deskthority

apastuszak wrote: ↑

03 Dec 2020, 22:15

The only thing I want on the left side is the left click, right click and scroll wheel. Nothing else does that besides the MSTE.

Any vendor software, including Elecom one, allow to reassign the buttons as desired...

Among Elecom products, Deft Pro is quite close to the MTE in design and controls (buttons, wheel) placement.

Congratulations! :) IMHO, it's one of most convenient trackballs (except for strange Microsoft's decision to put its right button on the left side - but it's easy to reassign in software), and even today it's still quite usable. Steel bearings wear quickly, but after putting ceramic or ruby ones ins...

Nice collection! You might consider selling entrance tickets for viewing it...

Once upon a time, I've had a kind of small 'home museum' of ancient computers, but discarded them due to the space problem. Sometimes I regret that...

Are you familiar with any smaller active serial converters that could be installed inside a device so that the keyboard + trackball connections could be internally converted and combined using a small USB hub so the whole thing would only use 1 USB port? I wonder is a promicro could serve as an act...

Mine seems to have a few chips inside, but they might for be the buttons, guess I need to break out a voltmeter. The only quadrature trackball with microcontroller I'm aware of is DT-225 where Microchip PIC16C55 is used for axis rotation, pulse rate (i.e., sensitivity) change, and button function h...

Do you mean replacing the controller with a microcontroller or reading the outputs at the plug? In case of quadrature output, there's no controller in device typically - so I'll have to add one. Any idea what to do about the disintegrating roller foam? I'm thinking glue or doublesided tape and a st...

3 inches is extremely entertaining, but could be a pain in daily use. -snip- the switches are backlit and stupidly tall for the amount of travel. Depends on particular use case, I believe. Trackball of such size/shape probably was never intended to be used as a pointing device for computer GUI cont...

The mechanism is also different from conventional track balls as it uses servos(?) or some other sealed component instead of spoked wheels and optical encoders Actually, no difference here. They're the same quadrature encoders, just in different (sealed) form, like this: https://www.bourns.com/prod...

Sorry, but I don't know what's locally available in your country.

zuglufttier wrote: ↑

06 Oct 2020, 20:30

Switches could be a bit lighter and more silent.

That's my opinion, too. I dislike noisy things, so I've slightly modified my SlimBlade to be almost completely inaudible:
https://forum.trackballs.eu/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=48

For your wishlist, I'd suggest to try Elecom Deft Pro. IMHO, it's currently the best & feature-rich model available. As for now, I have SlimBlade at work and Deft Pro at home, so probably can compare them. Unfortunately, there's several reports about Elecom quality problems recently, but my particul...

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.