Author Topic: Happ Trackball Circuit Board (Read 8225 times)

FrizzleFried · « **on:** February 24, 2009, 10:14:24 am »

I am getting ungodly backspin from my trackball... it has the green optic boards, and I was told going to red would likely fix this issue. I checked HAPP and found this:

http://happcontrols.com/trackballs/a052101000.htm

My question is that on my TB there are two optic boards.... one smaller one and one larger one. The larger one has an input then it appears to daisy chain from the larger optic board to the smaller optic board. This red board posted above appears to be only one board...is it the larger or smaller (it appears it's the smaller if only because there is only one header on it) or does the product posted above include BOTH red boards? Do I need to replace both?

AndyWarne · « **Reply #1 on:** February 24, 2009, 11:37:56 am »

The USB version has the two daisy-chained boards, which are different. Is that the version you have? These red boards cant be used on that version.

u_rebelscum · « **Reply #2 on:** February 24, 2009, 03:36:17 pm »

Yeah, sounds like Friz has the USB version. Upgrading to two reds + an optipac/optiwiz interface should help with backspin; happ's USB boards sometimes have lots of backspin. Or you can try getting a new USB set, and hope it's not as bad as your current set, but it's IMO a gamble you shouldn't take.

FrizzleFried · « **Reply #3 on:** February 24, 2009, 04:30:41 pm »

Quote from: u_rebelscum on February 24, 2009, 03:36:17 pm

Yeah, sounds like Friz has the USB version. Upgrading to two reds + an optipac/optiwiz interface should help with backspin; happ's USB boards sometimes have lots of backspin. Or you can try getting a new USB set, and hope it's not as bad as your current set, but it's IMO a gamble you shouldn't take.

Are you kidding me? So I'd need 2 optic boards at $30 each AND an Optipac? That is more than just buying another USB trackball for $85.00. Does anyone know if the newer USB trackballs include the upgraded optic boards?

I've determined I am only getting backspin going up/down not left right. Is there a way I can swap optic boards so left right goes where the forward/backward goes and then change orientation via software? That would get me back in to golden-tee usability...

AndyWarne · « **Reply #4 on:** February 25, 2009, 04:18:38 am »

Yes the boards could be swapped over and you could re-assign the axes in Mame.

Also you might check that there is no dust or blockage in the light path on the failing board, eg inside the slots in the optical sensor.

FrizzleFried · « **Reply #5 on:** February 25, 2009, 01:40:48 pm »

I use the TB in Windows a lot too. Any way to switch the axis in Windows?

pinballwizard79 · « **Reply #6 on:** February 25, 2009, 03:44:08 pm »

Hurry up & get on that Frizzle.

I have the same problem & want to know if it worked...you know without actually trying.

Thanks,

FrizzleFried · « **Reply #7 on:** February 26, 2009, 10:43:18 am »

Well, I finally managed to find a piece of software that WILL adjust the poll rate for the USB mouse... I set it to 500mhz and holy crap, forward and left are all over the board... right and backward BARELY move. forward and backward experience severe overspin....left and right are fine.

Bottom line is that I'm about 99% sure it's the optic board.... time to call HAPP and see if they sell a replacement for the USB boards...

Chances are they're going to be almost as expensive as buying a new freakin' ball.

SO...back to the question... is there a way to modify "orientation" in Windows?

FrizzleFried · « **Reply #8 on:** February 26, 2009, 12:22:11 pm »

So I emailed Happ this morning and the reply I got was that I needed this part:

Item Number: 55-0304-00
   HARNESS PCB INTERCONNECT USB PS-2 TRACKBALL, F/3" & 2-1/4"
1+    $7.80

Search for the part number on HAPPCONTROLS.COM if you want to order. I can't direct link. I'll report my results.

Hoopz · « **Reply #9 on:** February 26, 2009, 02:27:32 pm »

Ask Divemaster127 what price he will charge for that. He has access to all of their stuff and has better shipping along with service.

RandyT · « **Reply #10 on:** February 26, 2009, 04:58:01 pm »

Quote from: FrizzleFried on February 26, 2009, 12:22:11 pm

So I emailed Happ this morning and the reply I got was that I needed this part:

Item Number: 55-0304-00
   HARNESS PCB INTERCONNECT USB PS-2 TRACKBALL, F/3" & 2-1/4"
1+    $7.80

Search for the part number on HAPPCONTROLS.COM if you want to order. I can't direct link. I'll report my results.

I might be wrong, but that doesn't look like the right part. That looks like the wire harness and not the board you need. You should verify first, or if you like, I can check on it for you

Send me an email if you want me to do some legwork on it....

RandyT

FrizzleFried · « **Reply #11 on:** February 26, 2009, 05:07:53 pm »

I worried about that too... this is the email I sent HAPP:

Quote

Hello,

I see you folks sell the red optic boards for standard 3" Happ Trackballs, but do you sell the optic boards for the Happ USB model 3" trackball? I am getting severe backspin that is getting worse and worse... left right is fine.

