Date: Mon, 26 Feb 1996 15:04:57 -0700 (MST) From: Terry Lambert <terry@lambert.org> To: dwalton@psiint.com (Dave Walton) Cc: msmith@atrad.adelaide.edu.au, freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Honeywell 3 button mouse Message-ID: <199602262204.PAA02735@phaeton.artisoft.com> In-Reply-To: <Pine.A32.3.91.960226080709.50232A-100000@vv.psiint.com> from "Dave Walton" at Feb 26, 96 08:13:34 am
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> > > If you dig through that marketing hype, you get this: It's a
> > > high-resolution mechanical mouse that doesn't use a ball. That means
> > > that it doesn't need a special pad like an optical mouse, but it never
> > > ever ever needs cleaning like a ball mouse. Quite simply, it's the best
> > > mouse mechanism I've ever run across.
> >
> > This sounds like the round Decstation Mice (or cheeses as we called them).
> > Unfortunately, whilst they work fine (we also called them 4WD mice) on
> > really rough surfaces, they're round, so you have no idea which way
> > they're pointing when you grab them 8)
>
> Round? What a silly shape to make a mouse. I suppose you could find
> "up" by checking the tail...
> Why did you call them 4WD mice? What was their mechanism like?
Everything you never wanted to know about DEC mice:
| | -----|
TOP | A | B |
| | |
------ -----|
\
| ___ | \.
SIDE |' A `| \ B /
( ) \ /
`___' `
The ball is replaces by two rubber-footed shafts (foot covers can be
replaced). The shafts depend from the bottom of the mouse at a 45
degree angle and are orthoganlly opposed in the x/y plane in which
the mouse is moved.
When the mouse is moved in the +/- x direction, foot A rotates in
a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction, rotating its shaft an
causing make-break -n a two gate directionally sensitive optical
gate.
Likewise, when the mouse is moved in the +/- y direction, foot B
rotates in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction.
There is no rotation which causes dirt to be moved to the coupling
mechanism, as in a traditional mouse or trackball.
Personally, I always thought DEC mice looked like albino hockey
pucks. 8-P.
Using two of their massive plastic coated T connectors and four
of their massive plastic coated terminators and one ordinary T
connector, along with one hocky puck mouse, it's easy to create
a fairly realistic model of the starship Enterprise:
===========================================================================
Terry's DEC Enterprise model (ask about our other kits)
===========================================================================
TOP VIEW:
DEC mouse (or albino hockey puck if mouse is not available)
|
v
_----_ ,---.,-----.,---. <-- DEC thinwire terminator
' ` `---'`-. ,-'`---'
|=== | `-'
|==== | |O| <-- ordinary 'T' (female connector down)
|=== | ,-.
`_ _' ,---.,-' `-.,---.
---- `---'`-----'`---'
^
|
DEC 'T' (female connector to inside)
===========================================================================
I'm suprised that no one else realised this -- after all, the VAX/VMS
system clock starts at Stardate 1. 8-).
Terry Lambert
terry@lambert.org
---
Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present
or previous employers.
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