Cheapest keyboard encoder??

[mcseforsale]

Now that everyone has to walk by my arcade cab in the garage when they come into the house, I've been tasked with building one for a close relative.  It'll be a freebie (labor wise), so I wanted to get the most bang for buck.  I'm looking for an encoder that will do a 2 player Knievel-style CP....but for cheap.  I know..I know.. KeyWiz, iPac2...

But is there any other alternatives that will allow a 2 player CP with about 15 buttons?

Thanks,
AJ

[Hoopz]

Vigo's got some.  Check out the signature in his link or the thread in B/S/T.

He does give a 10% discount if you ask him who's been using his grill too.   

[mcseforsale]

I thought those were just for PS emulators and such...

AJ

[GregD]

The Xin-Mo's are a good value.  Available with slightly different wiring options at both Paradise:

http://www.paradisearcadeshop.com/en/mame-arcade-parts/147-arcade-controller-to-usb.html

And GGG:

http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=76_81&products_id=362

I believe they have 30 inputs.

[Vigo]

Vigo's got some.  Check out the signature in his link or the thread in B/S/T.

He does give a 10% discount if you ask him who's been using his grill too.   

Thanks for the props, Hoopz....but  for the grill comment. 

Yeah, My ZD Arcade is as low priced as it goes. The ZD arcade encoder is one player, but 2 of them are still cheaper than any alternative. Anything that comes close still ends up costing more after their shipping costs. In the US, I ship for free, and my international shipping almost always ends up being super cheap as well.

I have to give you a heads up though, I had a large order on them a couple days ago, and my inventory is empty. I ordered another shipment, but it will be about 5 business days until it comes in. (I take pride in my shipping time, so 5 days is a big deal to me)

I thought those were just for PS emulators and such...

AJ

It will work perfectly on a PC for general purpose, MAME, other emulation etc. It is PS3 compatible, and the ReMatch version is designed to work flawlessly with PS3, but both encoders I sell are completely compatible on the PC.

 

[mcseforsale]

So, basically 30 bux and I have 2 devices plugged into usb showing as joysticks (as opposed to keyboard like the iPac/KeyWiz).  Just set mame/mamewah to run joystick instead of keyboard?

I'm new to most of this..so..

AJ

Vigo's got some.  Check out the signature in his link or the thread in B/S/T.

He does give a 10% discount if you ask him who's been using his grill too.   

Thanks for the props, Hoopz....but  for the grill comment. 

Yeah, My ZD Arcade is as low priced as it goes. The ZD arcade encoder is one player, but 2 of them are still cheaper than any alternative. Anything that comes close still ends up costing more after their shipping costs. In the US, shipping is free, and my international shipping almost always ends up being super cheap as well.

I have to give you a heads up though, I had a large order on them a couple days ago, and my inventory is empty. I ordered another shipment, but it will be about 5 business days until it comes in. (I take pride in my shipping time, so 5 days is a big deal to me)

I thought those were just for PS emulators and such...

AJ

It will work perfectly on a PC for general purpose, MAME, other emulation etc. It is PS3 compatible, and the ReMatch version is designed to work flawlessly with PS3, but both encoders I sell are completely compatible on the PC.

 

[Nephasth]

Personally, I prefer gamepad interfaces over keyboard encoders...

[mcseforsale]

My only experience is with my ancient iPac 4, so I really don't know the difference.  What is the advantage?

AJ

Personally, I prefer gamepad interfaces over keyboard encoders...

[Vigo]

A joystick encoder will work just as well as a keyboard encoder, and if there is ever an issue, joy2key or xpadder can solve it.

If there is ever a case where you have an emulator that doesn't like a joystick command, you have your machine run Joy2Key or Xpadder in the background. It will convert joystick inputs into keystrokes. I can't think of much anything that can't handle joystick commands anyway.

Those utilites also work for emulators where a command is not assignable. If you have an NES emulator and you want to have a button for save and load states, often that button can't be assigned to anything but is only F5 or Shift+Alt+S. You can just set those functions up with a button press using one of those utilities.

Also, A lot of people prefer to use a joystick encoder with xpadder because they can really customize their own special functions and admin commands.  You could set up something like holding down the coin button for 5 seconds will reset the game, or pressing a combination 2 buttons to quit the game. It allows the admin functions to be far more in depth. You can also set up different profiles for different emulators, and you can even set up functions to control mouse movement with the utility. With admin functions, Joy2Key is not as as good as Xpadder in this regard, but it can still be set up for a number of these features.

I know I am getting very much in depth here, but I also love the profile features in these utilities. You can set up special profiles for different games, which allows you to work better with computer emulators that have different controls on each game. For example, I emulate commodore games where they keyboard is often part of the control scheme. Game 'A' will use joystick port 2, space bar, and enter for inputs. Game 'B' uses joystick port 1, Buttons 'T', 'V', 'Enter' and asks for your name to be entered in the keyboard when you get a high score. I can set a profile for each to run on the same set of controls, and when it asks for my name on high score, I can assign a button to automatically type 'V,I,G,O' when I push it. I just setup a command in my frontend to run a specific profile when I boot a specific game.

