Author Topic: Trackball Placement (Read 4005 times)

urbecrisch · « **on:** February 23, 2007, 09:28:23 am »

I'm working on my first Mame CAB & CP. Now keep in mind I'm as NOOB as they get and I'm a little puzzled regarding the distance of my trackball to my monitor plexi. I want to be able to play some Golden Tee without me or one of my buddies breaking a finger on the plexi as we strike the trackball. Now keep in mind my panel will have:

Trackball
Spinner
2 - 8 Way Joysticks
Various buttons

One thing I want to avoid is placing any buttons/spinner above the trackball because I don't want to break a finger on those either. I'm open to suggestions on the measurements and what would be a safe distance for my trackball from the plexi. Also, my monitor is not angled like a true Golden Tee Arcade so any follow through may hit plexi.

ahofle · « **Reply #1 on:** February 23, 2007, 11:40:37 am »

I don't know that there are any measurements guaranteed to prevent a drunken person from slamming his hand into the plexi. It sounds like you are considering all the relevant points so I think you'll be fine. Just place it as far towards the player as possible with no joysticks in front of it and you'll be fine.

Zeppo · « **Reply #2 on:** February 23, 2007, 11:40:55 am »

I'm not sure of the exact measurements, but I just put mine as low on the panel as I could with nothing above it.
If I were to guess, I would say a good 8 inches would work.

Good luck.

FrizzleFried · « **Reply #3 on:** February 23, 2007, 01:10:25 pm »

Quote from: ahofle on February 23, 2007, 11:40:37 am

I don't know that there are any measurements guaranteed to prevent a drunken person from slamming his hand into the plexi. It sounds like you are considering all the relevant points so I think you'll be fine. Just place it as far towards the player as possible with no joysticks in front of it and you'll be fine.

Trackball on a cocktail tabletop prevents drunkard finger bashing! I have ALMOST convinced myself to do it....ALMOST!

(+_+) · « **Reply #4 on:** February 23, 2007, 01:13:04 pm »

The only way I can think of to ensure not smacking your hand is if you use a pedestal, have your control panel protrude further from your unit or if your monitor is at steep angle like the scamble game in this photo

http://www.ggdb.com/Collectors/ViewMemberImage.aspx?mid=1055&iid=97

Is there a name for this type of steep monitor setup?

amerish · « **Reply #5 on:** February 23, 2007, 04:09:00 pm »

While you are at it, don't place the reset button right between the plexi and trackball. I have had way too many people reset golden tee or world class bowling while pushing the trackball...

FrizzleFried · « **Reply #6 on:** February 23, 2007, 04:28:13 pm »

My CP works OK...plenty of room in all directions ASIDE from right...I have stubbed my finger countless times on the damn P2 joystick. Once it hurt REAL bad...for a couple days.

Of course I was drunk and playing Bowling...

urbecrisch · « **Reply #7 on:** February 23, 2007, 06:11:51 pm »

FrizzleFried, do you have 6 buttons for each player? Hard to see in pic but it looks like you have black and blue buttons. How many total buttons does your CP have? Could you give me a ballpark size of the CP?

FrizzleFried · « **Reply #8 on:** February 23, 2007, 06:19:03 pm »

The CP is actually from a Ghostbusters cabinet. I would say it is around 26" wide total (I can go take measurements if necessary).

I have 2 Joysticks (now blue)...

6 buttons per player

1 CREDIT and 1 START button per player

1 EXIT button (middle)

The two buttons to the right of the trackball are actually just P1 button 1 and 2 re-done, but my current iteration only has 1 button and a Turbo Twist 2 taking up the other button spot (which i hate because for World Championship Bowling I keep pushing the damn spinner to adjust the spin of the ball!!)... and the two buttons on the left of the trackball are mapped to MOUSE 1 and MOUSE 2 (i keep them only because it makes maintenance of the cabinet a breeze).

You can see the black buttons a little better in this pic.

urbecrisch · « **Reply #9 on:** February 23, 2007, 06:31:04 pm »

If it's not too much to ask, could you get the depth of your CAB? It'll give me a good idea for my CP. I'm new at this so every piece of advice is helpful. Also, is your trackball flush with the CP top? If so, what was the method you used? I have a 3" trasnlucent Happs I want flush so there are no bolts or metal housing exposed.

FrizzleFried · « **Reply #10 on:** February 23, 2007, 06:34:23 pm »

It's wider than I thought...31" wide at it's widest point. It is 11" from front to back with only 6" between the edge of the trackball and the end of the back of the control panel. I HAVE hit the plexi during drunken Bowling turny's but luckily my plexi is on a pretty slanted angle so it's not that big a deal. Hell, I have hit the friggin' bottom of the marquee playing drunken Bowling turnys!!