If you sell this item, what would the cost be?

Thanks!

Jon Sorenson

...and this is the response I got:

Quote

Hi Jon,

I spoke to our tech support dept and you would need the harness kit. Our part# 55-0304-00.

Thank You,
Julie

RandyT · « **Reply #12 on:** February 26, 2009, 05:08:54 pm »

Let me make a phone call....do you know which board is the bad one? The big one or the little one?

FrizzleFried · « **Reply #13 on:** February 26, 2009, 05:10:16 pm »

Quote from: RandyT on February 26, 2009, 05:08:54 pm

Let me make a phone call....do you know which board is the bad one? The big one or the little one?

Whichever one is attached to the wheel that controls forward/backward motion. Give me a couple minutes and I'll go out to the game room and take a look.

EDIT: It's the larger of the two boards.

RandyT · « **Reply #14 on:** February 26, 2009, 05:19:11 pm »

Ok, I picked up the phone and called my inside guy, who is always incredibly helpful in these circumstances.

The "A" board is part number 55-0301-00. I am assuming this to be the larger of the two boards.

The "B" board is likely the smaller of the two, and that's part number 55-0302-00.

I think they mistakenly gave you just the interconnecting wire harness part number.

RandyT

FrizzleFried · « **Reply #15 on:** February 26, 2009, 05:21:50 pm »

I just looked through HAPP's site and I bet I need this:

55-0301-00
TRACKBALL USB & PS/2 MAIN PCB (A) PCB

EDIT: Ah! We came to the same conclusion.

EDIT #2: Just spoke with Julie... confusion rectified and the correct part will be heading it's way my way shortly. I'll post as to if it rectifies my problem when i receive it.

pinballwizard79 · « **Reply #16 on:** February 27, 2009, 05:04:26 pm »

Hurry up slacker, fix that trackball so I can piggyback off your research!

RandyT · « **Reply #17 on:** February 27, 2009, 05:07:17 pm »

Quote from: pinballwizard79 on February 27, 2009, 05:04:26 pm

Hurry up slacker, fix that trackball so I can piggyback off your research!

Anyone want to place odds and make things interesting?

Heh...

pinballwizard79 · « **Reply #18 on:** February 27, 2009, 05:32:38 pm »

Bad Randy!

AMDman13 · « **Reply #19 on:** February 28, 2009, 01:50:57 pm »

Hi all I have the same problem with forward backspin and ordered two new boards from divemaster. They came Thursday 2/26/09 and I just installed them last night 2/27/09. I am sorry to report however that the new boards are not much better than my old boards were. Backspin is not as severe, but is still pretty bad. Games like Golden Tee and World Class bowling are virtually unplayable. Here are the parts I ordered from divemaster.
The main board (3 connectors) Part Number is 55-0301-00
The secondary board (1 connector) is 55-0302-00

I am going to contact Dive and see about a possible return. At this point I'm probably going to buy the arcade TB and opti route. Strange, my original boards worked fine for a little over two years. So, I expected the same from the new ones

FrizzleFried · « **Reply #20 on:** February 28, 2009, 02:30:09 pm »

I dunno... i went out to the machine last night and I am now not getting backspin... I am getting NOTHING...well, a little something, but it seems for every notch forward, then notches backward. The result is a vibrating mouse cursor in windows that moves SLIGHTLY in the direct you want to go. Left and right work perfectly. Forward and backward...nothing. In Shuuz I could pull back my arm (which took about 10x as much rotation) but for the life of me I couldn't make the throw...slow, fast, at all.

So whatever the problem...it's getting worse and worse. I can't even scroll through my games FORWARD in MAMEWAH, but backward works...a little.

FrizzleFried · « **Reply #21 on:** February 28, 2009, 02:32:23 pm »

Quote from: marlborroman13 on February 28, 2009, 01:50:57 pm

Hi all I have the same problem with forward backspin and ordered two new boards from divemaster. They came Thursday 2/26/09 and I just installed them last night 2/27/09. I am sorry to report however that the new boards are not much better than my old boards were. Backspin is not as severe, but is still pretty bad. Games like Golden Tee and World Class bowling are virtually unplayable. Here are the parts I ordered from divemaster.
The main board (3 connectors) Part Number is 55-0301-00
The secondary board (1 connector) is 55-0302-00

I am going to contact Dive and see about a possible return. At this point I'm probably going to buy the arcade TB and opti route. Strange, my original boards worked fine for a little over two years. So, I expected the same from the new ones

Are you running a 32 bit or 64 bit OS? This problem seemed to crop up when I switched to 64 bit, but it could be a coincidence....and I can't imagine a driver issue (which is what I thought it was at first) would cause the problem to get worse and worse over time.

AMDman13 · « **Reply #22 on:** February 28, 2009, 07:28:10 pm »

It's a 32 bit OS. Windows 2000 Pro.

