Few Q's on LED Controls/Key Encoders

[andeh89]

Hi all,
I'm getting serious about building my own cabinet, and my research has raised a couple of questions before I pull the trigger and start ordering gear. I'm no electronics expert (I can solder adequately but that's about it) so I'd like minimal headaches, even if it means paying a bit extra for easier to install components!

My proposed setup:
Custom built cabinet (2 player with 6 'in-game' buttons and an 8-way joystick each, full length, home use so no coin mech needed)
Buttons for P1/P2 player start, maybe extras to trigger credit insert/escape etc
PC running HyperSpin (mainly MAME but will incorporate the other emulators if all goes well)
LCD Monitor (sorry, I'm not a purist and I already have a screen handy I can use)
Keyboard encoder to drive all inputs
(Almost) all inputs to be Illuminated LED buttons (I fell in love with this upon seeing what LEDBlinky can do, especially per-game config)

So here's the questions I can't seem to find answers for:
1) Which LED controller (compatible with LEDBlinky) is best for powering (almost) all button inputs? Do they double as a keyboard encoder too or are they seperate things?
2) If they are separate devices, how does one connect them to both an encoder (I'm looking at maybe an iPac2, thoughts?) and the LED to the LED Controller? Do LED buttons have a separate wire for powering the LED?
3) If they are separate devices, is it possible to power both via USB (or even connected to the computer PSU) without the need for additional power supplies?

Thanks in advance for your expert advice! 

[andeh89]

*bump* sorry to double post. Can anyone point me in the right direction at least? The websites for these products are sparse on hard info and often out of date, I'm hesitant to buy without getting my facts straight first!

[Sjaak]

You can use an IPac2 as your keyboard encoder. I've used the IPac2 in more than 10 cabinets and never any problems. For controlling the leds, I use a PacDrive (also from Ultimarc) which is compatible with LedBlinky. So that's two seperate devices.

Single color led buttons have 4 connectors. Ground and power for the light and ground and 'power' for the button.

You can power both the ipac and the pacdrive (and leds) with a usb port.

[andeh89]

You can use an IPac2 as your keyboard encoder. I've used the IPac2 in more than 10 cabinets and never any problems. For controlling the leds, I use a PacDrive (also from Ultimarc) which is compatible with LedBlinky. So that's two seperate devices.
Single color led buttons have 4 connectors. Ground and power for the light and ground and 'power' for the button.
You can power both the ipac and the pacdrive (and leds) with a usb port.

Thanks for the reply! I did some more research tonight and came to the same basic conclusion, but your confirmation has boosted my confidence 
I'd even decided on the IPac2 for the encoder so that seems good to go, however I was leaning more towards getting the PacLED64 board to drive the LEDs... the PACDrive doesn't quite have enough outputs for the amount of LEDs I want! This has got me across the line and I'm ready to start buying, thank you again!

[Sjaak]

Thanks for the reply! I did some more research tonight and came to the same basic conclusion, but your confirmation has boosted my confidence 
I'd even decided on the IPac2 for the encoder so that seems good to go, however I was leaning more towards getting the PacLED64 board to drive the LEDs... the PACDrive doesn't quite have enough outputs for the amount of LEDs I want! This has got me across the line and I'm ready to start buying, thank you again!

Good choice, the ultimarc products are really good quality. And good luck with your build