DIY - Attach Standard "Cap" TrackIR Clip (Non-Pro) to Headphones

DamnTheseVoices

D
Hey Everyone,

I recently joined the forums and have been having fun trying to help out the community here. I love TrackIR 5 for Elite! Can't live without it as many of you TrackIR fans already know :)

This post is to help those who may be considering getting the Track Clip Pro for their headphones since the standard clip is marketed for a Baseball style cap.

I do understand that the Track Clip Pro has active LEDs aside from being Marketed as a Headset Accessory, however, in my case I did not require Active LEDs since I have no disruptive lighting requiring this feature. It also alleviates you from running an extra power cord (required for TrackClip Pro)that needs to be affixed to your Headset.

I do not like wearing a baseball cap with an obtrusive visor required for the standard clip so I made my own simple mod to use it on my Headset. This mod allows the clip to be inserted or removed just as easily as on a standard cap. I'm sure there are other ways to affix the clip, but this was what I came up with, hope it helps anyone considering this wonderful product.

All you need is stiff card stock and 3 rubber bands to affix to the top of the headset. I cut mine from a product file folder I had lying around that was glossy black to match perfectly with all the black duct tape holding it together after all these years, lol.

I also cut 3 pairs of notches to keep the rubber bands in place.

The clip is very sturdy and does not move at all as if it were permanently affixed. Works great for me and maybe for somebody else that wants to attach the clip to their headset while being able to slide it on or off whenever convenient.


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Twelvefield

Twelvefield
The white rubber bands may reflect if your light source is strong. Probably should not be an issue for you, but since I live in Vancouver and they always shoot films about vampires in Vancouver (on account of there being never any sun), my pasty white skin sometimes shows up as a reflection with my TrackIR. Either subdue the light source a little, or get darker elastic bands/mark out the white with a little hockey tape or a Sharpie.

Frankly, I just wear the hat. Considering how many ED players use a TrackIR, you'd think that Frontier would make theme hats available, but... oh well. My hat is the official NaturalPoint hat, since they DO make hats for TrackIR users.
 

DamnTheseVoices

D
The light color rubber bands have ZERO reflectivity from the IR emitters for me but go ahead and use black rubber bands (or twist ties, zip ties, black strips of gorilla tape, whatever) since it doesn't change the convenience of the clip mod one bit. I'm not going for style points so I didn't care how it looks obviously, but creative minds may find a more aesthetic way to do this ;)

Here is the way I confirmed that the rubber bands did not reflect or cause interference.

I used "Camera View" in the TrackIR software for a close up view of all reflected light sources that the camera picks up from your direction. Reflective points are displayed visually as multi-sized "red" spots along with a "Tracked Object Count" readout showing the numerical value. 3 is the expected number for proper tracking.

The rubber bands I used did not show up in the TrackIR Camera View nor did the tracked object count increase even when shining a strong flashlight at my headset. I could see no visual hot spots in this view from the bands nor anything else, and I do know what to look for when testing the potential reflective interference if there should be any.

I used Camera view in this manner to realize my prescription glasses were reflecting light at certain angles back into the sensor camera, causing the head tracking to go buggy/wacky during such times. It was clearly visible in Camera View along with the Tracked Object Count readout which would fluctuate from 3 to 5 alongside extra red spots flickering in and out my 2 lenses reflected. Normally this view shows 3 strong and defined "green" strips coinciding with the 3 clip reflectors. Anyhow, I ironed that out by adjusting the sensor IR Brightness and Light Filter Threshold as well as changing the sensor position/angle so the glasses no longer reflected onto the sensor.

Anyhow, to make a long story short, I'd saw no indication in my case that the rubber bands were being picked up Camera View even when shining an LED flashlight at the headset. Hopefully it won't be an issues if anyone else.

Thanks for the feedback.

Take Care.
 
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Jezzah

Jezzah
I bought one of those golf caps its just got a small peak and just a strap round the head with the top open. Work perfectly.
 
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