Getting ready to buy control panel parts, need input

[fluentd]

So I am just about ready to start ordering my parts for my cabinet. I am starting on the control panel so I can get that part out of the way. I wanted your input on the type of joystick and buttons.

My choice are to either have LED lit or non LED. I prefer the LED lit as the room its going to be in will have a lot of led bar lights and I think it will go really well. My only thought on the LED is that the quality of button isnt going to be as good as the non LED. Here is a vendor that I found on ebay that is selling the buttons, I can buy either.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380438839354

My next choice is for joystick. I really want a bat style joystick and here is the one from the same vendor. Would like to deal with one vendor so I dont have to remember who I bought what from.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380423801385

I plan to build a control panel similar to this one.

http://www.ogredog.com/mame_cp_construction.htm


My last piece would be to buy the encoder. I am leaning towards the I-Pac4 since I will be making a 4 player control panel, but did see there was someone selling Zencoders on here and said I could use his but would have to buy 4 of them. Would rather have less hardware to deal with but I want to make sure I buy quality products as well.


Any input or suggestions would be great.

[Nephasth]

IL Translucent Concave Buttons (6 or 7 for players 1 & 2, and 3 or 4 for players 2 & 3)
IL-lumination LEDs (from Paradise Arcade Shop)
2x U360s
2x Sanwa JLWs
Lono²
2x PACLED64s to control your LEDs (if you go with RGB LEDs, if not one should be enough)

[fluentd]

Thanks for your reply.

So your saying purchase IL Translucent buttons and add the leds to them? Is that easy? Why not go with the ones that already have them built in on ebay? or on paradisearcade?

[Nephasth]

I don't like convex buttons, I prefer concave.

[fluentd]

Ya I agree but at 2.75 plus another 2.75 per button  ($5.50) per button not including the led controller its just not worth it to me. That will put me way over budget.

[Nephasth]

Well, what's your budget?

[fluentd]

Well $250 for the controls is what I was at including the led trackball. That was a shock as well but doubling that is just not what I am willing to do. My main concern was quality buttons. I know quality comes at a cost but $250 seemed reasonable.

[Nephasth]

If your main concern is quality buttons, ditch the trackball and buy quality buttons.

[fluentd]

I dont know which ones are good quality and which ones are not.

[Nephasth]

IL concave buttons. LED lit or not.

[fluentd]

So IL is one of the better brands.

[Nephasth]

In my opinion, yes. If you can fit it into your budget, order a "sample pack" of different types of buttons to see which ones you prefer.

[fluentd]

Ok here is what I decided.

Order one white led lit from ebay to use for coin deposit and one IL concave transluent button to test with the ebay version.

[fluentd]

One last thing.. can you link me to the joysticks that you suggested.. I wasnt able to find them.

[Nephasth]

Sure, but they won't fit in your budget (U360s anyway):

U360s
JLWs

[PL1]

One last thing.. can you link me to the joysticks that you suggested.. I wasnt able to find them.

Paradise carries the battop and balltop versions of the Sanwa JLW.


Scott

[mgb]

So I am just about ready to start ordering my parts for my cabinet. I am starting on the control panel so I can get that part out of the way. I wanted your input on the type of joystick and buttons.

My choice are to either have LED lit or non LED. I prefer the LED lit as the room its going to be in will have a lot of led bar lights and I think it will go really well. My only thought on the LED is that the quality of button isnt going to be as good as the non LED. Here is a vendor that I found on ebay that is selling the buttons, I can buy either.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380438839354

My next choice is for joystick. I really want a bat style joystick and here is the one from the same vendor. Would like to deal with one vendor so I dont have to remember who I bought what from.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380423801385

I plan to build a control panel similar to this one.

http://www.ogredog.com/mame_cp_construction.htm


My last piece would be to buy the encoder. I am leaning towards the I-Pac4 since I will be making a 4 player control panel, but did see there was someone selling Zencoders on here and said I could use his but would have to buy 4 of them. Would rather have less hardware to deal with but I want to make sure I buy quality products as well.


Any input or suggestions would be great.

You've stated a few times that you want quality parts.
Just beware when you're getting parts off of ebay, particulary parts without brand names in the listing.
I agree with Nephasth, go with some JLWs and good buttons like the ILs or Happs.

