No 485? No digital interface? 485 can be software implemented if you have enough of bandwidth and 5v…
250 GBP is expected and way too much for motor that costs even less… Eh.
The electrical encoder fronted of IONI has been designed for quadrature, sincos, BiSS and SSI types. We never thought that some encoder would use RS485 so no such feature has is present in HW. Emulating it with software (bit bang) is unfeasible due to CPU time constraints.
However, skilled person could design a tiny converter board that reads any encoder (i.e. Tamagawa) and output standard SSI or BiSS data forward to IONI. Such device might fit inside the D-15 connector hood much like Argon resolver adapter. Perhaps someone could do also business out of them.
No luck then. Thanks for reply.
Just a quick question. I’m planning to buy the SinCos Encoder and use it on Small Mige (10.000 ppr, 40.000 cpr resolution encoder) Simucube kit bought some time ago from Simracinbay.
My question is about the cable: do I need to buy the one sold in option tigether with the encoder or can I use the SinCos encoder with the cable originally provided with the kit?
Sorry if already asked, bit I searched in internet, but didn’t find anything…
Thank You
Marco
I think the cable with the encoder is ready-made plug and play. You will have to rewire (solder,etc) the thing if you want to use any other cable.
Interesting discussion on many fronts.
I have been watching the Sincos stuff from the sidelines.
Seems like the 3.1M product is literally overkill, and not something that will be argued as ‘future proofing’ by those who have dropped $400+ on their encoders. It’s been established that for the uses in SIM racing, no human can objectively feel any changes in such high resolution encoders beyond a certain point (2M) and I’d venture a guess that likely even at the 1-2M value any perception in feel is most likely purely placebo and entirely subjective.
I look forward to the arrival of far less expensive Sincos encoders, which will provide the same upgrade for a fraction of the price. At least then I won’t feel like I’ve left over 50% of the encoders potential on the table when I’ve paid $400 for it (I think the current going price for the Simtronix kit that Davy is selling) and will never be able to realize such potential in SIM racing beyond placebo.
It’s easy to forget that we are using equipment that’s meant for incredibly precise commercial industrial applications, not for someone sitting in their basement driving a simulated race car! Although that part is my favorite hobby!
@Mika - Mash raises some thoughtful insights regarding Simucube’s future. Fanatec’s upcoming ‘Podium’ series of DD wheels will no doubt be using motors that are less capable (like Accuforce using stepper units), but what they offer is a quite brilliant package for a brand that’s arguably considered the current leaders in the SIM racing community. They have a very impressive and comprehensive ecosystem that, whilst still verging on the ‘toy’ side if compared to the setups used in OSW, are nonetheless terrific and meet the needs of 90%+ of the community.
What their podium series lacks in hardware compromises will be most likely made up for in software and most importantly compatibility.
I understand your fear of Chinese copying of your idea, but don’t you think that at this juncture, Fanatec are a far more lucrative target than Simucube in terms of creating and selling a competitive product?
Of course I’m not saying that Simucube would not be ‘copied’ if they had access to what makes it tick, but its such a niche market that you have to wonder whether it’s really something they would have the same kind of focus on as the Fanatec DD product? Mash is correct in his statements that a loyal niche community is far more powerful than copycat products that seek only to reach a monetary bottom line at the expense of quality and attention to detail.
It’s exciting to hear that you have an interested 3rd party partner, I truly hope that it pushes Simucube out of the highly niche sector, into something that could compete with the Fanatec’s of this world. I’m sure Thrustmaster will be busy right now on their own DD product if there’s clearly a market for it.
I’m sure at this point you must realize that if Fanatec’s DD product is 90% of OSW’s performance for 90% of the people willing to spend $1K+ on SIM racing hardware, it’s an obvious choice. I can’t lie and say that if this is the case, and had I not invested over $2K in my OSW setup, I would find the value proposition of a plug and play DD system with cross platform compatibility most difficult to ignore.
And that’s why I hope so very much that Simucube can move out from the shadows and become a real player in the field. I’m sure some work can be done on the aesthetics to compete with the Fanatec DD package, but given it’s pretty much already a plug and play product thanks to your new firmware, if the performance was clearly better than Fanatec for about the same price, it doesn’t have to be all in one self contained unit. A you know the ‘brains’ of the system could fit in an even smaller enclosure than the already small (in my case) Cooler Master case.
I started my love of SIM racing on console, and with the coming of the Xbox One X offering performance close to that of a quality GTX1070 level PC build for under $500 (console optimization is sorely underestimated in the PC community), I’m sure there will be some good releases that will grow SIM racing on console even further. Fanatec would not be strongly promoting cross platform compatibility for no good reason! I’m of course invested in the PC community, but I can see great benefit in joining an old console racing league once in a while to meet with friends who can’t afford to move to PC with the massively higher price of entry.
I wish you nothing but the very best of luck, and thank you for your ongoing tireless efforts in bringing innovative solutions to our community. I’m sure there’s a partner out there that can accelerate what you’ve built, but it needs more development manpower.
It’s true that a better priced 2mil sincos encoder from a chineese manufacturer will make a huge difference for the masses. I am looking forward to seeing more people enjoying higher resolutions.
But, although it’s more bang for your buck, it will still be a lesser product then a better build quality, German made encoder.
So I would not jump on the conclusion that people who bought this are overshooting.
I think build quality of the encoder also has it’s effect on the overall feeling of the system.
