Testing Spektrum WS 2000 dongle without Realfligt or Steam software
- Thread starter frustated
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Bill Stuntz
Well-known member
Run "joy.cpl" - it should show the dongle as a joystick. Under "properties" it will allow you to test and/or calibrate the device.
flightengr
Active member
That will certainly demonstrate that the WS2000 is doing something.
If you want to take it a little farther, I wrote a little VB.NET program that displays the 8 output channels from the WS1000/WS2000 in a way that's more familiar to Spektrum radio users. That program is here. It will also help demonstrate that you have the model on your radio set up properly.
If you want to take it a little farther, I wrote a little VB.NET program that displays the 8 output channels from the WS1000/WS2000 in a way that's more familiar to Spektrum radio users. That program is here. It will also help demonstrate that you have the model on your radio set up properly.
Bill Stuntz
Well-known member
When I did joy.cpl with my interlink-x controller, I was rather confused. And I've never actually used joy.cpl in many years using RF. I just use RF's controller configuration & calibration. What's the difference between z-axis and z-rotation? Actually many of the names don't really make any sense to me. For instance, Elevator & Rudder control 2 different axes, but both names refer to X. What do gear & throttle have to do with the Y axis? Rudder rotates around the yaw axis, elevator/pitch axis, and ailerons/roll axis. In my mind, those should be the x,y,z axes. I gotta be missing something, but it's just not obvious to me.
flightengr
Active member
Those are names Microsoft gave to game controller channels a long time ago. They don't mean much to RC flight, and fortunately they don't even have to make logical sense. You just have to know that the WS1000/2000 maps Spektrum radio channel 5 (the Gear channel) to Y-Rotation, for example. Then you connect that to the right place in RealFlight's Controller Profile, and you're good. You don't even have to know the names if you don't want to, as the Controller Profile lets you assign a game input to a RealFlight channel just by moving the stick/switch/dial on the controller. But it's helpful to know the names and how they map to Spektrum radio channels if you're trying to troubleshoot a problem.
Bill Stuntz
Well-known member
I spent 30+ years building & repairing Pc's as a PC tech - mostly small business PC's in the early days. So I never had much to do with joysticks. And until RF8, the only controllers that worked with RF were their own controllers... so again, I didn't have much to do with them beyond "Does it work? Y/N". My main radio is a Futaba T8UAP with a Spektrum DM8 RF module. I do have a spektrum Tx that came with some RTF model a few years ago, but no screen, and AFAIK not programmable except for reversing switches and maybe an elevon switch. I haven't even looked at it in a long time, so I might even be mis-remembering details about it.
Question about the Ws1000 program you mentiomed above. Just for the halibut, I downloaded it, and without a WS1000/2000, it obviously won't do anything useful for me. Would it make sense to re-do it to get data from any Windows joystick in addition to only the Spektrum dongle? It certainly looks more useful than joy.cpl.
Question about the Ws1000 program you mentiomed above. Just for the halibut, I downloaded it, and without a WS1000/2000, it obviously won't do anything useful for me. Would it make sense to re-do it to get data from any Windows joystick in addition to only the Spektrum dongle? It certainly looks more useful than joy.cpl.
flightengr
Active member
While it might be a more useful tool if it were more generic, I'd have to build an entire control mapping system like RealFlight's Controller Profile in order to correlate the sticks to the correct Windows game devices. There is no standard for which channels on an RC aircraft controller map to which Microsoft game inputs. Of course it's possible, but it would take a lot more time than I'm willing to put into it.
The WS1000/WS2000 are made to work with Spektrum radios and therefore have a clear mapping between Spektrum's channels/functions and the eight game controller inputs they support.
The WS1000/WS2000 are made to work with Spektrum radios and therefore have a clear mapping between Spektrum's channels/functions and the eight game controller inputs they support.
Thank you very much for your attempt to help, as I mentioned, I don't like to install any software on my work computer or important documents that is not validated by Microsoft, so I cannot perform the test you mentioned as it requires the prior installation of DirectX non-Windows validated software. In any case, I have used some other RC emulator software without any issues. What is incredible is that for €100, they give you a large box with a small code inside, not a set of instructions, and of course, everything is in perfect English, as if Spanish didn't exist. It's almost the same as saying about Spektrum with WS2000, what's the least they could do is provide a way to check the device without having to load the tedious, invasive, and slow Steam software. What I want is a flight simulator, not to become a member of a platform that sells games and has difficulty finding the PLAY button for something I've already paid for. In the age of AI, it's not possible for something to be so complicated, and especially not so expensive when it lacks quality and support. What's evident in this chat is that users are providing support for free, wasting our valuable time. In summary, after wasting €150, I do not recommend anyone to purchase these two products, Spektrum WS2000 and RealFlight Evolution SW (I wonder where the evolution is?), and Horizon Hobby will never be the same for me. I feel completely frustrated and powerless. Many thanks to the marvelows people who try to help in this chat and who work for free to provide the services that the manufacturer does not provide. Greetings from Spain.
