IT'S ALIVE!

[+Allan]

I did one of these as a kid. The nice part was that I made sure I didn't damage any of the trackball parts so that I could put the track ball back in. Had to sacrafice a joystick though. The trackball was too expensive back then to wreck. Not that there cheap now.

 

Now someone has to make a steering wheel out of one like Dan Kramer, the designer of the trackball, wanted to do. The hard part is finding a small, light-weight, wheel. So far the only one I can think of is the Coleco one.

 

Allan

 

What about using a driving controller or paddle inside a trakball shell and attaching an older steering wheel to it? That's the easiest alternative I can think of (unless someone is sitting on a stash of arcade steering wheels and lets them go cheap).

 

I'd like to use trackball mechanism if I can. I think that was Dan Kramers intent as well. He has mention that he designed the trackball so that it could be converted to a steering wheel. It would be great to be able to talk to him and get more details about it.

 

Allan

[Shawn]

The Mad Catz Dreamcast steering wheel is as light as a feather. They are also not worth next to anything. You can get them on Ebay for 99 cents and shipping.

[Geotrick]

That's what I was looking for! Thanks for the inspiration.

I had a not perfect trakball, and a bad controller (bad buttons) and thought I would give it a try. I had the joystick hanging out for a while to make sure I reassembled it properly. By leaving the joystick outside of the trakball, you could keep the Trakball intact.

I am thinking aobut adding a 2600 DB9 connector to the side of the case so it could be used with standard 2600 contollers. I know I am only stating the obvious but the same could be done to a regular Trakball. I like the idea of adding arcade fire buttons; I might have to locate some.

I used a dremel to remove the inside of the trakball and the bottom of the controller.

I saw your post while looking for information on controller modifications. The first mod. was a variation of "Shawn Sr." Paddle contoller. The buttons are "Start", "*" and "#". I had to add a piece of thicker plastic to the lower half to be able to drill and give clearance for the buttons. The buttons are hot glued into place. Thanks for the inspirations!

Edited February 28, 2007 by Geotrick

[joeybastard]

Nice job! It looks much neater than my mine:)

 

I really happy with my Frankenstick. I play the 5200 much more often since I made it. The joy of never having to clean the fire/start buttons is a huge plus too.

 

I was thinking about adding arcade fire buttons one of these days too.

[Geotrick]

Thanks! It's a nice solution for single controller games (I play Robotron a lot). I find that I have a lot better cornering in Ms. Pacman.

The arcade buttons sure would come in handy when playing Bezerk.

The standard buttons are a little stiff.

Thanks again for the inspiration and the praise!

[Geotrick]

FYI: http://www.happcontrols.com/gaming/gaming.htm

[HP Atari King of Michigan]

That has to be the greatest mod I've ever seen! Good job, Joey!

Edited March 16, 2007 by HP Atari King of Michigan

[phonedork]

What a beast! I think getting you regular Atari 5200 controllers with the gold plate circuits is a better idea. But if ya got the time and the.....SPACE, you can uh use that one!