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Am I in trouble? Minipac question
traig:
I just finished physical construction of my control panel. It has
Two 8-way sticks, each with six buttons
One 4-way stick w/ two buttons, one on each side
Trackball with left and right buttons
Spinner
p1 start, p2 start
p1 coin, p2 coin
Three admin buttons
I bought a trackball-ready Minipac with harness for my cab and recently discovered, on the surface, it's short on inputs for this setup. However...
The 4-way stick is supposed to mirror the P1 8-way stick, and the two buttons with the 4-way are both supposed to mirror the "weak punch" button for P1.
Is there any way I can share the inputs on the minipac to make this work? In other words, share the P1 8-way inputs with the 4way inputs, and share the P1 button with both of the 4-way buttons?
There are enough inputs if I can. Has someone done this with the Minipac, and with its harness? If not, I'm afraid I'll have to get the IPAC4 and Opti... Help!
zaphod:
Daisychain them like you are doing with the grounds.
microwrx:
The easiest thing to do without cutting connectors on the harness would be to make up Y cables for each input you specified. Male connector on the single leg end and female connectors on the two leg ends. Or you could have a h cable (male on one of the two leg ends and females on the other two) which would save on wire. You may run out of connectors on the ground harness but you can do the same with that too, the difference being that you don't need seperate Y or h connectors for each one, they can al come off the same point.
traig:
Okay. Know first that I am a total novice when it comes to anything related to wiring. I don't have a soldering iron, for example. With a little generous guidance I can get this done but at the moment I am rather confused.
Daisy chain the connections: That sounds like the right idea but I'm not sure how I'd go about it. I currently have a wiring harness that connects each point on the board to a single prong on a button or joystick. I don't know how I would connect, e.g., the "left" prong on the 4-way to left prong on the 8-way, before that one in turn goes to the board. Would I have to strip and splice into the wire that runs from the board to the first prong with a separate strand of wire from the other stick?
Y-connectors: This seems simpler... would I be able to find male-to-2-female connectors that will work with the connectors that came with the minipac (in, say, a Radio Shack??)? The leads on the wires from the harness are connected to plastic-covered female connectors, but I don't know what they're called...
:-[
pcates:
--- Quote from: traig on October 05, 2004, 11:14:38 pm ---Okay. Know first that I am a total novice when it comes to anything related to wiring. I don't have a soldering iron, for example. With a little generous guidance I can get this done but at the moment I am rather confused.
--- End quote ---
Don't worry it is not that bad... All the switches do is close the electrical circuit and allow the 5v current to pass through when you push the button, thus sending a signal. That being said.....
1) Look at the end of the wire from the minipac that is supposed to connect to the switch. These are female connectors. You can buy these at any Hardware store. Buy 4 for each extra switch that does not have a dedicated spot on the minipac. They usually come in packs of 50 or 100. You need 4 because you are going to connect 1 to th NO of the 8way up, and one to the NO of the 4way up, and 1 to each of the grounds on the same switches.
2)Now look for a male connector that will slide into the connector on the minipac. It looks just like the connection on the switch. Buy 1 of them for each extra switch.
3)While at the store buy some wire to match the wire on the Minipac (looks like 16 or 18 gauge from the pics, but bring the harness to match it up.
4)If you do not already have some, buy wire strippers also.
5)Cut the wires to the desired length, and strip both ends according to the directions on the connector box( there should be a guide to tell you how much to strip)
6)Crimp a female connector on 1 end of each wire.
7) Get 2 wires with female connectors alraedy on them and twist the other ends together. Stuff this into a male connector and crimp the male connector on.
8) You now have your "Y" connector. Connect 1 female to 8way up, and 1 female to 4way up, then connect the male to the female of the minipac. Then just repete for each set of switches.
Hope this helps...
Sorry after all that I should have read the question better... Yes they should have those at Radio shack, but they may be cheaper at Home Depot or Lowes. They are just called crimp on connectors, you just need to match the size to the size wire you are using. Bring your harness with you and make one of the employees open a box to make sure they will fit before you buy them.
Good luck....