Happ 3" high lip trackball

[Abomination]

Okaaay, finaly starting to wire my control panel up and I have no idea how to wire this trackball.  I tried searching but only found things on mouse hacks (chopping up a mouse and wiring it to its innards?)  my trackball has a 6 prong female harness and two green wires connected together (appears to be ground wires)  Can anyone point me in the right direction?

PS. and soon, I'm dying to finaly play this sucker 

[pointdablame]

You need a mouse hack or an OptiPac to get it up and running.

[Abomination]

You need a mouse hack or an OptiPac to get it up and running.

In addition to the I-paq4 I have?

[Franco]

Simply... yes.

[AtomSmasher]

if you have a happs trackball, then just buy the usb/ps2 conversion kit from happs (or ponyboy since he's cheaper) that way wiring it is simple and you don't need an optipac or anything else to make it work.

[Mark70]

Yeah,  my trackball just arrived, but I have an optipac and an Ipac2 coming still.

I was suprised to see the lack of information that comes with the Happ trackball... but I did get a snazzy yellow sticker that says "Happ Trackball, the choice of pros".

Anyone use this sticker on their cab?  I might put it on my bezel art.

[Minwah]

if you have a happs trackball, then just buy the usb/ps2 conversion kit from happs (or ponyboy since he's cheaper) that way wiring it is simple and you don't need an optipac or anything else to make it work.

Aren't these really expensive (I thought so)?

Shame Oscar is closed atm, as I think his mouse hacks are the simplest & cheapest way of hooking up a spinner/trackball.  He even did a wiring loom for Happ trackballs...

[CheffoJeffo]

if you have a happs trackball, then just buy the usb/ps2 conversion kit from happs (or ponyboy since he's cheaper) that way wiring it is simple and you don't need an optipac or anything else to make it work.

Aren't these really expensive (I thought so)?

I think I paid $30 for mine from TornadoTerry a ways back.

Cheers.

[markrvp]

It's definitely cheaper to buy the PS2/USB version to begin with.

[Mark70]

It's definitely cheaper to buy the PS2/USB version to begin with.

Locally, it was cheaper for me to buy both the regular trackball and an optipac, than to buy the usb ready trackball.  Optipac has wiring instructions on their site, and I hear that the product also ships with instructions, which I expect to be the same as the ones on the site.

[pointdablame]

if you have a happs trackball, then just buy the usb/ps2 conversion kit from happs (or ponyboy since he's cheaper) that way wiring it is simple and you don't need an optipac or anything else to make it work.

I just don't think the Happ USB kit is worth the money.  It's $43 on their site, ponyboy might be able to get it for $35 or so???   The Optipac is $39 and can run a lot more controls and is a lot more flexible.  You'll wind up paying a few bux more for shipping from the UK (although Happs shipping might be close to that lol), but the Optipac is the way to go if you have ANY reason to think you might one day want a spinner or another trackball, or anything like that.

[Abomination]

well I have a spinner so I ordered the optipac, not so worried about the cost but my lack of research on this.  I assumed it would work via usb for some reason /shrug

[Ldsfunaz]

i got a high lip off of ebay for 90 bucks , it came with the USB adapter already on it.  I thought i was getting a standard 3" trackball, because i didnt think high lip came in USB, but was pleasently surprised by the highlip.  I guess that doesnt help you, and it may come across as bragging, but... well i guess i am 

LDS

[dema]

I bought a Mini Pac and the Ultimarc wiring harness for the Happs trackball and Oscar spinner. I'm guessing to connect it to the trackball that I need to disconnect the wires that came attached to the trackball and replace them with those from the wiring harness?

Also, I can't fit the molex connector onto the spinner prongs. Is there something I need to do to get it to work properly?

[pointdablame]

Am I a complete moron? I can't figure out how the heck to wire up this Happs trackball and Mini-Pac for the life of me. I bought the Ultimarc wiring harness that works with the Happs trackball but I don't see any open prongs that fit the harness. I read on the Opti-Pac section that you have to cut the wiring, but then why do I have molex connectors on the wiring harness for the trackball?

Am I missing a part, did I fail to order a part, am I a complete moron, or am I drunker than I think right now?

the molex connector on the Happ trackball isn't used with a minipac and/or Optipac.  Either cut the molex connector off entirely, or splice into the wires and use those.

[markrvp]

I would recommend going to Radio Shack tomorrow and getting the 6 pin Molex connector that will plug into your trackball for $2.  Wire that connector to the Minipac so that you can easily connect/disconnect the trackball without cutting off the original connector.

[dema]

After removing the trackball from my panel and taking a closer look, it seems that the wiring harness from Ultimarc takes the place of the wiring that comes with the Happs Trackball. From the look of it you just unplug the wiring to the x and y axis and replace it with the molex connectors on the wiring harness.

And to get the spinner molex to attach I had to shave off the two nubs with an exacto knife and now it's a perfect fit.