Hacking my own mouse

[crashwg]

I know there's someone out there that does this and sells them, but I'm hoping to save some mony and do it my self.

First off, the way it works is you de-solder the optics on the mouse and run wires from the trackball's optics to the place where the mouse's orignal optics were.  Am I correct on that?

Second, is there a particular brand of mouse that works best?

And lastly, will this work with the 2

[SirPoonga]

There is two techniques.  1) what you said, run wires directly from the tball's optics to the mouse optics.
2) What I did, take out the mouse optics and runt he 6 wires formt he tball harness into the mouse.

Both are very simular procedures.
There are two types of mice, those with 3 pin IR receivers and those with 4 pin.  The 3 pin are easier the to, the three pins are ground, data+ and data-.
The 4 pin, one of the pins won't be used int he hack.


The ultimarc tball comes with it's own interface, I thought.  Or maybe not.

[crashwg]

At $28, I'm pretty sure it doesn't have an interface.  Also, there are two versions listed, one has a "modification which allows use with the Mini-PAC board"

Hmmm, wonder what that could be?  I thought the Mini-PAC worked the same way as the opti-pac when it came to handling optical input devices.

[Minwah]

At $28, I'm pretty sure it doesn't have an interface.  Also, there are two versions listed, one has a "modification which allows use with the Mini-PAC board"

Hmmm, wonder what that could be?  I thought the Mini-PAC worked the same way as the opti-pac when it came to handling optical input devices.

I expect it comes with the optics but no interface - I would do as SirP said and use the trackball's optics if possible.

Pure speculation but perhaps the 'modification' has something to do with buffered (Happ) and unbuffered (Wico) types of trackballs?  Maybe the Mini-Pac by default expects the Happ type (?)

[crashwg]

Will the buffered/unbuffered types affect the mouse hack?

[G@M3FR3@K]

First off, the way it works is you de-solder the optics on the mouse and run wires from the trackball's optics to the place where the mouse's orignal optics were.  Am I correct on that?

I agree with SP, it's better to first remove the mouse optics(usually this consists of 2 LEDs & 2 receivers) before soldering the TB up to the mouse.  Take a look at Wiring an Arcade Trackball into a PC (Mouse Hack).

Second, is there a particular brand of mouse that works best?

I would have to say NO.  If you read the above tutorial, I would say the best mouse you could use would be one that falls in the same tracking range as the particular Track Ball you are using.  What I mean by range is you need to find a mouse thats optical encoding disk (vanes) have similar teeth to the ones on your TB's encoder wheel.

The more they are alike (spacing in between teeth) the more accurate your TB will perform.

I would completely stay away from using Optical mice.

And lastly, will this work with the 2

[GamingGreg]

You also need to be aware if the optics on the trackball are Active High or Active Low, and which type the mouse board is using.  Most likely the mouse is using one that is active high.

The Ultimarc trackball only has the optics (no USB or other interface), and the optics are active low.  I have one of these and I used one of Oscar's mouse boards for the interface, but because it is active low, I had to add four 1 K pull up resisters to the board, in order to get it to work.

If you have some old mice kicking around, then go ahead and try the mouse hack route.  However, if you are going to be buying a mouse, I suggest getting one of Oscar's boards instead.  They cost nearly the same as a mouse ($9 or $12.50 if you need left and right buttons), and they are cleaner to work with.  Also be aware that if you need several mice, you'll be needing USB mice, which again might mean buying them.

[Edgedamage]

Besides Oscars mouse. All the other mouse hacks I have done have used micro$oft ps2 mice. I have used these mice hacks on happ trackballs and even a original Tempest spinner. Go to a used comp store and they have them in bins for less than $5 each.

[GamingGreg]

At $28, I'm pretty sure it doesn't have an interface.  Also, there are two versions listed, one has a "modification which allows use with the Mini-PAC board"

Hmmm, wonder what that could be?  I thought the Mini-PAC worked the same way as the opti-pac when it came to handling optical input devices.

I expect it comes with the optics but no interface - I would do as SirP said and use the trackball's optics if possible.

Pure speculation but perhaps the 'modification' has something to do with buffered (Happ) and unbuffered (Wico) types of trackballs?  Maybe the Mini-Pac by default expects the Happ type (?)

I noticed that there are several types of Mini-Pacs listed on Andy's site here.  One stated it was for Happ trackballs and the other for Ultimarc trackballs (same as Wicos from what I understand).  I don't know about the buffering stuff, but my guess is that is has more to deal with whether the optics are active high or active low.  (Happs are active high and Wicos/Ultimarcs are active low).   Although, the Optipac had a jumper for this, maybe the Mini-Pac does too?  I'm just speculating here.

