first foray into tactile feedback

Maybe this will be of some help to others just considering tactile. This is my first try, so just first impressions and limited experience.

After hunting around YouTube, and seeing some fairly complicated setups, I decided to give this one a try, as it looked simple enough for me to handle :)


I have a Sim Labs P1-X, which was an extravagance for me! Bought the amp from online retailer for $36, the two transducers from Mouser electronics for a bit over $100, another $20+ for hardware.

First mounted the transducers to the side of the rig, but results were under-whelming, could not feel much at all. In the general tactile discussion it was suggested that I isolate my seat and transducers from the main rig. What a difference! I think this is a necessity if you have a stiff rig. When side mounted, the gear change would make a barely perceptible ping. When isolated, it hammered me! Needless to say, was able to turn the volume down.

I had a scrap of particle board laying around, so bolted the transducers to it.
The second photo shows how I mounted it under the seat, all it took was some longer bolts to reach the t-nuts.
The last photo is of the seat rails. I placed some rubber grommets between the rail and the main cockpit. I made the mistake of getting grommets that were about the size of a washer, they deformed too much, and sometimes pulled right into the rail. Went back and got some that had an OD of 1 1/8". They sit on top of the rail nicely. Since I had the small grommets, I slid them under the outer side of the rail as a little extra dampening.

I am very happy with the extra bit it gives me when driving. I know it is simple, and probably not up to what some will want, but it has plenty of power to hit way harder than I would ever want it to, and for the money invested, and the little bit of work, it really has added to the experience. Hopefully I can leave it alone and just enjoy it as is!

tranducers.jpg
seat mount.jpg
seat rail.jpg
 
Reconfigured my setup after @blekenbleu share this sketch
cantilever.jpg


This is what I ended up with.
Working with scraps I had around, could only get a 12' X 11.25" board. No idea how a different size, or harder board would affect the feel. Attached board to bottom of side-mount seat mount like so
seat mount.jpg


Found some rubber bushings similar to these:
You can see one bushing on top of the bolt that is running into the main cockpit chassis, and there is another underneath it.
The transducer is sitting on top of the board in this photo, but I mounted it on the underside.
seat mount to frame.jpg


This setup is much more efficient, able to cut volume of effects in half! Wonder what it would feel like with some different transducers, but not going there yet!
 
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No surprise that you could reduce the amp gain with even simple isolation but excellent to see you actually benefiting from advice given on the forums by other members.

TIP:
Now imagine, if a board/plate also extended a little underneath the seat.

Why?
Most bucket seats with tactile attached this way, the energy is only entering the seat by
what contact the seat riser/bolt of the seat meet. So really 4 bolts are delivering most of the energy into your seat at the moment.

With the vibrated surfaces (in stereo) continuing beneath the seat, then you can make some form of contact with the underside of the seat as well. Allowing a bit of gap for the underside springs to sink when sitting in the seat but enabling vibrations to also flow into your seat from underneath. It may help improve the stereo sensations as well.

Get creative, you can do it, find more wood :)
 
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Have changed my setup again.

I think the cantilever design is more efficient, but I went to two boards so I could add another more powerful bass shaker in the future should I want to. There is probably a way to do this and keep the cantilever design, but I thought a single transducer would be best directly under the seat.

This is what I ended up with:
seat base.jpg


Then added a third bass shaker on the front board, and two exciters to the sides of the seat mount as show here:
exciter.jpg


I am a believer in isolating the transducers from the main cockpit frame. My solution for isolators is not the best by any means, but it did make a significant difference.

All in all, I am very pleased with the addition of the third bass shaker, and the exciters. I can now separate effects to different transducers, rather than sending many signals to the same transducer - not my idea, folks with much more experience suggested that approach. Also, I was unable to find the recommended Dayton exciter, and was impatient, so got a 25W PUI exciter. The feeling of these exciters is much different from the bass shakers, which opens up more possibilities for feedback.

This simple setup does not give me a feel of motion, as some have achieved with their more sophisticated setups (all of my feedback is coming directly through the seat), but it adds some extra feedback which is a great upgrade to my rig. I get excellent feeling of hitting curbs or running off track. Good, though not outstanding, feeling of bumps in tracks.

All that said, I am not promoting my experiment over any other!!

Folks that have helped me here, and whose views I have come to value, have stated if they had to do it over again, they would start out with a better system. Most suggest starting with a powerful amp, often suggesting the Berhinger NX3000D, along with a Buttkicker Concert or LFE, and a TST329 or 429.
Checking pricing, if having to buy all new, that combo would be north of $1100 USD. Not something I could do (it was a big stretch for me to purchase the P1-X and a $400 seat!).
But if you can afford it, or can find equipment for less, all I have heard is going that route is better.

I am still very happy that I took the step of adding tactile to my rig.
 
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Thank you for sharing your set up and explanations on the built, very interesting.
Nice to see a price conscious project, not like one of those over the top search for perfection.
What cockpit are you using now, I can see you are not using the get omega anymore.
 
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Thank you for sharing your set up and explanations on the built, very interesting.
Nice to see a price conscious project, not like one of those over the top search for perfection.
What cockpit are you using now, I can see you are not using the get omega anymore.
A bit ago I got the Sim Labs P1-X. Very happy with it. It was a stretch for me though, a lot of money, and then having to buy a seat on top of that. The GT Omega was a nice rig, especially at the price point. One thing missing from it is the ability to adjust angle of wheel base. Was no issue when using the G920, as it has the steering wheel set at an angle. But I have nothing bad to say about the Omega kit.
 
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A bit ago I got the Sim Labs P1-X. Very happy with it. It was a stretch for me though, a lot of money, and then having to buy a seat on top of that. The GT Omega was a nice rig, especially at the price point. One thing missing from it is the ability to adjust angle of wheel base. Was no issue when using the G920, as it has the steering wheel set at an angle. But I have nothing bad to say about the Omega kit.

looks impressive.
I have been looking at those guys, Sigma SIM racing, they are in Aurora, On.

I am really inspired by your tactile set up, will probably pull the trigger real soon.
 
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I found out the hard way how important tactile is to me.

For some reason, all three of my Nobsound amps would not power up. I unplugged one of them, but it didn't help. After some fooling around, I went back and unplugged everything, power supply from surge protector and from amp, USB cable from amp, and let them sit for a couple minutes. Reconnected everything and they powered back up!

Unfortunately, they came up as new hardware, so I had to reconfigure SimHub shaker settings!

EDIT: Above statement is incorrect, I had to reinstall WIN10. That is why the amps (of course) came up as new hardware.

Even with my simple setup, I really missed the shakers.
 
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