what would I need

[charliepr]

Hello I have a PC with mame fully working, now I will be starting with my cab I'm thinking about a 2 player 8 way joysticks 6 buttons, trackball, spinner, and a 4 way joystick for my control panel. I have the 8way joysticks and the buttons, But I'm kind of lost when it comes to the I-pac2 and the Mini-pac encoders. Do I need both or will the mini-pac work for all my controllers? Thanks for any advice I can get. I'm new when it comes to the cab CP setup.

[charliepr]

bump, did I post this in the wrong area??

[charliepr]

Still trying to figure this out, any help??

[shponglefan]

TBH, I've never used a mini Pac, but taking a quick look at the wiring diagram, you'll probably need more inputs than the one board provides.  Based on what you've stated, it sounds like you'll need 12 switches/player (4 per joystick, 6 buttons + start button + coin button), so at least 24 buttons.  Not counting admin buttons, either.

Sounds like you could use two of them, though.

[paigeoliver]

You can double up the 4-way's input with one of the 8-ways to save inputs, it isn't like you are going to be using them at the same time.

[PL1]

Hello I have a PC with mame fully working, now I will be starting with my cab I'm thinking about a 2 player 8 way joysticks 6 buttons, trackball, spinner, and a 4 way joystick for my control panel. I have the 8way joysticks and the buttons, But I'm kind of lost when it comes to the I-pac2 and the Mini-pac encoders. Do I need both or will the mini-pac work for all my controllers? Thanks for any advice I can get. I'm new when it comes to the cab CP setup.

8 inputs - 4 inputs x 2 8-way-joysticks -- 4-way in parallel with P1 stick
12 inputs - 6 buttons x 2 players
4 inputs - Start and Coin for P1 and P2
3? inputs - Exit, Pause, Menu?
2-4? inputs - Plunger, pinball flippers, upper flippers? (If you want to play Pinball.) 

The Mini-Pac will connect all that, plus the trackball and spinner.

The optional harness makes it very easy to wire.

To wire the 4-way and 8-way in parallel, connect them like this.

When lines cross, a dot = connected and no dot = not connected.




Scott

[charliepr]

Hello I have a PC with mame fully working, now I will be starting with my cab I'm thinking about a 2 player 8 way joysticks 6 buttons, trackball, spinner, and a 4 way joystick for my control panel. I have the 8way joysticks and the buttons, But I'm kind of lost when it comes to the I-pac2 and the Mini-pac encoders. Do I need both or will the mini-pac work for all my controllers? Thanks for any advice I can get. I'm new when it comes to the cab CP setup.

8 inputs - 4 inputs x 2 8-way-joysticks -- 4-way in parallel with P1 stick
12 inputs - 6 buttons x 2 players
4 inputs - Start and Coin for P1 and P2
3? inputs - Exit, Pause, Menu?
2-4? inputs - Plunger, pinball flippers, upper flippers? (If you want to play Pinball.) 

The Mini-Pac will connect all that, plus the trackball and spinner.

The optional harness makes it very easy to wire.

To wire the 4-way and 8-way in parallel, connect them like this.

When lines cross, a dot = connected and no dot = not connected.




Scott

Thanks Scott, So all I need for my idea is the Mini-Pac for this to work and follow your steps posted here, right?

[PL1]

So all I need for my idea is the Mini-Pac for this to work and follow your steps posted here, right?

Just to be clear, make sure you get the "Mini-PAC Opti. With Harness and USB cable" -- No "Opti.", no built-in spinner/trackball encoder capability header.

Which spinner and trackall are you planning on using?

UTrak and SpinTrak are plug and play with the Mini-Pac.


Scott

Clarification:  GeoMan posted here that Andy told him that the basic mini-pac has the optical circuitry but no header pins -- you can solder on wires to connect a trackball/spinner.

[DickTurpin]

I have a xin-mo a cheaper version of the controller interfaces available but it does the trick itself.

[matsadona]

In order to reduce the Frankenpanel factor, I would ignore the 4-way joystick, and have joysticks that can switch from 4 to 8-way.
There are such joysticks that even do it automatically for you (http://www.ultimarc.com/servostik.html), depending on the game being played...