deskthority

Having both, I'd say CH is much more usable than ITAC on modern systems. Of course I keep it in doubled resolution mode, but even native one outperforms ITAC's 192 PPR. Mechanically they're nearly identical: exactly the same type of bearings & shaft diameter, but CH have slightly bigger ball and bet...

My understanding is, these resolution codes just reflect shipped state of DIP switches. Native sensor resolution on my DT225 is 360 PPR with capability to divide or multiply it by 2 with DIP setting, and I have never seen pictures of other variants with shutter discs visually different from mine...

I don't use thumb balls myself, so can't give detailed opinion. It was bought by friend of mine as a replacement to his heavily worn MTO, and I've briefly tried it. Plastic looks a bit cheap (big difference with another models from that company), but good thing is - it doesn't have any painting or, ...

I would love a modern, more portable ambidextrous trackball. Have you tried Kensington Orbit Wireless Mobile? No additional buttons unfortunately, but in general it's quite convenient for mobile use IMHO. And BTW, it does have touch-sensitive scrolling, jokingly attributed as specific to GameBall i...

So the question is - why would one desire to buy Gamerball? If it will be ever really made available, I'll definitely add it to my collection: just to evaluate particular combination of controls, shape, ball location etc. But there's indeed nothing special or new in this device, except for several ...

keyboardist wrote: ↑

11 Jun 2020, 23:01

Attaching detailed info on a trackball I found a documentation from producer - it can be switched to few different protocols actually

So, exactly how do you switch the protocols on DT225?

Yes.

I'd like to share one interesting finding: switches made by ITW I've never seen before. They're used in old Fulcrum trackball I've recently added to my collection: https://forum.trackballs.eu/viewtopic.php?f=17&p=96 Illinois Tool Works make quite a lot of various switch designs, but their current li...

Will do that later. By the way, you're welcome to register there.

As for stuck bearings - don't discard them! They're of fine quality, and relatively easy to restore with some patience and basic tools:
https://forum.trackballs.eu/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=12

Meanwhile, out of curiosity I've finally discovered who is that MVP your trackball was OEMed for:

Regular plain vanilla ball mouse. Dirt-cheap or free nowadays. It uses the same quadrature detectors and slotted shutter discs as your trackball: you'll just need to re-wire things.

P.S. Avoid Logitech mice, as many of them use proprietary detectors, not discrete quadrature ones.

I doubt you'll be able to find a converter: Sun always was a "niche market", and prior to your CH it was only ITAC known to me who made compatible trackballs... I'm pretty sure your best bet is to replace the controller. Not a big deal BTW, and if you don't want to deal with Arduino and similar thin...

Very unlikely indeed. Never owned SGI, but on old Apple machines serial pointing devices were not normally supported, at least by MacOS itself. That doesn't mean it can't be done, though: during my Mac-addiction period, it was impossible to find ADB trackball in my country - so being a baller, I've ...

Yes, at the end of article I've posted is a link to another one, specifically about conversion:
https://forum.trackballs.eu/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=18

DT225 was converted by very similar technique, but I haven't finished the article about it yet.

It does not matched any of the one on diagram. Well, then you'll need to search further. Joystick Technologies / CH Products has made trackballs with almost any interfaces ever existed - including quite rare and proprietary ones. For example, mine arrived with giant DB-37 connector: http://images.v...

Since there are only four wires, do you think it's just ps2 protocol? I've never seen PS/2 or ADB devices with non-standard connectors. AFAIK MiniDIN-4 and MiniDIN-6 were integral part of these standards. As for yours, it looks to me like CD-i pointing device connector (kind of serial): http://imag...

jorgenslee wrote: ↑

05 Mar 2020, 17:08

Yeah, though I'm not familiar with the symbol. Kindly see below.

It's just manufacturer's logo: stylized "CH" letters.

Updated version: Ploopy v1.01 – Project Ruby.

GameBall have been teasing a new finger-operated trackball design for gaming on and off for a few years now. It's just been announced that they'll start selling them early next year (2020), though. GameBall will be available in early 2020. All as expected: https://old.reddit.com/r/Trackballs/commen...

Funny: their first thumb-operated trackball after decades of classic devices...

Probably offtopic, but what's 'pro membership' actually is? If the donation I've paid makes me eligible, I'm interested.

Done. Hope you'll be able to keep DT running.

Yes. In fact, I'm just positioning my palm without any thinking about it: it's "auto-adjusted" to the ball & buttons in such a way that they're conveniently accessible. Maybe it depends from the hand size, though.

Hmm, I've never had any discomfort using original MTE. Don't have Ploopy currently, but it seems to be an exact copy according to photos...

Tremendous project with excellent documentation! IMHO it's not pure MTE clone, but merely a hybrid of MTE and MacAlly Qball, as it uses ball bearings (not roller bearings, as stated on project pages).

Can't take it seriously, unless actual sale begins. They're routinely "updating" the release date for several years, with words like "last changes", "streamlining design", "some final improvements", "will be available next year" and so on - but nothing beyond computer-generated images was created ti...

Yes indeed, Expert implementation was a biggest fault. Funny enough, cheap entry-level Orbit have butter-smooth scrollring...

Magnet was really bad idea (and its removal a common thing) - so apparently Kensington has stopped installing it in latest Expert batches. I've bought mine several years ago, and it was already without magnet.

Recently there was a story when on some game competition the winner was using trackball, BTW...

I also can't recall any case when simultaneous scrolling & pointing was needed. As for convenience - using the ball itself for scrolling is much more convenient for me than dedicated wheel/drum/ring. If some button is used as "scroll mode switch", you don't even have to move your hand or fingers to ...