As for the trackball, I flush mounted it with a happ plate (tornadoterrys.com - tell em FrizzleFried sent ya) then covered it with crappy vinyl shelving paper then 1/8" plexi. It actually came out pretty decent.

Here is some construction shots...

The first photo is the top the 2nd is the bottom. (they are named backward...the photo with the square routing is the top)

Make sure you pay attention to which direction your TB needs to be oriented. After I took these shots I realized I screwed up and had to cut out more of the hole to orient the trackball in the correct position. There is an arrow on HAPP trackballs indicating FRONT (duh!)...

urbecrisch · « **Reply #11 on:** February 23, 2007, 06:49:51 pm »

Just so I understand, after you flush mounted the TB, the shelving paper covered the exposed mounting plate and then you cut a hole for the TB? I'm not sure if I was clear with that question or not. I bought my TB from Terry and he threw in a mounting plate for me.

FrizzleFried · « **Reply #12 on:** February 23, 2007, 06:54:57 pm »

Quote from: urbecrisch on February 23, 2007, 06:49:51 pm

Just so I understand, after you flush mounted the TB, the shelving paper covered the exposed mounting plate and then you cut a hole for the TB? I'm not sure if I was clear with that question or not. I bought my TB from Terry and he threw in a mounting plate for me.

The mounting plate sits down in the routed square "hole" you see... and the trackball attaches to it on the underside. I cut a hole in the shelving paper (more like shelving vinyl) and a hole in the plexiglass.

The vinyl covers the whole CP then the plexi is on top of it.

urbecrisch · « **Reply #13 on:** February 23, 2007, 06:56:06 pm »

Right, so the mounting plate is covered correct?

FrizzleFried · « **Reply #14 on:** February 23, 2007, 06:57:21 pm »

Correct...100%. The only visible part of the trackball is the ball itself.

urbecrisch · « **Reply #15 on:** February 23, 2007, 07:00:06 pm »

That's what I thought. BTW, what kind of spinner you do have? I have a TT2 from GGG that I will be using for my CAB.

FrizzleFried · « **Reply #16 on:** February 23, 2007, 07:04:38 pm »

I have two TT2's...one on my horizontal cabinet (HAD to be able to play Ivan Stewart's Offroad & Blasteroids!) and one on my vertical cabinet.

fjl · « **Reply #17 on:** February 23, 2007, 08:21:09 pm »

Speaking of the spinner, where would you place it? Here is a pic of my current CP layout. I currently have the spinner above the player 1 action buttons. But was thinking, how do you guys use the spinner? Do you find yourself resting the side of your hand or any part of your hand on the CP while using the spinner or is it floating above the cp the whole time? Cause if you rest it, it will rest on the buttons and I doubt that would be comfortable for the player.

I was originally putting the spinner above the track ball but everyone insists on keeping the area above the trackball clear for "ouch" reasons. One other thing, should I add buttons near the spinner or should I use the P2 buttons for spinner games? Thing about using the p2 action buttons is that they seem to be pretty far away and would perhaps be uncomfortable. What do you guys think/suggest?

shardian · « **Reply #18 on:** February 23, 2007, 10:30:25 pm »

Word of advice: don't angle the player buttons like that. It will make 1player have to stand even further into 2players space. If you do want to angle buttons, then angle 1players the other way so he/she can orient themselves properly to the monitor.

urbecrisch · « **Reply #19 on:** February 23, 2007, 10:49:03 pm »

I haven't built my CP yet but I was thinking of placing my spinner close to my player 2 controller since it has topfire and want to be able to use the spinner for TRON. Hopefully this weekend I will have a good idea of my CP layout. BTW, is it necessary to have 7 buttons for each player? I know NEO GEO had that setup but is it something that I should use for my CP? I was planning on 6 buttons for player 1&2 for my CP.

One more thing, right now I'm using Mame but in the future I would like to add onto my CAB with Playstation and Xbox emulators if possible. How many buttons are recommended for a 2 player CP for these other sytems?

shardian · « **Reply #20 on:** February 23, 2007, 10:58:42 pm »

The 7th button is not a necessity at all. If you don't care about authentic neo geo play, then scrap it. I personally use:
123
4xx

for neogeo. Not many neo geo games even use the 4th button and when they do, my thumb can hit it just fine.

urbecrisch · « **Reply #21 on:** February 23, 2007, 11:08:20 pm »

So what about the other emulators. Will 6 buttons be enough to play?

fjl · « **Reply #22 on:** February 24, 2007, 01:15:48 am »

Quote from: shardian on February 23, 2007, 10:30:25 pm

Word of advice: don't angle the player buttons like that. It will make 1player have to stand even further into 2players space. If you do want to angle buttons, then angle 1players the other way so he/she can orient themselves properly to the monitor.

Think so? Read this...

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=62415.msg619779#msg619779


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