Ultimarc Aimtrak problem

[androtaz08]

I recently bought the ultimarc aimtrak and had it working within 20 minutes or so. When I wired it up to my gun then the trouble started. Cant seem to get it to calibrate the right way. Iv even tried it with the module complety outside of the gun tip. the mouse cursor is stuck to the left and will only move up and down. When I try to Calibrate the gun I can shoot the upper left and upper right corners but not the bottom. any ideas? it worked the other night seems touchy.

[redpiper1]

I have the exact same problem...I have tried to calibrate this thing at least 60 to 70 times and had problems with it since I first fired it up starting with the calibration either not taking on the bottom or continuously cycling...I contacted them about it with several questions and I'm getting nowhere...What I got last time instead of answers was more along the lines of them being bummed out that their new software wasnt working correctly instead of the $58 lightgun PCB I ordered not working...I should have just went with a "Top Gun" but didnt want all that harware hanging off my TV...The new utility (version 1.4) has a tab so you can check the tracking signal strength of the gun module and LED board...Funny thing is this thing is installed exactly the way it shows on the website but when I aim at the screen the "red ball" tracks left when I move right and tracks up when I move the gun down and that surprised the ultimarc people...What OS are you running ? I'm on XP Pro and wonder if its an issue with that...Like you said I can only get this thing to show up on the left side of the screen and it only tracks up and down and even then its about 4" below the gun so not even accurate there...I had high hopes for this module but I'm very quickly losing my patience...They probably wont even take it back because its been installed and it'll cost like $25 to send it back to the UK...I'll probably just cut my losses and go with the TOP GUN II and leave a rare (for me) very interesting review...Good luck and let me know if you could if you get it running...

[northerngames]

did you assighn it as a device to the pc first?

then did you update the firmware to the most current?

then did you manually calibrate through the software included in the aimtrak folder?

[redpiper1]

Yes, yes, and yes...Several times still no luck...Even tried again about 5 times but had to stop because my wife is getting pissed at me for swearing at the TV...

[northerngames]

I would contact andy from ultimarc if you cannot get a reply there try here by pm as he is a member here too.

I have two mounted in the arcade peacemakers and just love them I had the topguns prior and act-labs and they all were junk compared to these so either it is malfunctioned or something is not setup right or something but when you do get them going you wont want anything else.

[redpiper1]

Thanks for the info...I have been in contact with Andy and he was interested in my issue because the "red ball" in the IR signal test part of the utility was  moving in the opposite direction of where I was moving the gun....I do have the PCB installed correctly "right side up" so he didnt know why that was happening...He did offer to call me but with them being in the UK and me in the states the time differnece wouldnt work out...I'm guessing my cell phone bill would be HUGE also...I'm trying to get a video together for him but I just cant seem to get the camera to focus on the screen while I'm holding the gun at the same time...I also have an act labs gun for my cab with a CRT monitor and thought it was very accurate, just cant stand the flashing...Im running this out to my 46" flat screen LCD and wondering if its an issue with that or my OS...I'm just really bummed that this thing isnt calibrating and about to ask for a refund or put the gun on Ebay and give up the idea of a light gun until I get my cab back in the house and running again...

[ZeroPoint]

About the calibration problem:

I am pretty (100%) sure that your problem is caused by incorrect led installation. If you have problems with the bottom calibration point, the camera doesn´t see the single led on the right properly. The leds MUST point towards the camera (as described on the Ultimarc website) and if you have installed them in a bezel I would recommend a minimum of 2.5 mm (1/10 inch) of the leds sticking out.

About the red dot:

The red dots moves in the opposite direction because the sensor view show what the camera sees.   This is the way it is supposed to be.

The aimtrak is a very good (most probably the best) gun system for the PC right now so I hope you get them working right.

[AndyWarne]

Just to add: I have replied to all the questions sent by email by the OP. I did not state that the dot moving in the opposite direction was incorrect, this is, as the poster above correctly states, is because it is the view as seen by the sensor.

So there does appear to be some misunderstandings here. The comment I made was concerned with the fact I was worried that the OP could not sucessfully calibrate even with the additional diagnostic tool of the sensor image view. I am awaiting the OP to get back to me by email so we can continue the troubleshooting process.

Andy

[northerngames]

yeah that is another thing make sure the leds are pointing directly were you stand at and also make sure there is no bright lights on in the back ground during calibration setup.

if you already had bent the leds to face you check the solder joints to make sure none of the led legs have a crack in their solder joints.

[redpiper1]

Andy,
Thanks for getting back...Just so there is no misunderstanding I didnt mean to imply that the module is junk...I'm sure it's not. It's just not working...I'm the guy that's been emailing you about the problems I've been having with the unit and was not told in the email that that's the way the red ball is supposed to work..I was not told that that this is normal...I was told that you were particularly interested in my issue as this is a test of that addition to the utility...It may be an issue that I have not bent the LED's to face the gun but what I have done this past weekend is with every attempt at calibration I would place a thin wedge behind the bar to slowly point the bar toward the camera...I have looked at the website info about the lightgun module several times just to make sure I wasn't missing something. I have seen the section on bending the LED's to face the gun but I wasn't going to attempt to do that until I was sure of where the bar should be placed...I have started with the LED's facing straight out and added wedges behind the bar until they were practically facing straight down and nothing..I'm still getting either continuous cycling of the pointer or continuous pointer running to the bottom of the screen and the pointer only running top to bottom on the left side of the screen...I have to unplug the the gun to get it from being stuck on the left side...I have checked several times to make sure the LED's are working with my digital camera...I even just for the heck of it tested my gun with a USB Wii sensor and was able to get the pointer to jump all over the screen..I know a Wii sensor will not work with the PCB but it showed me that it wont stay on the left side if I am able to calibrate it...One answer I never got in email was is it normal the the three little diodes to the right of the bar are getting extremely hot ? I read snippet on some obscure posting on another forum is the LED sensors can get "confused" if there is too much heat coming out of the top of the monitor...I have tried to locate that post again but just cant find it...That was the same forum that I read that there were issues with XP but again, I cant find that forum. If I remeber correctly those posts were made in 2009.
Thanks

[redpiper1]

OK I got this baby working...Found out it wasn't in the utility or the the PCB & sensor bar...Andy from Ultimarc sensed that I was feeling quite unhappy about the lightgun module and this morning offered a refund and I told him I wanted to goof around with it a little more before we went that route and bam it calibrated...So this is the key: ask for a refund and it will calibrate...Ha ha just kidding...I read another post where a guy thought maybe his monitor was on too much of an angle..Ive got a computer running out to my 46" flat screen LCD and it is tilted toward the floor as far as it will go...So I leveled the TV parallel to the wall and bingo it calibrated...I'm not totally sure this is the answer so I'll test it tonight...

[redpiper1]

Tested it last night with the LCD TV flat to the wall and tilted on the wall...It wouldn't calibrate with the TV tilted at all so when I tipped back up parallel to the wall it took...I'm not sure why, maybe the bar tilted toward the gun was tilted way too much or maybe the calibration just couldn't figure the distances correctly or something...The sensor view tab picked it up all the time but once and  a while I would get a weak signal at the bottom no matter what distance I stood from the monitor.Then it would cycle back to the upper left and tell me to check the upper left in the utility...The gun PCB is supposed to have a 30 degree view of the LED bar and maybe with the TV tilted I was way over shooting even though it was picked up in the sensor tab...Anyway, that's my in depth scientific theory...Give it a shot and see if it works for you....