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Buy vs Build vs Buy & Build
mahuti:
Now for those of us that are true hobbyists.. that LIKE working with tools, and buying them and slowly building a shop...
Roughy:
Okay, so if I went with something like at Mameroom--is it possible to simply use their Control Panel designer to "whip up" the panel that someone like Dream Arcade has, and then...
Well, that's where I'm lost.
daikiki:
If you have them design a control panel for you, your job would then be to drop the switches, sticks, and trackball into the predrilled and routed holes, screw or bolt them down, then solder the wiring up. If you're even a little bit onfident with a soldering iron, this is a piece of cake. The last part of the puzzle is some kind of keyboard encoder. This is a device that plugs into your computer and has connectors for your various switches and inputs. Ultimarc.com carries a wide variety of encoders. Make sure the one you choose supports that trackball you want though :)
mahuti:
You can use their tool to design whatever you want. And putting it together is (relatively) easy. There aren't really any unforgiveable mistakes you can make, so no big.
mahuti:
If you use a screw terminal encoder, you wouldn't need to solder. Just cut wires and put them into quick-connects. That's super easy.