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Sega Trackball RGB LED mod

everten

everten

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I've been working on an RGB LED mod for the Sega trackball. Curious if others are interested in this mod.
Join list here so we know how many to make: https://shewfly.com/products/sega-trackball-led-mod

  • Multiple modes:
    • Rainbow fade
    • Single color select
    • White
  • 3 RGB LEDs
  • Adjustable rainbow fade speed
  • Adjustable brightness
  • Brightness reactive to ball spin (enable/disable in any mode)
  • Save settings for next power on

This is designed specifically for the Sega trackball as seen in photos. I have not tested fit on other trackballs. Installs with 4 screws, connect your existing 2 x 4-pin JST connectors to the PCB, then connect the PCB to the trackball with the included harnesses.

See video for reactive brightness and color fade. The trackball in the video is translucent pink so you won't be able to see the full range of colors. Also difficult to capture the brightness changes with a camera.

trackball2.gif

My_project_2.gif


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Thanks!
 
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I’m in for one!

Looks like I don't have a compatible trackball for this. Sorry!
 
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I have a stupid question. I'm not familiar with that specific ball, only the white ones for like Virtua Golf and Outtrigger. Is the ball part of the kit?
 
notsonic said:
I have a stupid question. I'm not familiar with that specific ball, only the white ones for like Virtua Golf and Outtrigger. Is the ball part of the kit?
Click to expand...
To use the light mod you will need a semi translucent ball. Twisted Quarter sells a few colors, but not translucent white: https://twistedquarter.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=113_119

I’m trying to source translucent white balls to sell with the board, but not finding suppliers, still have a few inquiries out to some places in China.
 
I've bought a pair of Sega Trackballs coming from Sengoku Taisen cabs, they came with the LED assembly (but without the translucent balls). Unfortunately, that LED assembly makes the trackball too deep to fit inside my New Net City panel.
 
Fredo said:
I've bought a pair of Sega Trackballs coming from Sengoku Taisen cabs, they came with the LED assembly (but without the translucent balls). Unfortunately, that LED assembly makes the trackball too deep to fit inside my New Net City panel.
Click to expand...
Modeled and 3D printed a smaller bracket that works with some led holders from ali.

Everten‘s design is super nice and flat. These will fit for sure. Definitively in for a set. As for the trackballs. I have a few with translucent orange balls. Ordered some cue balls from ali but they where slightly too large. The diameter has to be very accurate to work in these trackballs.
 
Fredo said:
I've bought a pair of Sega Trackballs coming from Sengoku Taisen cabs, they came with the LED assembly (but without the translucent balls). Unfortunately, that LED assembly makes the trackball too deep to fit inside my New Net City panel.
Click to expand...
I’ve heard about the Sega light kit but have never seen it. Do you have photos? Just curious what it looks like.

I think this one will fit. No issues in Blast City which should be fairly similar.
 
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nnap said:
Modeled and 3D printed a smaller bracket that works with some led holders from ali.

Everten‘s design is super nice and flat. These will fit for sure. Definitively in for a set. As for the trackballs. I have a few with translucent orange balls. Ordered some cue balls from ali but they where slightly too large. The diameter has to be very accurate to work in these trackballs.
Click to expand...
Please let me know if you find something that works! I also have some translucent orange. The pink looks best so far, would love to see clear or translucent white.
 
everten said:
I’ve heard about the Sega light kit but have never seen it. Do you have photos? Just curious what it looks like.

I think this one will fit. No issues in Blast City which should be fairly similar.
Click to expand...
Screenshot_20231123_142446_com.opera.browser.jpg


It's extremely basic, just a piece of metal with a single led holder, you screw it underneath the trackball, plug the 12V and let there be light.
 
Fredo said:
It's extremely basic, just a piece of metal with a single led holder, you screw it underneath the trackball, plug the 12V and let there be light.
Click to expand...

Thanks! That does add a lot of depth. I just measured my board, it adds 7.25mm to the depth of the trackball when mounted. Edit: plus 1mm or so due to locking tab on harness JST NH connector.

I'll try to snap a photo of what it looks like connected under the control panel.
 
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Looking for a tester for this. You must have the compatible sega trackball, test installation, and functionality. Test unit is free to keep. Please send me a PM if interested.

Edit: Must also have or be willing to purchase a translucent ball, cannot test with solid ball.

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I received a kit for testing a few weeks ago. The PCB looks super nice and was easy to install. It even included the passthrough cables. As the PCB is using self taper screws to fix it to the trackball, you don't have to remove the original mounting screws for the trackball.

IMG_1065.jpeg

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If your setup uses the metal backplate, you have to remove that to not short out the pins on the back of the PCB.
IMG_1077.jpeg


Unfortunately I was not able to source a white translucent trackball yet, so mine is orange. The colors still look very nice on it though. You just don't get any blue out of it.
There are a few different modes you can choose form. One cool feature is that you can let it cycle through the color range and at any point stop the cycling and lock in that color. So you are not limited to the plain colors.

One mode will make the light brighter when you spin the trackball which also looks cool. Depending on your initial brightness setting the effect can be subtle or very obvious, as it will use the delta from the initial brightness to max brightness.

This setup makes the install so much cleaner than my original lights. Will get another one once they are available to have one for the P2 side :)
Congratulations to everten for another excellent and simple to use product!
 
Stocking a very limited number of these for sale on https://www.shewfly.com in a few minutes.

Operation and installation is fully documented here: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0...ackball_LED_Mod_Installation.pdf?v=1707886003


Mode Selection

When first connected, the board will be in Rainbow Fade mode (mode 1). To adjust modes, press/release the mode button. This will advance to the next mode in sequence and the LEDs will flash the number of times that correspond to the current mode:
  • Mode 1: Rainbow Fade
    • Rainbow Fade mode will cycle through the full color range of the RGB LEDs. The speed of the color fade is adjustable (see Rainbow Fade Speed under Additional Settings).
  • Mode 2: Single Color
    • While in Rainbow Fade mode, press the mode button to lock the current color. This enables you to select any color from the Rainbow Fade mode as the static color.
  • Mode 3: White
    • White mode changes the LEDs to pure white.
Additional Settings
  • Brightness
    • There are 20 brightness levels, including off (zero brightness), available in all 3 operation modes. Press/release the bright button to cycle through the 20 available levels.
  • Rainbow Fade Speed
    • The speed of the Rainbow Fade cycle is adjustable. Hold the mode button for 2 seconds and the LEDs will begin to flash. While holding mode, press/release the bright button to cycle through fade speeds. While adjusting the fade speed, the LEDs will flash relative to the current fade speed setting. Release the mode button to complete the adjustment.
  • Trackball Spin Response
    • To enable or disable Trackball Spin Response, hold the bright button for 2 seconds until the LEDs flash and release. A single LED flash indicates this mode has been disabled, and two flashes indicate it has been enabled. When Trackball Spin Response is enabled, the brightness of the LEDs will increase with the speed at which the X and Y axis of the trackball are moving and will fade down when not moving. Note: your initial brightness setting will be the root value in this mode. Lower brightness settings will have or more dramatic effect vs. high brightness which will see little change.
  • Save Settings
    • All settings can be preserved when powered off. Set the mode, brightness, fade speed, and spin response to your preference, hold the bright button until the LEDs slowly flash 3 times (5 seconds), and your settings will be saved to memory
 
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