OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Does anyone have experiences with the TTmatic 505 a or b? Supposedly it does *everything*, has two heads, is programmable and does not really seem to have an disadvantages except for the steep price. It seems to be hell of a lot better than the Amicus 3000, too (e.g. no sidespin issue).

Does anyone here have it and can write a report about it? Any problems with it at all or is it really as "perfect" as a robot can get?

Thanks,
TS

A local club has a TTmatic 505 (not sure if it's A or B). I'm a robot nut but I haven't tried it because it's been broken/out of service on the few times I've been there. While it has two heads it looks like they are single motor heads, not dual motor heads like the newer robots have which allow loops and dead balls. Instead, it seemed to use selectable, differently-curved pieces of plastic attached to the ball extruder to cause the ball to roll off the plastic and pick up different spins. I see Table Tennis Pioneers has the TTMatics on sale now. Tempting, but I can't help wondering if that is presaging the announcement of a new TTMatic product line. I'd hold out for a 2-motor per head robot if I were you.

I've had a TTmatic with the two heads since the 40mm ball switch-over. I like mine a lot. There are goods and bads to it.

It is nice that it has two heads. I leave one with topspin and the other with underspin. You can pick how many of each shot you want before switching to the other, or go randomly. That is really useful.

I have countless hours on it with only one breakdown. Both power supply transistors went bad (not at the same time). But, they are cheap 2n3055 transistors that you can get from radio shack.

It also goes through those sponge drive rollers pretty quickly. I have managed to come up with a way to make my own (regular sofa sponge spinning with a drill against a spinning wire brush at a 30-45 angle. Works nicely).

I originally tried adjusting it for different shots, even for sidespin service returns. It worked well, bit it is a pain to change settings from top, chop or sidespin and get it all dialed in correctly. It is also a pain to switch from medium topspin to looping topspin and have it hit the table. So, I have left mine where it is for probably the last 5 years or so. And it has worked great.

I think about a year after getting mine, I got to use an Amicus. I thought, still think, it would have been the better choice. It's shots can be set up into memory and be available without a bunch of fiddling around. I don't know what the cons are for the Amicus, but that was the biggest pro I saw.

I don't really regret the TTmatic. But, if I could go back in time, I'd get the Amicus (plus it was cheaper than the TTmatic).

One last thing. I've looked at both of the internal electronics and the TTmatic is far easier to repair if a chip did fail. The Amicus is more of a computer with hard to get parts. That is a good reason to keep mine.

Hope that helps some.
ttnm

Thanks a lot ttnm, that's very useful feedback! Do you know which model of the TTMatic you have?

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You are welcome. Glad it was useful. I have the TTmatic 500B model. It has the net assembly attached to the robot frame. So, it can all roll away from the table real easily, in one piece.
ttnm

Hi ttmn,
You mentioned having to repair your TT Matic power supply. I have both supplies bad on mine and I can't get a reply from the TTMatic Web Site to get a schematic. I suspect I too have the bad power transistors but I also need a wiring diagram as I lost my sheet on where the power supply wires connect to (blue, red and black). I noticed one supply had an extra resistor, mine is burnt to a crisp so I can't get any info from it, measures 475 ohm but not sure if that is right. Do you know what the output voltage and current are for this machine, maybe I can just obtain a power supply from another device to match the requirements.

Thanks,
drmetal