Yet another steering wheel, etc. question...

[Captain Bingo]

Hi,
 I have read numerous articles here on the forums regarding steering wheels, pedals and such.  But I must be honest and say that now i'm even more confused.  Can someone clarify if my thinking is correct? 
First, I ordered the AKI from Dave in order to hook up another analog device, so I am assuming that I can use that for an analog pedal setup without any other equipment, right?  Does that negate the need to do the Dual Strike hack (cuz I thought that's what it was for). And I also saw a pedal setup from Act-Labs which I believe to be USB and wouldn't need anything else.
Second, to hook up a Pole Position 360 wheel, do i need something like an OptiPAC?  That won't work with the AKI or IPac, correct?  I don't mind buying the extra stuff, but I want to make sure I get the right ones. 
Lastly,  I also want to hook up the Act-Labs TV guns, they're just USB as well, so I should need any other interface as far as I know.

Does all this sound right?   Thanks as always!

Captain Bingo

[NoOne=NBA=]

The AKI should work fine for the pedals, and a 270 wheel if you want.
You don't need the Dual Strike hack unless you are planning on going over the 5 axis limit on the AKI.

The easiest way to hook up a 360 wheel is to get a replacement optic card, and USB mouse hack, from Oscar Controls.

The TV guns are complete, as-is.

[Captain Bingo]

Thanks!  I checked the site and saw two USB mouse interface boards (I assume this is what you meant by the mouse hack?) one with and one without L/R mouse button support.  Any thought on which one?  i guess i can use the L/R buttons for shifting or something.  Also, is the Universal optic Board what you're talking about?  The pic is not very good, so i didn't see how the connection from the steering wheel will go.

[Captain Bingo]

Ah, i found another pic of one of the spinners they sell with the optic board on it.  it appears that I will have to position the steering wheel, so the gear passes through what appears to be the optical part, reader, led thingy, and then every thing else just hooks together.  Goodness....why am i doing all this again?  My wife wants to know why i can't just be content with my XBOX.

[NoOne=NBA=]

As long as you get the teeth from the encoder wheel to pass through the optics on the card, you are set.
I have used everything from metal, to wood, to plastic, to foam tape, to hold them in place.
And with, or without, mouse buttons is your call.
If you're going to have a keyboard encoder on the cab, the mouse buttons aren't really necessary.

[Captain Bingo]

ok, one more question...can i set up 2 wheels for multiplayer games if i double the equipment?  Just how many USB devices can Windows XP and mame support?

[NoOne=NBA=]

Yes.

I think XP can support 127, IIRC.
MAME I'm not sure about.
You don't even need to double the equipment to hook up two wheels.
Hook up wheel one on the X-axis, and wheel two on the Y-axis.

[Captain Bingo]

I'll still need 2 opti boards though, right?  I can't see how two encoder wheels would fit in the reader.  You're just talking about the mouse board, right?  Man, this gets confusing, thanks for all your help.