Bill Stuntz
Well-known member
My post#2 answers the exact question you posted in #1 - no Steam, no RF, only native Windows.
I'd like to point out that DirectX and joy.cpl are built-in native parts of Windows. AFAIK, that means that they are validated by MS. They are installed by the Windows installer when you install the OS. They are not 3rd party add-ons, and do not require Steam or RF software to function. You can test the function of your Tx & dongle without installing anything non-Microsoft.
I'd also like to point out that both Steam and RF default to English (at least in the US under English language Windows) but can also be configured to use Spanish.
flightengr
Active member
(Sorry for the double-post here... we're having the same conversation in two threads. I want to add this information to this thread as well in case someone comes looking here in the future.)
I completely understand being careful about software from a questionable source. I'm writing these programs as a side hobby at home, so I'm not code-signing them.
When I tried running my own program on a different computer, it didn't work because it couldn't find a DLL file from DirectX called "DirectX.DirectInput" I don't want to install an old version of DirectX on that computer, so instead I found the two DLL files from DirectX that are needed to allow my program to read the joystick inputs. I just put those two files in a ZIP in that same post linked above. Placing those two files in the same folder as the Spektrum WS1000 Monitor.exe program itself would eliminate the need for installing DirectX.
I completely understand being careful about software from a questionable source. I'm writing these programs as a side hobby at home, so I'm not code-signing them.
When I tried running my own program on a different computer, it didn't work because it couldn't find a DLL file from DirectX called "DirectX.DirectInput" I don't want to install an old version of DirectX on that computer, so instead I found the two DLL files from DirectX that are needed to allow my program to read the joystick inputs. I just put those two files in a ZIP in that same post linked above. Placing those two files in the same folder as the Spektrum WS1000 Monitor.exe program itself would eliminate the need for installing DirectX.
For your information, RealFlight Evolution forces me to install Steam before RealFlight. This means that RealFlight Evolution cannot be installed without first installing Steam.
However, in any case, after paying €100 for RF and €50 for the Spektrum dongle, you will agree with me that the installation and usage should be easier without all these problems; otherwise, we are moving backward. So no Realfligth icon on my desktop, only Steam icon.
My conclusion is clear: the product does not meet my expectations. Therefore, I strongly recommend to potential future customers to invest their money in different things to avoid sending your money directly to waste.
I have two open chats, but they are not about the same question. One is about how to install RealFlight with the Spektrum WS2000, and the second post is completely different. It's about how to test the Spektrum WS2000 without additional software from Steam and RealFlight SW.
What I want to convey is that I NEVER use any software for gaming on my work computer, and NEVER SW without Microsoft certification.
Thanks again for your comments and suggestions, yo did a very good job and I apreciate your efforts.
Regards.
However, in any case, after paying €100 for RF and €50 for the Spektrum dongle, you will agree with me that the installation and usage should be easier without all these problems; otherwise, we are moving backward. So no Realfligth icon on my desktop, only Steam icon.
My conclusion is clear: the product does not meet my expectations. Therefore, I strongly recommend to potential future customers to invest their money in different things to avoid sending your money directly to waste.
I have two open chats, but they are not about the same question. One is about how to install RealFlight with the Spektrum WS2000, and the second post is completely different. It's about how to test the Spektrum WS2000 without additional software from Steam and RealFlight SW.
What I want to convey is that I NEVER use any software for gaming on my work computer, and NEVER SW without Microsoft certification.
Thanks again for your comments and suggestions, yo did a very good job and I apreciate your efforts.
Regards.
After many tests I found this is the way the system is working in my case:
- Insert Spektrum WS2000 with the button pressed into the USB port.
- Without releasing the WS2000 button, turn on your Spektrum radio in binding mode (turn on by pressing the button in the back of the radio).
- Maintain this position with both buttons pressed until you hear some beeps, and the orange pilot light in the WS2000 is permanently on without blinking. After this, release both buttons.
- Disconnect the Spectrum WS2000 from the USB connector (Spektrum radio must remain on) and connect it again to the USB connector. Now, the WS2000's orange light is blinking, which is not a problem.
- Run Joy.cpl to test whether the controller is recognized, and the Spektrum joy controller appears.
- That's all, it's more difficult to explain than to do.