paperboy handlebar MAME hookup

[jcterzin]

So... Anyone ever successfully connected an old paperboy handlbar control panel to an ipac or so to get it to work in mame? I could potentially get a control panel from an old Paperboy but the PCB may be damaged so I was thinking I might try and mame the cab. Thoughts?

[Xiaou2]

 Im pretty sure its simply 2 pots, much like a Starwars yoke.  Shouldnt be any trouble hooking
it up.   The only thing that Might be a problem would be the travel distance of the Y motion.
If its too small, it might not calibrate well in windows.

[Havok]

Yes - it's a couple of pots. If you can wait, Ram Controls is making a dedicated USB interface for it.

Or you have a bunch of other options:

AKI:
http://bspeclabs.com/Electronics/8-AKI30JoystickInterface

Dual Strike Hack:
http://rototron.info/default.aspx?Page=DualStrike.aspx

U-Hid:
http://u-hid.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15&Itemid=19

[push2reject]

One more option:

A-PAC:
www.ultimarc.com/a-pac.html

[jcterzin]

Thanks for the help guys.

Ram Controls is making a dedicated USB interface for it.

Havok - do you know when Ram Controls will have that USB interface ready? Sometime soon?, if not I may try one of the other options.

[HaRuMaN]

do you know when Ram Controls will have that USB interface ready?

 

[Necro]

That was a joke right jcterzin?   

(Check out the other thread on just getting a Star Wars yoke...)

[Havok]

That is a tough one to answer - we'll see. Personally, I'd go with the AKI if you want to get it up and running now...

[HaRuMaN]

if you want to get it up and running now...

Or this decade...   

[jcterzin]

why is that a joke, are they just super slow at making products?

[Necro]

See this thread: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=99056.0

Basically, it took awhile for them to get it from demo to actually shipping and even then it took over a month for Havok to get his yoke after they said it was shipping.  Interaction and updates were nearly non-existent. Also, he hasn't received the USB kit that was to come with the yoke yet as, correct me if I'm wrong, it's unfinished at this point. Short of that issue being completely resolved, I wouldn't recommend getting something from them not definitively 'finished' and in stock. 

Just a heads up on that - particularly since other, readily available options exist. 

[Havok]

The Star Wars USB interface *should* be complete by the end of this month. There are some issues with the firmware that need to be ironed out. Dave is making a dedicated Paperboy one as well, which is basically the same interface, just with some differences for Paperboy. With that said, the other options are available now, and Dave is at this point notorious for missing deadlines. It is understandable once you see the superior job done, but in this case an interface is an interface and I would go with something else, unless this is something that you don't anticipate being done for some time.

[jcterzin]

ehh, sucks but I guess I can wait.

[RobotronNut]

...
Dave is making a dedicated Paperboy one as well, which is basically the same interface, just with some differences for Paperboy.
...

slightly OT - how well does a star wars yoke play paperboy?

[Xiaou2]

 It would probably play it better than the original controller.
 
 Paperboys controller is very clunky IMOP.  Hard to control the acceleration well with it,
partly due to the mass, partly to the way its leveraged, and partly due to the way its
sprung.

[unclet]

I purchased a Microsoft Dualstrike USB Sidewinder gamepad and hack the pots to the controller.  I actually hacked about 6 of these Dualstrike gamepads and hooked everything up.

http://unclet.arcadecontrols.com/MomsArcade/MomsArcadeDualStrike.html

There is a photo link on that page as well ...

[EDIT]  The Dualstrike gamespads as very old so they might not be around on Ebay anymore.  But if some other controller exists which has 5K pots (I think it is 5K) then you can use that one I guess.

[RobotronNut]

...
 Paperboys controller is very clunky IMOP.  Hard to control the acceleration well with it
...

i haven't played paperboy in a long time, but my recollection is that i was always either trying to go as fast as possible or as slow as possible. so no need for an analog controller at all; a simple switch would have worked just as well! then again, i was never that great at paperboy...

[Daviea]

FYI, in case some of you have not noticed yet, the USB adapters ARE ready and they're shipping!

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=101145.0

Enjoy!!

Dave

[jcterzin]

wow, this makes me almost want to swap out the pcb and other stuff out of my paperboy and run mame in it.