Minipac...

[PixelCloud]

its 28 inputs and i can use a spinner with it? right? or am i crazy?

[Bgnome]

yes.
www.ultimarc.com/minipac.html

Trackball/Spinner Functionality
In USB mode only. No extra PC connections are needed, all communications go through one USB cable. Inputs for one 2-axis device (trackball) and one single-axis device (spinner). The active control is auto-selected when one control is moved after a 10 second idle period. If trackball/spinner are used, USB mode must be used for all controls. The full wiring harness for 28 switches and optical controls is available in two versions, for either Happ or Ultimarc trackball. Note that the Ultimarc trackball must be the special version listed for the Mini-PAC. The board will not work with the Suzo/Wico trackball.

[Tiger-Heli]

its 28 inputs and i can use a spinner with it? right? or am i crazy?

Yes, but . . .

The trackball option is $69, and you have to specify whether you want Happ or Ultimarc trackball support, and the Wico Trackball won't work with it.

For $46, you could buy an I-PAC VE and www.oscarcontrols.com's mouse hack, and you would only lose the ability to auto-switch between trackball and spinner (both could be used, but you would need a switch to select between them.)

For $75 (only $6 more) or $80 ($11 more), you could buy either an I-PAC/2 VE or I-PAC/2 and Opti-Pac, which will support any type of trackball and allows support for two trackballs (C.A.B.A.L, Marble Madness) or 4 spinners.

There's also the KeyWiz from www.groovygamegear.com which has lower shipping, if you prefer PS/2 connections, and can connect to an Opti-Pac, FWIW.

[microwrx]

Can someone confirm whether or not the different options and prices are really just for different harnesses?  I really can't believe Andy would go to the trouble of having different chip configurations for different options on the same product.  It makes more sense for it to support everything and you just purchase the option with the correct harness (or one without any harness and make your own).

[Hoagie_one]

i wondered teh same thing

[Tiger-Heli]

Can someone confirm whether or not the different options and prices are really just for different harnesses?  I really can't believe Andy would go to the trouble of having different chip configurations for different options on the same product.  It makes more sense for it to support everything and you just purchase the option with the correct harness (or one without any harness and make your own).

I can't confirm this, but . . .

I know the Opti-Pac has a jumper for Active Hi / Active Lo . . .

I don't think the mini-pac does . . .

I know Andy says that one version of the MiniPac works with the Happs Trackball and one works with the Ultimarc tracball.  And neither one will work with Wico/Suzo.

I know (from other BYOAC'er s ) that the Ultimarc tracball has one active hi and one active lo board.  Happ trackballs are either both Active Hi or both Active Lo.

I suspect the different MiniPac boards account for the difference in Active Hi or Active Lo circuitry.

I also know that you can order the Wico Trackball as either Active Hi or Active Lo.  I would suspect that if you ordered the Wico Trackball in the same configuration as the Happ Trackball (Lo or Hi) it should work with the MiniPac, but I can't confirm.

Would be nice if Andy could shed some more light on the subject. . .

[AndyWarne]

At the present time, for the current batch of MkI Mini-PACs, all boards are the same. This will change when we go to the MK II board which will support the WinIPAC IPD software and will be jumper-less.
The differences are only in the harness, the Happ has different connectors to the Ultimarc trackball. The Ultimarc trackball does not have one active hi and one active lo axis, this would be silly!
The difference between the special Ultimarc trackball and the ordinary (and Wico) trackball is that it has 2.2K pull-up resistors added onto all 4 outputs.
The Happ trackball does not need these because it has driver chips on the opto boards.
The current Mini-PAC boards don't have any pull-ups on the trackball inputs but the new boards will have, thus eliminating the need for the special trackballs.
Andy.

[Tiger-Heli]

At the present time, for the current batch of MkI Mini-PACs, all boards are the same. This will change when we go to the MK II board which will support the WinIPAC IPD software and will be jumper-less.
The differences are only in the harness, the Happ has different connectors to the Ultimarc trackball.

Ok, so if I had a Happ trackball connected and wanted to swap it for an Ultimarc, I could just splice in a different connector and it would work, correct?

The Ultimarc trackball does not have one active hi and one active lo axis, this would be silly!

Okay, I must have mis-read a previous BYOAC post (not necessarily your post either).

The difference between the special Ultimarc trackball and the ordinary (and Wico) trackball is that it has 2.2K pull-up resistors added onto all 4 outputs.
The Happ trackball does not need these because it has driver chips on the opto boards.

Isn't this what makes the difference between Active Hi and Active Lo - or am I way off-base?

The Wico t-balls can be ordered as either Active Hi or Active Lo - see http://www.wicothesource.com/new2/pages/page89.htm

Can a Wico t-ball in the proper configuration (Lo or Hi) be used with the MK1 minipac.

The current Mini-PAC boards don't have any pull-ups on the trackball inputs but the new boards will have, thus eliminating the need for the special trackballs.

Will the new boards then have a jumper for active hi or active lo, or will they auto-sense this somehow, or am I missing the point altogether again?

Thanks for clarifying, BTW.

[DvMxDv]

Question resent via e-mail.

[Tiger-Heli]

Question resent via e-mail.

