HAPP 49-WAY Mounting Template **NOW FOR REALLY THICK PANELS**

[markrvp]

I made a mounting template for the Happ 49way joystick.

[dema]

The center hole looks small.

[markrvp]

Nice catch Dema.

[fl0yd]

I know that the clearance on my 1 1/8" holes is too small, hopefully the 1 1/4" hole will work.

[dema]

I know that the clearance on my 1 1/8" holes is too small, hopefully the 1 1/4" hole will work.

Uh-oh. I cut my holes out using the 1 1/8" template, thinking those would work. What's the best way to expand a hole 1/8" all the way around now that the center drill point has been removed?

[markrvp]

Print out a new copy of the latest template on an 8.5x11 sheet of paper.  Cut out the template and punch out the screw holes.  Line up the screw holes you drilled with the holes in the template and tape it down around the edges.  Then use a 1-1/4" spade or Forstner (preferred) bit to expand the hole.

[dema]

Does it matter which direction the optic board on the 49 way joystick faces when mounted? I can't remember if the board needs to face the left hand side of the joystick, or if it even matters.

[markrvp]

Optic board must face left for use with GP-Wiz 49.

[IntruderAlert]

Does this account for an overlay and plexi cover on the CP?

[markrvp]

I drilled this 3/4" MDF with a 1-1/4" center hole.  I tested the joystick in Windows' gamepad control panel.  All 49 positions were recognized, however the joystick does hit the wood.  The 1-1/4" hole acts as a hardware restrictor of sorts, shortening the throw of the joystick just a little bit.

It does not effect the joysticks ability to function electronically, just alters the physical movement a little bit. 

I have added a new version of the template with a 1-1/2" center hole which should allow full motion of the joystick shaft.

1-1/4" should work for 5/8" MDF, so I have left both measurements on the template.

[kcoleman]

I know that the clearance on my 1 1/8" holes is too small, hopefully the 1 1/4" hole will work.

Uh-oh. I cut my holes out using the 1 1/8" template, thinking those would work. What's the best way to expand a hole 1/8" all the way around now that the center drill point has been removed?

That's going to be difficult to do without a drill press.  If you have a drill press, what I have done in cases like this is put the 1 1/8 in bit back in the drill press and use it to center the control panel hole under the drill.  Then change out the bit to the larger bit and drill it out.  You end up with a larger hole perfectly centered around the original hole.

If you don't have a drill press  but have a router, you could drill a hole in a 1/4 inch hardboard the proper size then put a template cutting bit in the router, center the hardboard template over the smaller hole and route away. 

You could probably also use cutout from a hole saw the approximate size of the hole and get some really strong glue like gorilla glue, and glue it to another board that you could clamp on to the CP with the cutout sticking up into the cp hole.  Not sure if the gorilla glue is strong enough though.  Would definitely need to drill slow I would think. 

Hope this helps

[IntruderAlert]

So how thick is plexi? like 1/8" or something?

[markrvp]

The plexi I tried was 1/8"

[IntruderAlert]

So with 3/4" wood and 1/8" plexi and using the 1 1/2" hole does it touch at all?
I have a Blitz CP at home
I'll measure it and post what they used later

[RandyT]

I just want to throw something out here:

Before everyone goes too wild and makes big holes in their panels that can't be covered with the dust washer, you should strongly consider routing out a 3/8" cavity  the size of the joystick base,  underneath the panel to get the stick closer to the surface.

That way, you won't need a huge hole to get the whole throw of the stick to be recognized.

RandyT

[IntruderAlert]

I did a quick measurement on the Blitz99 CP this morning
The holes in the plexi are 1 1/2"

[markrvp]

Thank you Intruder Alert.  Randy gave me a quick panic attack. 

I drilled 1-1/2" holes last night in a new panel.

[dema]

Not to panic you once again markrvp, but how are you going to wire the 2p 49 way joystick with the 1p buttons right next to the optic board? Don't you need more clearance on the left side of the joystick to get everything hooked up?

[IntruderAlert]

I plan to remove one of the Blitz joysticks tonight
It looks like the dust washer is below the CPO
but I only gave it a quick look

[markrvp]

Not to panic you once again markrvp, but how are you going to wire the 2p 49 way joystick with the 1p buttons right next to the optic board? Don't you need more clearance on the left side of the joystick to get everything hooked up?

No, there is plenty of room.  The dark grey bar on the mounting template is the actual clearance needed with a FloppyCable connector attached to the optic board (oriented to the left).  The optic board does not stick out on the right side any farther than the joystick base.

[Flinkly]

i think dema thinks your second joystick is a 49 way.  but it's not, right?  just trying to clear things up.

[markrvp]

Correct.

[dema]

i think dema thinks your second joystick is a 49 way.

[IntruderAlert]

I think this is just a one player CP

[dema]

I think this is just a one player CP

Yup. I meant second joystick. I'm working on 2 hours of sleep today. Was up late reconstructing my rotating control panel.

