[Coco] The New Hires Interface

[tim lindner]

Nick Marentes <nickma at optusnet.com.au> wrote:

> You can read all about it here:

I just checked it out with a old style black RS joystick and found it
very smooth.

I then tried it with the RS mouse. Also nice.

Then I tried it with a touch pad. This reminded me how much this device
sucks. If you press lightly it, it'll generate a position half way from
the center to where you're touching. Press a little harder and it gets a
little closed to the true point you pressing on. When you press hard
enough to have the device truly report the correct position you're in
danger of damaging the surface. The new sampling routine could not
overcome the crappiness of this device.

Then I tried the Wico Trackball, which is all the rage these days.

I don't remember ever buying this device so I think I got it in a
batch-drop-off from some old friend who was moving away from the CoCo.

Anyway the trackball requires external power. So I hooked it all up and
nothing. It no worky. The power plug goes from the unused joystick port
into the back of the track ball. So I got out the multimeter to check
the power comming out of the joystick port.

Zero volts. Weird. Both joystick ports work fine with regular joysticks.
So I traced how the power plug was wired and found the ground was
poperly wired to the ground pin. But the power was wired to the center
pin (button #2). And the center pin was cut short so it never entered
the CoCo. I think someone lost the power brick for this thing and
decided the CoCo could supply the power, then failed miserbly in
creating a properly wired adaptor.

I'll prolly rewire the plug and "correct" it. Or maybe not. Who can
tell?

***

On a different note: My suggestion for the name of the
project-that-shall-not-be-named is:


C-One: The Bike Shedening


Boo-ya! Mic drop!

-- 
tim lindner
tlindner at macmess.org                                              Bright