How do I wire gas and brake pots for single/dual axis?

[unclet]

I have two sets of Virtua Racing Gas/Brake pedal assemblies with each set having two pots (brake and gas) that I want to connect via Microsoft USB Dual Strike gamepads.   Each pot has 3 wires coming from it.

For the dual-axis wiring, I am assuming I should simply connect the 3 wires from the brake pot and the 3 wires from the gas pot to one Dual Strike ganepad....correct?

For the single-axis wiring, I went to http://www.gunpowder.freeserve.co.uk/wheels/wiring.htm to see how to wire the assembly and noticed the single-axis wiring diagram shows the gas/brake pots wired together with a total of 2 wires free to be used for the connection.   Since the Dual Strike pot needs 3 wires as input but the single-axis wiring shows only 2 wires available, I am now confused.

Please confirm how I should wire my gas/brake assemblies for dual-axis and single-axis (please reference picture below for pot wiring colors when describing how I should wire 'em up).

Thanks a lot.

[unclet]

Come on....someone has to be able to help me out here.... I did not think it was that tough.  

Any info would be great...

[jerryjanis]

For the dual-axis wiring, I am assuming I should simply connect the 3 wires from the brake pot and the 3 wires from the gas pot to one Dual Strike ganepad....correct?

That's how I did it - I just followed the instructions on 1UP's site.

[unclet]

jerryjanis:
So you can play Hard Drivin' and other games which allow you to press the gas and brake at the same time to "spin out" and stuff during game play?

Do you use your dual-axis gas/brake assembly for single-axis games?  I thought single-axis games would not work correctly in Mame if you used a dual-axis gas/brake assembly since the original games only had ont pot (or something).   How do you play single-axis games?

[jerryjanis]

Hmm, I just meant that I wired my pots with 3 wires for each pot, I didn't realize you were looking for the driving-specific stuff.

[unclet]

Yes, I am very near completion of my 6 panel rotating driving cab and I am very anxious to figure out how to wire my two sets of gas/brake assemblies.....one for single-axis games and the other for dual-axis games.

[u_rebelscum]

For three wires, the middle is (usually) the "output wire", and the outsides are power and ground.  (I think you can swap the power and output wires, but I don't see that very often.)

For two wires, the ground is not connected; this lets any combo of the middle being the power or the output, and using either side and the middle.  The http://www.gunpowder.freeserve.co.uk/wheels/wiring.htm page has the power hooked to the middle, but the pic below is fine too.

I don't know if three wires or two is better or why.  Or if there's a difference or not.

[unclet]

u_rebelscum:
1) Does your "For three wires..." paragraph explain what I need to do for dual-axis?    Are you saying that I simply connect the 3 wires from my gas pot to the Dual strike (up/down pot) and then connect the 3 wires from the brake pot to the Dual Strike (left/right pot) to use as dual-axis ....correct?

2) Does your "For two wires.." paragraph explain what I need to do for single-axis?    I mean does your diagram show me how to connect my gas/brake pots for single-axis use.   I simply connect the two red wires together,  connect the two blue wires together and then only use the purple ground wire from one pot terminal.   These are the three wires (red, blue and purple) that I connect to a dual strike (left/right pot) ...correct?  I just want to make sure I understand your explanation.

It does seem a little weird to wire the "sensor" wires together but if you are sure about that configuration for single-axis then I will just go ahead and do it.   The http://www.gunpowder.freeserve.co.uk/wheels/wiring.htm page indicates that when single-axis gas and brake pedals are pressed at the same time, then they cancel each other out.  Is this what your wire diagram accomplishes as well....just curious.

PS: Can you tell I have no electrical background what so ever  


Thanks for the time.

[u_rebelscum]

My last post was just explaining the differences between the 2 wire and the 3 wire hook ups.  I have no idea if wiring 3 is better for dual pedals, nor if wiring 2 is better for single/shared pedals.  

However, since the dual strike expects the three wires, I advise wire a three wire method.  (The diagrams in the http://www.gunpowder.freeserve.co.uk/wheels/wiring.htm are a little different in that the gameport didn't have an analog ground, so only the diagram only has two wires to connect.)

Hmm, with the single axis one, you wire the two POTs together as if it was one POT: one POT's output is the other's power.  I'll try to diagram it, below.  Not sure the colors you have, so: red is power, blue is the sensed output (axis output) to the controller, and green is ground.  Orange is the wire wire connecting the two POTs in the single axis connection.

You don't have to follow my diagram directly:

If the dual strike and Virtua Racing had the power going in the middle wire (ie: swapped the power and the output), you can do that if you want.  It makes no difference.

You can swap the two side wires if you want to swap which direction is "-" and which is "+" in the hardware (note that mame can reverse it software, and many drivers can too).

I'm not good at electronics either, but I'm pretty sure about POTs.  If I'm not clear again, ask again.

[unclet]

I appreciate your time and effort here.    Thanks.   I will wire them up as you describe.