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Am I in trouble? Minipac question

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Tiger-Heli:

I'll try to cover all your questions.  This is fairly simple, but post back if you have more concerns.

--- 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.

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You don't need soldering with a mini-pac (especially with the included harness.)

--- Quote ---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...
 :-[

--- End quote ---
They are called Quick-Disconnect Terminals.  Specifically, the ones on the I-PAC are 0.25 (1/4-Inch) female Q-D's.  The ones for smaller wires have red insulation and the ones for larger wires have blue (or yellow for really big wire) insulation.  If necessary, you can double over the end of thinner (higher numerical gauge) wire to fit a larger diameter Q-D.  You won't find pre-made harnesses, but you will find packs of 10-20 of these at Radio Shack or Auto Parts Stores, or Wal-Mart, K-Mart, etc. for about $2 per pack.  I would also recommend picking up a cheap set of crimping pliers for $5-$8 (http://www.mameworld.net/tigerheli/arcadepanels/tools.htm#Electrical Tools) but you could also get the job done with vise-grips, or in worst case, smashing the ends with a hammer.

Here's what you do - Get a blue male 0.25-inch Q-D.  Strip back about 1/4-inch of insulation from each end of two wires (length to reach from I-PAC to 4-way left microswitch and P1 Joy Left microswitch) and insert both wires into the Q-D and crimp.  Get two red female 0.25 (or 0.187 3/8-inch, depending on your joysticks) Q-D's and crimp one on the other end of each wire.  Plug the blue male Q-D into the Mini-PAC harness wire going to P1 Left and Plug each red female Q-D to the respective Joystick microswitch.

Repeat the above as required for the other directions and the shared action buttons.


--- Quote ---Daisy chain the connections: That sounds like the right idea but I'm not sure how I'd go about it. :-[

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This is mainly for the ground connection and similar to the above - I think the existing harness has the grounds daisychained, but you will need more terminals for your added switches.  Similar to above, start with a Male Q-D and insert two or three wires into it and crimp, now on each of the bare wires insert an additional one or two wires and crimp on a female connect until you have enough female terminals on your plug-in adapter to support all the additional switches.




traig:

Thanks a lot, guys. I'll head to the HW store tonight and pick up the quick disconnects (thanks, I didn't know the name), a crimper, stripper, and some wire. 18-gauge wire, correct? I'm sure it'll seem easy once I'm doing the actual work.

Tiger-heli, I'm glad you brought up the ground chain. I tried running it last night and was three connections short (duh). I'll do what you advised to get the last few connections on the chain doubled up to cover the remaining switches/buttons.

Does it matter where the little ring at the end of the ground chain is mounted, or if it's mounted to anything at all?

It's funny, I've finished 80+% of the work on this cab, but I nearly flipped out when I thought I'd bought the wrong encoder and would have to shell out for another and wait the week+ to get it.
 

Tiger-Heli:


--- Quote from: traig on October 06, 2004, 09:39:58 am ---Thanks a lot, guys. I'll head to the HW store tonight and pick up the quick disconnects (thanks, I didn't know the name), a crimper, stripper, and some wire. 18-gauge wire, correct?

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I prefer 22 or 20 gauge (cheaper also), but 18-gauge will work fine also.

--- Quote --- I'm sure it'll seem easy once I'm doing the actual work.

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Agreed!

--- Quote ---Does it matter where the little ring at the end of the ground chain is mounted, or if it's mounted to anything at all?

--- End quote ---
Huh???  I didn't see a ring at the end of the ground chain at http://www.ultimarc.com/minipac.html and I don't think there should be one.  Unless I am misreading your question (?).  If I understand correctly, there shouldn't be a ground ring and it shouldn't be connected to anything.  Basically it works like this:

Power comes in through the USB port or PS/2 port - It is then split and sent out the individual inputs to each button.  When the button is pressed, current flows through the button and back to the GND input port on the Mini-pac.  The encoder then interprets this as a key press and sends that to the PC.

I don't believe the GND terminal is supposed to connect to GND.  A better term would be COMMON, since basically the same wire connects to the COMMON terminal of each button.

BTW, I assume you know, but you want to connect the individual wires to the NO (not NC) terminals of each switch.

zaphod:

This page might be of some assistance, too.

http://www.darkravenwind.com/cdvision/madcatz2.htm



traig:

My ground/common daisy chain looks similar to the one in the pic, except with a small difference. It starts at one end with a female connector, but at the other end it ends with the wire crimped or soldered to a small, flat metal ring, almost like a metal washer. I can't be more precise since it's not with me right now.

Perhaps it's meant to be stuck into one of the female connectors coming from the minipac's harness? Maybe the first one, the one that stands by itself on the board instead of in a pair? I don't have it in front of me, otherwise I could look at it and see if it works.

Looking at the pic, I can't see what the left end of that chain looks like, since it's connected to a harness wire.


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