can I make a complex control panel that connects via 1 single usb?

[zipdaman12]

Hello all,

I have a made a complete mame cabinet years ago and it has served me and my family very well.  I am toying with the idea of making a control panel that I can connect to my Home Theater PC; using my HDTV as a monitor.  I have the software installation complete leveraging the Gamex front end and I am using a wired xbox 360 controller but as you all know its notg the same as using actual joysticks and arcade style buttons.

Here is my question.  I have an ipac (usb)_ as well as 2 usb interfaces to use with my Happ controls spinner and Trackball.  I would like to build a control panel using all of these interfaces, but I don't want to have to plug 3 separate uysb cables into my PC.  Is there a way to include a trackball, spinner as well as other buttons and joysticks and use only 1 usb cable to my PC?  is a usb hub a viable option?

Any and all comments are appreciated.

Jack

[Fursphere]

Mount a USB Hub on the panel, connect everything to that.  Then have one USB cable that runs to the PC.

Might need to be a powered hub though - you'll have to test.

[PL1]

An unpowered hub will almost certainly work for your setup.

Remember that unpowered hubs have a 100mA/port limit according to the USB spec, even though many hubs can exceed this.

I've been using the following on a test setup with no problems:
Belkin USB 2.0 4-port hub available here
Mini-Pac Opti w. U-Trak
TT2 Spinner + encoder
LED lighting circuit for trackball and admin buttons that draws ~86 mA

You can plug the hub into a Neutrik NAUSB-W-B with the "A" connector on the inside and the "B" connector on the outside of the enclosure. (undo 2 screws and reverse the barrel)



From there, one USB A-B cable connects your CP to the HTPC.   

You can solidly mount the hub using 5 screws and PEX plastic pipe -- details here.




Scott