What's the inside of a 4P Mameroom LED CP look like?

[Rossman]

I've seen some people on the forums that have purchased a 4 player mameroom control panel with the LED lit buttons and joysticks, and I was wondering what it looked like under the hood, and if it was possible to see some pictures to understand how they have it all running on one USB.... Please! 

[Rossman]

No one's willing to share? I just want to find out how the pros do it before I attempt it myself!

[Usul]

Hi,

I cannot really answer the question, as I am neither a pro nor did I buy my cp @ mameroom.
But I have built my fully lit 4 player cp on my own, using two externally powered Hubs. If you intend to use only one usb hub (Why?), I think you have no choice except for powering your LEDs from your PC power supply.  In terms of clean wiring I think you find some very good examples here as well in the CP thread or project forum. No need to look up at the commercial products only from my perspective.
 

[drventure]

I don't have a mameroom cp, but my cp is 4 players, 2 trackballs, spinner, an ipac4, USB Flightstick, and 2U360's. You will almost CERTAINLY need at least 2 powered hubs (I have 3), but you should be able to run everything through a single sub cable, powering it all (esp if you light all the buttons) will take at least 2 hubs, likely three. Remember the powered usb hub specs are 500ma PER PORT max, but many hubs won't come close to that, be sure to check the specs on the power supply.

Also, since your gonna have to run a power cord to the CP anyway (to power those hubs) you could just pick up a cheap 5v wall wart and power all the LED's with that.

[Arcades R Fun]

Hi,
I can supply some examples pictures of an LED button panel. Just drop me your e-mail to arcadesrfun@hotmail.com.
There are many "right" ways to power your LED buttons/joysticks. Here's what we do for our games.
We buy a separate dedicated PC power supply for about $15. We install it in the bottom of the cabinet. We then power the entire control panel with the 5 volt lead. Then we also power the PC exhaust fans with the 12 volt lead.
This gives you more than enough power and you don't have to hack into your PC.
Jack

[Havok]

I would just go with a wall wart adapter, (AC adapter) that outputs 5 volts. Figure out how much amperage you need by adding up all the LED's you will install (typically 20ma per LED) and make sure you have enough current output from the adapter to cover it. I would probably stick to no more than 80% of the capacity of the adapter, just so you aren't driving it too hard.

You should be able to find an AC adapter for around $10, and it's cleaner and easier than a PC power supply.

[Rossman]

I was thinking about going with the whole multiple usb splitters, because I was planning on using those LED Wiz, which are USB connected... right?

[Havok]

Yes, they are. However, you still need to keep in mind how much current you are running through it. If it is less than 500ma, you're ok (which would be around 25 LED's). However, keep in mind, you never want to drive a component to 100% capacity. If you're talking a 4 player panel pimped out, I can say you most definitely want to run external power for the LEDs...

[Rossman]

I was going to go with 32 LEDs, RGB, so 96 connections in all. Are you saying that I shouldn't use LED Wiz, and instead run a hack coming from the computer, or put a power source that independently powers all the LEDs?

[Havok]

Depending on how you do your panel, you could get away with just one LEDWiz, however no matter what, you would need external power as well. To get the full potential out of your panel, you most likely are going to want to get three LEDWiz units. Three connections for each RGB LED, and the fourth connection goes to external power. So, with three units you can uniquely control all 32 RGB LEDs. Check out Randy's documentation to see how the external power works:

http://groovygamegear.com/PDF/LEDWIZv2_INSTALL.pdf