Using Jamma harness and board adapter for Centipede.

[lilypad19]

I never tried centipede with a stick. I have a bench trackball. You may need to mess with that a bit I'm not sure how it would work

 

[mwiggett]

I never tried centipede with a stick. I have a bench trackball. You may need to mess with that a bit I'm not sure how it would work

thanks. I read you can use a stick, it may not work well.

 

[lilypad19]

I just looked. Not really sure how. It's just pulses. So I'm sure you can get it to move a little here and there. If you have a spinner with optos. You can kind of fake it with that too.

 

[lilypad19]

Maybe there is a way to hack an old wired mouse onto it? That may work. Check your junk box

 

[mwiggett]

Maybe there is a way to hack an old wired mouse onto it? That may work. Check your junk box

I'm sure I have one of those, lol. I don't mind buying a trackball. any recommendations?

 

[andrewb]

The schematics explain how to hook up a joystick, via pins on J19:

 

[lilypad19]

They got stupid expensive. But find one of these

Amazon.com

 

[lilypad19]

Or do what @andrewb just posted!!
I'm on a train on my phone Too hard to see this stuff
Plus. I'm a Centipede snob Trackball is king

 

[mwiggett]

Thanks @andrewb and @lilypad19. I appreciate the information. I have an Atari style joystick that I will try first. I'll graduate to the trackball later. Baby steps. lol.

 

[lilypad19]

They pop up used now and then. Let us know how the stick works. I've never tried it

 

[andrewb]

Or do what @andrewb just posted!!
I'm on a train on my phone Too hard to see this stuff
Plus. I'm a Centipede snob Trackball is king

I'm surprised you weren't aware of the 'secret' joystick option on Centipede boards. A random bit of Atari PCB trivia.

(Plus, extra demerits for recommending a $123 trackball, lol!)

I was not aware, but holy shit, nobody needs to pay that much for a trackball. There are millions of dead/repairable ones around, and plenty of repro parts to rebuild them. If anyone wants a trackball, grab an original one on ebay or here. No need to give Happ $120.

 

[lilypad19]

I am ashamed of myself. . Tombo. I need a timeout. Yea. They were WAY less $$ not that long ago.
That new Happ is nice (I posted it as reference really). It replaces the originals But the trackball is too light. For bench repair. No problem. But in a real game the play is all wrong.
120 grams vs 160 grams (from memory). The ball is too light

The real ones pop up for much less than that now. I'd get an original too..

 

[lilypad19]

Much better
Factor the cost of the bearings and a rebuild kit and this is not bad.

Pardon Our Interruption...

 

[andrewb]

Yeah, the ball weight is every noticeable. It actually allows the ball to spin faster (which can be an advantage on some games). But it's whacked if you're used to the original weight.

The Sente Gimme A Break that is on the floor at Funspot has the lighter ball in it, and it's like playing pool on steroids. (I have an OG Sente cab, so I know that game very well.) You can hit the cue ball twice as hard/fast as with an original ball. Fun, but a totally different game. It's almost like cheating.

 

[lilypad19]

Agreed. Centipede with the light ball is very fast. But it's not like you can use it for "practice". The muscle memory is all wrong. It's just a different game. Setting it to really hard. That can be used for practice.

 

[mwiggett]

I may have to stick to the joystick. Not sure I could figure out how to wire the trackball. lol

 

[andrewb]

I may have to stick to the joystick. Not sure I could figure out how to wire the trackball. lol

There are tutorials about wiring trackballs, and a couple of things to know, as there are two different variations because Atari did things different than how Happ did their pinout. But it's not rocket science. See here:

http://www.arcaderestoration.com/Articles/1/Bob+Roberts/59/A+Look+at+Trackballs.aspx