Nothing has changed in my set up in over 2 1/2 years. The TB Backspin problem just appeared one day. So, I figured the optics had begun to wear out. I did some research here on the board and it seems many people have this prob with USB trackballs over time. So I figured time to replace the boards and everything would be fine. Unfortunately, not so in my case.

pinballwizard79 · « **Reply #23 on:** February 28, 2009, 11:06:16 pm »

This is not the update I was looking for $:-\$

Bender · « **Reply #24 on:** February 28, 2009, 11:32:39 pm »

Quote from: FrizzleFried on February 26, 2009, 10:43:18 am

Well, I finally managed to find a piece of software that WILL adjust the poll rate for the USB mouse... I set it to 500mhz and holy crap, forward and left are all over the board... right and backward BARELY move. forward and backward experience severe overspin....left and right are fine.

Bottom line is that I'm about 99% sure it's the optic board.... time to call HAPP and see if they sell a replacement for the USB boards...

Chances are they're going to be almost as expensive as buying a new freakin' ball.

SO...back to the question... is there a way to modify "orientation" in Windows?

What software did you use?
hidusbf?

I still can't get my trackball to poll at 500Hz

FrizzleFried · « **Reply #25 on:** March 01, 2009, 02:19:07 pm »

Quote from: marlborroman13 on February 28, 2009, 07:28:10 pm

It's a 32 bit OS. Windows 2000 Pro.

Nothing has changed in my set up in over 2 1/2 years. The TB Backspin problem just appeared one day. So, I figured the optics had begun to wear out. I did some research here on the board and it seems many people have this prob with USB trackballs over time. So I figured time to replace the boards and everything would be fine. Unfortunately, not so in my case.

Other than the optic boards, the only thing else "electronics" is the harness itself (which is what the "tech" recommended the first time to me). At $7.50 for the harness, it may behoove you to try it out. I may actually call and order one just in case anyway.

RandyT · « **Reply #26 on:** March 01, 2009, 03:19:36 pm »

Quote from: FrizzleFried on March 01, 2009, 02:19:07 pm

Other than the optic boards, the only thing else "electronics" is the harness itself (which is what the "tech" recommended the first time to me). At $7.50 for the harness, it may behoove you to try it out. I may actually call and order one just in case anyway.

Unless a mouse chewed it, or it got yanked, a cable isn't going to go bad. Even if it did, it would more likely just lose an entire axis. I'd say re-seat the cables a few times on the connectors and if nothing changes, then it's safe to assume the cables aren't the problem.

If the boards are good, and they just may not be, then start looking at the system. Sometimes viruses and other system issues can affect the mouse polling speeds. It shouldn't matter with newer versions of MAME, but make sure no-one has messed with the mouse settings in your OS, or made any other changes to the system (installation of new software, etc) that might coincide with the issue.

Frizz, your problem is definitely hardware, as it's only one axis. In a situation where both are affected the same way, all of a sudden and for no particular reason, then start suspecting other causes.

RandyT

pinballwizard79 · « **Reply #27 on:** March 02, 2009, 10:15:41 pm »

any luck Frizz?

A buddy lost his front to back motion on his machine a few weeks ago. My current machine has nasty backspin too.........My very first machine is like 5 years old & still has a perfect Imperal trackball in it.

Go figure.

AMDman13 · « **Reply #28 on:** March 03, 2009, 08:21:05 am »

I broke down last night and purchased a standard Happ ball and Opti-Pac. I'll post back with my results. In the meantime, Divemaster agreed to let me return the USB boards!

FrizzleFried · « **Reply #29 on:** March 05, 2009, 03:33:06 pm »

I am extremely happy to report that I received my Happ USB Optic board (the larger one) and upon replacement my trackball is now FULLY FUNCTIONING with ZERO backspin!!!!!!!!!!!

RandyT · « **Reply #30 on:** March 05, 2009, 04:02:31 pm »

Good deal! It's too bad the small board wasn't the problem so we could isolate the issue to just the optics, but I have a strong feeling that is what the problem was.

RandyT

pinballwizard79 · « **Reply #31 on:** March 05, 2009, 04:02:36 pm »

Awesome!

Now its my turn to order the same part.

Edit: what is the part number on that?

FrizzleFried · « **Reply #32 on:** March 05, 2009, 04:26:32 pm »

55-0301-00
TRACKBALL USB & PS/2 MAIN PCB (A) PCB

That is the part number for the larger PCB for FORWARD/BACKWARD motion. The side to side motion board is smaller and I think is part number 55-0302-00...

pinballwizard79 · « **Reply #33 on:** March 05, 2009, 06:25:02 pm »

Thanks!!!!!

AMDman13 · « **Reply #34 on:** March 05, 2009, 11:45:56 pm »

Good to hear! It figures. Just my luck. I get a bad set!:dunno


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