Some vendors around here that are known to carry quality parts are Groovey Game Gear (I like the electric ice buttons with rgb leds), Paradise Arcade and Ultimarc.
again if its a balance of quality vs budget, maybe a smaller simpler control panel should be considered.
As to the buttons that you linked to on ebay: there seem to be a lot of cheaper buttons around now in that style. I can't say they are crap as I have never tried them. But I know you can't go wrong with a good name brand concave button.

Also keep in mind that the games that you plan on playing should be a huge consideration in what parts to get.
If you main goal is to play fighters, then 2 joysticks and 3 buttons each will not be the best choice and if your main goal is to play pacman, donkey kong and dig dug, then a cheap 8-way joystick will definitely not be the best choice.

[fluentd]

After checking out Groovygamegears website I like his buttons here

http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=73&products_id=281

Unfortunately he is sold out.. My next question is what is the difference between all the microswitches?

[PL1]

After checking out Groovygamegears website I like his buttons here

http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=73&products_id=281

Unfortunately he is sold out.

In his Buy/Sell/Trade thread, RandyT says:

Any news on the NG2 availability?

They are available by special order.  We have all colors except Purple in stock.

RandyT

You might want to drop him a PM and see if the colors/quantities you want are available.


Scott

[DJMattB241]

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but this is so perfectly on par with where I'm at that I just have to ask:

I'm also doing LED buttons. I have a question about the wiring. Do the buttons just have two sets of leads on the back, two for the button and two for the light?

I was going to get the button to USB wiring harness from Paradise, but do I also need this LED harness?

[fluentd]

Any idea on what the different microswitches are for? 

[PL1]

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but this is so perfectly on par with where I'm at that I just have to ask:

I'm also doing LED buttons. I have a question about the wiring. Do the buttons just have two sets of leads on the back, two for the button and two for the light?

I was going to get the button to USB wiring harness from Paradise, but do I also need this LED harness?

Welcome aboard, DJMattB241.

Your first link is to Paradise's version of the Xin-Mo encoder.  The included wire harnesses are for the microswitches. (left side of picture below)

Your second link is for the EZ LED harness that allows you to light single color LED buttons like the ones below -- not for use with RGB LEDs.  The .250" QDs connect to the LED socket on the right.




Scott

[PL1]

Any idea on what the different microswitches are for? 

The different switch options allow for a different amounts of pressure to actuate or a different feel.

I'm not a good enough player to tell the difference, but better players can.

The good news is that Randy doesn't sell stuff that is junk, so you'll do well with whichever option you choose.

Personally, I like the Standard Soft Touch switches, but they aren't offered with the NG2's for some reason.  Haven't tried the E-Switch, so    The other options were a little too pricey for me when I tried them and didn't notice that big of a difference. (See sentence #2)


Scott

[fluentd]

Ok I get it.. ya im not going to be doing hardcore fighting matches on this but mostly stuff like NBA Jam, simpsons, tmnt, etc.

[mgb]

It says that the e switch is like a cherry so you'd probably be fine with that option for casual playing. that switch would be like any standard concave microswitch button that you would have used in the 90s.

[fluentd]

ok perfect. I guess moving on now to the encoders. Ipac4 or Lono² that was suggested earlier? Any other suggestions and why?

[mgb]

I've never used anything but an ipac but that Lono2 seems pretty cool.
it has more inputs than the ipac4.
you really should do some searching through the forums here to get some more info on both.

[PL1]

ok perfect. I guess moving on now to the encoders. Ipac4 or Lono² that was suggested earlier? Any other suggestions and why?

One thing to consider when making your decision is that the IPac4 shows up as a keyboard, while the Lono2 shows up as four gamepads IIRC.  There are several good reviews around here.

Depending on the FE and emulators you are going to run, you may need other software like joy2key or xpadder to translate the gamepad button presses in the Lono into key presses.

You might also want to look into the IPac4 and default keymap conflicts in either P3 or P4, don't recall which.

The search function is your friend.


Scott

[MacGyver]

I like to use an encoder that has a PS2 plug for the computer connection, normally a computer's PS2 port has a dedicated IRQ so it shouldn't have any lag, just make sure that the motherboard you get has a PS2 port, they are getting harder to find these days.

I bought the 4-wire LEDs for the buttons, and then removed 2 of those wires (I have blue, and red colored buttons, no need for RGB LEDs).
I have illuminated JLFs, but just bought some of Ultimarc's 4-8 way servo switchable JLWs (normal JLWs don't have servos). but I'm having trouble with finding hollow LEDs for those new joysticks so be warned.

