Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum
Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: jmbrissie on October 29, 2008, 02:32:14 pm
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i bought a wico trackball 2.5" on ebay and was hoping to build a cp for my consoles starting with the ps/1. the wires coming from the trackball box have the ends cut off and i have no idea what they would go to because i dont have a centipede pcb at the moment. wires: 2 black, 2 red, 1 green , 1 purple, 1 yellow, and 1 blue. i can open it up and see but i was wondering if anyone had a schematic of the centipede trackball. this one is supposed to be compatible with the arcade trackball for a centipede machine.
also does anyone know if the a/d converters are in the trackball device or on the main pcb?
thanks for any help. its my first trackball so i should probably take it apart first just to see what i am dealing with.
brissie
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You have to open it up.
You'll want to open it up to clean and maybe oil the bearings anyways.
Do that, and note where each wire goes.
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thanks. that will be my project for tonite.
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so here is what i have for the internals. anybody have some advice on how to convert this to a console trackball? there doesnt seem to be a a/d converter in the box so i guess i could use an xbox controller or any controller that has an analog stick on it to interface into.
thanks,
brissie
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Consoles, huh? I know how to go PC; a little harder to go console. I'll start with what I know, and then touch on the problems with adopting to consoles.
You have a standard arcade TB, with the standard pinout. Red = 5 V+, black = ground, the others are X1 & X2, and Y1 & Y2. (see ultimarc's optipac page for more info (http://ultimarc.com/optipac3.html)) To hook up to a PC: optipac, optiwiz, minipac, mouse hack, etc.
How to go to console depends on which console (unlike gamepads, mice were not common, so less "standardized" between consoles), if it supported mice or not, if so- how, or if not- what you want the TB to seem to be to the console.
The most simple, modern consoles that can take USB mice inputs. Just use a optipac/optiwiz USB encoder, and plug in. Next simple is console emu on a PC; ditto solution.
It gets more complicated after that. If the console supported mice but in some wierd way, you'll need to hack that some how. If the console didn't support mice, and only digital inputs, well that's an easier hack IMO than if the console supported analog. In general, mice are relative analog, joysticks are absolute analog. IIRC, you might be able to hack a TB into the super nintendo analog stick (http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/n643.htm) as it used an optical encoder.