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New Product: TurboTwist

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saint:
How hard/expensive to switch that to a jumper so that people could easily switch around at will?


--- Quote from: RandyT on February 21, 2006, 05:08:17 pm ---
--- Quote from: lovespicyfood on February 21, 2006, 04:45:17 pm ---
--- Quote ---A quick note;  anyone wishing to do this should select the "Z Axis" option when ordering.  Then use the X and Y axes for the trackball as normal.

--- End quote ---
Randy, I just ordered one of these last night with the "X" axis and it already shipped today.  I was planning on using a trackball with it.  Is there a way for me to modify it myself for "Z" axis or am I going to have to ship it back to you for that modification (and payment of course) or will I just have to re-map in Mame?

--- End quote ---

If you have a soldering iron and a little solder wick, it's not hard at all.  There are pads that configure the device.  Just use the solder wick to soak up the little bit of solder on the X axis pads and then put a drop on the Z axis pads to bridge them. Even a first time solderer should be able to do this with very little difficulty.

It should be pretty clear what needs to be done when you see the board.

RandyT

--- End quote ---

RandyT:

--- Quote from: saint on February 21, 2006, 07:39:28 pm ---How hard/expensive to switch that to a jumper so that people could easily switch around at will?

--- End quote ---

The problem is board space.  There are two 1/2" wide areas on the board where there can be no thru-components so only the top surface is available.  It is in one of these areas that the axis configuration pads are located.  So the answer is, "very."

However, if one were so inclined, they could attach wires to the board at the pads and hook in a switch.  But I would expect that re-configuration would be done seldom enough that a switch would be a bit of an overkill.

FWIW, I've changed the axis about 5 times on my test unit during development and it took less than 30 seconds each time.

For those who find this type of solder-less configuration desireable for experimentation, or whathaveyou, you may wish to wait until I get the "slave" spinner option up at the store.  It will basically be a brain-less version of the spinner intended for connection to another TurboTwist with a free axis or an Opti-Wiz.  You can try it with other optical interfaces as well, but there is so much data being pumped by the spinner, acceptable results won't be guaranteed on anything other than one of our interfaces.

In any event, you could then connect the "brain-less" spinner to an Opti-Wiz and have it use any axis you want based on the pins you attach it to. This, of course, would be a more expensive way to do this kind of thing, but it's an option.

RandyT

brandon:
so would it be possible to connect, for example, an Arkanoid spinner as a slave to the TurboTwist?  maybe have the TT be Z and the other X or Y?   ???

Xiaou2:

 Currious,  whats the tooth count on the optical encoder?  Any pics of it?  Thanks.

 It would be nice to be able to have an encoder that can select the correct arcade controller "True  tooth ratio".     IE:  A quick count on teeth for my disc's of tron spinner is about 120  for a full knob turn.

  Youve mentioned that the hardware does not miss any signals..  which is very good to hear...   But isnt much  of the  loss caused by windows and the actual game (and or emulator)  programming itself?

 IE:  If  a game is running too slow a frame rate cause  the   pc is underpowered.. and the programmer didnt  take it into  cosideration.. then the  Mouse Polling may be delayed or most likly lost on many occassions....?

 I believe win XP has more frequent most polling than win98se  for instance.   Not sure if  theres a way to speed windows mouse pollings up.

 Any finally, theres a question about direct signal -vs- the way windows mice actually read.   Im just currious if theres a big difference in the way certain arcade machines are reading the optics compared to a typical mouse?   I mean, the mouse itself has a built in processor correct?   Whereas an arcade machine may compute things on the actual PCB - or in software itself?  Maybe in a different way altogether...?

 Ohh, one more... Can a device be turned off temporarily.. maybe via a button press ?  My controlller will have several controls.. and I will want to disable non used controlls in case others are vibrtated into motion.   Im not a fan of the 'sleep' method used in another encoder.

  Maybe use of a special  'function'  button being pressed and combined with other key presses to equal changes in settings for:

* Enable/Disable device... 
* Resolution (simulated tooth count values)  20,52,100,120 (Rolls back to 20..)ect.
* Change Axis   X,Y,Z
 
 Cant think of anything else right now.

 

RandyT:

--- Quote from: brandon on February 22, 2006, 01:29:35 am ---so would it be possible to connect, for example, an Arkanoid spinner as a slave to the TurboTwist?  maybe have the TT be Z and the other X or Y?   ???

--- End quote ---

While I haven't tried this combination, the Opti-Wiz was tested with an Arkanoid spinner and it worked fine.  I have no reason to believe that it wouldn't do the same with the TurboTwist.

RandyT

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