New Product - V2 spinner & Push Kit

[Magnet_Eye]

IT"S BEAUTIFUL!

GLORIOUS!

MAGNIFICENT!


Everyone buy this man a PBR! 

[crashwg]

Does this mean another run of the original Push/Pull is out of the question?

I don't know about everyone else but I'd much prefer the Leaf style of the Push/Pull to this new spinner's clicky microswitches, especially on the CP I plan on building with P360s and leaf buttons...

[1UP]

Oscar, can I make one request when you go to design the pull action?  Please please please...put a spring return on the top rather than relying on gravity to pull it back down.  I am positive I will be using this spinner on my cabinets, and it needs a spring strong enough to keep the pull switch from tripping when the Tron panel is upside-down.

Otherwise, the idea looks very good!  Get stocked up, because I will be putting in a large order very soon.  I may even have to put two spinners on my cabs since they will actually fit now! 

[Lilwolf]

Where you talking about your avatar?  Or the spinner?

IT"S BEAUTIFUL!

GLORIOUS!

MAGNIFICENT!


Everyone buy this man a PBR!

[quarterback]

It almost looks like you could mount it sideways, strap some kind of plastic/rubber 'grip' around it and have yourself one of these:

[Tiger-Heli]

It almost looks like you could mount it sideways, strap some kind of plastic/rubber 'grip' around it and have yourself one of these:[/size]

He may have a new application for your spinner there, OSCAR !!!

[OSCAR]

To kick off the release of the V2, I have listed (20) on eBay for $45.99!      Trust me, this is a one-time deal.  They will go live on my website for $55 tonight or tomorrow.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6153575964



1UP - Yes, I fully intend to include an Up spring.  There needs to be some resistance for the pull or it wouldn't feel right.


quarterback - Hmm, I guess I didn't think of that.  It would be an interesting installation. 


crashwg -  I have to see how the Pull Kit ends up for the V2 before I make that determination for sure.

[1UP]

Got mine!  Yay!  I'll be the first kid on my block with one of these!

[quarterback]

quarterback - Hmm, I guess I didn't think of that.

[1UP]

I always thought a big green skateboard wheel would make a good Major Havoc roller!

[DarkKobold]

Please, I'm still not over that yet....

[Will]

Man oscar that is impressive.Im really sad that I bought the slikstik tornado spinner now.I would have bought your old push pull model but I couldnt fit it.When you release the push/pull kit my slikstik spinner is going up on ebay.Looks like I will be able to play discs of tron the right way after all oh and forgotten worlds as it should be played.
p.s. that spinner is sexy

[whammoed]

Oscar, looks cool...just curious: what is the blue plastic ring I see in the picture around the spinners shaft where it goes through the top of the bracket?

[Lilwolf]

I just got mine! 

Woohoo!

[chibishin]

This is going to seem like a dumb question, but I'm wondering how well suited this spinner would be for use in a beatmania/IIDX control panel? Can anyone who has experience with both this spinner or it's predecessor and beatmania/IIDX arcade controls offer any advice? I already have an idea as to how I will make this work for a PS2 using a PIC, my main concern is the flyweight. I know from experience that the arcade turntables have some weight and resistance to them, I'm just wondering how much heavier/lighter feeling and possibly how much longer this will spin in comparison to the actual arcade turntables.

[OSCAR]

Oscar, looks cool...just curious: what is the blue plastic ring I see in the picture around the spinners shaft where it goes through the top of the bracket?

That is a nylon bearing, same one used in the Vortex and original Tempest (although Tempest used a white nylon  instead of the newer blue-style ones).


Thanks to all that have already purchased the new V2's, everyone that paid by Sunday night has their's on the way to them! 

[sWampy]

Wow, can't believe I missed the ebay link until today and there were only 2 left. ;-)

[Samstag]

Wow, can't believe I missed the ebay link until today and there were only 2 left. ;-)

I can't beleive they lasted this long!

I got serial number 00000002!

[sWampy]

Wow, can't believe I missed the ebay link until today and there were only 2 left. ;-)

I can't beleive they lasted this long!

I got serial number 00000002!

I can't either.  Now I just need to figure out if since I'm redoing my cpanel, if I should go out on a limb and buy a 3" track ball to replace my 2.5 inch ultimarc one.

[GGKoul]

Wow, can't believe I missed the ebay link until today and there were only 2 left. ;-)

There is one left!  As I just bought mine!!

[RayB]

More are being made, right??

[GGKoul]

More are being made, right??

Yes, but they will be sold for $10 more.

[jmelan]

looks like i got the last one on ebay, just couldn't pass it up at that price

thanks to oscar for the offer

[sWampy]

What's everyone think is the best knob?

