Fed up broke my TrackIR

***Naismith*** · June 24th, 2011, 00:51

Whilst re-organising my desk, stupid insubstantial support swively thing on the contraption snapped off, and then whilst trying a snazzy repair with my Dremel, discovered to my dismay that the plastic base bit melts rather easily. And to think it's only 6 years old. Oldest bit of kit I had. Now it is on top of the monitor with matchsticks supporting it until I can afford a new one. Boo Hoo. So be warned other users, treat it like ... errr a fragile thing.

***emfrat*** · June 24th, 2011, 01:02

Blu-Tak is sometimes Man's best friend...

ATB
MikeW

**skyblazer3** · June 24th, 2011, 01:11

mine has been smashed more times than I can remember. patched together with electrical tape. I have a new clip sitting in a box in the closet.... but I won't pull that one out until this one turns to dust. They are fragile, but you can do wonders with tape.

***Naismith*** · June 24th, 2011, 03:05

Touch wood, but in the absence of anything better I am using my grand-daughters silly putty for the moment and it seems to funtion better than ever....... for the moment of course, famous last words.
Yellow seems the most tactile lol
I don't think the Mrs will tolerate my spending again this month as I just splurged on three Saitek panels, which btw are fantastic bits of kit as long as you dont use the supplied software.

***Naismith*** · June 24th, 2011, 03:08

Originally Posted by emfrat

Blu-Tak is sometimes Man's best friend...

ATB
MikeW

You know I am familiar with Blu-tack from my time in the UK, though I have never consciously seen it in the stores here in Canada. We gotta have it surely. Next stop Home Depot then.....
Thanks for the tips.

***emfrat*** · June 24th, 2011, 03:59

It seems to be a civilised country - I believe they also have wire coat-hangers, another great friend to Mankind.

MikeW

**Timbohobo** · June 24th, 2011, 04:22

Shoddy manufacturing and a fundamental design fault. 6 page thread here http://forum.naturalpoint.com/forum/...t&Number=43804 and no its not a unique event

Easy to fix, nip down to the hardware store and grab:

- 1 x little roll of duck tape / gaffa tape
- 1 plastic nozzle from a tube of silicon (the type used in a caulking gun, they are free)

trim the plastic nozzle with a packing knife to make a 'splint' for the broken arm, then entomb with gaffa

The key feature of the plastic nozzle is that it tapers from top to bottom and so fits the trackclippro like a glove allowing it to still move and oscillate

now I can kick it around freely

**DarrenL** · June 24th, 2011, 04:44

I think he broke the sensor mount not the pro-clip

**Tako_Kichi** · June 24th, 2011, 08:37

Originally Posted by Naismith

You know I am familiar with Blu-tack from my time in the UK, though I have never consciously seen it in the stores here in Canada. We gotta have it surely. Next stop Home Depot then.....
Thanks for the tips.

You can get genuine 'Blu-Tack' here in Canada but it's a bit hard to find. Try somewhere like Staples or your local office supplies outlet.

However, you can easily get 'rip off' material that does exactly the same job and generally costs less and can be found in more places like Walmart, dollar stores etc. It goes by a wide variety of names but is generally called 'Poster Putty' or something similar. It comes in a wide variety of colours too besides the original blue.

I always keep a pack in my desk drawer as it it just so darned useful. Not only can it be used for sticking posters to walls and repairing TIR bases but a small ball stuck on the end of a screwdriver will hold screws when trying to get them into or out of tricky places.

I also use it to hold my Saitek X52 and Saitek yoke/throttle down to my controller stand. Four balls (six on the yoke) the size of a small gumball are placed under each unit and then the units are pressed down onto the stand and the putty holds them with a vice like grip.

***Bone*** · June 24th, 2011, 08:44

When TrackIR goes snafu, that's an inflight emergency as far as I'm concerned. Roll the fire trucks!

***kilo delta*** · June 24th, 2011, 09:02

Originally Posted by Bone

When TrackIR goes snafu, that's an inflight emergency as far as I'm concerned. Roll the fire trucks!

I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I've only used my TrackIR on a handful of occasions. This is probably down to the fact that I answered a knock on the front door one day while wearing my TIR hat complete with sensors attached to the rim. The look of bewilderment on the (very hot) ticketseller was priceless.

Ps...Did I mention she was Hot?...'cos she was!

***OleBoy*** · June 24th, 2011, 09:14

Where there's will, there's always a way to fix it. How about a cell phone mount, or gps mount, or ipod mount? A little velcro on the trackir to fasten it to the mount, and good to go. Of course a clip on mount would be best

I have trackir and I haven't used it but maybe a few times.

***Bone*** · June 24th, 2011, 09:41

Originally Posted by kilo delta

I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I've only used my TrackIR on a handful of occasions.

Originally Posted by OleBoy

I have trackir and I haven't used it but maybe a few times.

When you fly, you have to look around....with your head. Lol.

***Naismith*** · June 24th, 2011, 11:02

Silly putty was just ........ errrr silly I discovered. The lump dried out overnight.
But the Velcro suggestion was pure genius. Thanks Oleboy!

**skyblazer3** · June 24th, 2011, 11:03

I could never fly the computer again without TrackIR. I actually use Freetrack, which is a freeware software that uses a webcam to do the same thing as TrackIR.... but I did buy the TrackIR clip instead of manufacturing my own.

I just can't imagine having to use the mouse or a hat switch to look around when things get busy in the cockpit; especially in combat sims like DCS where every button on the stick is needed.

Good luck fixing the clip.