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At least a few times a week, I would get the question: "would this cable works with G2?". I can finally answer YES (at least for the non-interlink version).
PICjoy is a joystick emulator software that processes the Serial-PIC protocol and sends the decoded PPM signals (stick positions) to a HID (human interface device) compliant virtual joystick under the Windows environment. PICjoy uses the PPjoy Device Driver (parallel port joystick driver) created by Deon van der Westhuysen (and is free for personal use). You can download both PPJoy and PICjoy using the links above.
From most Windows applications that use the joystick as input, PICjoy will allow using the transmitter and a Serial-PIC protocol interface cable as the controller (such as our popular PIC-Serial and USB cables). Yes it will work with Realflight G2 (non-interlink version) and others. With PICjoy, you can now use the PIC-Serial and USB interfaces with other popular simulators.
Summary of Setting up PICjoy:
- Install PPJoy Drivers
- Create a Virtual Joystick using PPJoy
- Install PICjoy (automatic if you install FMS Additional Scenes)
- Change PICjoy mapping Parameters to match stick motion with joystick axis or buttons
- Calibrate your "joystick" under the Windows Control Panel - Game Controller applet.
Summary of Using PICjoy:
- Run PICjoy [GO]
- Run your Windows application that uses joystick as input, the input from your transmitter will be translated and mapped to axis and buttons on a joystick.
Also important is the PPM channel assignment from your transmitter. Depending on your transmitter type:
PPJoy Drivers
You will need to download and install the PPJoy driver
first. The downloaded file for PPJoy is a zipped file: PPJoySetup.zip.
Extract this file to a temporary location and run the Setup.exe installer
from that location. Please check the above download location (and alternate
location) for installation instructions for PPJoy. For most systems, the
installation will be straight forward (just click OK, then Next, Next,....)
PICjoy
If you
received our latest CD, then PICjoy is automatically installed with the additional
Scenes and Models installation. For users who downloaded the program from our web-site,
just unzip and copy the PICjoy.exe file to any folder, such as the default installation folder of
FMS or BackYard EditionXL.
Creating Virtual Joystick with PPjoy
Before starting PICjoy, a virtual joystick must
be created using PPJoy. If you've installed PPJoy, you can access the
[Parallel Port Joysticks] applet in the Control Panel.
Parallel Port Joysticks applet in Control Panel
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At first start, the Configured joysticks box is empty, click [Add] |
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For the Parallel port section, select [Virtual port]; and for the Controller number, select [Controller 1]. Then click [Add] |
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The installation wizard for [Parallel Port Joystick 1] will start. Click [Next >] |
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At the Windows Logo compatibility warning, click [Continue Anyway] |
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Copying files |
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At the completion of installing [Parallel Port Joystick 1], click [Finish] |
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Then the installation wizard for [HID-compliant game controller] will start. Click [Next >] |
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Copying Files |
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At the completion of installing [HID-compliant
game controller], click [Finish]. You are DONE with creating the Virtual Joystick |
Main PICjoy Screen
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To quit PICjoy, you will neet to [STOP] first |
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PPM Mapping
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Before using the "JoyStick", you must calibrate the joystick travels using the [Game Controllers] Control Panel Applet. You must start PICjoy and click [GO] before running the calibration. It's best if you have PICjoy and Game Controller running next to each other on screen. |
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Select [PPJoy Virtual joystick 1]. This is the Virtual Joystick installed earlier by PPJoy. Then click [Properties] |
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The Virtual Joystick is set up with 8
axis and 16 buttons. Something like the mother of all joysticks. PICjoy will only control 8 axis and 4 buttons, and will only use a total of 8 items (axis + buttons) so some axis and buttons will be be used. However, we still need to go through the entire calibration routine for this monster (virtual) joystick. Some trial and errors may be required for assigning the correct PPM pulse to the appropriate axis or button for proper functions in the final Windows app. At this point, select the [Settings] tab |
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And click [Calibrate] |
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To move to the next Calibration step,
you will need to "press a button" on the joystick. You can do this by:
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If you're flying mode 2, the
first two axis, X and Y, should be the right stick. Depending on your
Transmitter type, the correct PPM channel must be assigned to the
correct Axis. For example, Futaba FM Mode 2 radios: PPM 1►Aileron►X Axis (see Mode 2 Channel Assignment above) Follow the instructions on screen move the stick in complete circles (actually square). |
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The next few steps will
be for calibrating the other Axis, not all of which will be used,
including: Z, X-Rotation, Y-Rotation, Z-Rotation, Slider 1, and Slider
2. Which axis to use and which to skip is a trial and error process, depending on the final Windows application that will be using the "Joystick". For the case of G2, the Throttle should be mapped to Slider 2 (Axis 5); and Rudder should be mapped to Z-rotation (Axis 4)
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Finally, click [Finish] to complete
the Windows Game Controller Calibration. Make sure to click [OK] in the
end to apply the calibration parameters to the system. You are now ready to use your calibrated "Joystick" in most Windows application that accept input from a joystick. |
Please note the only G2 version that will work is the standard version (that accepts input from joystick), not the interlink version.
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Recommended Futaba PICjoy channel
mapping for G2 (other transmitters may be slightly different). Please
note PPM channel 3 (futaba throttle) is mapped to joystick
axis 5. PPM channels 5 to
8 are mapped to buttons 1~4. This will correspond to G2 input channel
5~8 (aux), which are button controls. Also to map your gear (usually PPM5) to button 3 to operate the gear. |
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Before running G2, connect your interface cable to the transmitter, start PICjoy and activate by clicking [GO]. Once you've verified PICjoy is properly receiving the signals, you can turn off [Enable Meters] and minimize PICjoy. |
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Start G2, select the [Options] menu, then [Controller Calibration] to start the Calibration dialogbox. |
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For Controller Type, select [PPJoy
Virtual joystick 1 Joystick] For Stick Mapping, select [Custom] Go through the Calibration step as usual by clicking [Calibrate] |
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If necessary, you can access the [Advanced Setup] for further customization, such as changing the direction of control by checking [Reverse the direction] |
Please note sub-sequent releases of Pre-Flight after version 1.95 no longer support third party input devices (such as joystick)
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Recommended Futaba PICjoy channel mapping for PF195 (other transmitters may be slightly different. Only the first four PPM channels are used. |
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Before running PF195, connect your interface cable to the transmitter, start PICjoy and activate by clicking [GO]. Once you've verified PICjoy is properly receiving the signals, you can turn off [Enable Meters] and minimize PICjoy. |
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For the first time running PF195, select the [Options] menu, then [Interface] to start the Select Interface Port dialogbox. |
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For using PF195 with PICjoy, select [none] |
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Then select the [Controls] menu, then [Joystick+Keys] to start the Configure Inputs dialogbox. |
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Note the channel mapping. This example is for Futaba, other transmitters may be slightly different.
To change the Joystick channel assignment, click on the corresponding [Conf] button (see below). Also note the [rev] checkbox for reverse operation. The [Calibrate] button has no effect here, since PF195 will use the windows joystick calibration values. Click on [Test] to see if meters are responding correctly. |
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Joystick channel configuration. |