[G@M3FR3@K]

Does anyone now if the Betson's Imperial TB (used in Golden Tee's) are active high or active low?  Are they unbuffered or buffered?  

Does anyone now where I can find info that explains the meaning of active high/active low?  What about unbuffered/buffered (of course I mean in relationship to a Track Ball)?

[crashwg]

You also need to be aware if the optics on the trackball are Active High or Active Low, and which type the mouse board is using.  Most likely the mouse is using one that is active high.

The Ultimarc trackball only has the optics (no USB or other interface), and the optics are active low.  I have one of these and I used one of Oscar's mouse boards for the interface, but because it is active low, I had to add four 1 K pull up resisters to the board, in order to get it to work.

If you have some old mice kicking around, then go ahead and try the mouse hack route.  However, if you are going to be buying a mouse, I suggest getting one of Oscar's boards instead.  They cost nearly the same as a mouse ($9 or $12.50 if you need left and right buttons), and they are cleaner to work with.  Also be aware that if you need several mice, you'll be needing USB mice, which again might mean buying them.

Will Oscar's boards work with the the ultimarc trackball?

[GamingGreg]

You also need to be aware if the optics on the trackball are Active High or Active Low, and which type the mouse board is using.  Most likely the mouse is using one that is active high.

The Ultimarc trackball only has the optics (no USB or other interface), and the optics are active low.  I have one of these and I used one of Oscar's mouse boards for the interface, but because it is active low, I had to add four 1 K pull up resisters to the board, in order to get it to work.

If you have some old mice kicking around, then go ahead and try the mouse hack route.  However, if you are going to be buying a mouse, I suggest getting one of Oscar's boards instead.  They cost nearly the same as a mouse ($9 or $12.50 if you need left and right buttons), and they are cleaner to work with.  Also be aware that if you need several mice, you'll be needing USB mice, which again might mean buying them.

Will Oscar's boards work with the the ultimarc trackball?

Not directly, however they can be made to work with a little modification (the pull-up resistors mentioned above). I'm using the two together, with that modification and it works great.  However this does require a little knowledge of basic electronics and soldering.

[SirPoonga]

BTW, my mouse hack is the cheap compusa brand usb mouse.

[G@M3FR3@K]

SP, what device (TB/Spinner) do you have connected to your mouse hack?  what make/model is it?

And how well is it working for you (is it responsive enough)?

[paigeoliver]

Related question.

Say I have a 3" imperial trackball that is the factory PS2 type.

Is there a way to piggyback a spinner onto that prexisting interface?

[SirPoonga]

G@M3FR3@K:
I just wired the tball harness into the compusa mouse.  Works great.  Will be selling the hack soon.


Paige: yep, very possible, though the optipac (or minipac) would be a better route.

[crashwg]

where is the minipac?  i can't seem to find it on andy's site.

[SirPoonga]

http://www.ultimarc.com/minipac.html

[crashwg]

  I think I'm gonna bite the bullet and just buy the mini-pac with the opti input for the ultimarc trackball.  It's only about $30 more than the I-Pac.  It will save me a bunch of trouble and it will make wiring everything as easy as pie.   I was trying so hard to keep this project as cheap as posible... Every day the cost goes up more and more and I'm not even adding more features.

[Stingray]

For what it's worth, I was able to do a mouse hack on my first try. There's really not a lot to it if you read a couple of the online tutorials first.

-S

[Edgedamage]

I think I'm gonna bite the bullet and just buy the mini-pac with the opti input for the ultimarc trackball.  It's only about $30 more than the I-Pac.  It will save me a bunch of trouble and it will make wiring everything as easy as pie.   I was trying so hard to keep this project as cheap as posible... Every day the cost goes up more and more and I'm not even adding more features.

Do what you want but if you take your time a mouse hack is no problem. Used micro$oft ps2 mice are dirt cheap. If your looking to save some dough a mouse hack is your best bet.

[GamingGreg]

Does anyone now if the Betson's Imperial TB (used in Golden Tee's) are active high or active low?  Are they unbuffered or buffered?  

Does anyone now where I can find info that explains the meaning of active high/active low?  What about unbuffered/buffered (of course I mean in relationship to a Track Ball)?

I found a PowerPoint lecture that might help you here.  Basically Active High or Active Low refers to which part of the digital signal the circuit is "keying off of", the high or low side.  The active low optics in my trackball didn't have anything to "pull" the voltage all the way up to the "high" threshold so the mouse board could recognise it.  That's the reason for the "pull-up" resistors.  Hopefully that didn't confuse you too much.

[crashwg]

It seems as thought the "mini-pac" version of ultimarcs trackballs is modified by adding the pull up resistors needed to use a mouse hack or mini-pac which does not have the resistors on board.  Mouse hack here I come...