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Used Atari/Happ trackball with different optic boards: what should I do ?
Mamezilla:
Well finally, I went last week to an arcade shop that was 30 minutes from home, and got myself a used cab. It is an old Atari cab that was converted to a Marvel super heroes machine. I took a chance and asked the guy if he had some used accessories he could sell me. He said yes and brought me in this huge warehouse where I found a couple of Star wars yokes, a Subrunner yoke, a Tron trigger stick, a 3" used Happ trackball, a steering wheel, a spinner, coin door and pedal, all cheap. Boy was I lucky. I bought all the good stuff.
Regarding the trackball however, I took the one that seemed the less beaten up, it needs cleaning an lubricating, but I believe it's mechanic is still in good shape. However, it had an optic board missing, so the guy took one on another trackball and installed it on mine. I was so excited with all the stuff I was getting that I didn't check further. When I got home and checked the trackball, since I will consider doing a mouse hack as explained in Saint's book (which I find awesome) or get a Mini-Pac with trackball and spinner support, I noticed that both optic boards were not the same. One had the mention "Atari coupler" and the other one "Shuuz coupler". THe Shuuz one has a lot more electronics on it.
Will the mouse hack work on both boards ? Should I try to get another Atari board, or something similar ?
Here is a pic.
Mamezilla:
Another pic with the optic boards
RayB:
Oh man... that Atari one is meant for steering wheel games (Pole Position, Sprint, etc). That's why the optic is curved.
Even if you got them working, you risk having one axis be more or less sensitive than the other.
NoOne=NBA=:
It shouldn't be a big problem.
I've seen the curved boards alot on older trackballs, which would lead me to believe they were a "one size fits all" item originally.
If the two boards are different in their sensitivities, you can compensate for that in the MAME software.
RayB:
--- Quote from: NoOne=NBA= on July 05, 2004, 06:47:37 pm ---I've seen the curved boards alot on older trackballs, which would lead me to believe they were a "one size fits all" item originally.
--- End quote ---
That depends on the trackball. For example, a Missile Command upright, with the 3" trackball used the curved optics, because the optic wheel is actually a sort of cylinder with the holes cut into the cylinder part.
Then on the other hand, Wico, Happs and Missile COmmand cocktail (2 1/4") use the flat optic wheels and straight optic.
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