Some questions regarding wiring

[lavalamp]

Hi all. im about to buy a second hand cab to run MAME off of. its basically empty, lacking a pcb and such. im going to be using the original JAMMA controls with it. i was wondering what i need to do to to make the JAMMA controls work with my pc inside. ive read about using a keyboard encoder, more specifically, the LP24, along with a JAMMA fingerboard. but to do that, am i going to need to buy a JAMMA pcb to make it work? the cab is just for running MAME of the pc, so im not interested in using jamma game boards or anything.....thanks for your help.

[TalkingOctopus]

Since you are not going to use a jamma pcb, you can just wire the controls to a keyboard encoder like the ipac (http://www.ultimarc.com/ipac1.html).  This will interface the arcade controls with the computer.

[lavalamp]

Thanks. I saw the things about the Ipac and figured that was what i needed to do. the controls are 2 players with 4 buttons each. Should i be getting an Ipac2 then?

[Apollo]

If its only 2 sticks and a few buttons why not use a Keywhiz?

[lavalamp]

theres also 4 player start buttons (no idea why theres four, got this second hand), and i may expand to 6 buttons each.

[lavalamp]

Oh and since its Jamma controls, does that mean i should get a J-Pac instead? or is that only if im going to be using a jamma pcb and games?

[Kremmit]

Does the cab still have the wiring inside?  If it's got a JAMMA edge connector all wired up, you want a J-Pac.

http://www.ultimarc.com/jpac.html

Just plug it in!