SNK/LS30 Joystick microswitch wiring question

[Frostillicus]

Hi all,
I have 2 of those cool yellow top Ikari warrior kind of joysticks and I'm ready to wire them up, yet the 4 microswitches on the joystick only have 2 leads.  Which is which? :-/ I only know about the 3 pronged cherry microswitches on my other supers.

Maybe I am just not seeing the other one, but maybe these are different kinds of switches...I don't know.

Thanks!  

[Tiger-Heli]

This is pretty basic which means I can give you a good answer    And I don't mean to sound like I am talking down to you just trying to explain this clearly.

First, a switch works by completing a circuit between a "hot" wire and ground.  The terminals don't really matter, as long as you pick the correct 2.

For Example, I am looking at one of the 3-pronged switches from a button like you are describing for the Super.  The three contacts are labeled "COM1" (Common, which is another word for "Ground"), NC2 (Normally Closed), and NO3 (Normally Open).  

Standard practice is to connect the "Hot wire" (From say the I-PAC P1UP terminal) to the NO3 contact and the second wire from the  I-PAC Gnd terminal to the switch's COM contact.  However, the switch would operate identically if you hooked the hot wire to the COM contact and the other wire to the NO3 contact.

With wires connected as shown the switch doesn't do anything until the button is pressed.  Then (in the case above) it would send an UP Arrow key until the switch is released.

The NC contact is rarely used.  If you connect the wires to the NC and COM contacts, the switch would send an UP Arrow key constantly UNTIL you pressed the switch down and then it would stop sending the keypress.

You never want to connect the NC and NO contacts together.  I am pretty sure pressing the switch would have no effect in the case, but I am not sure whether you would get a short, (constant UP keypress) or an open (no keypress).

Since the NC contact is rarely used and really not required, some of the cheaper switches were made with only two prongs, the NO and the Common.  Bottom line is that it doesn't matter, just hook one wire to one contact and the other wire to the second contact and then connect it like a 3-prong switch and you'll be good to go!

Hard to believe it took that much to say that, but I wanted you to understand what is going on!

BTW, I assume you realize that for the rotary version of this stick to work, there is a 13-pin connector which you need to run to Druin's interface http://www.connect.to/rotary and two more inputs per stick.

Also I highly recommend using MC-Escher's fixfiles with a custom MAME build for the games that use these sticks.  They are available at: http:// www.cryptnet1.net/mame/

[Frostillicus]

tiger-heli: thanks for the info, although I already know how a microswitch works.  

My question was actually about these specific joystick switches: what are the two leads on the microswitches on the snk joysticks? NO and GND? Is there no NC lead?

I have done enough research on my cab that I know I will need the rotary interface someday  - money is an issue  But I can still use these as regular joysticks I'm assuming until then.  

Also, I know it would take a little more time, but I can just remap the controls in MAME itself, right? I don't really need a special build - or am I wrong?

Thanks again!

[Tiger-Heli]

My question was actually about these specific joystick switches: what are the two leads on the microswitches on the snk joysticks? NO and GND? Is there no NC lead?

First off, I don't have these particular sticks, but it's safe to assume that the two leads are NO and GND.  There is not a NC lead b/c it is not required.  A NC lead would make the character keep moving in the desired direction until the switch was moved in that direction.  There is no reason to hook it up this way.

I have done enough research on my cab that I know I will need the rotary interface someday