So paying the premium is more then resolution deep, IMO.
You must buy the cable or you will have to do re soldering of wires.
Which is too much hassle IMO.
Couple of things here… From actually doing lots of testing with the 40K encoder, 1024 line, 3600 line, and now the 5000 line SinCOS encoders there are differences between the feel at different point levels in smoothness of the system… So 3.7 Million is not really Overkill and you can feel the difference but is it that much more significant over the 1.2 Million of the 1024 Line or 920K of the 3600 line running at 64x. It is not significant but it is there and not really a placebo (just try running your Davy unit at full 256x Resolution and at 64x resolution and you will see a difference, If ever so slight - kinda depends a little on the power you are using the more filtering you need the more you will see the difference) it just isn’t as great as the jump from a 40K to 1 million… The question then becomes is it worth the money… Like you said a Chinese one will bring Super High resolution to the masses and I am sure when it is “found” as I am not sure anyone has so far tested the ones that have been found to really know if they work that the retailers will actually start automatically installing it just as they have had doe with the 10K so It will become the standard.
As for SimuCUBE and competition… Granite Devices is just the Board Manufacturer and they manufacture nothing else really… So they are not in the market of producing a “package” that will compete directly with Fanatec or Accuforce. This is left up to the retailers where you can find many different case versions and methodologies for those cases… None have taken it a step farther to enclose the Servo but that doesn’t say they couldn’t if they choose to…
Console support in most cases requires special programming and licensing (especially Playstation) you usually have to have support for their “designed” button layout and functionality built into the device which given that SimuCUBE has no info device it doesn’t have… That is not to say that one of the retailers might not come to Mika and say I would like to get this Console Compatible at which point there could be Firmware changes to allow that but there is basically nothing that is going to be done on that front until that would happen since they would have to become a full Sim Equipment Manufacturer to do so and I am not sure that is in the Plan for Granite and as well Mika I don’t believe has any control over that decision.
BTW the Fanatec is using an OutRunner servo which in some ways is superior to the Mige’s that we are currently using… BUT that being said I also see no reason as to why an out runner servo could not be used with the SimuCUBE as it is just an inside out Servo, Armature on the outside…
As for Open Source - It is a wonderful idealistic proposition when using basic non proprietary parts or when the resultant hardware is used for a significant number of different processes… i.e. the discovery chip on the SimuCUBE board is used for a multitude of open Source projects… The Problem is that it requires a community of “Developers” to keep things updated and developing new software and extensions to make that processor due many, many, things… With sim Racing there is little room in-between the Drive and the Game to allow for “Developers” to create things… so the number of people actually out there wanting and willing to ACTUALLY develop something is very very small and not really worth giving out all of the hard work of a company so that someone else could theoretically build something similar and use the software developed essentially hurting the bottom line of the developer. So it sounds great in that “Oh everyone can develop something”, problem is none to few will so Mika opened the door to developers to contact him directly for information to develop if they want to which makes perfect sense. BTW MMOS is a closed source program as well, Open Source came from the fact that in development of the Community wheel Project it referred to the fact that you could use different Servos, Control Boards, Cases, etc… which for the most part you still can so it is Open Source on the Hardware side of things.
As for the future of SimuCUBE it is up to the community to find the parts that are cheapest and work best “Open Source Hardware” that will allow us to extract the most performance for the least price… i.e Mige’s are cheap and perform well, Possible Chinese SinCOS over the more expensive German, Better wheels, etc…
But again MOST of us will not spend the time and money to find these items, we will be consumers and take what others have found and purchase them through complete packages from retailers.
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I am debating whether to print an adapted dust cover for the mige, to replace the encoder cover that needs to be removed from the body when installing the new Sincos encoder… Debating the time to sit on CAD and do it, if I did, would anyone be interested or am I just being OCD…
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none in here is ocd 
so i think there is a good market
Hell ya, I was contemplating doing exactly that!!
If you do get it done maybe consider offering 1 price for just the CAD model and another for the actual part, I just don’t think I can look at it all naked like that for years, it’ll for sure drive me nuts. 
Let me know if you do decide to go ahead, if not I’ll for sure be on it by Christmas break.
Cheers
Except me. I think I am OCD.
I probably have 8 servos in my room. And 4 more in the garage 
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Encoder is on the way, so when it arrives Ill start on the drawings, let you all know…
I also already have an SLI Pro Box designed with 2 Bodnar Rotaries and 2 extra led’s if anyone wants the drawings, works great and fits a mige. Its a 2 piece with ventilated case for the back.
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I know what your talking about I’ve got 7 servos (I Think ) and don’t get me started on my linear actuators for my motion project.
Put me down for a cover please, I’m sure there will be people wanting one on the Iracing forum too.
i was beeing sarcastic everybody here is ocd
Lols Seb, good one, I missed the sarcasm bit - :lol:
@Troy: Yeah, I am working on a small CNC milling machine project, there already are 7 small servos for that alone, plus 3 more coming, hopefully they will be the correct size…
But the bigger ones I have are all for OSW setups, need to start selling some of them as they will most likely never get any use…so much stuff, I’m just one man, and so little time to do things in!
@Tommi: Great to see you back, very insightful posts, kiitoksia!
I would love one of those covers as well. My OCD is killing me seeing the drive “naked” lol.
My secret wish is to have the STL files available on Thingiverse, etc. I’m very saddened that some wind simulator guys didn’t do that, even after a while.
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