Re: circuit idea - let me save you some trouble


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Posted by =-JacK-= on September 15, 1999 at 16:11:18:

In Reply to: Re: circuit idea - let me save you some trouble posted by Sean on September 15, 1999 at 00:16:20:

GREAT INFORMATION!! Thanks...

H have pretty much resigned myself to the mouse hack route, but I'v had a problem getting 2 mouses (sic) to work under DOS...the logitech driver recognizes both, but only one responds. On the same machine both mice work under Win98, so its not a connection or compatibility issue (I don't think anyway). I want to have both the spinner and the trackball functional at the same time if possible. Any suggestions? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

BTW I realize I'm putting the greatest effort into the controls that are used by far the least!

I'M NOT OBSESSED.....YOU ARE!!!

: I had the same idea, so I built an encoder based on his design and interfaced a happ replacement Arkanoid spinner to my computer via a keyboard hack. I had planned on doing the same with a trackball if it worked as planned.

: Then I discovered how mame treats keyboard input in analog controlled games. Each kepress does move the virtual analog controller by a set amount, which becomes the minimum motion increment. Thus turning the spinner by 1 click moves it by the same amount as pressing the direction key. However extremely fast keystrokes, like those generated by this interface were not interpreted the way I had expected. It behaved much as it would if you just held the direction keys down on the keyboard.

: In the end, the control was much worse then using a mouse hack or the happ mouse interface.
: In Stephen's original design, he used a home made spinner and the optics are such that you have to make a more significant turn to generate a click. His spinner may work better because of this. So if you decide to build it anyway, then at least try adding another stage to divide the output pulses on each line. That might help.

: Your best bet is to hack it to a mouse, kill off the acceleration in the mouse driver, and experiment with the sensitivity in mame untill you find something acceptable.

: I only tested it with mame, so I don't know how other software will respond.

: Hope this was usefull.

: : I recently acquired a spinner from a junked-out Major Havoc and a 2 ¼ trackball from a junked-out Missile Command, complete with optical encoder circuit boards and Molex plugs. A schematic of the encoder can be found at: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lakes/9862/encoder.html . Here is what I want to do:

: : I use a hacked keyboard for my arcade control interface. I want to develop a circuit to turn the quadrature signal of the optical encoders into a “open/close” signal that I can wire into my keyboard to simulate a keypress. My idea is to leave the spinner and trackball OEM and not have to mess with analog sensitivity in MAME. I am more of an electrician than an electrical engineer, so I feel I can build the circuit, just not design it. I realize HAPP sells a serial port interface kit, but I really want to keep my inputs on the keyboard.




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