Using a PC joystick for setup

[Mike]

Anyone who'se set up an RV will know that using the mouse to move the head around when setting up is a major PITA as you have to keep looking at the screen instead of the head.

I had a play with a cheap USB PC gamepad (About a fiver on Ebay) , and a utility called AutoHotkey to make this process somewhat quicker by assigning pad buttons to the movement arrow and speed buttons.



I've only tried this under Win98SE - As I recall win95 doesn't really do USB properly...
Make sure the joystick/pad you get has at least all the buttons shown above.
Download and install Auto Hotkey
Install joystick driver (mine came with a CD - I installed this before plugging the pad in, but it may be that Windows already has generic drivers for it so may be worth trying without the CD first).
Check that the joystick works using The "Gaming controllers" bit of Windows' Control panel  You may need to install DirectX to get this working.
Once you have confirmed its working, download and run This AutoHotkey (.ahk) script file. (Right-click and do "save as..")
When you've confirmed it works, copy the script file into your Programs/start group to make it run automatically at startup

Whenever the RV Place 'move' dialog is displayed, the joypad buttons will now do everything you need to set up a position without taking your eyes off the machine!

[Mike]

BTW the settings in the file above don't work if Windows display settings are  in 'large fonts' mode, however RV Place's screen redraw issues seem subjectively worse in this mode anyway so probably not an issue..!

[phonoplug]

Actually got round to trying this today, having bought the gamepad some 6 months ago!

Thanks Mike - very helpful!

[P968CS]

Hi Mike

What version of Autohotkey are you using? I've installed 1.1.03, the oldest I can find on the web, but get the message that it requires a newer version of Windows to run. I'm obviously running Win 98Se on the versatronics PC.

Cheers

Clive

[Mike]

I use 1.0.48.05.
I've put a copy here http://electricstuff.co.uk/forumfiles/AutoHotkey104805_Install.exe

[SteveW]

I've finally got round to trying this. Blooming excellent, thanks, Mike!

[Mike]

Minor update  - I got tired of all the down-clicking to move down to set feeder biases.
The left-hand rear down button now sets down increment to 50, clicks down 28 times to put it about 3mm above the tape, , then resets it to 10 for fine adjust.

TAKE CARE NOT TO PRESS IT TWICE!!!!!!

[Jason]

I always use the auto-height and have had no problems with it.

[Mike]

I don't think I've ever tried that....

I tend to find that x/y tweaks are often necessary- not sure if it retains offsets from when it auto-adjusts the pick position.

[alanambrose]

Nice, for the record with this:

NEW USB 2.0 Wired Game Controller Gamepad Joypad for Laptop PC Computer Black UK

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-USB-2-0-Wired-Game-Controller-Gamepad-Joypad-for-Laptop-PC-Computer-Black-UK/272870223237?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

from eBay seller 'tulip63', it picked up the drivers from the standard Win98 install and worked plug-and-play out of the blocks. Very good

[trev]

Great timing, many thanks. Just what I needed.

[trev]

I actually managed to use the joystick with my upgraded win98 amachine with some passive feeders. Made such a difference!

Thanks again for this.

Trev