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geekhack Community => Input Devices => Topic started by: lowpoly on Tue, 04 August 2009, 07:39:10

Title: Doctor, One of my balls feels heavy
Post by: lowpoly on Tue, 04 August 2009, 07:39:10
You can use it to make panoramic photos.

Not sure if it is reflective enough. Maybe you can polish it.
Title: Doctor, One of my balls feels heavy
Post by: bigpook on Tue, 04 August 2009, 08:00:07
or you  can tell friends and neighbors its a movie prop from Phantasm.
Title: Doctor, One of my balls feels heavy
Post by: Rajagra on Tue, 04 August 2009, 09:38:41
The 50mm one I got for my Trackman FX was a bit too small. I knew I'd need a caliper one day! You just can't measure these by eye, even at arm's length.

Not that it matters, the old sensor doesn't work on plain steel anyway. (Maybe sandpapering would help?)

Early days, though, my master plan is still "on track." :laugh: A properly engineered support system is my next step.
Title: Doctor, One of my balls feels heavy
Post by: Rajagra on Tue, 04 August 2009, 09:59:41
Trackballing Duke Nukem style... NSFW (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eckoYQqdk28).
Title: Doctor, One of my balls feels heavy
Post by: bloodien0se on Wed, 05 August 2009, 14:23:01
I've been looking to do something similar with my trackman wheel. Just needs a little more weight but I cant find anything in the 1 1/4 to 1 3/8in size that isn't a super expensive designer marble. I'm sure steel would be too hard for the optical to track.
Title: Doctor, One of my balls feels heavy
Post by: Rajagra on Wed, 05 August 2009, 16:06:01
Quote from: bloodien0se;107257
I've been looking to do something similar with my trackman wheel. Just needs a little more weight but I cant find anything in the 1 1/4 to 1 3/8in size that isn't a super expensive designer marble. I'm sure steel would be too hard for the optical to track.

Hmm, my logitech trackman marble can't track when I pass my finger over the sensor, yet it works while I use a cotton bud to clean off the fingerprint!? It may not be the ideal donor for my project. Logitechs are probably dependent on the dotted pattern on their marbles.

EDIT> I opened the Trackman Wheel so I could test the sensor directly against some steel spheres. It didn't work. A G9 mouse works fine, but using a mouse sensor would cause the inverted axis problem.
Title: Doctor, One of my balls feels heavy
Post by: bloodien0se on Wed, 05 August 2009, 18:16:05
Quote from: Rajagra;107284
Hmm, my logitech trackman marble can't track when I pass my finger over the sensor, yet it works while I use a cotton bud to clean off the fingerprint!? It may not be the ideal donor for my project. Logitechs are probably dependent on the dotted pattern on their marbles.


Mine works with my finger? Not accurately mind you, but not a whole lot worse than an optical mouse. It obviously needs some sort of texture but something like this stone sphere (http://tinyurl.com/mzvabh) both has a lot of texture to it and looks awesome, would also have a good amount of weight.
Title: Doctor, One of my balls feels heavy
Post by: DrunkenDonut on Wed, 05 August 2009, 18:37:47
I dunno... those things are usually polished quite a bit, so they actually won't have very much texture to them. Some can get quite spectacular though, and pricey too.
Title: Doctor, One of my balls feels heavy
Post by: CreamyNutButter on Thu, 06 August 2009, 19:57:46
A 2.25 inch ball made from solid osmium (the heaviest natural element) would weigh about 1958 grams (about 4 1/3 pounds)
Title: Doctor, One of my balls feels heavy
Post by: CreamyNutButter on Thu, 06 August 2009, 21:05:22
It lasts longer than the average Dell computer, so why not?

At least someone is satisfied with his Dell - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiCwQB4X8Bc
Title: Doctor, One of my balls feels heavy
Post by: itlnstln on Fri, 07 August 2009, 07:53:13
Quote from: CreamyNutButter;107783
It lasts longer than the average Dell computer, so why not?
 
At least someone is satisfied with his Dell - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiCwQB4X8Bc

I have a Dell laptop and had multiple desktops at work.  All of them have been great.  My mom had a Dell laptop that ended up being a POS, though.
Title: Doctor, One of my balls feels heavy
Post by: CreamyNutButter on Sat, 08 August 2009, 14:41:13
Quote from: CreamyNutButter;107783
It lasts longer than the average Dell computer, so why not?

At least someone is satisfied with his Dell - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiCwQB4X8Bc


LOL, I just enjoy bashing Dell because it bundles adware toolbars with its computers.
Title: Doctor, One of my balls feels heavy
Post by: itlnstln on Mon, 10 August 2009, 07:31:35
Quote from: CreamyNutButter;108284
LOL, I just enjoy bashing Dell because it bundles adware toolbars with its computers.

Oh, don't worry.  The first thing I do with an off-the-shelf rig is obliterate the HDD, and do a clean install of the OS.  The setup discs we get here at work have a clean OS on them, and the crapware comes on a seperate disc.
Title: Doctor, One of my balls feels heavy
Post by: Hak Foo on Mon, 10 August 2009, 10:24:39
I won't buy Dell kit after that kid in the ads.  Still.  It's hard for me to even consider an AT101W.
Title: Doctor, One of my balls feels heavy
Post by: D-EJ915 on Mon, 10 August 2009, 12:09:05
Quote from: ripster;107766
I could go unnatural with element 118.  (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/17/science/17heavy.html) Unfortunately it disappears every 1/1000 second.

use dark matter (from futurama) instead ;) lol
Title: Doctor, One of my balls feels heavy
Post by: chimera15 on Sat, 24 October 2009, 18:06:00
Really interesting.  I always wondered if something like this would work.  Thanks a lot for showing me that it wouldn't.  Saved me some money.
Title: Doctor, One of my balls feels heavy
Post by: chimera15 on Sat, 24 October 2009, 19:22:48
Quote from: ripster;128078
It works.  Just not for my application (this would be great for someone doing fine detail work constantly).  Something weighted in between might be better for what I do.

Somebody try dipping the ball in PlastiDip.  Or my condom idea.  Well, maybe not the second one.

Well, not just the weight, but also Rajagra, stating that the trackman fx optical sensor didn't pick it up.
Title: Doctor, One of my balls feels heavy
Post by: TWX on Sat, 24 October 2009, 20:31:00
Quote from: Rajagra;106834
Trackballing Duke Nukem style... NSFW (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eckoYQqdk28).


Heh.  I had forgotten that the Duke had a comeback for just about every situation.  I'm a little surprised they didn't work, "Wanna dance?" and "Shake it, Baby!" into the repertoire...
Title: Doctor, One of my balls feels heavy
Post by: timofonic on Wed, 02 June 2010, 21:56:54
A steel ball, that seems lovely :D
Title: Doctor, One of my balls feels heavy
Post by: timofonic on Thu, 03 June 2010, 03:15:11
Where to get steel balls usable by L-Track trackballs? Sorry if I wasn't explicit enough...