer]

6 hours ago, Zappatime said:

Hi, I’ve just got a Gladiator, I’d set the righthand encoder (En1) as the ‘pilot head zoom’ ... so it could be the settings you have using these are actually working but at very little rate of change for each ‘pulse’ of the encoder. I dont know if you can vary the rate in the VKB configurator software, I’ve not got round to trying that yet. 

 

P.S. I use 5 encoders on a diy build button box for prop rpm, engine mixture, aileron trim, rudder trim, elevator trim.

Thanks for that. That is something I will look into i.e. the rate of change for the encoder. Interesting that you do use it for engine mixture that is one function I want. To tell the truth, I haven't tried that yet as I've only been flying the Albie which doesn't need the mixture control, just the radiator.

 

I appreciate you taking the time to answer. And for the record, I'm loving my Gladiator NXT. 

[Zappatime]

I think the setting in il2bos for the likes of zoom (in/out), trim (up/down), etc is expecting just two different consecutive key presses; with the encoders - if you are not careful you can rotate the encoder wheel enough to send 2 (or more) ‘up’ pulses which the game setup reads as the 2 inputs it is was expecting, so check on your settings page that you have not got the likes of ‘joystick_1 bX/joystick_1 bX’ instead of the correct ‘joystick_1 bX/joystick_1 bY’, i.e. that ‘X’ & ‘Y’ are a different number button, not the same.  
 

The encoder (en1) has a very fine incremental notching to it so its easy to rotate it to do 2 or more pulses in one direction instead of just one ‘click’ of the notching. If I recall correctly, il2bos’ set up has settings for trim as alternatives, either (1) a +/- setting on one line (where its expecting one input for (+) then one input for (-)), or (2) 2 separate settings on 2 individual lines, (one for , say, ‘+ mix’ and one for ‘-mix’), I use the former option, but it does mean its easy to accidentally put the same input in twice for the 2 expected readings. Engine mix, engine rpm, etc have just the setting in one line for +/- inputs.

 

The encoders I used on my button box have a much coarser notching, so not much chance of screwing up doing a ‘double’ input. Hope this helps.

Edited May 28, 2023 by Zappatime

[Odovacer]

I finally got them working. Not sure how. I did a re-calibration on the joystick among other things. Both the mixture and the radiator.

 

On 5/27/2023 at 4:18 PM, Zappatime said:

... but as ‘pilot head zoom’ the rate of change was microscopic, so it could be the settings you have using these are actually working but at very little rate of change for each ‘pulse’ of the encoder. I dont know if you can vary the rate in the VKB configurator software, I’ve not got round to trying that yet. Other than the odd ‘pilot head zoom’ rate I’ve not noticed anything untoward with the Gladiator, I’m very impressed with its quality build and finish.

 

You weren't kidding about microscopic changes. I need about 5 detents worth of movement for 1% in game. Functional, but barely. I've dropped a line on the VKB forum to see if there are adjustments I can make.

18 hours ago, Zappatime said:

I think the setting in il2bos for the likes of zoom (in/out), trim (up/down), etc is expecting just two different consecutive key presses; with the encoders - if you are not careful you can rotate the encoder wheel enough to send 2 (or more) ‘up’ pulses which the game setup reads as the 2 inputs it is was expecting, so check on your settings page that you have not got the likes of ‘joystick_1 bX/joystick_1 bX’ instead of the correct ‘joystick_1 bX/joystick_1 bY’, i.e. that ‘X’ & ‘Y’ are a different number button, not the same.  

The encoder (en1) has a very fine incremental notching to it so its easy to rotate it to do 2 or more pulses in one direction instead of just one ‘click’ of the notching. If I recall correctly, il2bos’ set up has settings for trim as alternatives, either (1) a +/- setting on one line (where its expecting one input for (+) then one input for (-)), or (2) 2 separate settings on 2 individual lines, (one for , say, ‘+ mix’ and one for ‘-mix’), I use the former option, but it does mean its easy to accidentally put the same input in twice for the 2 expected readings. Engine mix, engine rpm, etc have just the setting in one line for +/- inputs.

 

The encoders I used on my button box have a much coarser notching, so not much chance of screwing up doing a ‘double’ input. Hope this helps.

 No, I have two discrete buttons for up/down for each. I made sure of that. 23/24 I think and 25/26. Yeah, easy to advance more than you expect though. There is a bit of a delay if I input too many at once as the game adjustments catch up, but the game results do go in the desired direction. Thanks for the assist.

[Zappatime]

Glad you got it working. I had a quick look at the configurator software, after watching this: 

 I didn’t see anything about the encoder, specifically, so no wiser ??The software looks very powerful if not intuitive!

 

There is a manual that covers all the VKB products, in pdf format, that I’ve downloaded but not had chance to check it out yet. Happy flying! 
Keith

 

edit: Manual download: https://flightsimcontrols.com/2021/05/14/vkb-njoy32-controller-manual-v-2-15/

Edited May 31, 2023 by Zappatime

[Odovacer]

Still working on it. Funny thing is, the encoder wheel works best kind in the Cliffs of Dover Blitz sim. I get a response with every click of the encoder wheel. So, it seems to be a FC issue, not a hardware issue.