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Franken-panels Vs. Multi-Swaps
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DaveMMR:

--- Quote from: Donkbaca on May 28, 2011, 12:57:08 am ---I love how threads go sideways. Typical thread progression:
Post 1 " which do you prefer? A or B?
Post 2 - I prefer c
Post 3 - I prefer d
Post 4 - I once dated a girl who had Ds, but she would wet the bed.


Anyhow I agree I think a torn stick is necessary for a frankenpanel.

If you are going to do swappable CPs, you just need one encoder, you wire it to serial connectors or cat 5, makes it easy to swap out

--- End quote ---

I disagree Donblanka.  I wouldn't tolerate a girl who wets the bed unless she had double-D's.    ;)

But in all seriousness, swappable is preferable in my book because I'm not a fan of crowded panels.  I was originally going that route but threw it out the window due to the extra work involved for minimal payoff (i.e. panels for a handful of specific games, at best).  So yeah, "Option C" as Malenko outlined.  I think two sticks, 6-7 buttons, a trackball and a spinner (no dedicated buttons for either) takes you a long way without looking overly complex*.

[* YMMV if you think the TB/Spinner is too much for a simple panel.]
Corbo:
I prefer the clean look and swappable panels.  It's something I've been thinking about recently.  I agree that each panel should have a mini/ipac so that it's just a case of pulling 1 usb cable to swap out.

I'm holding off exploring further because I won't ever get my cab finished but I might go back and look into it in future.  In the meantime I have to plug an XBox controller in when I want to play robotron.
Nephasth:
Swappable. Regardless of time it takes to swap panels. Even if you're going to have swappable panels, the main "joystick panel" will be used for the majority of gaming. If you want to play a trackball, spinner, or Gorf Stick ( ;) ) game, I don't see what the big deal is to take a few minutes to get the panel swapped out. But I prefer going the single (or least amount of) interface(s) route, and have each panel connect/disconnect to/from the interface with a few Molex connectors. If you use U360s for one of the panels, that's more USB connections anyways (unless if you mount a USB hub to the panel(s) too, I guess), same with if you chose a USB trackball and/or spinner. Going with only a single (or least amount of) interface(s) helps keep costs down on the swappable panels.
alfonzotan:
One of the joys of MAME is being able to flip from one entirely different game to another at a moment's notice.  Having a comprehensive control panel makes that effortless... but you'll never get EVERYTHING on one panel.  Even a really monstrous Frankenpanel can't accomodate a workable two-player control set plus (say) a Tron stick, a Star Wars yoke and a steering wheel.  Well, at least not without earning a special page on CrapMAME, I suppose.

I'm going to be adding a yoke panel that can swap out with my main (Franken) panel down the line, but it's obvious which of the two will get the most use.
nick3092:
I built mine swappable.  I prefer to be able to recreate the control layouts as close to original as possible. 

I have a GP-Wiz mounted in the cab with two sets of 4 cat5 keystone jacks in the CP compartment.  Each panel is wired to a1.5' cat5 cable.  The panels are held in place with industrial strength Velcro.  I've never had a problem with them coming out on accident.  I also have a USB hub mounted below the cat5 jacks for plugging in my track ball, spinner, analog stick, etc...  Panels can easily be swapped out in under 30 seconds or less.

The only downside is storage of the panels.  I haven't figured that out yet.  Right now its just a large cardboard box on the side of my cab.
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