Happs trackball (parts needed)

[WwonderLlama]

I'm using a Happ's trackball with a hacked usb mouse interface.  It appears one of the optical encoders has gone bad.  I looked for a replacement on Happ's website and found a replacement part

http://www.happcontrols.com/trackballs/a052101000.htm

But, that part is a newer design than what came with my trackball. (I have the green pcb, the new ones are red.)  Judging from the description, there is a performance difference between the two.  So, it seems I'm either going to have to buy 2 new encoders (kinda steep at $23 each + $5.50 handling fee, +shipping!) or look for a replacement encoder elsewhere.  If all else fails, I suppose I could buy a whole new trackball w/ encoders off of eBay (but my wife would probably kill me.  )

So, my question is, does anyone know where I might be able to find a green-pcb happs encoder?

(oh, and if anyone wants to see my "work in progress" cab, build pictures are at http://www.llamamuds.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=33)

Thanks for any pointers you can give,

Phill W.

[Toonces]

PM Sent.

[u_rebelscum]

FWIW, I tried having a red and green board on the same TB, and couldn't tell.  I didn't test all that deeply, but in playing marble madness it seemed okay.  I tried both (green,red) and (red,green) for (X,Y).

You are right there are performance differences, though.  According to Happs, the reds have a higher backspin speed than the greens, and filter noise better.  But remember you're hooking the TB to the computer through a hacked mouse (I tested optipac and happs usb interface but same idea), which has it's own backspin level, and filters the noise (as long as it's not confused by the noise in the first place).

The only things you might see (if you don't change the encoder wheels):

• small delay difference (in microseconds)
• having "one pixel" back & forth flipping or not
• max speed difference (depending on your mouse's max & backspin speeds)
• backspin speed difference (depending on your mouse's max & backspin speeds)

In my testing, I think the last two were not noticable to my interfaces (IE: probably my interfaces' max/backspin levels were lower than both boards'), and the first two were not noticable to me, even it they happened or not.  You might get different results on your hacked mouse, though I doubt it.

My 2 cents.

[quarterback]

Will a Betson PCB fit into a Happ TB?  The boards done look exactly the same, but I'mnot sure what the differences are on the interior of the TB case.

[u_rebelscum]

Will a Betson PCB fit into a Happ TB?  The boards done look exactly the same, but I'm not sure what the differences are on the interior of the TB case.

It almost fits.  If you shove hard enough, it might go in, but OTOH the PCB might crack.  The Betson PCB is thicker than Happs.

edit - On second thought, I might be mixing the PCBs, and it might be the Happs being thicker.  I'll check tonight.

edit2 - Finally checked, and they aren't easily interchangable.  See post below.

[88mph]

I just ordered a new red Happ trackball encoder from Bob Roberts for $15 + shipping..

Interestingly enough, one of my recently purchased red Happ trackball encoders randomly died while I was mousing through Windows.  I think they must have a quality control problem or something.. I had another relatively new green one die randomly about 5 years ago. 

Hopefully this new one will last me a while..

Good luck,

88mph

[WwonderLlama]

Thanks for all the replies.

Okay, so if I decide to buy a new red encoder, it sounds like I should go to Bob Roberts... Can you point me in his direction?  How much was the shipping fee?

Thanks much,

Phill W.

[pcates]

I built 2 new ones using the plans on Ultimarc's site:
http://www.ultimarc.com/optipac4.html

and they work great, I just mounted them to a green board I picked up at radio shack, and cut it to fit perfectly in place. I have been using it for about a year, with no problems.

Patrick

[WwonderLlama]

I built 2 new ones using the plans on Ultimarc's site:
http://www.ultimarc.com/optipac4.html

and they work great, I just mounted them to a green board I picked up at radio shack, and cut it to fit perfectly in place. I have been using it for about a year, with no problems.

Patrick

Are you using these with a mouse hack, or with the Optic-pac Plus from Ultimarc?  The link you provided shows both the Happs optical board and the hack you used and makes them seem interchangable, but they only mention connecting it to the Opti-pac.

I'm currently using the I-Pac 4 with a mouse-hacked spinner and trackball.  (The Nasty spinner is fantastic... about $3 in parts + dead Hard drive parts + crappy ball-mouse = spinner goodness!)

Thanks for the info!

--Phill W.

[WwonderLlama]

For posterity's sake (in case anyone finds this thread via search), DigiKey.com no longer stocks the item listed on Ultimarc's site.  That part (QVB11334) apparently was rendered obsolete in October of 2001.  The new part number they gave me to look at (don't know whether it'll work) is QVE11233-ND.

Edit: Looking further into it, QVB11134-ND may be a more appropriate substitution.

I'll look at the datasheets and see if anything jumps out, but I'm no electrician or EE, so don't take my findings to seriously.

[SirPoonga]

Wwonder, www.therealbobroberts.com

Also, it makes sense that the new part is better, that's a good reason it got replaced.   They made a better version   Or is it the fact that the first part the company decided to no longer make it and the other part is a different company's equivilant.

[WwonderLlama]

Wwonder, www.therealbobroberts.com

Also, it makes sense that the new part is better, that's a good reason it got replaced.   They made a better version   Or is it the fact that the first part the company decided to no longer make it and the other part is a different company's equivilant.

Thanks for the pointer to Bob Roberts. (I'd tried going there yesterday, but couldn't get to the site... Just tried.. still can't get anywhere. I get a 404 error.)  I expected the new part would be about the same, but their technician couldn't tell me whether it's electrically compatible, so I figured I should dig in the docs.

Thanks for the input

[u_rebelscum]

Will a Betson PCB fit into a Happ TB?  The boards done look exactly the same, but I'mnot sure what the differences are on the interior of the TB case.

Okay, checked.  The Wico and Betson/Imperial I have are almost swappable: the betson fits in the wico, but the wico is just this[/t] much too wide to fit in the betson.  I bet I could sand the PCB a little and it would fit, though.

However, the betson/imperial/wico PCBs are shorter than the Happs, and so don't lock into the happs TB cases.  And the happs are too long to fit inside the betson/wico cases.  You might be able to extend the betson PCBs to be held correctly in the happs, but not that easy is my guess.

[gonzobrian]

WwonderLlama, Bobs site seems to be down I get the same error and I just ordered from him a few weeks ago.

[Toonces]

Thanks for all the replies.

Okay, so if I decide to buy a new red encoder, it sounds like I should go to Bob Roberts... Can you point me in his direction?  How much was the shipping fee?

Thanks much,

Phill W.

Bob's site is up at http://www.homearcade.org/BBBB/parts.html

It looks like his DNS redirect isn't working so you get a 404 at the other URL. I know he's alive and shipping as I just got notice on parts I ordered today.

Toonces

[Toonces]

Oh, and his base shipping cost is $6 so the encoder would cost you $21 if the cost of the encoder is $15.