Posted by chris L on 16, 2000 at 4:28 PM:
In Reply to: I use a switch posted by Brian on 14, 2000 at 1:09 PM:
I also used a switch tied to a relay that switches all four wires.
: I do just that. I have a toggel switch on my trackball/dual spinner pannel where I just turn the trackball on when I want to play missle command or centipede etc.. or turn the spinner on when I want to play Tempest or other spinner games. It works great and was easy to do too. Both my spinner and trackball are going to the serial port.
: Game on!! Brian
:
: : : You can not have 2 devices sending data on the same channel at the same time...meaning you couldn't use a trackball and spinner at the same time.
: : : Data sent from these devices is in binary format and expected in a specific pattern. If you had 2 'active' devices on the same channel you would get some weird results.
: : : You could wire them all on the same harness, but you should have a switch to turn each device off seperately. Put the switch inline with the +5 wire.
: : That doesn't sound like a bad idea at all. I'll just switch it... Maybe if I'm feeling adventerous enough I'll try switching with a relay controlled off the serial port or somthing...
: : -Steve