My RailDriver has a "hair trigger"

[RoadMaster259]

I've owned my RDCC for about six months. I use it exclusively with MSTS. Oddly enough, I find that the throttle control has a "hair trigger." It will jump two notches, going higher than I desire. It also changes notches all by itself, especially when the train experiences a change in grade (uphill or down). If I move the throttle control even the slightest bit to get to the next notch, it starts bouncing between two notches. I find it very difficult (and annoying) to get the throttle response to stay put. I've calibrated and re-calibrated and re-calibrated the unit, but to no avail.

Most commonly, this oddity occurs with diesels that have throttle positions of 6%, 12%, 24%, 38% and on up. It will jump from 6% to 24%, making it very tough to set the throttle control to 12%. I experience this oddity with all diesels that use the Dash 9 configuration. The GP-38 configuration does not have this issue.

I'm at a loss here. Any suggestions from the Gurus at TrainSim.Com would be very much appreciated. Thank-you kindly for your help.

FYI: I drive only diesel engines, since I live right beside the CP Line in the Elk Valley of BC. I love the rolling thunder as they push their way past my back yard on their way to the Crowsnest Pass.

[sniper297]

http://raildriver.com/support/raildriver.php#msts

In particular, scroll down to the bottom at the part about editing the def file to tweak the parse interval settings. Often in MSTS tho, RD can get twitchy or cause jerking animation if FSAA or anisotropic filtering interfere with it reading the F5 HUD, and/or video card driver problems. I can't count how many times I've fixed assorted problems by installing the latest video or sound drivers. OTOH, sometimes that causes problems that weren't there before if you download a driver that was released yesterday, so best to catch one after the bugs have been squashed.

Whatever you do it will probably still have "jumping" problems with low value numbers, IIRC I was hacking the 3Dtrains Whitcomb 30 ton and couldn't get RD to accept the real world notch settings. The geep hacks I made long ago probably still have the same trouble (playing with railsim now, haven't fiddled much with MSTS in the last year), jumping directly from notch 1 to notch 3 so you have to advance to notch 3 and pull it back to notch 2. Then to get back into notch 1 you have to close the throttle and advance it again since it wants to jump directly to idle from notch 2. It don't "hunt" on my system tho, best I remember.

[RoadMaster259]

Your suggestion was right on the money. I reduced the parse interval from 40 to 30 and it solved my problem. I figured I should have a look at the video card settings (I'm using an Nvidia GeForce 6200) and lo and behold both the antialiasing and anistropic filters were both set to "application defined." I switched them off and now my graphics are smoother, too. You're a genius, Sniper297.

Thanks a million!

[sniper297]

Glad it worked, but go easy on the compliments or you'll give me a swelled head. I might even start thinking I'm the god of coconuts and tell people to bow down before me. Uh-oh, now look what you did!

[RailDriver_Dan]

GOC,

I bow down before you. Thank you for all the help you offer our users.

[sniper297]

Heya Dan, long time! When are youse guys gonna fix the railsim MWII so we can drive the BR294? Currently that's the only rail simulator engine not working for me, seems like the combined throttle/brake handle is fighting with the autobrake for control and it gets all squirrely.



Mix of old and new, BR294 still the only engine I need the keyboard for. GOTTA have my Raildriver! Best money I ever spent, still going strong after all these years even after I did a chop job on it.





How's Tim doing, haven't heard from him in a while?

[RailDriver_Dan]

Thanks for the screen shot. It's great to see Tim's RD loco idling in your roundhouse. He's keeping very busy with TrainMaster projects and I understand he's working on some new stuff at home for RailWorks.

I will ask the guys to have another look at the BR294.

Have you dabbled your toes in the RailWorks waters yet?

Your RailDriver mod still makes me cringe, but I'm glad it works for you.

Are those Atlantic or Pacific coconuts?

[RailDriver TS]

Thanks Dan, Yes Jim I am still here but have been really busy what with one thing or another, Playing with Railworks in my "spare" Time

[RailDriver_Rocco]

sniper297,

I just tried the BR294 and its working for me but send me an email at [email protected] and lets see if we can troubleshoot the issue.

[sniper297]

Heya Tim! Somebody stole your siggy! Well, glad to hear you're alive and kickin' still, lot of the old MSTS pioneers have faded out.

Dan, I bought two RD consoles back in 2003, both have survived attempts by 12 grandkids and a bunch of canines to destroy them. When I first bought them I had a border collie pup who would jump in the kid's backyard wading pool and get soaking wet, streak into the house and jump on my computer desk and lay on top of the Raildriver console. So I suspect my warranty was void after the first month anyway, if you don't have a border collie clause in the warranty maybe you should have. Love at first heft for me, I always hated cheap plastic joysticks that blew off the desk when you opened a window, the solid rugged design of the RD console alone makes it well worth the price.

Have you dabbled your toes in the RailWorks waters yet?

Wouldn't call it dabbling my toes, more like diving in the deep end.

https://www.trainsim.com/vbts/showthread.php?t=283253

If they ever fix the AI traffic I'll make this baby ROCK, at the moment I'm stuck making pretty scenery and repainting cars.



Atlantic or Pacific Bottom pic in that same thread, it's Cajun Ron's MSTS 4-4-2 Atlantic converted for Railsim. Got a few MSTS cars and engines converted to railsim, mostly by Dick Cowen.

Rocco, incoming email, stand clear of the impact area.