Difference between revisions of "Trackballs"

From BYOAC New Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
(4.5" Atari Trackballs (Missile Command, Atari Football))
(4.5" Atari Trackballs (Missile Command, Atari Football))
Line 43: Line 43:
 
|}
 
|}
  
On an optipac the "A/HI" jumper should be set.
+
There were a number of slightly different boards with this same pin-out.
  
There were a number of slightly different boards with this same pin-out.
+
On an Opti-PAC, the "A/HI" jumper should be set.
  
 
There are a few [[Vendors|vendors]] that sell replacement bearings and roller-shafts for these, they are often referred to as 4" trackball rollers.
 
There are a few [[Vendors|vendors]] that sell replacement bearings and roller-shafts for these, they are often referred to as 4" trackball rollers.

Revision as of 00:21, 3 March 2006



This page should contain brief descriptions of various trackballs available, and details of their setup. If any one portion of the page starts getting a little too long, a seperate page may be started for that topic.

4.5" Atari Trackballs (Missile Command, Atari Football)

These giant trackballs are sometimes known as 4-inch, but are actually 4 and a half inches in diameter. They were some of the first trackballs put into use, and are designed to survive intense abuse.

Happ sells a 4.5" trackball. The ball itself is usable in an Atari 4.5" (a 4.5" diameter sphere is a 4.5" diameter sphere), but the mechanism itself is a different, less industrial design.

Any 4.5" diameter ball, particularly a candle-pin and/or duck-pin bowling ball, is a swap-out replacement for the 25+ year old originals.

The original optical boards on these are fairly easy to interface with an Opti-PAC (and therefore most other optical control interfaces). This is the pin-out for the 10-pin molex plug found on the optical boards:

Atari Steering Bd1.jpg
1 no signal
2 no signal
3 no signal
4 Axis 1
5 no signal
6 no signal
7 no signal
8 Axis 2
9 +5v
10 ground

There were a number of slightly different boards with this same pin-out.

On an Opti-PAC, the "A/HI" jumper should be set.

There are a few vendors that sell replacement bearings and roller-shafts for these, they are often referred to as 4" trackball rollers.