Trackball questions. Mousehack + trackball + space needed.

[Wyluli]

Hi,
Read about a million threads on this issue.

[krick]

There's a page with trackball measurements on the Ultimarc site...

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

The dimensions are metric so you'll have to do the conversion.

[Wyluli]

Thanks Krick,
Looks like the mounting plate is 6" square roughly.  Hmmm, darn mounting plate is gonna make it tough on me.  I'll have to think about this one.  I 'd really like to get it on the control panel.  Now if I can just get someone to answer my dumb questions:

Do I just need the Ultimarc Trackball and the USB Mouse Interface ($9) from Oscarcontrols?
If I get these two items, is it as simple as plug it in and your good to go?  (no soldering needed etc?)
Would I need the trackball harness as well as the USB Mouse Interface?

[krick]

The trackball harness he sells is for a Happ trackball.  I'm 99% sure that the connectors and pinout are different so I doubt that it will work.

I think that you need to buy the "USB interface with L/R mouse buttons" for $12.50 and then wire up the connection to the trackball yourself.

You'll need the L/R button support if you plan to use the trackball as a replacement for your windows mouse in your cabinet.


BTW, I have the same issues with the size of the mounting plate.  I'm trying desperately to squeeze 2 ultimarc trackballs, 2 tornado spinners, 4 T-Stick Plus joysticks, and 26 buttons on my control panel that's about 37" wide by 14" deep.  And that's just the top.  The box under the top limits the control area even more.

I've got some interesting ideas on how to install the trackball plates that should gain me a little room but I'm sure it's going to be insanely cramped no matter what I do.

Regardless, MDF is fairly cheap, so I'm considering this a dry run.  If I build it and it's unusable, I'll make another with just one trackball and maybe a few less buttons.