Haha, I know I droned on about advanced functions there, but nonetheless, joystick encoders work fine, and can be very cool when combined with xpadder or joy2key.

[Dervacumen]

He does give a 10% discount if you ask him who's been using his grill too.   

Heh.  That never gets old.

[PL1]

He does give a 10% discount if you ask him who's been using his grill too.   

Thanks for the props, Hoopz....but  for the grill comment. 

My mental image when I read about your grill being violated.



There's even a shirt for you:
http://www.zazzle.com/step_off_my_grill_dog_tshirt-235277771146622812


Scott

[degenatrons]

Now that everyone has to walk by my arcade cab in the garage when they come into the house, I've been tasked with building one for a close relative.  It'll be a freebie (labor wise), so I wanted to get the most bang for buck.  I'm looking for an encoder that will do a 2 player Knievel-style CP....but for cheap.  I know..I know.. KeyWiz, iPac2...

But is there any other alternatives that will allow a 2 player CP with about 15 buttons?

Hi,  I developed my own arcade encoder on a USB development board called Minimus.  The boards cost about £4.99 from http://www.modtraders.co.uk/minimus-avr-usb-development-board.html

I wrote the firmware to turn this board into a 21 input keyboard encoder and I have some presets for MAME (1 and 2 player).  I have this installed in my cab and it is working really really well.  I have previously used Xin-Mo for this job but this baby performs just as good.  They're all direct inputs,  no bounce or ghosting that you get with some keyboard encoders.

I put up a video on youtube to show how i got this working.  Check out the description for lots more info.



If you want one and can't build it yourself then let me know and I can get one over to you.  I need to get some input from the community on these devices.

Cheers

[Vigo]

He does give a 10% discount if you ask him who's been using his grill too.   

Thanks for the props, Hoopz....but  for the grill comment. 

My mental image when I read about your grill being violated.



There's even a shirt for you:
http://www.zazzle.com/step_off_my_grill_dog_tshirt-235277771146622812


Scott

  I love it! I might just have to get one of those shirts. 

[404]

Now that everyone has to walk by my arcade cab in the garage when they come into the house, I've been tasked with building one for a close relative.  It'll be a freebie (labor wise), so I wanted to get the most bang for buck.  I'm looking for an encoder that will do a 2 player Knievel-style CP....but for cheap.  I know..I know.. KeyWiz, iPac2...

But is there any other alternatives that will allow a 2 player CP with about 15 buttons?

Hi,  I developed my own arcade encoder on a USB development board called Minimus.  The boards cost about £4.99 from http://www.modtraders.co.uk/minimus-avr-usb-development-board.html

I wrote the firmware to turn this board into a 21 input keyboard encoder and I have some presets for MAME (1 and 2 player).  I have this installed in my cab and it is working really really well.  I have previously used Xin-Mo for this job but this baby performs just as good.  They're all direct inputs,  no bounce or ghosting that you get with some keyboard encoders.

I put up a video on youtube to show how i got this working.  Check out the description for lots more info.



If you want one and can't build it yourself then let me know and I can get one over to you.  I need to get some input from the community on these devices.

Cheers

Have a box full of minimus v1 mods here. Gave it a quick test and it works! might have to make a quick cpanel out of some scrap wood i have here. Just one quick question, why did you opt to make this simulate keyboard presses as opposed to making the avr simulate a standard hid usb controller?

Your project deserves its own thread IMO. The minimus and minimus 32 avr boards are dirt cheap. Too cheap to ignore something so significant for mame usage.

[DaOld Man]

That looks pretty neat. I may look into interfacing that with my rotating monitor software, MRotate.
Are these boards available in the US?

[404]

That looks pretty neat. I may look into interfacing that with my rotating monitor software, MRotate.
Are these boards available in the US?

yeah, check some shops that sell mod chips. These were primarily used for ps3 mod chips. I have about a dozen v1 models in a bag here. I can sell a few for a cheap price if you live in the states. I did a quick test and the hex works, it simulates the default keyboard strokes in mame. I just need a control panel or maybe even a portable console joystick to put this in to. 

[DaOld Man]

Sorry for derailing this thread, but one more question. I need outputs as well as inputs, is there a mod for this?

[degenatrons]

Sorry for derailing this thread, but one more question. I need outputs as well as inputs, is there a mod for this?

Thanks for the interest guys.  I think I will create a separate thread as suggested so we can discuss my encoder.

If anyone wants to have an alternate key mapping then I am happy to update the firmware for you.  I was also thinking about developing a utility on PC to configure the mappings. 

My aim is to produce a multifunction arcade interface.  I plan to have outputs as well as inputs.

For outputs,  I was looking at a few things:
Switchable 5V power output on some other pins that can be controlled via input buttons.
A delayed power 5V power output on one of the pins, like a time delay relay,  to delay the start of some peripherals on the arcade.  I will use this to delay power to audio and video while the machine starts up.
Sound output on startup.  I can have a short sound file play on start-up.  This would need to be amplified.

[BobA]

Sounds like some great new features.