new Ultimarc 2.5" or used 3" Golden Tee?

[vputz]

I'm trying to decide on a trackball for my panel, and it looks like I have two choices for my (cheeep) price range: a new Ultimarc 2.5" or scrubbing eBay for a used 3" Imperial Golden Tee trackball.

Having never seen the Ultimarcs, does anyone have any input either way?  I'll try to spend some quality time at the arcade deciding on whether the size matters (how big were the old Missile Command trackballs?), but how does construction, etc compare?

I realize that a used tball comes with its share of nervousness, but I'm assuming that most of them would stay in at least reasonably workable shape...

-->VPutz

[Apollo]

I suggest you invest a little bit more and get the Happs High lip Golden Tee trackball on sale at the moment for $59.99. You won't regret it.

[mahuti]

Didn't centipede, missle command, and millipede all use a 2.5"?

I have a 2.5" Ultimarc trackball, and it works fantastic. My guests all enjoy it as well.

I don't really see why there is all of this tendency towards "arcade realistic 3" trackball. Centipede was in the arcade, and that was definitely in the top 2 most popular trackball games ever. Golden Tee being the other one. Centipede has a 2.5" and Golden Tee" has a 3" It's just about personal choice. A 2.5" works better for some games, and a 3" works better for others.

The ultimarc will cost you half as much. If you are going for cheap, it's a really great piece of equipment.

[NoOne=NBA=]

IIRC, Centipede USUALLY used a 3", Missle Command had a 4-1/2" on the uprights and a 3" on most cocktails, and Millipede USUALLY used a 2-1/4".

I'm sure there were alot of cross-conversions, because I remember trying to play Centipede on a 4-1/2" Missle Command cabinet once.
Those balls were heavy.

[maraxle]

IIRC, Centipede USUALLY used a 3", Missle Command had a 4-1/2" on the uprights and a 3" on most cocktails, and Millipede USUALLY used a 2-1/4".

I'm sure there were alot of cross-conversions, because I remember trying to play Centipede on a 4-1/2" Missle Command cabinet once.
Those balls were heavy.

The control panel I got from a cocktail-style Millipede had a 3" trackball.

[PaulG]

Wow.  Happs has dropped the onsale price of their Golden Tee.  59.99 is a steal!

[Mugzilla]

$60 is a steal! PLAN AHEAD on your trackball! With the high lip trackball, you can recess the mounting plate flush with the MDF, then put down your graphics, then use 1/8" (I THINK) lexan. The lip ends up being FLUSH with the lexan.


AND, you don't have to look at the ugly mounting plate!!!

I like my high lip, but I like the price you are about to pay better.

[Rom]

I'm a bit confused as to which mounting plate would be required with the Golden Tee trackball. It's described as a High Lip Track ball so does that mean it uses the High Ball mounting plate or just the standard 3" mounting plate?

Thanks.

[Apollo]

Hey ROM.
I believe it uses a standard mounting plate and comes with a spacer so that the lip is level with the CP surface.

[PaulG]

What Appolo said.

[Snarbald]

IIRC, Centipede USUALLY used a 3", Missle Command had a 4-1/2" on the uprights and a 3" on most cocktails, and Millipede USUALLY used a 2-1/4".

My girlfriend's aunt and uncle have an original dedicated centipede cab in their basement and it most definately has a 2.5" trackball.

[rchadd]

My 3" Happ Golden Tee hight lip TB arrived today - it was a  bargain at the sales price of

[vputz]

I too was swayed by the siren lure of the $60 high-lip; shipped out to-day (hopefully I'll have it by the weekend).  I'm curious to see how this pans out...

-->VPutz

[StLouisRod]

To answer your question, go with either an Imperial or Happ 3 inch trackball... You can't play Golden Tee Golf authentically without the 3 incher  !

And no offense to Andy at Ultimarc, but those Suzo/Wico 2.25" trackballs he sells for $28.00 blow chunks.  It's made of thin plastic, with steel bearings, but plastic rollers.  So the ball does not roll very smoothly and stops almost immediately after spinning it.  And I even took it apart and put 3in1 oil on the bearings!  The connectors that clip the wires to the optic boards tend to lose connection if you smack the trackball, which causes it to lose up/down or left/right movement  until you jog the connector again. AND you have to buy special resistors and wire them up as pull-up resistors to get a mouse board to recognize it  .

I know an arcade dealer who can get the Imperials 2.25" for $35.00, and he showed me one.  It was very well constructed and the ball rolled great.  Happs, of course, are also well made.

Just my 2 cents.

[reebboy]

I agree with StLouisRod. I bought the Ultimarc ball because of the price. Its not bad but as he said it doesn't spin very well. If I could do it over I would still buy it but If I had the money I would upgrade to something better. It all depends on how much you want to spend.

[Carsten Carlos]

I'm glad that finally there are others who don't like the Suzo-trackball, too. Compared to a 3" Happ, they are rather crappy, and don't spin very well. Like my posting below:

http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=16121;start=msg127064#msg127064

By the way - the Centipede definitely and ever had a 2 1/4" trackball, no need to discuss this!   Milipede had the 3". The reason I turned out to use a 3" was that I really liked the size of the original Centipede trackball, but then, those days I was about 11 years old and had smaller hands.

So the way my hands grew after that, the trackball also had to grow!  

If interested - you can see at my homepage http://www.Retrospieler.de how the 3" trackball looks in my Centipede-like controlpanel.