U-Trak RGB Illumination PCB now available

[AndyWarne]

To all those who have been waiting for the LED kits for the U-Trak trackball, they are now in stock.

http://www.ultimarc.com/trackball.html

[cmoses]

Any pictures of how this mounts to the tracball?

Any pictures showing the colors?  How many possible colors?

[blind_dado]

Ditto.  I'm ready to pull the trigger and buy one of these things, but I'd really like to see some photos of the lighting and (especially) some close ups of the bezel after the utrak has been mounted.  Andy?  Anybody?

[Turnarcades]

The U-trak is a very good 'ball and doesn't require much (if any) bedding in. It has a nice form and the lack of plate or bolts on the surface is definitely a plus. I meant to do a full review recently but have not had enough time. The only thing I would say is that of the two I've so far mounted, both sat just shy of the 18mm (3/4") MDF surface when mounted flat on the underside. This is apparent from the trim bezel which, as I believe, should fit flush with the lip around the ball. Next time I use one I would probably do away with the trim bezel and very slightly chamfer the edges of the hole so the slightly lower ball lip wouldn't be noticeable. Here are a few shots I took of the translucent ball on a (rather dirty!) panel I built recently:

[Franco B]

The only thing I would say is that of the two I've so far mounted, both sat just shy of the 18mm (3/4") MDF surface when mounted flat on the underside.

That's a shame. It will be even more apparent when using 3/4" MDF as its 19.05mm thick. You would have thought to please most camps (imperial+metric) Andy would have made the boss somewhere between the two. Theoretically you could route out the underside of the panel but I thought the whole principle of the U-Track was easy, simple mounting.

[Turnarcades]

It's hardly noticeable without the trim piece. Just leave out the trim piece from your order and make sure you cut a nice round hole. The trim is only really for those who cut messy holes. If you use a proper diameter hole saw you'll be fine.

[Turnarcades]

To all those who have been waiting for the LED kits for the U-Trak trackball, they are now in stock.

Andy, what would be the simplest way to wire this to a 5-volt supply? Could it feed off the mini-pac board itself? How would you choose the colour if you wire it straight to a 5-volt supply? Couldn't find a wiring diagram for it on the site.

[Franco B]

It's hardly noticeable without the trim piece. Just leave out the trim piece from your order and make sure you cut a nice round hole. The trim is only really for those who cut messy holes. If you use a proper diameter hole saw you'll be fine.

Ahh I see, so the trim piece 'sits' on top of the boss with the trackball in? I'm only guessing here but I imagine you could take material of the bottom of the trim piece so the lip sits flush with the CP.

[blind_dado]

What's that gunk that appears to be under the bezel lip?  Did you have to glue the bezel down?  And how does the illumination kit attach to the unit?  Any pics of the mounting from underneath?

[Turnarcades]

Ahh I see, so the trim piece 'sits' on top of the boss with the trackball in? I'm only guessing here but I imagine you could take material of the bottom of the trim piece so the lip sits flush with the CP.

Not sure. Hope this diagram better illustrates:

What's that gunk that appears to be under the bezel lip?  Did you have to glue the bezel down?  And how does the illumination kit attach to the unit?  Any pics of the mounting from underneath?

Unfortunately on this one yes, I went a little too big with the hole and then overboard with the glue. Pulled it out after this pic and re-seated it. Still needed glue though. As the trim bezel drops in from above and the hole was a little wide, it just kind of floated around til I glued it. Haven't tried the illumintion yet. There's a round hole on the bottom so I imagine it just pushes in or requires minor glueing.

[AndyWarne]

The vertical part of the trackball is 19mm tall so is exactly flush with a 3/4 in panel.

The LED board has three pairs of red, green and blue LEDs. There is a common 5 volt wire and a ground for each color. So you can connect 5 volts to any or all of the 3 colors to make various color combinations. The LEDs are high-brightness 2000 MCD each so pretty bright.

You could get the 5 volts from a PC disk power connector, the header on the I-PAC, or any other source. Or you can of course use the Pac-Drive board and use 3 outputs from that, one for each color, and use the various software and plugins available to control the LEDs that way.

Andy

[DeLuSioNal29]

Will this work with the LED Wiz?