Crayola Trackball

[madk]

Has anyone ever tried the Crayola trackball and if so could fill me in on it's performance.  I am not huge into track ball games...and honestly want it on my cp mainly to navigate through windows.  I found one of these locally at Toys R' Us being closed out at $10.  Just want to know if anyone has any sort of experience with it.  Thanks in advance.

-madk

[rampy]

I don't personally have one... but I researched it pretty well....    as I was considering it, but couldn't find any in meatspace cheap.... (shoulda checked toys r us, dammit!)

if you go to 1up's page he has a kidsball (which is an earlier version of the crayolla trackball ) hack on his CP.  I believe Erik Ruud does as well....  

I think that most people that used em, felt they were pretty close/servicable/playable trackball for MAMEing purposes.

Visit there sites for more info or do a search for kidsball or crayola  on this site... I'll try and find some direct thread links for you when I get a chance...

rampy

[1UP]

I do have a Crayola Kids PC Trackball!  It's in my cab as we speak.  It's a pretty good ball, nice 3" diameter, heavy roll, no backspin problems, or at least they're minimal enough that you can fix it thru Mame sensitivity settings, etc.  If you can get one that cheap, go for it!  I've also seen some at Fry's for $19 or so (it was $39 when I got mine! )  Feels very arcade-like.  I replaced the yellow ball with a translucent blue one, and put in LEDs to backlight it.  Here it is on my panel:


There's a tutorial on my site on how to mount it on a CP.

Good luck!

[Brad Lee]

NIce.. I asked about this yesterday, are you using an OptiPac? Ill read it all later to find out

Theres also a Microsofttrackball thats large, that may work

[1UP]

NIce.. I asked about this yesterday, are you using an OptiPac? Ill read it all later to find out

Theres also a Microsofttrackball thats large, that may work

I actually just mounted it, it's not hooked up yet.  I'm still deciding whether to interface thru the Optipac.  Sounds like more work...

[ErikRuud]

The one in my control panel is hooked up to the serial port.  I got mine for twenty dollars.

[hyiu]

I also got one.....
buy it at $30 !!!....    
good for you... can buy it at $10....    

I'm not much of a trackball games guy....
but I think it plays ok.... missile command.... etc...
(ohh.... ps... just want to let you know... I have not mounted it yet......   but will do it soon....) and yes... I'll use it as a mouse for windows... heee hee...

now think of it... a quick question.... I took it apart... and I found the 2 mouse buttons.... I want to hack them into Happs push button also.... but it seems like those mouse buttons has 3 solder points.... anyone has any clue which one is which ??..... (well... I guess I should at least post a pic....)
well.... very busy lately.... did not have a chance to work on the cab at all... so... when I do have more time, then I'll post a pic also.... thanks....

[ErikRuud]

A did hack mine to a pair of Happs buttons.  If you look at the bottom of the PC board you will see that two of the contacts on each switch are soldered to the same trace.  That is one connection, the isolated pin is the other. Connect one push button wire to pin that is isolated, and one wire to either of the pins that are  connected to the same trace.

[ashardin]

I just got one of these to use in my cabinet.  Here are a few observations:

1.  Much heavier than I thought.  I expected a light, hollow ball.  Its not arcade quality, but good for the price.

2.  Does not work with Golden Tee PC (or Tiger Woods PGA 2002).  Not sure why?  Buttons work inside the applications but the trackball does not work for the swing.

3.  Worked with Mame instantly

4.  Mine was used, so take this with a grain of salt.  When I play any game that requires hard spinning (Bowling for instance) after about an hour of play the rollers slide off the middle, and the trackball does not read very well.  I have to take it apart and recenter.  If I was keeping in, a dab of adhesive would probably clear it up.

Conclusion.  For me it was a good $20 solution.  Since the main reason I wanted it was for Golden Tee, I decided to upgrade to an Imperial and an Optipace.  Got me started.  If you want to play things like Missle Command, Centipede, etc, you will be very happy for $10.

[1UP]

now think of it... a quick question.... I took it apart... and I found the 2 mouse buttons.... I want to hack them into Happs push button also.... but it seems like those mouse buttons has 3 solder points.... anyone has any clue which one is which ??..... (well... I guess I should at least post a pic....)
well.... very busy lately.... did not have a chance to work on the cab at all... so... when I do have more time, then I'll post a pic also.... thanks....

I think the switches probably have a normally open and a normally closed contact, plus a ground contact.  The NC and ground are soldered together, so it's not using all 3 contacts.  Actually, if you look closely, one of the contacts is soldered to a point on the board that goes nowhere (no circuit contacts it.)  Don't solder anything to this contact, use the other two instead.

Hope this helps!