Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] mouse encoder?

Gail & Bryan Harries wrote:

> I use the KeyTronic (was Honeywell) LifeTime mouse... it has no ball... the
> encoder shafts come through the bottom of the mouse at an angle and have a
> beveled wheel that is sprung loaded in contact with the operating surface...
> they never need cleaning and any points of ware are taken up by the spring
> loading...

These sound like another licensee of the Carter Hawley mouse. Digital
Equipment Corp (DEC - now bought out by Compaq) made a mouse that
looked like a hockey puck with this design. It was far superior to their
other mouse, which had the appalling defect of too much 'drop' of the ball.
When you picked the mouse up from the surface, the ball dropped about
1/4", first giving a good spin to the encoder disks inside, and then breaking
contact with them, so they kept spinning. When you picked up the mouse,
the cursor flew off to a diagonal corner of the screen. Appalling for a $15000

workstation! I've got a few of those old Carter Hawley mice, but they aren't
compatible with standard PCs, at least I don't think they are. Anyway, I
use trackballs on all my computers.

Jon