[OSCAR]

Ray - Yes, I have plenty.  As GGKoul posted, the numbers they mentioned are referring to the ones that were on eBay.


I would also like to thank all those that purchased the new V2's!  Thanks a lot, I really appreciate it!!     The last of the ones that were on eBay are shipping tomorrow, so you all should be getting them very soon.


Kelsey

[jdjuggler]

I got the DOT knob.... Just because I wanted a larger knob... and other than the rubber knob, the DOT is the largest of the alum. knobs.
JD

[sWampy]

I got the DOT knob.... Just because I wanted a larger knob... and other than the rubber knob, the DOT is the largest of the alum. knobs.
JD

That's what I ordered also, should be here soon.  Now I just need to find a steering wheel that will clip on to it.

[NoOne=NBA=]

I got the DOT knob....

You'll be glad you did if the pull function ever comes out on this.
I've got that knob on my Oscar Up/Down, and LOVE it.

I was never that fond of the "hat" knobs used on Tempest anyway.

I just got my V2 today.
I'll play with it when I get home, and see how it compares to the other spinners I have.

[Santoro]

Got mine, this will fit in most any CP.  Typical Oscar insdustrial-strenghth quality.

Awesome Kelsey!  Thanks!

[spiffyshoes]

I just got mine too.   I can't wait to get home and try it out.  I'm really going to be looking forward to the push/pull add on when it comes out.

Thanks Kelsey!!!

[OSCAR]

Great, I'm glad you guys got your orders already!  As always, if you have any questions at all regarding your purchase, please don't hesitate to email me.

Thanks again, I appreciate the support!


Kelsey

[1UP]

Just got mine hooked up to the frankenpanel I use for testing, so let me be the first to review! 

Well, it's certainly easy to mount.  Just remove the knob and put the shaft thru any 3/8" or larger hole.

I ordered this one with the DOT knob, so this is the first time I've used this type of knob in over 20 years.  For the record, if you're using a Mini-Pac, you have to break off the two outside plastic tabs behind the header pins for the spinner harness to fit.  I also had to reverse the x-axis in MAME with the Mini-PAC.

That said, Oscar's sensitivity settings are bang on!  I tried a setting of 50 for Tempest, and it does indeed give you 3 slots/180 degree turn.  I found the size and weight of the DOT knob very nice for Tempest.  The Push-action is firm enough that you will not accidentally hit it, you definitely have to concsiously push it.  I rather liked the effect of setting the Super Zapper to use the push-switch, so I could just concentrate on firing with one button, and slap the knob when I was in trouble.  Very cool. 

I had to try Forgotten Worlds, which I've had on my machine for some time, but have never played.  Definitely an interesting game.  I had to crank my sensitivity all the way to 255 to get any decent response time out of the spinner, but once that was done, I was doing pretty good.  It is a little bit difficult to manage all the turning and shooting since the knob is the ONLY fire button in the game, but once you get accustomed to it, it works pretty well.

Overall, the spinner has a nice feeling.  It truly is compact, taking less space on the panel than a regular joystick.  The spin is slightly noisier than the Vortex spinner, and it spins slightly fewer rotations-per-crank than its forefather (V2 spins 3-4 times, while the Vortex spins 5-6 times)  The spin time is more than enough than you would need for any game, but if you like 3 minute spin times, you know where to go...

The extra space between the plate where the shaft bearing is, and the underside of the CP seems to leave open possibilities for some kind of lighting kit, but I'll be happy just to get a pull-kit on this puppy!

All in all, a really nice spinner for the $$.  My spinner has a first name, it's O-S-C-A-R, my spinner has a second name, it's...uh...

...O-S-C-A-R!

[OSCAR]

Hey 1UP, thanks for the comments!!

Another easy way to reverse the direction of the spinner for encoders that don't support axis-reversing (other than swapping wires around) is to rotate the optic board 180 degs.  The top 2 screws that hold the frame together are also located such that they can hold the optic board as well.  For the V2, I anticipated that some encoders may interpret the optic signals "reversed", so rather than tell someone they have to change wires around, I set it up such that there are alternate mounting holes for the optic board so they don't have to manually change the spinner direction settings in MAME to "Reverse".  Pretty clever, huh? 

For reference, with my USB mouse board, all you have to do is rotate the 3 pin header from the spinner to the USB 180 degrees to reverse the direction of the spinner.


Forgotten Worlds is strange.  I haven't yet been able to obtain an original Forgotten Worlds spinner, but either the original spinner itself had like 500 teeth or a gear set (like Arkanoid), or else the MAME driver isn't calibrated correctly.  Out of all my collection of various arcade spinners, in MAME I always have to jack the Sensitivity setting to the max for that game.  At least it is playable since MAME allows such a large range for the Sensitivity settings.


Thanks again!


