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Pitman:
Ah good, after checking it out a little more that kinda makes sense seeing how the ipac handles the grounding, thanks.

I'll have another play tomorrow.
mikev43:
I'm having a problem with wiring.. looks more specific to ground.. here is what's happening.. I hook up the ipac (i got the ve version) and only up down left right and button 1 work.. if I take the ground off of the left switch from joystick and put it on button 2 it works but not sure if any others work at this position.. if I put it on 1a/1b like for shift/pause etc.. only those two work.. I think I tested each with the ground to make sure they at least register.. what am I doing wrong?  I went over it 10 times now.. everything is sequential with two wires starting from left on joystick (one is to ground) and the other goes to right, then up down button 123456 then 1a1b..  I'm using some old rj11 (telephone cable) and it seems to work.. maybe it's a resistance issue??  I could re wire it all with cat6 but I really don't think that's the issue since I have gotten 5 buttons to work with the rj11..

Any help would be much appreciated.. I'm really going crazy here.. I'm so close I can taste it.. hehe

quick update... i re wired all with cat6 and now up/down/left/right button 1,2,3 and 4 work.. 5-6 do not and neither does 1a/1b.  it seems more and more like wiring and will go back and check again.. any tips?
BobA:
Are your grounds connected to the COM or common and all the inputs to the ipac connected to the N.O. contact on your switches?   Also test the continuity of your grounds if you have daisy chained them and may have an open in the chain.
wongojack:
Digging up this thread because I have a question about testing the continuity of my ground wires.

I have a multimeter and am familiar with how to set it to test for cont, but I'm just above virgin status with this stuff.  If I am testing wires that are already connected to multiple ground connectors, where do I put the probes to test?  Can I touch "black" to the ground connected to the iPac (I'm also using an iPac) and "red" to the ground I'm concerned about?  Can I just work my way back through the chain this way?

Is it better to test for resistance or voltage rather than continuity if I suspect a weak or iffy connection along the way?
Ed_McCarron:

--- Quote from: wongojack on January 31, 2011, 03:53:05 pm ---Digging up this thread because I have a question about testing the continuity of my ground wires.

I have a multimeter and am familiar with how to set it to test for cont, but I'm just above virgin status with this stuff.  If I am testing wires that are already connected to multiple ground connectors, where do I put the probes to test?  Can I touch "black" to the ground connected to the iPac (I'm also using an iPac) and "red" to the ground I'm concerned about?  Can I just work my way back through the chain this way?

Is it better to test for resistance or voltage rather than continuity if I suspect a weak or iffy connection along the way?

--- End quote ---

Either/or.

Set your meter on ohms (resistance.)  Touch one probe to the ipac ground/common, and work your way out along the daisychain.  You should see close to 0 on the meter.  If you suddenly see infinity/open/overrange (depends on your meter -- whatever you see when one probes hanging in the air...) then you know the problem is between where you saw the open and the last known good connection.

You can work it the other way and use voltage -- set for a 20 voltish scale (or autorange, again, depends on the meter) and place the red on positive 5v.  Any output should do it.  Then, start at common with the black.  You should see 5v.  Work your way out -- when you no longer see 5v, that means the ground is open between the tested connection and the last working one.

Two different ways of reading the same thing, basically.  Only difference is that on resistance, the meter is supplying the voltage.
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