Deluxe Golden Tee Plug n'Play $10 1-25-12

[Green Giant]

Over on http://sellout.woot.com/sale/23908 there is a Deluxe Golden Tee Plug n' Play for $10.  Seems like a decent enough deal, and at that price not a big deal to hack it up.

Perhaps someone knows if it can be converted to a computer mouse?

[GregD]

got one.  Thanks.  I'll put it at my Cape Cod vacation home for something to do on a rainy day.

[JohnEDollar]

Tried to sign up and get one also.

(Website won't let me create a new account.) 

[Green Giant]

Go to woot.com and signup, although it probably still won't work for you for whatever reason.

Also woot.com is an amazing site.

[Howard_Casto]

I bought a couple of these exclusively for hacking.  Because the standard shipping unit of these devices is two per-box, you can get two sent to you for the usual 5 bucks shipping... so that's 12.50 a unit!

They came today and I opened one up immediately because it wasn't rolling too well.  The quality is decent, in terms of the trackball.... they are acceptable, but not arcade quality.  What hurts them is the lack of bearings.  The posts that hold the encoder wheels (which are VERY thin btw) just fit into a plastic housing, no bearings at all.  The springs inside that push them towards the bal are rather weak as well. 

That being said, I discovered the cause of the bad rolling and after I fixed it, the trackball worked amazingly well for the cost!  You see many of the plastic posts that held the rollers in place had "flash" inside.  I removed it by scratching with my finger and it was good to go.

Inside the housing you'll find that the encoder pcbs are merged into a single pcb that is screwed to the bottom of the trackball housing.  All that this pcb handles is the encoding... the pins are clearly marked and have individual wires leading to the game pcb.  The chopper wheels are quite small, maybe a step up from those you would find in a ps2 mouse, but they do the job.  It should be quite straight-forward to hack this into a mouse and the non-arcade encoder pcb means that the whole thing could probably be usb powered and self-contained! 

Not only that, but it would probably be possible to wire the mouse in-line so that you could still play the game.  Mind you I don't know why you'd want to... but hey...

The bottom of the trackball has a standard looking trackball base.  There isn't one for the top, rather it screws directly to the top of the housing... so keep that in mind.    I LIKE the housing though.  It's just slighty smaller than the cp for a cocktail cabinet, and that's what I bought it for. 

I think these trackballs could be beefed up in quality considerably by putting in stiffer springs and adding bearings to the encoder wheel shafts.  These shafts are quite thin, so a smaller type of bearing could be used.  Small bearings are generally much cheaper. 


Now the trick will be to find a usb-powered ball-mouse in this day and age. 

[JohnEDollar]

Now the trick will be to find a usb-powered ball-mouse in this day and age.  

Howard,

Thanks for the review of this item.  I was looking to purchase a unit for the same purpose as you (hacking).  

Perhaps the "right" PS2/USB adapter will give you the 'USB functionality" you're looking for in the unit.

Just a thought.  

- John

[ark_ader]

Might Help you:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=61832.msg613102#msg613102

[Howard_Casto]

Now the trick will be to find a usb-powered ball-mouse in this day and age.  

Howard,

Thanks for the review of this item.  I was looking to purchase a unit for the same purpose as you (hacking).  

Perhaps the "right" PS2/USB adapter will give you the 'USB functionality" you're looking for in the unit.

Just a thought.  

- John

Yeah I'm looking into that.  Even then it's getting hard to find ps2 balled mice anymore.  Mind you I'm sure I've got a handful somewhere, but I do have a finite supply. 

ark_ader:

This is the jakks version and they've changed the design slightly.  I'll have to post pics the next time I crack it open. 

The game is actually better as well.  Mind you it's still golden tee and therefore it's just awful... but the graphics and gameplay are amazingly good considering it's a pnp. 

[Drnick]

My bro has one of these    He never uses it for anything so I may pinch it of him.  It's a shame you are not in the UK, I could supply you loads of usb and ps2 ball mice.  Got a whole box of them sitting at work doing nothing except getting their cables all tangled together.   I should put them somewhere for when nobody else can get them and profit 

[Howard_Casto]

Ok as promised... pics of the inside:




Yeah I know the image is horrible, but you get the idea. 

I'm pretty sure that the trackball pcb is about the same and therefore should have the same pinouts, but you'll notice some differences.

First off, the left button array is now part of the game pcb.  This means that you'll have to rig-up some switches for those buttons.  It isn't as bad as it sounds.... just grab a piece of perfboard, copy all the holes from the right button array and glue a bit of metal in the right spots for the button contacts.
Secondly, the ribbon cable for the trackball is much shorter.... you'll probably have to add extra wire.    The button pinouts are different as well.... the first wire is for thered, the middle wire is ground, and the last wire is the yellow button.  This makes more sense actually.

Sorry it took so long, but I was out of usb ball mice and shamefully had to order a couple. 

I'll confirm the pinouts and such after I complete the mouse hack. 

[Howard_Casto]

To anyone that's still interested.....

Another update: 

The pinouts on the trackball encoder are NOT the same as the older models.  I'm currently working out the pinouts.

If you flip over the pcb there are labels printed like on the old one

From top (red wire) to bottom they are:

U IOA10  (Probably UP)
IO A9
D IOB9 (Probably DOWN)
VSS (Probably +5v)
IOA7
L IOB8 (Probably LEFT)
VDD-IR  (Probably IR Ground)
R IOA8 (Probably RIGHT)


So I've got 6 pins I pretty much know and two I don't.  Now judging by the previous pcb I could assume that those extra pins are 5v to power the detectors, but I also assumed that the two pcbs would have the same pinouts... so there you go. 

[Minions]

Currently back, Don't know for how long since it is in the middle of the wootoff. It's $10 + 5sh/h
http://kids.woot.com/

[Drnick]

YUM Yum,  Grilled Cheese.

[Howard_Casto]

A word of warning....  I'm having a bit of trouble with mine.  The trackball is fine, but getting a mouse hack to work has proved troublesome.  I haven't reported back because I wanted to get it right before posting my results. 

I think it's because of all the resistors on the board because while I can trace a lead, the actual power that's coming back is rather low.  You might have to solder directly to the optical sensors ... at least that's what I'm going to try next.    The ir leds should be ok though because they aren't sending data... you can pull a full 5v directly from the mouse's cable.


I'll keep you posted, but I don't have much time to work on this atm.

[Ginsu Victim]

Any updates on this? I just picked one of these up at Goodwill for $3.99 and was looking to do the hack.