Kelsey

[NoOne=NBA=]

OK, I'll go SECOND I guess.
I'm going to concentrate on the DOT vs. Oscar Up/Down vs. V2 similarities and differences.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Installation

The V2 is the easiest of the 3 to install.
You need a hole for the shaft to poke through (size isn't critical), and put in four screws or bolts.

By contrast, the Up/Down requires you to PRECISELY mount the top bushing into your CP to minimize shaft wobble.
If you get the hole even a little crooked (I didn't have a drill press handy on my first attempt) it will bind the shaft, and severely decrease spin time.


Mounting Dimensions

The V2 (without the push kit) is approximately the same depth as the DOT and Up/Down without their push switches.
The fact that the V2 uses a microswitch increases its depth more than the other two, which both use leaf switches.

The V2 definitely wins in the footprint war though.
It is about 1/4 the size of either of the others.


Spin Times

The V2 spins a little better than the Up/Down and DOT, but all three do a more than adequate job from a realistic gaming standpoint.


Push Weight

The Up/Down in unmodified form will almost push itself--literally.
I just retrofit mine with a second support leaf today to offset the weight of the knob vs. the DOT spinner.
The DOT spinner has a plastic knob, whereas Oscar's spinners use machined aluminum (at least on MY CP).
That extra weight makes the Up/Down push very easily.

The V2 requires more pressure to activate the down switch, but rides at the neutral height better than the other two.
Both the DOT and the Up/Down seem to kind of float while they spin, whereas the V2 remains very stable vertically.


In-game Spin

The V2 has alot smaller encoder wheel than the other two, so it doesn't run as many teeth past the optics as the larger wheels, given the same amount of rotation.
The result of this is that the V2 needs to be adjusted slightly more sensitive in the game settings to achieve the same amount of movement/rotation.

I'm using an older version of MacMAME, so the "proper" setting on Tempest is only 35% on my machine.
Using that setting on the V2, I get 6 lanes/rotation.
With my Up/Down at the same setting, I get about 12 lanes/rotation.


Shaft Backlash

One downside to ALL of the Push/Pull style spinners is backlash.
I actually retrofit my Up/Down to "almost" eliminate the backlash that it had.
There really isn't an easy way to reduce backlash on the DOT spinner.

The backlash in the V2 is about the same as I had on the unmodified Up/Down, and about the same as my DOT spinner.
Oscar did include set screws on the V2 that lock the shaft to the flywheel, to eliminate this.
Unfortunately, they disable the push function when they are tightened, so there's a trade-off.


Flywheel Weight

The apparent weight of all three spinners are relatively close.
The DOT spinner feels the heaviest, the Up/Down is in the middle, and the V2 feels the lightest.
But again, the difference between them is not that great.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OK, now that I've submitted MY review, I'm going to go tear mine apart.
The exploded view PICTURE just isn't the same as pieces all over my room.
I want to see what really makes this thing tick.

Feel free to post any questions you have, and I'll try to answer them, or research them when I have time.

[NoOne=NBA=]

OK, I've torn the V2 completely apart now.

I can report that this thing is VERY well designed.
The entire flywheel is a one-piece unit, with the encoder wheel press fit onto it.
The combination of the brass bushing at the bottom, and nylon bushing at the top keep the shaft wobble to almost zero.
The spring inside is made of "expanded" spring steel, and should give very long life, with less sagging, than the flat spring steel used on the DOT and Up/Down spinners.
There is very little metal-to-metal contact, so durability should be very good on it, as well.

I did make one modification to it while reassembling it though.
I followed Oscar's recommendation, and mounted the optic card "upside-down", using the bolts that hold the frame together.
This was to fix the fact that the optics on it react the opposite of my Up/Down optics, and will allow me to interchange the two without wire-swapping.
This is also the recommended fix, as Oscar mentioned above, to make it work properly with the Opti-pac.

[spiffyshoes]

I couldn't wait to play with my new Spinner so I made a temp. controll panel out of the box it came in.

[NoOne=NBA=]

I made a temp. controll panel out of the box it came in.   

I told you to build a modular CP.
All I did was rip a flightstick hack I don't use anymore out of ITS module, and stuff the V2 into it.

[sWampy]

Finally got mine hooked up, great spinner.   One small improvement might be a way to mount the encoder on the other sides where the spinner could fit in a little bit tigher spaces.  Since the mounting ears already stick out  3.4 inches, and the encoder board is almost 3 inches, you could fit the spinner in a 3.4x2 inch space, rather than 3.4x3, if the encoder was just attached to the wide side.

[KevSteele]

VERY, VERY Cool...

Good job!

[RayB]

Oscar, I tried ordering the box that Spiffyshoes used, but it's not on your order page! how do I order it?