LS-30 Rotary joystick connector?

[EvilNuff]

I have a pair of the old LS-30 mechanical rotary joysticks but only 1 harness for the rotary part.  Anyone know what connector I can get to plug into the rotary board on the joystick? 

[Ninten-doh]

Not sure, but you can pick up a pair of harnesses for $15 from here:

http://www.quarterarcade.com/Game.aspx/7976

.

[EvilNuff]

Durr, I never even thought to look for a used harness...sheesh I feel foolish.  Thanks much.

[mytymaus007]

I have a pair of the old LS-30 mechanical rotary joysticks but only 1 harness for the rotary part.  Anyone know what connector I can get to plug into the rotary board on the joystick? 

are you using them for a MAME cab or dedicated machine. Im curious if its for MAME how you will hook them up to encoder. please take pics of set up when done. I wan to buy them now i hace HAPP rotary stick which are terrible. My hands hurt after one game  of  ikari warrior.

[bkenobi]

If you get a GP-Wiz40, it includes the capability to add a rotary stick (two actually).  This is accomplished by hooking up every 3rd switch to one of 3 inputs.  When the stick is rotated, the encoder then knows which way and sends the appropriate input to MAME.

[EvilNuff]

Sorry for a somewhat long-ish response but you did ask...  I have a deal with the wife that I won't build a full MAME arcade until I buy her a bigger house.  So in the meantime I am working (slowly ) on modular joystick boxes.  The idea is individual wood boxes with a joystick and buttons.  Connected by a db37 cable to a project box that has an ipac and rotary encoder board.  Regular IDE hard drive ribbon cable plugs in fine to the rotary board, but it doesn't quite fit on the flat ls-30 plugs.  So I need an ls-30 socket to wire to my db-37 plug in the joystick box.

Incidentally I have a modular plan for when I build the full MAME cab...but that will have to wait 6months or so for me to actually start.

I already have a rotary encoder board from ultimarc so no need for the gp-wiz.  (http://www.ultimarc.com/rotary.html)
I actually have the original harnesses still but my specific needs would mean I have to chop the harness which I don't want to do with my originals.

[bkenobi]

I spoke to someone who used to build rotary mod kits on this board.  He's not making them any more (actually, I think he's moved on from the hobby), but he was able to find connectors online that will work.  I bought a few from him and, while they work, they are not great.  They slide on with a LOT of force and tend to bend the connector if I'm not EXTREMELY careful when removing them.

All I'm saying really is that they are available, but I don't know what size they are.  Your best bet is to measure the distance between the pins very carefully and find something at Digikey or Mouser that matches.  It's obviously a 13 pin connector, so you won't have a ton of choices.

[MonMotha]

I found a picture, and it looks like a JST NH series.  These are very popular in Japanese arcades.  It's the same connector as is used for 8-way joystick harnesses, but bigger.

I don't know anywhere in the USA to buy those connectors in small quantity (except 3 positions).  If anyone does, please let me know.

However, a Molex KK will usually fit and hold just fine.  They are 2.54m (0.1") pitch instead of 2.5mm, but the difference is small enough that the error accumulation isn't usually big enough to make it not fit.  Molex KK is readily available in the USA in small quantity from the major distributors (Digi-Key, Mouser, Newark, etc.) as well as some retailers (e.g. Fry's).

[EvilNuff]

Buying from quarter arcade would have cost me $22 after shipping...I ended up going to th elocal electronics store and found a single row 20 pin housing and made my own connectors for about $1.50 each.