Need Dimensions of Trackball Opto PCBs

[Mario]

I have two trackballs which I believe are imperial trackballs. They are both missing the small opto PCB boards inside, and I want to try to make my own rather than buying them (it's more fun this way). I have some PCB material which I am going to cut to size, and then mount the optics from a mouse.

Are these boards the same size as those in a Happs trackball? If not, can someone take the exact dimensions of one of the boards for me, and the positions of the optics?

Thanks.

Mario

[u_rebelscum]

My betson and wico TB PCBs are interchangable with each other.  Their size is almost the same as happs/atari PCBs, but not close enough I can swap with those.

Overall board size:
1 17/32" x 1 7/32" x 1/16"  (39x31x2 mm)  

sensor location:
almost centered in the long dimension (25/32" x 24/32" or 20mm x 19mm split),
the centerline of the gap the passes through is 13/32" (10mm) from the edge.  
The sensor gap is 7/32" (5 mm) wide.

I think my betsons were made in metric measurements, as the metric sizes are pretty much exact; while my wico looks like it was made in inches.

Both X & Y boards are the same as each other (ie: they're not mirrored); so I don't know if they're off long center by half a mm for sensing reasons, or just easier design.


BTW, you can buy replacement, umm example PCBs from BobRoberts if you need to, err want real models to copy.

[Mario]

My betson and wico TB PCBs are interchangable with each other.  Their size is almost the same as happs/atari PCBs, but not close enough I can swap with those.

Overall board size:
1 17/32" x 1 7/32" x 1/16"  (39x31x2 mm)  

<<TEXT DELETED>>


BTW, you can buy replacement, umm example PCBs from BobRoberts if you need to, err want real models to copy.

Thanks a bunch for the dimensions, and the tip to try Bob. I'll definitely check out his site if I can't do a good job.

Mario

[Bgnome]

any luck on this?  i will be getting a 3" wico withouth the optics and was considering this option instead of spending $20+ for a pair of pcbs.

[Mario]

any luck on this?  i will be getting a 3" wico withouth the optics and was considering this option instead of spending $20+ for a pair of pcbs.

My status so far: I cut a piece of breadboard to the size needed to fit the holding brackets inside the TB. I desoldered the optics from a mouse and attempted to solder them onto the breadboard. However, I couldn't get the soldered optics to stay secure on the breadboard. My breadboard has no metal on it (some have small circles of metal around each hole), so this could be the problem.

I also found that the mouse optics don't stick out far enough. The gap between the optic boards and the encoder wheels are large enough to accomodate the large optics normally used. The leads on the optics which I took off the mouse were so short that I had to solder extensions to them. Then when I went to solder wire to the extensions, the heat caused the extensions to detach from the optics. It was a royal pain   and I got very frustrated.

I think the best thing for me to do is to order some better optics, such as those shown on Ultimarc's DIY Optical Sensor pages (http://www.ultimarc.com/optipac4.html).

Mario

[Bgnome]

i looked into that, but I cant seem to find a local supply for those things.  radio shack has a matched ir emitter/receiver set for $3.29, and you would need 2 for each board.

digi-key has these in stock but charges $5 for orders under $25.

neither is a very cost effective solution.  i was hoping to accomplish something similar to what you were planning to do.  there is a couple pictures of how one person magaed it on http://www.cheeptech.com/cuhack.html down at the bottom of the page..