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cheapy 'Zero Delay' USB encoder

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InfantSorrow:
Hello esteemed gentlemen!

I (as a noob) submit myself to the oracles of arcade system builders out of desperation! lol

First, a little bit of background.
Ever since 12, it has always been my dream to have my own authentic arcade machine in my home and finally after multiple groveling sessions and some sushi bribery, she agreed! ;D

Now, I am not a complete noob when it comes to pc's emulator arcading.
* I have setup an old pc running maximus arcade and even a jukebox and I can toggle between these amicably. (I have even got all the in game    artwork to display for each game I have listed)  So the software side of it, I have licked.
* On the hardware side, I have ordered one of those ebay cheapos, the 'Zero delay USB encoder' (2 pin) because I have read that it basically works the same as an ipac. (which is expensive, remember the wife constraint lol). Wiring this up to my arcade joystick and push buttons was straightforward and simple and when testing it in the windows usb controller config, all joystick movements and buttons work.

So basically, all that I still need to do is build the actual housing cabinet using mdf board, which shouldn't be a problem because of my supreme dexterity lol. "Then why, pray tell, do you post here?" you may ask.
Well, I am struggling on the FINAL hurdle of my implementation. Getting the authentic look with a working coin mech.
Once again I have gone el cheapo ebay with this and ordered one of the one of the $10 single coin accepting ones. (It doesn't need to be fancy multicoin)
I have the coin mech running off a 12v molex from my pc power supply and it accepts good coins and rejects bums just fine when pc is powered on.

My problem is getting the white pulse wire to trigger some sort of a button press on the usb encoder!! I understand that the usb encoder operates at 5v and the coin mech at 12v, so any dumb connections can end up frying the encoder.
I have used 5v zener diode to get the voltage down, as suggested in some other readings, but how do I connect this pulse wire to the usb encoder which is expecting 2 pins, because it needs ground?
I suppose I could create some sort of a coin chute for the accepted coins to roll down and trigger a small microswitch, but this would be the long way around and a cop out on my part lol

Any help from you gurus would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Aldous Snow

PL1:
Greetings and salutations, esteemed Aldous.   ;D

Since you already have a properly placed zener diode to act as a voltage regulator, simply connect the encoder ground to the coin recognizer ground.



In case you're not sure which wire is ground, look at the underside of the ZD encoder -- all the wires/traces on the outside are tied together so that's ground 5v.



Scott

EDIT: Melvinbates mentions here that the ZD has 5v on the outside plane.

InfantSorrow:
thank you, good sir! May a thousand suns smile upon you for your altruistic efforts lol

I will test this as soon as I can :)

BobA:
It does not work as an ipac which gives you keyboard interface.   The ZD encoder shows up as a game pad.  This is not a problem in mame but gives some problems in emultors that restrict your input to the keyboard.

InfantSorrow:
Hi Bob

The fact that the cheapo usb encoder shows up as a joypad and has no keyboard functionality shouldnt be that big a problem. You can use software such as 'joy2key' which basically maps your joypad buttons to keyboard keypress events. Hope that helps.

Technically, an ipac is $40 solution to a $5 problem.

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