I am finally just about completed with my control panel that I have been working on and off on for about 7 years
Back when I first got started, I bought NovaGems from GroovyGameGear for one major reason: they were (and still are) the only translucent LED pushbuttons that are concave. Just a personal preference; I way prefer them over convex or "flat" buttons. Simply because it's what I remember them feeling like when I was a kid.
Anyway, I have read that with the iPac Ultimate I/O, it is possible to use these LED buttons even though they have resistors. However, I read an old post here by someone who said they had trouble using different LED buttons from GroovyGameGear that had resistors. He or she said the buttons were way too weak in lighting when the resistors are in. With the resistors out, it looked better, but the brightness fluctuated between buttons giving everything an uneven look, and worse yet, all the LEDs eventually burned out. Supposedly they weren't exactly compatible with the Ultimate I/O.
Does anybody know if this is the case with the NovaGems as well? It's hard to find any information on them since they've stopped selling them for quite a long time. I just want to know if I should be worried that the LEDs are all going to die, or if taking out the resistors is going to make the wiring harnesses useless as they will no longer "reach" (the other poster said this happened when taking out the resistors).
And I do have two more questions about the Ultimate I/O if I may (unrelated to lighting). I have a 4 player control panel, players 1 and 2 have 7 buttons each (6+1 for "start", also I am not counting the coin door as an input even though it is one), and a joystick each (obviously). I am using 4 buttons for players 3 and 4, not including the coin door which would use a button, or the start button which also uses an LED slot (I want the start buttons to light up when enough credits are reached). How do I do this if there are no spots for start or coin on the Ultimate i/o for players 3 and 4? Will it still be possible for them to only light up when active like I can do for player's 1 and 2?
As for the trackball and spinner, I have 1 of each, which I will not be able to hook up to the iPac. This is not the end of the world as I do not have LEDs for them. Should I just hook them both up as a regular USB mouse on my PC? Or is there a better way? I also own a j-pac, pretty much only using it so my arcade CRT can be hooked up to my PC. I am not using any of the inputs on it. Since there's a bunch of free terminals on it, can I use those for the spinner and trackball?
Sorry if this is such a lengthy post, but I really do appreciate any help you fine and wonderful folks can provide! Cheers!