Mini Trackballs? Possible?

[z]

I went ahead and picked up the Kensington trackball with scroll ring mentioned above.  It is not an arcade quality spinner or an arcade quality trackball but I think it would be a great piece for a bartop or cocktail where space is limited.  The scroll ring free spins better than I expected.  As for touch I would say the scroll ring and trackball fall into the same category, you'll always have a hand on them as you play, no repeatedly touching/slapping to make movement like you might with a full size trackball or spinner.   The trackball would be serviceable for centipede or missile command but I don't think golf games would be very good.   The ball itself looks around 1 5/8" diameter, the footprint of the full unit is about 5 3/8" long x 5" wide.

Left field ideas after looking at it:
1 - There is a hole in the base under the ball, if you found a clear ball to use with this unit you could light it from underneath.
2 - I haven't disassembled the unit but it seems you could modify the scroll ring to accept a removable cap.  The base of the cap would sit on the scroll ring, giving you a little more of a spinner feel while covering up the trackball.  When not using it just pop it off the cap and use the trackball.  Yes, this idea hit me while taking the lid off a laundry detergent bottle last night.  Definitely not a sweet Tempest knob but the detergent lid looked like the right height to cover the trackball, was grooved and would be available in different colors.  Okay, this idea was from deep left 

Z

[RandyT]

1 - There is a hole in the base under the ball, if you found a clear ball to use with this unit you could light it from underneath.

That's probably not going to happen.  These are optical technology, so they need a ball with a reflective pattern to see movement.  Other than that, they seem pretty decent given the limitations in this application.

[EightBySix]

Googled this, including a small illuminated one.

Cant see any prices though...

[I/O]

Googled this, including a small illuminated one.

Cant see any prices though...

Anything industrial is likely going to be sold in bulk - or cost a lot of money - or both. Years ago, I looked up non-arcade source joysticks and it was that way.

[bkenobi]

I just went to digikey and searched for "panel mount trackball" and there are quite a few that popped up.  I looked at the first few and it looks like they are not extremely high priced (just expensive).  I saw between $115 and $175, but there might be higher and lower available.

[wp34]

Just noticed this on Ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Traxsys-38mm-mini-trackball-NEW-ULTRAcade-MAME-DS48891-/380249681148?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5888a5acfc

looks pretty small.

Doesn't look like it is USB.  Would you need an Opti-Pac (or something like it) to make this work?

[Bender]

^^ no it's not, and yes you would

[newmanfamilyvlogs]

The pinout on said trackball:
http://www.feteriscomponents.com/pdf/Trackballs/DS48891.pdf

[Bender]

it actually printed right on the PCB so it's wicked easy

[transfan]

Z: any ideas on how to mount this onto a panel with plexiglass?

also pm'd you!

I went ahead and picked up the Kensington trackball with scroll ring mentioned above.  It is not an arcade quality spinner or an arcade quality trackball but I think it would be a great piece for a bartop or cocktail where space is limited.  The scroll ring free spins better than I expected.  As for touch I would say the scroll ring and trackball fall into the same category, you'll always have a hand on them as you play, no repeatedly touching/slapping to make movement like you might with a full size trackball or spinner.   The trackball would be serviceable for centipede or missile command but I don't think golf games would be very good.   The ball itself looks around 1 5/8" diameter, the footprint of the full unit is about 5 3/8" long x 5" wide.

Left field ideas after looking at it:
1 - There is a hole in the base under the ball, if you found a clear ball to use with this unit you could light it from underneath.
2 - I haven't disassembled the unit but it seems you could modify the scroll ring to accept a removable cap.  The base of the cap would sit on the scroll ring, giving you a little more of a spinner feel while covering up the trackball.  When not using it just pop it off the cap and use the trackball.  Yes, this idea hit me while taking the lid off a laundry detergent bottle last night.  Definitely not a sweet Tempest knob but the detergent lid looked like the right height to cover the trackball, was grooved and would be available in different colors.  Okay, this idea was from deep left 

Z

[z]

Free time is pretty much gone in my world so I sent the Kensington trackball to a friend with a barcade cabinet to see what he could come up with.  I'll copy him on this message so he can post pictures and notes on what he figures out.

Z

[NipRing]

Thank all of you for not bidding on the Tracksys 38mm trackball on E-Bay.  It made my purchase super cheap for my WIP bartop.

I just bought one of these new from eBay for $25 shipped. I was on the fence about the happ 1-1/2" trackball for a loooong time (so pricey  ). Am I glad I found this thread! It works great!! Thank you for mentioning this!!