Also the only place I have ever seen an LED friendly translucent bat-top was in these forums, and the guy made them himself.

[DJMattB241]

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but this is so perfectly on par with where I'm at that I just have to ask:

I'm also doing LED buttons. I have a question about the wiring. Do the buttons just have two sets of leads on the back, two for the button and two for the light?

I was going to get the button to USB wiring harness from Paradise, but do I also need this LED harness?

Welcome aboard, DJMattB241.

Your first link is to Paradise's version of the Xin-Mo encoder.  The included wire harnesses are for the microswitches. (left side of picture below)

Your second link is for the EZ LED harness that allows you to light single color LED buttons like the ones below -- not for use with RGB LEDs.  The .250" QDs connect to the LED socket on the right.

Scott

Fantastic, thank you!
Okay next question: the buttons I bought say that they are 12v, which is... I guess I don't know voltage stuff very well. I've seen things like this online, is this what I need to control those LEDs with my computer? That thing says I need a separate power supply for 12v. What's that?

[mgb]

Yes 12 volts will light the leds. Yes you will need a seperate power supply to supply that 12 volts.
You'd be best off doing some more reading on the forums here, there are many examples and don't be afraid to email the sellers. You also should really start your own thread about the matter
 

[PL1]

Okay next question: the buttons I bought say that they are 12v, which is... I guess I don't know voltage stuff very well. I've seen things like this online, is this what I need to control those LEDs with my computer? That thing says I need a separate power supply for 12v. What's that?

LED controllers are for animating/fading the buttons. (different wiring than above required)  If you don't need to animate/fade you can power them constant on with the wiring above.

You can get 12v (or 5v if 12v is too bright) from your computer PSU molex.

[/threadjack] 

Please pardon the sidebar discussion, Fluentd.  I'm sure DJMattB421 will start a new post if he has further questions.  Hope your encoder research is going well.


Scott

[TJCOMBO]

For the U360s, make sure you factor in the long handles (if you bottom mount), restrictor plates, and hard spring.  The restrictor plates give you feel and the hard spring adds enough friction.  I regretted not purchasing them the first time.  If you do a search you will see many people prefers these.  I hardly think they are optional.

[fluentd]

Hey thank you all for the input. As far as thread jacking it was fine it actually answered a thought I had on the LED controller.  Still trying to figure out which encoder. I purchased a few different buttons to try out as samples so I am going to see what I like.

Again thanks for taking the time to help me out. I will definitely have some more questions I am sure.

[DJMattB241]

Yeah sorry about that. We were just in such similar spots. I'll definitely start my own thread in the future. And I'll be keeping an eye on your questions, since the answers have been helpful to me too!

[fluentd]

Ok just had another question come to mind... 

I am going to be using Hyperspin as my front end along with the usual emulators, nes, snes, genesis, master system, mame and XBMC.

What buttons do I need to have on my control panel?

My thoughts:

P1/P2 6 buttons each along with coin and start button.

P3/P4 4 buttons each along with coin and start button.


What other admin buttons are needed to control different aspects hyperspin or emulators? Back button? or esc?

[fluentd]

I also decided to go with the Lono2 for my encoder but Paradise is sold out. Where else do you recommend I purchase from?

[PL1]

What buttons do I need to have on my control panel?

My thoughts:

P1/P2 6 buttons each along with coin and start button.

P3/P4 4 buttons each along with coin and start button.


What other admin buttons are needed to control different aspects hyperspin or emulators? Back button? or esc?

There are several schools of thought when it comes to admin buttons.

One group wants their cab to look just like an arcade cab: coin door for coins, start buttons for start, P1 start doubles as a shift function for other admin buttons.

Another group wants easy access to basic admin functions without having to remember P1 Start + P1 Joystick Right = Menu (or whatever you have it configured for)

If you have careless/nosy friends or kids that fiddle with settings, you might want to go with group 1.

If you like to change up your game list a lot or fiddle with settings regularly, you might fit into group 2.

Most people who prefer group 2 usually include Escape, Pause, Enter and Tab as the most common dedicated admin buttons after Start(s) and Coin(s).

I also decided to go with the Lono2 for my encoder but Paradise is sold out. Where else do you recommend I purchase from?

I don't know anyplace else that carries the Lono2. (The Hawaiian name is the giveaway that it's a Paradise exclusive.)


Scott

[fluentd]

I just emailed them to see if they are getting any more in soon.