Getting TI controllers (trackball??) to work on a PC

[CamTheBridge]

Hey all,

 

I'm working on a project for one of my graduate classes, just making a little game on the PC and I thought it would be fun to use the Wico Trackball to control it since I have on lying around, and an arduino (which can communicate with unity). I have one of these and can get a Sega Genesis controller to send digital signals to an arduino just fine using the pinouts I found online. I can't find any pinouts for the Wico Trackball, but it seems like people think it works the same as the TI's Joysticks.  But when I look at the pinout and follow that, nothing seems to register. I even tried using the TI's Joysticks but that didn't work either. Looks like the TI handles it's inputs a bit differently than the genesis, as it doesn't seem to have a 5V in or ground pin. Any thoughts on this? Is it even possible to get readings to send to my arduino? Should I just give up? Any input would be appreciated. 

 

Thanks!

[+arcadeshopper]

Pin outs are in the FAQ correct there's no voltage the trackball has it's own power supply that plugs in the trackball.. and yes it's basically a ti joystick as far as the ti is concerned

 

the ti joystick adapters need diodes also in the faq

 

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[CamTheBridge]

50 minutes ago, arcadeshopper said:

the ti joystick adapters need diodes also in the faq

Thanks! So for example, if I wanted to run the signal for just the fire button on the Wico Trackball to the arduino for testing, I would want the track ball plugged into the wall, and I'd send the signal out of Pin 4, say into a bread board, then have the signal go through a 1N914 diode and then go into the arduino? Or are those diodes only used for the atari converter? I'm still new to electronics, so if this involves more work than I can accomplish in the week before my project is due I'll just do something else. Appreciate the reply

[+arcadeshopper]

I'm not the right person for the arduino side maybe you could look at@jedimatt42 's project where he uses a teensy for USB kbd it is the same chip as the joysticks

https://github.com/jedimatt42/TI-99-usb-keys

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[pixelpedant]

If you need a simple solution for using a TI-99 controller like the WICO trackball on PC, the Retronic Design USB controller adapter supports TI-99/4A controllers, and hence the TI WICO trackball.  But as arcadeshopper says, the TI WICO trackball won't work without its power supply.  So that is a contingent factor.  Other system-specific WICO trackballs are, naturally, a different story.