Just posting my first impressions and I received mine today.
AssemblyIf you follow the directions you'll be fine. Nothing too hard. However, since there are now two PCBs (the main one and the min-one for the optical rotary sensor) it's be nice to have some more pictures in the step by step instructions.
Play/MameOverall it plugs right in and plays, just like a normal U360. Unlike the positional rotary's that seem to like 100 sensitivity in MAME this optical sensor likes much lower values, 1-5 or so (I could be off here as I've only been playing with it for about 30 mins in MAME). The default for the rotary is a X-axis mouse (left-right). Andy said he'll have an update to change this to the Y-Axis, so you can have two hooked up and playing together. I should also note, that the handle doesn't "free-spin." So, while you can technically play games like Super Sprint with this, it seems better suited for more traditional rotary games like Ikari Warriors, Victory Road, Heavy Barrel, Time Soldiers, SAR - Search And Rescue, Cal .50, etc). I'm not sure if it is due to sensitive settings in mame or some issue with how I put the rotary upgrade in, but I noticed that on the extreme left and right movements of the joystick I got some rotation while playing some of the rotary games. I suspect some sensitivity configuration is at play, but something to investigate.
Handle LengthThe new handle for the rotary kit is longer, obviously. But, what isn't really stated is that updated handle is longer than the standard/default handle on the U360 from a control panel height perspective. So, if you have an existing one, or like me, you want two stickers per player (one rotary and one regular) you need to have the longer shaft/handle on the non-rotary in order for them to be the same height above you control panel.
If Andy is out of Battops and that's what you want, Focus Attack has some that fit nicely (they include a 6M adapter). I just waned black, but they have all kinds of options:
http://www.focusattack.com/sanwa-lb-30-n-s-battop-black/Final ThoughtsAdmittedly, I only wanted a positional-type rotary and I was thinking that this might not be for me. But, after a minute or two of playing I didn't really miss the "notchiness" of a positional rotary. That having been said, if Andy wants to make a positional-rotary version, I'd get that in a heart beat! But, this update does allow you to play the optical rotary games.
All in all, I'd say a pretty solid update to the U360! I'm pretty busy for the next week or two but, hopefully, I can carve out a little more time to pay with these further!
Thanks again to Andy for making this happen!