[IntruderAlert]

hey.. that sounds like the kind of thing I say all the time ..  lol

[IntruderAlert]

OK .. here's a pic of the 4 player BLITZ 99 CP
Notice the clean look
The dust washers are beneath the CPO



The CP is constructed of 3/4" plywood

The plexi is about 1/16" and
the CPO is printed on 1/16" aluminum giving about a 1/8" total thickness
Here is the reverse side of the CPO:



With the controls and CPO removed you can see that the dust washers are about 2 3/8" diameter
and a circle has been routered for them to fit down into below the CPO
the circle is about 1/8" deep and 3 5/16" diameter

holes have been drilled and circles have also been routered for those funky tubular nuts.. (whatever the heck you call them) for the mounting of the sticks



the holes for the sticks are about 1 7/16" diameter



hope this helps 

..as a side note it was interesting to see that the sticks were originally mounted with the connectors at the top instead of the left side

[Flinkly]

well no offense to randy, but that would make more sense.  he had a choice of where to put the connector, and he chose to have it pointing into a group of buttons (if your doing two player or robotron style).  i would have done it up, or even better, down.  your almost never going to have buttons below the stick.  maybe randy did think that this was best though, and it probably will never matter that much.

so don't get mad at me randy, or feel that you have to explain yourself.  the most important thing is that it's not changing anytime soon, so it doesn't matter. 

anyway, it's nice to see those nut things used in arcade games, that's what i'm gonna use in my panel to connect my controls.  i was afraid they wouldn't put up enough of a fight to stay in.

[Troz]

If you're talking about which way the connector on the 49-way faces, I've unscrewed the logic board from mine and rotated it so that the connector points up instead of left.

[Flinkly]

hmm...interesting.  i've done that with a williams, i never thought of doing that with a happs.  maybe it's cause i don't have one yet...great thinking though.  i'd even done it before and would have never thought of it.

A+ for you today.

[RandyT]

well no offense to randy, but that would make more sense.  he had a choice of where to put the connector, and he chose to have it pointing into a group of buttons (if your doing two player or robotron style).  i would have done it up, or even better, down.  your almost never going to have buttons below the stick.  maybe randy did think that this was best though, and it probably will never matter that much.

so don't get mad at me randy, or feel that you have to explain yourself.  the most important thing is that it's not changing anytime soon, so it doesn't matter. 

Hehe.  No reason for me to get mad, but I would like to give you an insight as to why I chose this orientation (I actually did think about it )

There are 2 main reasons:

1) Even though space can sometimes be at a premium horizontally on a control panel, one can usually shift the buttons a half inch one way or the other to make things fit.  There is usually a little dead space to the left of the the stick on most CP's because the stick is left of the buttons.  On many classic cabs, the vertical space is very limited, sometimes 6" or less of usable space.  So my thought was that placing it horizontally and to the left would offer the most flexibility to more people.

2) If you look at the function of the pins, they flow in a logical direction from top to bottom.  +5, YA-YD,XA-XD and Ground. While this isn't particularly important functionwise, it appears to indicate that someone somewhere, perhaps the designer of the board, intended it to be in that orientation.

As for rotating the board, I understand that this will change the orientation of the mounting holes to properly fit a panel like the one shown, but the connector still needs to point left for proper operation.  Or am I missing something (entirely possible)?

The other thing to keep in mind, if you really wanted to change the orientation, is that the controller, like any other, just puts out axis data, so you can correct for it in the controller setup for most applications. 

RandyT

[IntruderAlert]

If you're talking about which way the connector on the 49-way faces, I've unscrewed the logic board from mine and rotated it so that the connector points up instead of left.

please explain in more detail Troz

[Troz]

I'll take some pictures tonight...

Basically all I did was unscrew the four screws on the bottom of the joystick, rotate the logic board 90 degrees, and then screwed it back together.  I then placed it on my panel which has the vertical layout like the Blitz panel so now I don't need make a new panel.  The axis are exactly where they should be as in up/down is the y-axis and left/right is the x-axis.

[RandyT]

I'll take some pictures tonight...

Basically all I did was unscrew the four screws on the bottom of the joystick, rotate the logic board 90 degrees, and then screwed it back together.  I then placed it on my panel which has the vertical layout like the Blitz panel so now I don't need make a new panel.  The axis are exactly where they should be as in up/down is the y-axis and left/right is the x-axis.

But the connector, once the joystick is installed, is still to the left when viewd from above, correct?

RandyT

[Troz]

Actually after looking at a picture of a 49-way I may have rotated the entire assembly that comes off when the screws are taken off.  Will have to check tonight...

[Troz]

EDIT:  Heck, I'm confusing myself now and honestly don't remember what I did.  I think you're right Randy and the connector still does face left.  I'll get back to everyone later tonight once I'm home...

[MrSaLTy]

Yeah, I was thinking about this last night..... I can't see how rotating the board will do anything.  Seems like you would still have to have the connector in the same (left) position to work.

[RandyT]

I can't see how rotating the board will do anything.  Seems like you would still have to have the connector in the same (left) position to work.

There is one benefit, and that is for retro-fitting an existing panel that has holes drilled for the vertical orientation.  This is indeed a valuable suggestion for those looking to upgrade their current sticks without making new holes.


I almost don't dare suggest this, but another solution may be to swap the X and Y connections on the stick.  I think this will "rotate" the axis the way you want.

Disclaimer:  I have not tried this so no guarantees. 

RandyT

[Troz]

Sure enough, the connector still needs to face left.  As Randy has said, the value in doing this is to be able to fit these joysticks into some existing panels.  The picture shows what I detached from the joystick.  I then reattached the joystick base in the vertical orientation with the connector still facing left and that's it.

[Flinkly]

can't you flip the optics 90 degrees in one direction?  on the williams you can do this, but only in one direction.  so is there going to be another template for the new orientation?