Problems with Logitech Mouse outside

[Startrek (Martin)]

First night out practicing star centering using BYEOS, StellariumScope and EQMOD on EQDirect ( in between clouds ) Feels strange not using the handcontroller after nearly a year but have to progress forward I suppose
I found my Logitech mouse to be next to useless outside , so resorted using the laptop touch pad ( I much prefer a mouse )
It works fine during the day but a pain in the butt at night outside
Could it be the temperature ( it’s only 8 deg, cold but not freezing )
I have a good quality black gaming mouse pad too

Any thoughts or remedies ?
Anyone else experience the same issue ?

Thanks in advance

[sil (Steve)]

Is it a "fancy" mouse?, if so it probably needs more power than your usb is supplying. power can drop when using lappy on battery. could also be you're using a usb hub, definite no no for power, using extra usb devices you dont really NEED? tried a plain simple mouse? no gaming crap, no special drivers or cloud storage for it?

[Startrek (Martin)]

Hi Sil,
No the mouse is a logitech standard at $30 ( mouse pad is a black gaming pad for $12)
I tried with USB direct in Laptop (not through hub ) still no good
I run off mains
I bring it inside and it works fine ( even through the hub )
I even put the bloody mouse in the fridge today for half an hour to cool it down to simulate last night plus place a cup over it to darken it’s environment and it works fine inside
Bugger me ?
It must be the location where I’m using it
My laptop sits inside a grey plastic tub turned sideways on an adjustable table and my mouse working area is only 200mm long x 120mm wide
It must be picking up stray light reflecting or something and interfering with the laser
Thing ones got me stumped ??

Martin

[troypiggo (Troy)]

Tried it outside of the tub?

[Startrek (Martin)]

I’ve just shut down,packed up and come inside now . I’ll try tomorrow night with a bit of ply on my lap
Bloody annoying !

[RAJAH235]

Hi Martin,
Just an observation here...
My old mouse died a few months ago, so dragged out a (generic), new one.
It would not function correctly on my mouse pad.
I then tried another mouse (Gigabyte) & it worked "normally" & I was able to set it's options to suit my needs.

Now....I tried the 1st mouse again & found that I needed to place an white A4 sheet of paper on the pad & the mouse worked fine.

Maybe try the same & if it works....... paint the plywood white?

(The paper may get a little soggy........)

[Startrek (Martin)]

Thanks RAJAH235,

Maybe a white or bright coloured mouse pad might be better
I will try the A4 paper first

Thanks for the advice !

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Mouse uses reflectivity of the led to detect movement. We had problems at work on new desks with shiny white smooth surfaces. The old grey desks with a slight ripple surface worked perfectly. Try different surfaces, paper works but shifts and bends.

[sil (Steve)]

Theres the clutching at straws idea the mouse plug or usb port has dodgy solder which shrinks enough outside to cause a fault. try different socket and different mouse. Any simple cheap moue mat should be fine but avoid black which could be absorbing too much light for the receiver in the mouse to pick up. Gaming mice usually use lasers these days instead of simple leds so your gaming mat may not be suitable for a simple mouse but optimised refletivity for laser mice. I dont know if the window over the receiver in the mouse could be fogging up in the cold either .
Maybe a trackball or mechanical mouse is needed for you? I'm looking at getting a foot switch to use for mouse clicks in my setup, sick of dropping mouse or controller off my leg (I only have one hand so constantly switching, but a foot switch could start/stop recording for me if i put the pointer where I want it then carefully put my mouse upside down on the ground out of the way when i dont need it). Just ideas.

[Startrek (Martin)]

Hi all,
Last night I tried a piece of white A4 paper over my mouse pad as suggested by RAJAH235 and it improved greatly
I did notice that it still played up a bit whilst on BYEOS red screen but all other programs worked ok

I might buy another pad with a bright background and hope that nails it

Thanks all for your suggestions

Appreciate it !!

[RAJAH235]

Hi Martin,
Glad that my suggestion made an improvement for you.
I've found that each mouse has a different "reaction"? to the colour of the surface
they are placed on.

I believe that the white surface has to be a flat white & not glossy.

A little experimentation may be in order.

[sil (Steve)]

magazine or newspaper page , (honest dear its a mouse pad)