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Can you hookup a Happ trackball to Apache push/pull spinner?

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PL1:

--- Quote from: equlizer on November 21, 2012, 10:34:56 pm ---K its hooked up but the trackball is not working.  And my spinner goes all over the place now.  Is there a jumper i need to change or maybe hook it up to z and x instead of x and y?   :dizzy:

--- End quote ---
The owner's manual linked above has directions on how to set the spinner to Z-axis operation.

If you change the spinner to Z-axis, there is a method here describing recompiling MAME to work around Windows handling of Z-axis as 1:4 (1 encoder transition=4 steps) as opposed to X- or Y-axis as 1:1 (1 transition=1 step).

This is probably the best plan to keep the spinner and trackball sensors from confusing the encoder.  The trackball will act like a mouse (X-Y) and the spinner like the scroll wheel. (Z)


--- Quote from: equlizer on November 21, 2012, 10:34:56 pm ---Just to make sure the Blue and Purple wires are Y axis, Green and Yellow are X axis?

--- End quote ---

Only if you mounted the trackball housing turned either 90 or 270 degrees.

According to the Ultimarc page, blue and purple are X-axis. (horizontal)

Green and yellow are Y-axis. (vertical)

If you're having problems, start by just connecting the Y-axis.

Once you do that, plug it in and see if the trackball works for vertical. (you might have the trackball turned 90 or 270 degrees)  :dunno

If the vertical is backward, swap wires.

The other possible problem is if the trackball is "active-low" and the encoder is "active-high" or vice versa.  (We'll look into that possibility if isolating the trackball connections to just the vertical axis doesn't work right.)


Scott

equlizer:
Got the trackball working but now the spinner wont work.  push and pull do but thats all.  I did not change any jumpers.  This is frustrating :(  Even after unplugging the trackball the spinner still wont work!!

PL1:
Try this:

1. Change the jumper to move the spinner to the Z-axis. Page 8 of the manual PDF, first diagram, just below center on the left.

2. Remap the controls in MAME.


Scott
EDIT: You can find the manual at http://web.archive.org/web/20140511031735/http://www.apachecontrols.com/ApacheControlsBlackhawk.pdf.

equlizer:
Ive tried re mapping everything in mame but games dont recognize the spinner on Z.  eg.  when i go to map it to say: Dial V analog and spin the spinner, it does see Mouse Z but thats as far as i get.

I have no idea how to recompile mame :(  Im running ver 0.143u5 sept 6 2011)

PL1:
The recompile mentioned adjusts MAME's handling of the z-axis from 4 steps per transition to 1 step per transition.

As long as MAME sees/maps the control, Games should work without recompiling, they'll just be a little jumpy compared to X- or Y-axis configurations.

When you're in Windows, does the spinner work properly as a scroll wheel?

Have you tried a different game?


Scott

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