Betson Imperial Trackball

[Fozzy The Bear]

I've managed to aquire one of these trackballs..... I'm still waiting for delivery on it. it might be a while getting here , but it has some significant advantages....

3" ball, fully enclosed case and it's PS2 as standard with three button wires... no mouse hacking or optipac interfaces needed.

I'm trying to lay out my control panel and I was wondering if anybody has a dimensioned drawing or has one they could measure for me, I need to try and fit my buttons round it and don't know where they need to go to avoid the case.

Can anybody help with this please???

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

[pmc]

Assuming it's the same size as the Happ 3" ball, there's a drawing in the Arcade Art Library here. I'm not certain if the housing is the exact same size or not.

-pmc

[Fozzy The Bear]

Thanks for the tip, but unfortunately they are entirely different to the Happ Trackballs and come in a sort of diamond shaped case....

Thanks anyway!

Can anybody else help out here??? I know some of you guys have got them....  Please??

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear) 

[markrvp]

Thanks for the tip, but unfortunately they are entirely different to the Happ Trackballs and come in a sort of diamond shaped case....

Thanks anyway!

Can anybody else help out here??? I know some of you guys have got them....

[zaphod]

Yes, the mounting plate will be the deciding factor on how close it is to the buttons.  If you go with a mounting plate the ball itself is irrelevant.  Wait until you get the trackball before cutting the hole out, though, to make your life easier.

[Fozzy The Bear]

OK Thanks guys!!  I'll have to wait and see what comes in the post....

I am going to be using some sort of mounting plate.....  But maybe not a conventional one. It may be that instead of mounting the trackball to the top panel, I'm going to bolt it to the bottom panel of the control case. 

I know that doesn't immediately seem to make sense. But I'm in the realm of experimentation here. I have an idea for an unusual setup that may work quite well.

I'll post the details and photographs if it works out.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

[Timstuff]

I made a template as a vector file in Adobe Illustrator for the Betson Imperial trackball. If you've got illustrator I could send it to you. Otherwise, I might be able to see about making it as a raster file.

[Fozzy The Bear]

I made a template as a vector file in Adobe Illustrator for the Betson Imperial trackball. If you've got illustrator I could send it to you.

Hey!! Thanks Tim... That'd be great. I can read illustrator files. I'll PM you an email addy. 

Thanks for your help with this.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

[ErikRuud]

With a little advance planning, you don't need any monuting plate at all.

I can measure mine for you when I get home after work.

[ArcadEd]

I have one sitting on my shelf I can measure for you if you haven't gotten in the info yet.