Noob needs approval for plans

[nixzero]

I asked this before, but that thread got sidetracked, so here it is again:
I'm building a cab on the cheap, and I have the following:
TV
850 MHz Athlon PC with TV out, proabably running Win2000 or XP.


I plan on buying my controls from Dreamarcades on ebay and hooking it up to an I-PAC VE.  As far as I know, the I-PAC VE is the easiest to use option and has USB.  Unfortuanately, I only have a 2' wide CP, so I can't have a trackball, just 2 joys w/ 6 play buttons each.  Please let me know if you've had good experiences with these items or if there are other products I should consider.  Thanks!

[daikiki]

If you're buying from dreamarcades, ask them for a quote on a minipac while you're at it. They work great, are affordable, and can be wired using a standard IDE cable. And since dreamarcade stocks them, you'll prolly save a bit on shipping.

[DreamArcades]

I'm a little late on this one, but yes. We have the Mini-Pac (opti) for $27.99:
http://www.dreamarcades.com/partselectrical/minipac.shtml

Shipping on it is about 1/2 as much as it costs to ship it from the UK.
Plus, we sell the IDE cable if you don't have a spare:
http://www.dreamarcades.com/partselectrical/ide.shtml

-Mike

[Tahnok]

Oh good, I didn't realise there was someone stocking ultimarc stuff in the USA.

Only available with a PS/2 cable? I've still not gotten a straight answer as to what kind of cable is supposed to be used for USB. Also, you say you can use a standard IDE cable, but don't most IDE cables have one pin blocked out?

[DrumAnBass]

It should be possible to fit a trackball into your 2' wide cab with a little creativity. I am in the process of figuring out the CP for my cab and I think I am going to build something very similar to this:

http://www.doughansen.net/arcade/controls.htm

more info here: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=815d9c228587fcab5a80de7b4a787ee3&topic=17350.msg138550#msg138550

or this: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=12177.0

I am actually going to try and add a dedicated four way and spinner. It might be cramped but I think I can get it to work...

So I think you can pull off a little more than 2 joys in your 2' CP if you want!

[DreamArcades]

We only carry the J-pac and mini-pac and right now we are out of stock of the J-pac's. We do have the USB cable it's $3 more.  You have to drop us an e-mail if you want USB.
It's a semi-proprietary cable PS/2 on one side and USB on the other.

Also, you don't need to have the pin blocked out, just make sure you plug it in the right way. If not, don't worry, it will not mess-up your mini-pac.
-Mike

Oh good, I didn't realise there was someone stocking ultimarc stuff in the USA.

Only available with a PS/2 cable? I've still not gotten a straight answer as to what kind of cable is supposed to be used for USB. Also, you say you can use a standard IDE cable, but don't most IDE cables have one pin blocked out?