FreeTrack Forum

Hey guys

I'm the happy user of a TrackIR 5 (hope it's ok to talk about TrackIR here, as I've heard there's a bit of rivalry between some TrackIR and FreeTrack users?), and have just started PC gaming in my home theatre. This uses a front projection system, which has left me with a quandary - my TrackIR unit needs to be mounted about 9 feet in front of my head - which is about 4 feet too long.

I figure replacing the passive track clip with an Active IR system, as used by you guys, will solve the problem.

However... I'm totally new to electronics. I haven't soldered anything since 1992 in High School, and I don't know where to start. I had a quick look at the guide stickied to the top of this post... and my eyeballs imploded. All I know is that:

- I need to use three 850nm IR LEDS.
- they need to in the same configuration as my trackclip, so I'll probably glue them to the existing TrackClip that I use.
- I'd like to use AA batteries attached to the back of baseball cap to power the hat.
- I'm in Australia, so preferably would like to buy all the parts in AU.

Can anybody point me in the direction of an easy to understand guide, as well as a site in Australia that sells the necessary bits and pieces (Jaycar doesn't have the right LEDs). Hell, if somebody would make this for me I'd be happy to pay a decent amount for the privilege!

Hope you can help, and no worries if you can't. Thanks guys.

Wow, it's a ghost town in here...  

This is where those high resolution webcams with 10x digital zoom come in handy. You can crop the image down to the area you're sitting while maintaining the same resolution (640x480).

Unfortunately TrackIR does not have this ability and with each version the lens field of view gets wider and wider to the dismay of projector users like yourself. You will have to make the clip look the same at a distance as it does up close, by scaling the dimensions up and using active LEDs for each point. If the blobs are too small you may need to use some sort of diffuser to make them appear bigger or use clusters of LEDs.

Some guides that may be of help:

http://myfreetrackheadset.blogspot.com/

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/how-tos/how_build_your_own_ir_head_tracker?page=0,0

http://www.flightsimsk.info/index.php?Itemid=26&id=47&option=com_content&task=view

Thank you very much Zaphod, much appreciated - you advice about scaling up the size will be key to making my custom headset work.

Zaphod @ 09/10/2010 - 13h19 a dit:

........... If the blobs are too small you may need to use some sort of diffuser to make them appear bigger or use clusters of LEDs.

@GunSlingerAUS:
You should read this topic: http://forum.free-track.net/index.php?showtopic=2378