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Newbie needs help with shopping list
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Dekieon:
Seems like everyone has you covered.

However, I would like to point out one thing though. Depending on what you get for your trackball and spinner, you may not need the opti-pac. Some of them just plug into a USB port, such as the ones from ultimarc.
rtpb:

--- Quote from: Connorsdad on March 25, 2013, 03:23:58 am ---Thanks guys :)

A few more Qs for you.

What gauge wire will I need to wire things such as Cp/leds/extending molex power supply. What size crimps/heat shrink should I buy?

--- End quote ---


hey I just wired my first control panel this weekend. Most people recommend 20-22 gauge wires. They are thinner and easy to work with. I used CAT5 cables to wire mine, inside are eight 22 gauge wires perfect for wiring your CP. I also had some extra 16 gauge laying around and I found that to be too thick and not very friendly to bend. Certainly to thick for a .187 quick disconnect.

 Here is what I did with my cat5, cut the tips off and stripped the wires on each side (i left the bulk inside the protective covering to keep the wires together and clean). Strip one end and crimp on a .187 quick disconnect (bought these from amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001HTB13S/ref=pe_175190_21431760_3p_M3T1_ST1_dp_1). The other end is stripped and screwed in to your keywiz or whichever you're using.

For the ground I removed the protective sheath from the wires, cut them into small equal pieces, stripped, twisted them together and then crimped on a disconnect. You can get a lot of wire from cat 5 cables. I used about 5 ft of cat5 for 1 controller.

There is a pretty good video of a guy wiring his control panel using cat5 on youtube.
rCadeGaming:
I have been using 22 gauge in the past.  Might switch to 24 as its easier to work with, and still not too small.  20 is way too big.

American sticks and buttons use .187 quick disconnects.

Sanwa and Seimitsu buttons use .110, Seimitsu sticks use .187, and Sanwa JLF's have a harness, so no quick disconnects needed.
brad808:
I have to disagree with you guys here on the ls-32 vs jlf. It seems pretty universal that the jlf is excellent for fighters and ls-32 is excellent for shmups, and that much I agree on. However I much prefer my jlf's as an "all around" stick any day of the week. Especially on something like a mame cabinet where theres a good chance you'll be firing up other style games at some point.

On my jlf with octagonal restrictors I can play everything without getting frustrated, even if things like 4 way games aren't "ideal" they are definitely more than fine by my standards. On my ls-32 however I find shmups to be excellent and everything else I want to rip my hair our. Fighters are close to unplayable for me, trying things like pacman is just brutal. It was really the first time I experienced the frustration people explain when trying to play 4-ways on an 8 way setup. Every other joystick before hand never game me grief. 

Build quality is a no brainer to the sanwa jlf. I've had those for probably 2 years now with heavy usage by me and all kinds of drunk people hammering away on them and they look brand new and function as brand new. The ls-32 on the other hand I've had since Halloween and its crumbling apart. This has only been used by me, the same way I play on the jlf. Everytime I open up the control panel of my candy cab with the ls-32 there are little bits of plastic from the actuator. This picture I just took now and I wiped down all the dust and stuff last weekend when I was working on it, so from about a weeks worth of play.



It's a bit hard to tell from the picture but there is a very clear ring starting to form on the actuator that I'm sure is just cutting deeper and deeper (I don't really find myself to be that hard on the joystick) and will need to be replaced at some point. I really do believe that it is poor quality.
rCadeGaming:
Well, first off, you should never use the darker piece on an LS-32 when using the square restrictor shape.  You'll get very slight hang-ups on some of those notches, it will feel crumby, and could contribute to that rubbing/grinding you're seeing evidence of.  Just take it off and use just the light blue piece only for the square restrictor.

Agreed the JLF's build quality is far and away the best of any brand I've seen.  Not just in durability, but in dimensional consistency from stick to stick.  Happ's are pretty poor in this regard, with iL's being a bit better.  Not sure of Seimitsu vs. iL, but neither approaches the JLF.

One of the biggest advantages to a JLF is the unlevered microswitches.  The levers on normal microswitches can be bent to different degrees, throwing your engage zones out of whack.  They can be uneven from the factory, and also drift over time.  With a JLF you don't have to worry about "tuning" your switch levers.

Your preference for an "all-around stick" will differ depending on your favorite genres.  For me it would be fighters, shmups, and platformers, so I'm torn.  Despite its excellence for fighters, the stock JLF's long engage/throw just makes it too cumbersome for serious shmup play.  Platformers are good with a bit shorter engage/throw as well.  For me, the mod I came up with produce the best all-around stick possible.  Engage and throw are reduced significantly without affecting the inherent accuracy of the JLF that makes it good for fighters.  There's a slight learning curve to playing fighters with the short engage/throw, but after about 5 minutes of acclimation I didn't find it any more difficult.

Some numbers:


--- Code: ---       | JLF  | LS-32 | LS-40/56 | LS-33  | Modded JLF
-------+------+-------+----------+--------+-----------
Engage | 6 mm | 5 mm  | 4   mm   | 3.5 mm | 3.25 mm
-------+------+-------+----------+--------+-----------
Throw  | 8 mm | 7 mm  | 7.5 mm   | 7   mm | 6.25 mm
--- End code ---

So, if you don't want to mod, an LS-33 would be best for shmups, but probably not so great for fighters.
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