potentiometer question

[David Lee]

I currently use a Beech Baron throttle quadrant which drives long linear potentiometers from Mouser Electronics. I use an analog/USB converter (Rockfire) to get the signal into the computer but all converters I've tried convert "in steps", so small movements of the potentiometer end up in larger "steps" in the movement of the FS throttle. Bottomline - it is very difficult to get fine control. If I used a USB controller that wouldn't be a problem. If I hook them up through Phidgets, would I get that same "step wise" movement or would it be truly linear? Thanks
David

[phidgets]

Hi David,

All analog signals are converted into 1000 steps. This should provide quite smooth movement for you.

More info:

If you are only using 1/2 of the motion of the slider you would only have 500 steps. In the software you calibrate the top and bottom ends of your movement so you can fine tune your hardware to the software. Even still, a resolution of 500 is very good !

The best case scenario with Phidgets is to have a hardware set up which uses the maximum movement of a slider. (Or just under the max to avoid constriction.) If you have set up the hardware right you should be very pleased with the resolution and see no jumpy movement.

Matt