I normally wouldn’t post this as this is hardware related and not so much sim related but at this point, I think it is sim related. My raildriver seems to have extremely excessive controller noise with the train brake handle. The reason I believe it to be TSC related as it does it with two separate Raildrivers and only on TSC. This type of controller noise doesn’t happen when using TSW or Run8. You can set the air with the brake handle and then not even be anywhere close to touching it with your hand and yet in TSC, the brakes will continue to make noise like the handle is being moved. Sometimes you can not move it for a minute or two and it will still just randomly make brake adjustments. At this point it’s kind of annoying. Wondering if anything can be done about this or is it just the way it is?
I think this is because some locos in TSC have notches in the brakes instead of being fully linear like in TSW. So when you move the brake handle it will not register in the game until you get to a certain location with the handle. And when you try to release the brakes they may not release fully unless you do it slowly or move the handle to release, then move it back up a notch and then release again.
I have not noticed this using my Raildriver. I will qualify that by stating that I am using the Cobra One interface and not the one shipped with the Raildriver. You might try changing the sensitivity and/or re calibrating to see if that helps. I have noticed over time this must be done because of wear.
Each dev sets up their brake controls differently. The easiest method is directly binding a key via InputMapper to the core "TrainBrakeControl". This can be set up using notches or not. The first TSC US locos had notchless brakes. The core control outputs values between 0 and 1 linear to the handle position. The core control offers multiple actions that can be chosen by the developer (Release, HoldLapped, GraduatedSelfLap, GraduatedSelfLapLimited, Direct, etc... see dev docs.) at a specific value range. Then, an advanced script was introduced (I think it was Sherman Hill) that improved the brakes by using a "VirtualBrake" ControlComponent. This passes the user input to a script which then gives the output to the core "TrainBrakeControl". This enabled the detents and making the handle stop at 23% (Initial Reduction), then seamless movement till "Full Service" (61%). Of course you cannot guarantee compatibility with RailDriver, as TSC makes no restrictions on how the core brake gets its values by means of scripting. It's up to the loco author to ensure RD compatibility or not. (You could deliver two versions of a loco, one for RD and one for keyboard control using the script.)
