IPAC or MiniPAC

[dawolv]

Hey guys looking for some input on these two boards.

Heres my setup:
My CP will be a two player system
Im using two u360s (I have one and I need to order the other one), so I will probably use the the USB connectors for the buttons (6 Buttons per player).
Dont know if it matters but I am pretty sold on GameEx for a FE.

I am Planning on getting a Trackball (probably U-Trak) and a Spinner (SpinTrak), these connections are built in on the Mini-Pac but must be purchased separate on the IPAC.
However I like the clean look and support for the IPAC, I dont hear alot about the Mini-PAC or much of anyone talking about it.

I would also like to incorporate a few Menu buttons in GameEx (ie Back, Home, Select, Pause etc) and the standard P1 & P2 Coin and Start

Any ideas, thoughts, comparisons?

Thanks!

[surface tension]

If you're looking to use a trackball and spinner, then it looks like the minipac is the way to go for you.

I'm not sure what you mean about the clean look with the IPAC. Do you mean the programming interface? If so, then the minipac also uses the same winipac program. It also has a smaller footprint. The only downside is making your own loom is a little more difficult as the crimps are fiddly without the right crimp tool. Andy does however sell a pre-made loom.

To be honest, you only usually hear about products when someone can't get something working. So don't take this as a bad thing as I imagine more IPACs are sold than minipacs, probably because they are easier to wire up due to the screw terminals.

I use minipacs on the surface tension arcade tables, one of which uses a spinner and trackball.
http://www.surface-tension.net/arcade-table-gallery.php
A recent addition, which I'm not sure if Andy's unleashed yet, is the volume +/- programmability (like you would find on a keyboard).

[Dervacumen]

I have used both, and I like the ipac over the minipac.
I have a similar setup to yours and just wired the trackball and spinner via usb and the rest of the controls via the ipac.  It was very straightforward.

With the minipac the most difficult part is indeed the wiring.  I would buy the prewired harness from Andy rather than make my own (which I'm actually in the process of now on my current project).  Reason being that the IDE cable connector pins on the minpiac - at least mine, which is now about 4 years old - is not keyed, so I had a hard time finding an old unkeyed IDE cable.  All the newer cables are keyed and won't fit.

[dextercf]

Reason being that the IDE cable connector pins on the minpiac - at least mine, which is now about 4 years old - is not keyed, so I had a hard time finding an old unkeyed IDE cable.  All the newer cables are keyed and won't fit.

What do you mean by keyed?

[BobA]

He means that one pin is removed from the header to match a matching blocked pin 1 position on the cable.  This prevents the cable from being connected backwards. 

[NoBullMAME]

I haven't had any trouble finding an IDE cable without a blocked pin. Sometimes you can remove the little piece of plastic that blocks the pin by using a needle (there's multiple grounds on the minipac, so even if the pin isn't wired, you just need to use a different pin for ground).
Also, most of the cables I've seen with blocked pins, the pin is in the middle, not key. If so, that pin isn't used on the mini-pac.
See photo: http://i.ebayimg.com/00/$(KGrHqJ,!iYE1MHyVsZsBNZkDh3Ps!~~0_3.JPG

I brought 100 cables off ebay a while back, so it's possible that it's harder to find one without any blocked pins, but like I say, it's usually not key that's blocked, and so shouldn't be an issue.

I find the mini-pac much easier to wire. If you are only building 1 cabinet, then it's not as much of an advantage. However, I find even if you just plan on building one, you'll end up building more; either for yourself or for friends.

[dextercf]

What about the pins for J1, J2, etc.. What kinda harness/cable is most commen to use on those?

The other side I got a harness with my order, so thats settled!

[BobA]

If you look at ultimarc's cable for the minipac it looks like they use a 40 ribbon cable to connect all the pins from J1 to J4.  As NoBullMAME said you can always remove a key if it is the wrong place.  The missing pins just seem to separate the groups and the adjacent pin is not connected except for pin 2 so you could also use separate 10 pin ribbon cables if there is space for the connectors to slide in beside each other.  40 pin would be alot easier.

[NoBullMAME]

What about the pins for J1, J2, etc.. What kinda harness/cable is most commen to use on those?

The other side I got a harness with my order, so thats settled!

I just dig around my stack of old PC's and dig out an old IDE cable. If not, think of any uber-geek friends you might have. A lot if guys have replaced their flat ribbon cables with round ones, so there's a good chance you can find someone with an extra one.

[dextercf]

I was wrong about what I said last night!
The harness I have got is for the J1-J4 side of the board..
btw, the harness only has 8 cables for each "cluster", plus the ground one left-most in the picture.


But then the question is, what kinda connector could fit the other side?

[BobA]

Closest you will find in old computer cables is a floppy drive cable.   It is 34 pin but you have space to let the cable hang over the side and not push on the pins.

[tsaylor]

In my case I purchased the U-Trak and it came with the cable that goes on J5/J6/J7.

[Blanka]

With two U360's, the cheapest for spinner/trackball is an optiwiz from GGG.