Choice of Trackball

[Frobozz]

Ok, the time has come for me to place a major order to Happs or Bob Roberts...

I want to get a trackball (among other things) with a good Missile Command feel to it.  I was eyeing the Happs 3" Transluscent Blue trackball from Happs.  I'll be mounting this to a peice of 1/2" MDF, layered with some kinda venier as a CP surface.  I also want it to act as a mouse in Windows.  

I have some questions (simple ones I hope).
First, anyone have experience with using the standard 3" trackball vs. the "high-ball" model?  Which one would be more like the Missile Command "height".  

Second, from Happ's parts list, do I need the Trackball mounting kit to mount it to 1/2 MDF?  I don't plan on having a face-plate for the ball, I'd like it to just "emerge" from the panel.

Last, I plan on getting an Opti-PAC for an Oscar spinner and other things.  If I get the generic 3" Happ's Trackball, and hook it up to the Opti-PAC, will it connect right up?  Will the trackball act as a mouse in Windows 2K/XP?

Thanks for your time.  Everything tells me this will work in theory, but I want some confirmation before I shell out close to $100 for an arcade trackball.  

[SirPoonga]

Well, I first went with wico.  I couldn't get it working, I just can't get a mouse hack to work.

If you look in the for sale section I have trackball parts for sale.

I'm just going to get a new happ with the usb harness, then I know for sure it will work, but expensive...

[Frobozz]

Yea, I was considering the same thing, but if I can save myself $30 with the Opti-Pac I'm already planning on getting, why not?  

[pyrobrit]

Ho Frobozz,

I can see no reason against going the way you are thinking with an Optipac and a Happs trackball.  It's the same route that I am goin to take.  I already have the Oscar spinner and will buy the optipac when Andy is back from his holiday.

Andy does show both a Happ and and a Suzo connected at the same time to an Optipac.  He mentions that your normal mouse can be left connected to the computer as the optipac will be seen as a serial mouse controller.

I too, am also in two minds on picking the normal Happ trackball or the Hi-Ball.  I figure that the H-Ball has more surface area showing which should in my opinion be better.

Again according to the Ultimarc website, all you need to do is strip back the wires on the Happ Trackball control cable and attach them to the optipac.

It wil be easier to setup your trackball with a mounting plate as you will not have to work out what size hole to route out from your control panel.  I guess that without the mounting kit, you will have to screw form the underside into your control panel once you have the correct sized hole for the ball to fit into.

I'll be interested to know how you got on.

Regards

Nick.W

[Warlocke]

I just recently purchased a Happ 3" Hi Trackball w/Blue translucent ball. Personally I like the feel. It has a good surface area and nice action.

As for the mounting. You will need the plate for a wood panel unless you want to lose 1/2" of trackball surface around the base.

I also got the opti-pac and by all accounts it should work fine as a serial mouse in Windows. I am running mine under dos with the MS mouse driver.

Hope this helps some.

[Frobozz]

Ok, another thing on this.  I see you went with the Hi ball as well, and I'm considering it over the standard.

As far as mounting goes, I see two mounting peices on Happ's site.  One is a "Mounting Kit", which appears to be a plate set you mount the trackball to, cut out a large swuare opening on your control panel, and drop the whole thing in.

The other appears to be just a cover plate for the top of the panel that fits around the ball.

Do I need both?  What did you order?  

[Nailz]

I have the Happ 3" and it's great.  I went with the mounting kit on my 3/4" control panel and it went in nice and easy.

[Donor]

Another option you may want to check out is the imperial 3" trackball for $79. This ball is ps/2 which is perfect for mame cab, and it's cheaper than a haps.
Here's  the link.
http://http://www.betson.com/search_results.asp?search=&find_deptId=&find_PrtName=trackball&Pagecount=1
If you want to see a pic of a imperial go here.(Not ps/2 version but this is basically the same unit)
http://http://www.geocities.com/gatorcade/

[Donor]

Sorry for the screw up on the last post. This is the link for the trackball.
http://www.betson.com/search_results.asp?search=&find_deptId=&find_PrtName=trackball&Pagecount=1

[Warlocke]

This is the part I ordered:

55-1103-00   3" TRACKBALL (HIGH BALL) MNTG KIT BLACK WITH HARDWARE  

This is everything you need to mount the trackball to a wooden panel, including the screws, nuts, etc.

