Trackball - Issue

[BrianAg95]

Ok, so I took a trackball out of an old capcom bowling machine.  The trackball worked fine in the original machine.   I wired it up to a minipac(opti version of course)  I get vertical (Y Axis) but the horizontal( X axis) will not register. 

I swapped my wiring Put X axis cables onto Y axis board, and the vice versa and then I had horizontal movement when I moved the trackball vertically.  In other words the X axis wiring was plugged into the Y axis and the Y axis sent a signal (which was plugged into x axis).  So that told me the X axis wiring worked.   Just for extra checking, I double checked all wires with a voltmeter, and everything checked out.   

It is an old Green board. (which I understand from my troubleshooting searches can have issues) , but seriously it was working fine in the original cabinet, why would it fail when I converted it to the minipac?

Is there anyway to do any testing of the board itself?   Or do I just order a new board?

The Y axis board is clearly labeled A--GRND--5Volt--B,, the X axis board has NO markings on it..  but since I spliced into the original harness I used black for grnd, red for 5 volt, and the other two for A and B.  The original harness has the pinouts wired identically...  And tracing the wires both boards were wired in parrallel (the black grnd and red 5 volt, were connected at the disconnect plug.)   

[PL1]

Use a digital camera to see if the IR LEDs are both working.

Use a multimeter to check if the voltage on each data line alternates between logic high and low as you *slowly* move the.roller.


Scott
EDIT: Misread your post earlier, corrected suggestions above.

[BrianAg95]

Ok, so I have IR lights on the board that is not reading

The Data lines however just read a constant 4.5ish volts.

I checked the other Board and it does have voltage changes on its data lines for movement (So I verified what I needed to be reading)

Seems to me like the IR sensor fried since it is just letting all the voltage through it... 

After some web searching this board is an atari style board from the 1980s

[PL1]

Sounds correct.

There are two ways to go from here:

1. Find replacement sensors and repair the board. (haven't looked up the P/N so not sure about vendor recommendations)

2. Replace the board  -- IIRC a "Red Board" like this one from Happ will work.

Don't see them listed on arcadeemulator.net, but PM Divemaster127 to see if he has any -- if you don't feel like taking your chances with the shipping charges from Happ. 

Arcadeshop.com carries them as "Atari/Happ Trackball Optic Board" and Twisted Quarter has them, too.




Scott

[BrianAg95]

Thanks.   For less than the price of 2 boards. I bought a used golden tee trackball from ebay.  I figure I will swap over both the red boards it has so both boards match in the trackball i will be using...  If I hadn't already rehabed the rollers and bearings I'd probably just get a new one altogether...  but I like my brown marble ball...   Of course at this point I spent almost as much fixing this ball as buying a new one... argh....  Ohh well....  At least I will have one spare working board I can make a spinner out of. 

That is of course if both boards work in the one I am getting     (althought the seller says it is 100% functional)  i figure if it was in golden tee it probably needs rollers, which I don't need.