Configuring JRK 12v12

So, I have followed a guide that was posted in a thread on this website on how to configure the JRK units.

https://www.xsimulator.net/community/threads/playseat-to-2-dofseat.5401/page-2#post-56352

When I get to the last part of the guide and click on detect motors I get a message that says "center the output, then click ok".

Now, I have tried to position the lever in the center position and click okay, but this has not worked out. I am a bit lost on what to do next because I have not found a lot online regarding this issue. Maybe someone in these forums can help me out with this issue. Okay, for now I will get some rest as I been working on this thing for too long.

Hi @James Farrar,
Not only the lever needs to be in the center position, but especially the potentiometer. Maybe you need to loosen it from the axis, turn it until the pot line in the JRK utility is in the middle of the diagram, and then tighten the pot again.

Yes, I think this is my issue. I don't know which one is the pot line. I'm guessing feedback?

Actually, I think I might have another problem. I might have connected the pot to the JRK in the wrong way. On my pot there are three pins labled GND, V out, and +5v. I connected the GND to the GND. The V out to the 5v (regulated output), and the +5v to the top right pin that is the feedback input.

Yes, you may have to switch the "V out" and the "+5 V" pins.

About the curve: Yes, I guess it is the one labeled "Feedback", but it is easy to find out: Assumed that the pot is wired correctly, just turn the pot and watch which curve is changing.

As @MarkusB mentioned, you have a couple wire reversed. +5V on the pot needs to go to +5V on the JRK. Vout on the pot is the variable voltage providing feedback to the JRK. I think you are using the same hall effect position sensor (basically a fancy potentiometer) as I am, so here are my notes of how that particular part worked when wired up correctly.

Pot: TT Electronics 6127V1A180L.5FS - http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?keywords=987-1392-ND

What I'm calling the 0 degree position is the flat on the shaft facing directly opposite the anti-rotation pin and Vout pin. I'm working with a clockwise rotation.

0-90 degrees = Constant low voltage 0.21 V
90-270 degrees = Voltage increases with clockwise rotation to 4.88 V
270-360 degrees = Constant high voltage of 4.88 V
Once the pot hits the 360/0 degree mark, it makes a sudden drop from 4.88 to 0.21 V

This is a nice setup, since it means if you overrun your 180 degree range of motion, you have an extra 90 degrees before something ugly happens.

My second hall effect pot was just a tiny bit different, with a 0.21 to 4.84 V range.

Thanks for all the help. I am still having some problems with this. I reversed those two wires so now I have the 5v into the 5v and the out going into the feedback on the top right pin of the jrk. So everything is powered up and I go into the config and turn the pot but I see the feedback line all the way at the top. No matter how I turn the pot it doesn't change position. Maybe there is something wrong with the pot or the wire?

Another thing it might be is the soldering that I did. I did have a problem with one of the JRK's not being able to receive the power from the power supply so I tried re-soldering one the the connections that didn't look like it had enough contact with the board and that seemed to solve the problem. I'm guessing that might the same issue here. I will take a screenshot of the jrk config and a pic of the back of the JRK.

So, I tried the two pots on the other JRK unit and they seem to work. I can see the feedback line get close to zero and then shoot way back up at the top. Makes me think I have no issues with the pots or the wiring. I probably just need to recheck the soldering connections on the other JRK. Anyways, here is a screenshot of what it shows me. Hopefully I can get some time to sort this issue out and be up and running soon. Thanks again guys.

I was wondering if anyone could help me sort this issue out. Here is a screenshot of what happens when I try to click on detect motor. In the plot I can see the feedback line and it changes depending on how I rotate the pot. Everything seems good there. What I thought of the center is between 100% and 0% on the graph. It looks like the feedback is between the 60% and 40% line so that looks good to me. This is also aligned to the center position of the lever. When I rotate the lever to the max up position I can see the feedback line shoot down to 20% and when I rotate the lever to it's max down position I can see it shoot up to 80%. Everything seems good to go to me at this point. However, I still have the same issue when I click on detect motor it comes back and tells me to center the output. I have the lever in the center position and the pot in the 50% position on the graph. So, I need some some help to figure this out.

I'm stuck at work for the time being. I guess I can use this time to go read over the user manual.

So, the feedback line needs to be at 0%? That's the center? The reason I thought 50% was the center was because anytime I rotate the pot sensor it goes down to 0% and then shoots back up to 100%. It never drops below 0% and into the negative bottom half of the graph.

I used this tutorial posted by eaorobbie and entered all the values that it showed.

https://www.xsimulator.net/community/threads/playseat-to-2-dofseat.5401/page-2#post-56352

So, from what I understand I need to tweak some of the coefficients found under the PID Tab?

Hi @James Farrar,
no, the center position is definitely at 50% as you assumed.

I also did my configuration with the tutorial you mentioned, and it worked. The only difference is probably that I am using a regular pot instead of a hall effect sensor. I have no experience with hall effect sensors. Maybe they need to be handled differently?
@cgodwin: You explained the behavior of your sensor. But is there anything else to be considered in comparison to usual pots?

Thanks for the replies. As soon as I get back home after work I'll post screen shots of all the configuration settings.

Here are some screenshots of my settings.

Hey, So I been toying around with the JRK utility program and I managed to get it setup. Sort of... I reset everything back to factory defaults after I centered the hall sensor and that seemed fix my issue with getting the prompt to center my output. The motor kicks slightly and and I can move the motor through simtools.

Here is the problem that I have now. As I move the slider for the axis the motion is not smooth at all, and after awhile the power supply to the JRK disconnects. I noticed on the back of my PSU the green light for the power goes out and I have to unplug and plug in the PSU again to have it come back on. After that I can go back to the Simtools program and move the motor again.

When I get some more time tomorrow I will have to resolder some of the pins on the other and JRK. Hopefully after I do that I can set up the other axis.

Today I got some time check the other JRK unit out. I resoldered the ground pins that seemed loose. That seemed to do the trick because once I plugged everything back up I could see the feedback line move up and down the graph. I also went to home depot to buy a new rod as I bent one of them testing the motor out. I also picked up some brackets to replace the ones holding the roll axis rod to the frame.

I have been doing some more work configuring simtools and the JRK utility. I seem to have it sorted it out for the most part. I got it working somewhat with DCS World. I'm still working through how to get the pitch, roll, heave, and surge configured properly. I managed to somewhat set up roll and pitch. However, the movements are not very extreme.

Does anyone have a link or can point me in the right direction to sort out the game engine settings for DCS? I would like to get something setup to have pitch, roll, heave, and surge working.

Anyways, here is the link that gave me the idea that I needed to reset to default settings in the JRK configuration utility after I got the hall effect sensors centered.

https://www.xsimulator.net/community/threads/these-jrks-are-taking-the-pid.6390/

Yes, that looks like what I'm searching for. Thank you so much!

Here is a link of the thing actually working in Simtools.

Hey, the link you sent me about building a profile. It seems to me that it is geared more towards building a profile from a racing simulator perspective. I say this because it mentions that pitch and roll are the least important in the simulator. I'm building my motion simulator with working with flight simulators in mind so I would assume that getting the pitch and roll axis sorted out would be the most important. Then followed by surge and heave. I'm pretty new to this whole world so I was interested in getting your opinion or anyone else opinion.