Help with Oscar Controls Spinner/Optipac

[tgraham]

Having problems with an Oscar Controls Pro Spinner and the Optipac.  It has all been working fine for a few weeks.  Now, suddenly last night the spinner stopped working.   I have a trackball on the same board (optipac) and it will work successfully.   However, when I spin the spinner, the cursor only jiggles back and forth about 1/8" or less.  

I have checked the wiring, verfied I am getting the 5v and ground to the board, checked continuity to the S1/S2 wires.  

Any suggestions on what else can I do to test this?    How can I verify the encoders aren't broken?   Any other test steps for the optipac interface?  

Thanks in advance,

Todd

[jerryjanis]

I'm no expert, and I don't know how to verify that the encoders are working, but here are some things to look at that I have seen cause your problem:

The first thing that I would check is to make sure that the +5v and Ground aren't reversed by accident.  I had those results when I reversed them.

Your problem could also happen I think if any of the wires from the spinner are crossed/touching - like if a tiny strand from the S1 wire happens to reach across and touch the +5v wire or something.

Hmmm, lastly, I'd make sure that the optics is aligned properly with the encoder wheel.

[OSCAR]

Todd,

Jerryjanis has given some very good troubleshooting info.  If you still have trouble after trying his suggestions, please email me so I can help you further.


Kelsey

[2slk]

 If the above fails, be sure to email Kelsey (Oscar Controls) and/or Andy at ultimarc. Their customer service is A1 and they are definitely the most qualified people to help you out.

[2slk]

 OOps, guess you and I were typing at the same time, OSCAR!!!

[tgraham]

I have already tested to that level; no luck so far.  

I don't think the spinner is being seen at all on the input as when I go back and try the trackball again there isn't the normal 5 second delay of activation (switching between the two).

I have re-run wiring to the spinner and again checked continuity to make sure everything was connected and nothing crossed.  

At this point, I can think of two tests to perform, and have questions on how to perform both:

1)  Check the encoders on the Spinner board.   Is there a simple procedure for this?  

2) Try to connect the spinner to the second rotary input on the Optipac board.   I haven't read the docs yet, but is there a way in Windows to monitor this input?   Will it be on the mouse Y axis?  

Todd

[tgraham]

Another followup, in looking at the Optipac I also tried switching the spinner inputs to Y1/Y2 on player 1 with no change (that answers my Y axis question).   I have not tried switching to the player two inputs.  

I also completely disconnected the trackball to make sure it wasn't somehow interfering with the system, but again, no change.