ThunderStick LED Arcade trackball (TS-UTB01)

Even though the stock trackball on my 12 in 1 Arcade 1Up unit was fine, I just felt it would be nice to have an improved trackball to go with the TurboTwist2 spinner I installed last year. This trackball replacement has been fantastic so far! It was extremely easy to install once I removed the old trackball unit (why they glued the stock unit into the board is anyone's guess). The Thunderstick was pretty much plug and play.Game play has been very, very good once I got used to the extra sensitivity. The ball spins so freely compared to the stock trackball, the replacement rivals most arcade quality units I have used in the past.Also, I really like the color options for the trackball! It really adds to the aesthetics for this cabinet.You really can't go wrong with this, especially for the price. Great work Glenn! You da man!!!

Works perfect with my Atari Tempest Legacy 12 in 1. Others have commented that the track ball is touchy/jumpy but I find it works absolutely perfect on centipede, missile command, millipede and all the trackball games. Just remember to take the jumper out of the trackball before you install (which is shown in the instructions). Be sure to open the new trackball with the ball facing up or the inside will all fall out of the trackball. The blue color looks fabulous with the cabinet too. As for removing the old trackball and connection cable just heat both with a hair dryer to soften the glue. Total install time was no more than 30 minutes tops. Thanks Glen as the factory arcade 1up trackball is crap and yours is fabulous!!!

Greets All,My Trackball came today and was eagerly excited to install it, which I did and played with it a bit and then decided to give my review of the Trackball, this is stock Arcade1up 12n1. So without further procrastinating here it is:The Good:The trackball is a nice drop in replacement, I like the mini wheels as I call them that the recorder rod slips into which gives it the free spinning you get, it is wonderful to have a trackball that actually spins and dont have to break your wrist trying to get the ship across the board. It is responsive to the direction you move it, sometimes too sensitive. I like the touch of the led with picking quite a few colors. The trackball recorder works well where there is no pause when spinning the ball quickly like the original trackball that would freeze or go batty.The Bad:The trackball has a grinding noise it not as noticeable unless you spin it fast as if you had to go left or right quickly, so spinning you will hear this, more so left to right then up or down. The trackball is very light, I understand it has to be to make it glow, but I think it should have been heavier. The original trackball feels good in weight. The recorders or the PCB is way too sensitive, most will see this that have played Millipede or Centipede back in the day. I was a master at both and know how it should be reacting, this is too sensitive, it is also too jerky when trying to move up slightly, instead it moves more then you need to. The quick spin either to the left or right does not move like it should for that little effort, but if you move it by hand slightly it moves much more. When moving little bit during normal play you can see the spaceship jitter which again I believe its too sensitive.Overall:I understand that we are playing with a mame emulator, but after I fixed my original trackball from not spinning freely, my two complaints of the original trackball was the recorder not responding to the quick movement from one end of the screen to the other without it getting stuck and sometimes it not being precise. Short of that I had no issues, but still the spinner was a vast improvement and also has its shortfalls its by far better then what was originally there. With the trackball not so sure.To make this superb, the values of the X & Y axis and sensitivity needs to be adusted quite a bit to make it work properly. I think with the new values it could be near perfect IF the sensitivity, the jitter, and the speed are able to be within the right values.Still have to see if it really will make it playable any better then what I have or not. Clearly the default values are not good at all.I figured out why if you spin the trackball too fast why it moves slow and when you move it slowly it moves faster, its the recorder disc the gap is too small based on the free movement of the axis. The disc was made correctly with 25 spaces/gaps which should work and does with light passing through, but they were made too small which when spun very quickly creates a smaller window for the light to pass through.*EDIT* 7.25.19I have been testing values, I have uploaded the values that seem to stabilize the jitter and sensitivity. This is for a STOCK 12 n 1. Values may work with the centipede arcade, anyone willing to try. (NOTE: to change values you must have the USB connection. If you do not then you CANNOT change values).

Nothing beats a bearing type trackball. I've used trackballs for about four a long time, and I've had trackballs that just have their optical sensors held in place by a pin inserted through holes at each end of a plastic assembly. No bearings. That type is very sluggish, and hard to roll. The trackball that came with the Arcade 1up machines is NOT a bearing type trackball. I couldn't get that stock trackball out of my 1up machines fast enough, because they just won't move freely, like a bearing type trackball does.As soon as I saw Glen's Retro Show vid about this new trackball, I placed my order.It's very easy to install.The only issue I've noticed, and this happens with ALL bearing type trackballs, even commercial arcade trackballs, is there's sometimes an occasional binding that occurs, when you roll the ball. Sometimes two bearings will touch each other, and they'll bind, or stop rolling. It's a rare occurrence, but is known to happen in bearing type trackballs. Just something we have to live with. There's nothing wrong with the trackball.Some people have reported a grinding sound, when rolling the ball. That's just the bearings rolling around the bushing, dropping down to the bottom of the space they're in, as they roll around. It's the same sound you hear in a skateboard, or roller blade / skate wheel. It's perfectly normal.There is one issue with the Arcade 1up machines, mainly with Centipede, and Millipede. Arcade 1up ramped up the sensitivity for the analog controls in the hidden MAME menu, to compensate for the garbage trackball that came with the cabinet. As a result, the increased sensitivity provided by the GRS trackball is now amplified, many fold. Therefore, trying to control Centipede, like in the arcade, results in some awkward control behavior. However, if you use slow inputs on the trackball, the gameplay will be fine. The other trackball games in the Arcade 1up machines seem to work very nicely with this trackball.Once your warranty expires, I recommend you solder in a USB header, and keyboard, so you can access the hidden MAME menu, and reset the analog controls in Centipede, and Millipede, to allow more realistic trackball behavior.I'm really enjoying my GRS trackball, and have also set my LED dipswitches for a magenta colour, which looks very nice. You can set it to whatever colour you like.I did notice the trackball now comes with it's own built in daughter board, for allowing the spinner in the 12 in 1 to work along side the trackball, without having the external daughter board in place. I'll save that for a MAME machine, later on. You do have to open up the trackball to plug in the spinner, if you have the 12 in 1. If you already have the daughter board for the 12 in 1, and just can't be bothered with opening up the trackball, the daughter board will still work without any conflicts.The rolling action of this bearing type trackball feels so much better than the stock trackball.

Works great with Arcade1Up Atari Tempest Edition Arcade Machine. Plug and play.