Atari Home Trakball useable for a Mame Cab ?

[Level42]

Would it be possible to use an old 8-bit trackball like the Atari http://cgi.ebay.com/Atari-2600-Trak-Ball-Controller-NEW-in-BOX-Trakball_W0QQitemZ8216937950QQcategoryZ41009QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting or Wico for home computers to be interfaced to a mame cab ?
Think i'd need a "mouse" interface to hack the thing. Please, I understand that these things will not have the quality of a proper arcade trackball, but might this be a bit of an alternative ?

[JCL]

This site thinks they are usable:

http://www.cheeptech.com/cuhack.html

[NoOne=NBA=]

Those are close to arcade quality.
I'm not sure about the black ball version in the link, but the white ball version that I had used the same ball/rollers as the arcade version.
My only complaint is that they sit a bit low in the factory casing.
The rolling/control on them is excellent.

[daywane]

if you own one try it.
if not and you want a cheep track ball try the crayola t ball

[ChadTower]

I've spent many hours using the home atari trackballs.  While superior to any other home trackballs, they are substantially lower quality than arcade trackballs.  They would not stand up to heavy, hard use, especially given their age. 

[NoOne=NBA=]

While superior to any other home trackballs, they are substantially lower quality than arcade trackballs.

How so?

You have steel rollers (unlike some of the arcade ones), the same bearings as the arcade versions (from what I could tell), and the same ball.
All that leaves are the encoder wheels and optic cards as different from the arcade versions.
Neither of those pieces factors into the equation, as they are not wearing parts.

I used mine for YEARS on my 2600, and it showed absolutely no wear on the rollers when I hacked it, and still spun almost on par with my Happ.
I think Happ uses slightly better bearings than any of its competitors, which would account for the smoothness of them.

[RayB]

The difference might be that arcade operators routinely oiled the bearings, whereas a home-use trackball would be left as is.

[NoOne=NBA=]

The difference might be that arcade operators routinely oiled the bearings, whereas a home-use trackball would be left as is.

That could be.
I used to oil/clean mine regularly--just like I do with my arcade ones.

[ChadTower]

I use my official Atari trackballs for both the 2600 and 5200 regularly - we're Millipede people in my house - and it's not nearly as heavy as an arcade trackball.  The ball is lighter, the housing is lighter, the mechanics may be the same structure but they're sure not the same strength of metal as the arcade.  A home Atari trackball would never stand up to use on route.  Now, you're using at home, so that may not be a factor, but the difference is substantial enough that I wouldn't bother using one in a real cab.  The cost difference just isn't enough to sacrifice that much.

[Level42]

OK, that's great, now I still don't know what to do HAHAHA

Anyway, I think if I can pick one up tomorrow (going to a retro-computer fair here in Holland http://www.retrocomputerdag.nl/ there's also a page in English) for close to nothing I'll give it a shot. I won't be doing Centipede or Millipede (hate them, hate them.....games suck.......ok I admit this may also be because I only got 4th on the Atari Centipede championships in 1983 but that was on the 2600 with a joystick YUGH !) but I want to play Missile Command and Marble Madness with a trackball.

No-one uses the Wico home trackballs ? I remember they sold them in the 80's and were advertised as using a "genuine" cue-ball and true arcade mechanics:
http://www.jackbergsales.com/toys/WICOCommandControlTrackballController.htm

[NoOne=NBA=]

OK, that's great, now I still don't know what to do HAHAHA

I would get a 3" arcade trackball, and call it good.

[ChadTower]

My advice:

If money is the issue, and you already have an Atari home trackball around, use it.

If money is not the issue, spend the extra $100 and get a real trackball.  You can cheap out on a lot of stuff with a cab but the controls really shouldn't be one of them.  The controls are your interface to the experience.

[Stingray]

You can buy a real Betson 3" trackball used for about $30. What does the Atari home TB usually sell for?

-S

[ChadTower]

No idea as they're not easy to find.  It was a low production item 25 years ago.

[Stingray]

Yeah, that was kind of my point. Why dismantle a hard to find Atari item when you could spend right about that same kind of money and get yourself a genuine arcade trackball? You won't even have to search hard to find one. I'll bet a WTB ad in the B/S/T forum would turn up a used TB within a day.

-S

[ChadTower]

That why I mentioned he could use it if he already had one on hand and couldn't afford to lay $30-50 out on a real one.

[JCL]

My advice:

If money is the issue, and you already have an Atari home trackball around, use it.

If money is not the issue, spend the extra $100 and get a real trackball.

[daywane]

but tinkering is what we do 

[Mario]

No-one uses the Wico home trackballs ? I remember they sold them in the 80's and were advertised as using a "genuine" cue-ball and true arcade mechanics:
http://www.jackbergsales.com/toys/WICOCommandControlTrackballController.htm

The "feel" of these home Wico TBs is much closer to a real arcade TB than the Ataris. I was planning on using one, but ended up picking up real arcade TBs from Ebay.

The optics on the home Wicos seems to be the same as those used in the arcade TBs, so interfacing them should be easy. With the arcade TB, I simply removed the detectors off of a PS2 mouse and then connected the outputs on the TB optic boards directly to mouse PCB where the detectors were.

Mario