The plate is 7.5" per side and your wood cutout will be a 6" on side square. Plus four screw holes for the plate bolts.

The plate drops down on top of the panel and bolts underneath. There are 4 mounting posts on the plate that the track ball mounts to. When mounted, the trackball will be nicely flush against the plate and the maximum amount of ball surface area will be exposed.

[SirPoonga]

Yea, I was considering the same thing, but if I can save myself $30 with the Opti-Pac I'm already planning on getting, why not?

[Garvv]

I've got a 3" translucent red imperial trackball installed on my panel; feels just like a golden tee ball.  I went the route of dhansen's hard drive/mouse hack spinner and imperial trackball to avoid the cost of an optipac.

If you don't want to make your own spinner, I'd recommend the imperial trackball and an oscar spinner that interfaces as a mouse.

[Frobozz]

Thanks for all your help guys!  Well, I just placed a monster order with Happ Controls.
$450 later...  got the following comming to me:

3" Transparent Blue trackball (normal model, more like the originals I believe which wern't all that high)
Mounting bracket for trackball (black)
Coin Door assembly, the mid-width model.
26 some Pushbuttons of various colors w/ Horizontal MS.
1-Up and 2-Up buttons.
15" Marquee light fixture assembly.
A pair of perfect 360 joysticks.
A pair of cooling fans with guards.
A set of corner protectors for the cabinet.
A pair of handle grips for the cabinet.
Marquee retainer strip.

Also ordered an Oscar Pro spinner from Oscar controls.

Combined with the WG U3100 monitor, the Wico leaf spring joystick and the I-Pac I already bought, about all I need that remains to be purchased is an Opti-Pac, some T-Moulding, the PC, and the nice PC speakers.  

When the Happ shipment comes in, construction begins!  Already got the wood, MDF and hardware!  Woo Hoo!  

[Thenasty]

A pair of perfect 360 joysticks.

If you knew that you going to get the Perfect 360, you should have ordered it during March. It was on sale HALF price. You could have gotten 3 for what you paid now.... Good luck on your journey...

[Frobozz]

Yea, I know.  $40 each are pretty hefty for joysticks.  But, oh well, you snooze, you loose.    Was originally going to use super-8s but after a journey to the old arcade in the mall to see its (pathetic display) of 12 machines, I noticed all the fighting games and such had what I believe were the perfect 360s.  They looked like a Happ stick and had no microswitch sound.  After I pumped $3 into Tekken LXXXVII Grand Tag Tournament Deathmatch (or whatever it's up to now) I found I really liked the feel of those things.  

Also played the Star Wars Trilogy "cockpit" game and realized I could build a duplicate of the thing with parts from Happ's site.  

Seeing how this is the largest and only "arcade" left in my area, I guess these old machines really are dying out.  First time I've stepped into one in probably 4 years.  

Now that I think of it, I think the movie theatre had more games...

[ophtho]

On the cheap end I want to put in a vote for the crystal trackball from CompUSA ($20).  The beauty of the thing is low cost and when you have zero real estate left on your panel, it takes very little space (about 3 X 5 inches).

Yes, its not an imperial or happs, and people have complained about its lack of a "whoosh" when rolling it. However, you can modify to get it closer to these trackballs. There are two plastic white pieces fitted around each of  the metal rollers for the X and Y axes. Pull them off and then use the end of the metal piece that they fit onto to carve the hole through the plastic pieces out a little. That causes the rollers to be much much looser and gives a great roll equivalent to the arcade trackballs.  Also, it helps to mount the main trackball board at a slight angle with the front end tilted down a little.

Anyway, works great for me and has exactly the feel I am looking for.

Can't beat it for $20