Steering wheel attachment to spinner

[dirkomatic]

I've got a solution for a 270 wheel, but I really have a desire for a 360 wheel as well.

Personally, I think the mini-wheel for the TT2 is too small for my taste.  Has anyone attached a 10" wheel to a Tornado or anything?  I think this has been discussed before, but I can't seem to find a definitive resolution.

It seems to appear as if it would be strong enough to support a larger wheel, but I'm just judging by the pictures.

Thanks for any help.

[RandyT]

I've got a solution for a 270 wheel, but I really have a desire for a 360 wheel as well.

Personally, I think the mini-wheel for the TT2 is too small for my taste.  Has anyone attached a 10" wheel to a Tornado or anything?  I think this has been discussed before, but I can't seem to find a definitive resolution.

It seems to appear as if it would be strong enough to support a larger wheel, but I'm just judging by the pictures.
 

I think you will find the opposite to be true, but I'll let you be the judge.  The resolution is also insufficient for a steering wheel.

If you want to add a full size wheel, assuming you mean permanently, you would be best off buying the real thing and using a device like an Opti-Wiz to interface it to your PC.

The other possibility is a mount with an actual wheel on it that goes over the TT2 and is connected by a piece of flexible tubing that grips the shaft, transferring motion from the wheel to the spinner.  But that's some extra work...

RandyT

[Turnarcades]

I'm actually planning on doing this myself at some point, as Randy has suggested, using a proper arcade wheel I have that currently has no weighty attachment on it. I will be getting someone to fabricate a similar connection block as the original mini-wheel does and using it as a 360 wheel. Assuming the mechanism is sturdy enough and the mounting of the spinner and wheel are done to avoid angled stresses, there's no reason why it should be a problem for casual gaming.

Randy, didn't I read somewhere you can alter the poll rate in XP somewhere? ok the resolution may not be entirely suitable but maybe toying with the poll rate would help. MAME can adjust the analog sensitivity in-game anyway can't it?

[Underhill]

Changing the poll rate is actually linked right on randy's TT2 page.  Followed the directions for vista 64 and worked perfectly.  I assume the directions for XP are just as easy if not easier. [EDIT: Just checked - Much easier with XP]

Changing Poll Rates

[RandyT]

Randy, didn't I read somewhere you can alter the poll rate in XP somewhere? ok the resolution may not be entirely suitable but maybe toying with the poll rate would help. MAME can adjust the analog sensitivity in-game anyway can't it?

If you are referring to the TT2, then the resolution is quite suitable, but the Tornado has less than 1/6th the resolution, and no amount of polling will change that.

The problem with increasing sensitivity is that you will have, depending on the title, only 1/4 or less of the directions normally available to the player, as the others will sit "between the teeth" on a low res spinner.  This will result in the player needing to "oscillate" the control, much like one would with a joystick, to maintain a heading.  Not so easy to do with a wheel, especially a large one, which requires more surface inches of movement per "tooth" on the encoder.

Imagine if you needed to turn the steering wheel on your real car a full revolution every time you went around a corner.  That's the alternative to "skipping" on a low res spinner.  There are reasons why most, if not all, arcade steering wheels have the same type of gearing found on Arkanoid spinners, and to play the games properly, you need to have something that can do the same thing.

RandyT

[dirkomatic]

I think you will find the opposite to be true, but I'll let you be the judge.  The resolution is also insufficient for a steering wheel.

Please tell me why you think I might find the opposite to be true.  I don't have one, but at 7" (for the large one) my hands seem uncomfortably close together.

If you want to add a full size wheel, assuming you mean permanently, you would be best off buying the real thing and using a device like an Opti-Wiz to interface it to your PC.

I am really considering that.  The Opti-Wiz seems like a great board...  But if I were to get a TT2 and mount it as a spinner could a real wheel be added as the slave (I'm assuming Y-axis; that could be way off) to the board that comes with it?

The other possibility is a mount with an actual wheel on it that goes over the TT2 and is connected by a piece of flexible tubing that grips the shaft, transferring motion from the wheel to the spinner.  But that's some extra work...

I considered that, but I'm not sure I'll have enough vertical room to do that...

[RandyT]

Please tell me why you think I might find the opposite to be true. 

As I stated, you should be the judge.  Examine the construction of the device and apply some basic physics.  Now compare the devices in question to an actual arcade steering wheel control.  You'll see that one has more in common than the other.

But if I were to get a TT2 and mount it as a spinner could a real wheel be added as the slave (I'm assuming Y-axis; that could be way off) to the board that comes with it?

Yes, this can be done on the Y-Axis, just as you surmised.

RandyT