Could you post reply to question here?

[DvMxDv]

Love to.  Unfortunately I haven't gotten any response yet on my e-mail.

Am I right in assuming that based on Andy's statement above "for the current batch of MkI Mini-PACs, all boards are the same" that I can use a Minipac Basic to connect my 2 player control panel along with the Ultimarc trackball that I recently purchased?  Or is there a difference between the standard and opti other than an additional harness?  I understand that I'll need to use the USB connection rather than PS/2 and that I'll need to use an IDE ribbon cable for the connections with the basic.  

Thanks to anyone who can help me with this one.

Dave

[microwrx]

My understanding is you are correct.  All the MKI boards are the same and it's only the harness that is different so if you have your own IDE cable and Andy's wiring diagram you should be fine.

[DvMxDv]

Thanks for the reply, microwrx!

I'll try to confirm that with Andy when I order this week...

[DvMxDv]

No response from Ultimarc on my e-mail, but that's probably the fault of the poorly run M$ Exchange server that my company uses...

So I guess I'll ask here.  What does Ultimarc use to adapt the Minipac to USB?

Thanks.

Dave

[Bgnome]

"Dual interface USB or Keyboard - just swap the cable and change a jumper."

so im guessing its a straight-thru cable with a mini din on one side and a usb on the other.  maybe someone can confirm this..

[Goz]

"Dual interface USB or Keyboard - just swap the cable and change a jumper."

so im guessing its a straight-thru cable with a mini din on one side and a usb on the other.  maybe someone can confirm this..

This is correct.

-Goz

[Tiger-Heli]

Love to.  Unfortunately I haven't gotten any response yet on my e-mail.

Am I right in assuming that based on Andy's statement above "for the current batch of MkI Mini-PACs, all boards are the same" that I can use a Minipac Basic to connect my 2 player control panel along with the Ultimarc trackball that I recently purchased?  Or is there a difference between the standard and opti other than an additional harness?  I understand that I'll need to use the USB connection rather than PS/2 and that I'll need to use an IDE ribbon cable for the connections with the basic.  

Thanks to anyone who can help me with this one.

Dave

I have confirmed this.  The standard board will work fine, as long as you wire the harness (IDE cable) correctly.

[Hoagie_one]

so he's charging an extra $20+ dollars for a different cable?  THat seems wierd.

[froggerman]

I wish I had know this when I ordered my mini-Pac as the wiring harness doesn't work that well for me.
For my machine, a 4-player Konami, the wires are too short, this makes it hard to be neat when going straight point to point. For a normal sized cabinet this may not be a problem however.
The other thing is that all of the connetors are .250" not .185". Most Happ joysticks and buttons use .185". Of course you can make the .250" fit the .185" by squeezing them a bit.

The mini-Pac does work well though. I have had no problems with it so far and I found it quite easy to program.

[microwrx]

There is a fair bit of work in the harness and all the connectors have the plastic covers which are more expensive also.  Sure it is something you can make yourself but some people just couldn't be bothered or would rather someone else do it.  It's not a cheap option, I agree. Maybe the Mini-PAC page could be more specific on that point.

As for the connectors, all Andy's buttons and joysticks use switches with the .250 connectors so why would he put .185 connectors on his harnesses?  At least you can still use them on .185 button and stick switches whereas if he used .185 connectors you couldn't use them on switches with .250 connectors.

Before anybody says so (I'd be thinking it if I were you), yes I am biased.  All of my buttons, joysticks, encoders etc. have been from Ultimarc.  Any problems I have had were caused by me so I haven't seen any point in going elsewhere and being in Australia it doesn't matter who I go with the lead time would be similar.

[PixelCloud]

soo i just got my mini pac

and the read me file doesnt make ANY sense!!


The WinIPAC IPD Utility is compatible with I-PAC and J-PAC boards that were shipped with this cd.
It is not compatible with older boards (pre-15 Jan 2004) Or the Mini-PAC boards.

The WinIPAC utility is compatible with Mini-PAC and older I-PAC and J-PAC boards.

first it tells me that the minipac is NOT compatible with the software

THEN it tells me that it IS

[microwrx]

WinIPAC and WinIPAC IPD are two completely different pieces of software.  The new IPD software doesn't work with the Mini-PAC MkI boards but will apparently with the not yet release MkII boards.  The old WinIPAC software works just fine with the Mini-PAC but you need to program it as an IPAC-2 as the only options are IPAC-2 and IPAC-4.

[PixelCloud]

ahh i see


thanks


(but really would it be soo hard to make the IPD software work with my minipac? i mean its just a pretty gui over the old software realistically)

[PixelCloud]

when i plug it in..
my mouse stops working...

[microwrx]

I'm assuming you plugged it into USB?  Unfortunately I have only ever used mine in PS-2 mode and don't know much about USB so can't help you there, sorry.

[Tiger-Heli]

ahh i see
thanks
(but really would it be soo hard to make the IPD software work with my minipac? i mean its just a pretty gui over the old software realistically)

Nope, its not just a pretty gui over the old software, it's different firmware in the chips.  That's why you have to replace the chip to use it with older I-PAC's and J-PAC's.