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| Powering off the LCD Topgun LEDs (for longevitiy) |
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| jelwell:
Has anyone figured out a way to easily turn the the LEDs on and off? The holster idea sounded nice, although I wouldn't be so confidant that my friends would put the guns back in the holster. *sigh* friends suck. I'd really like to see a frontend solution. Can I power up the LEDs using an Ipac and a command to the Ipac from MAMEWAH? I already setup MAMEWAH to run a batch file for Light Gun games (since I have to use a different MAME to support dual lightguns) - it would be pretty easy to send a command before starting a game and when finished. Would turning the driver off be enough? I might be able to start and stop the driver service (assuming it's a service). All these ideas and my guns still haven't arrived! My apologies if you think this shouldn't be it's own thread. Joseph Elwell. --- Quote from: Fozzy The Bear on February 02, 2006, 12:35:11 pm --- --- Quote from: Warborg on February 02, 2006, 12:28:06 pm ---Well, I just had an idea as far as powering the strips on and off... If you are going to have a holster mounted on the cab for the gun, why not hack a USB extension cable to where it's 5v lead goes to a microswitch's NC lead, and then mount it with some soft of lever inside the holster? That way, when the gun is holstered the stands would be off, when you draw the gun they power up? --- End quote --- Now that one makes a lot of sense! :) you could run a lever through the side of the cab that the gun or holster hooks onto for storage... with a microswitch on the inside of the cab. Neat! Best Regards, Julian (Fozzy The Bear) --- End quote --- --- Quote from: Warborg on February 02, 2006, 03:44:54 pm --- --- Quote from: Level42 on February 02, 2006, 03:20:31 pm --- --- Quote from: Warborg on February 02, 2006, 12:28:06 pm ---Well, I just had an idea as far as powering the strips on and off... If you are going to have a holster mounted on the cab for the gun, why not hack a USB extension cable to where it's 5v lead goes to a microswitch's NC lead, and then mount it with some soft of lever inside the holster? That way, when the gun is holstered the stands would be off, when you draw the gun they power up? --- End quote --- Bingo ! Good thinking ! And I already said we needed something that would switch when "playing a light-gun game", not "playing a MAME light-gun game" :) Now we need a holster. The HAPP/SUZO holsters are quite expensive and probably won't fit right with this gun because of the laser unit but not sure about that....also the metal doesn't make building a switch inside any easier. I was thinking about plastic hand-grip like things. The one's I know are not deep enough for a gun though.....at least I think...anyone got an idea ? --- End quote --- I'm sure it'd be easy enough to fabricate some sort of holster for the side... Leather, plastic, sheetmetal, doesn't really have to be "form fitting". As to the mechanism, was thinking on it, mounting the holster to some sort of rod that goes into the side of the CP or cab somewhere, having it extend to the inside of the cab and be on a pivot, and then a fixed lever coming off the rod that rests against a standard pushbutton. As long as the holster is light enough, the spring pressure of the button could open the microswitch, and when the gun is put in it, the weight should cause it to pivot enough to push down on the button to shut the power off. --- End quote --- --- Quote from: JoyMonkey on February 02, 2006, 04:18:56 pm ---Once I get my guns (hopefully early next week) I'll see if I could CNC some holsters. Hacking a switch into a USB extension cable and hooking it up to the holster shouldn't be too much of a problem. My only concern about this kind of a setup is; when the gun and led stands have no power going to them, won't Windows think they're unplugged? And then, when they receive power again (when the gun is removed from the holster), won't it take a few seconds for windows to recognize them fully? And then will you have to re-calibrate every time? --- End quote --- |
| Minwah:
I would just have a hidden toggle/rocker switch to cut the power to the LED's. Simple & effective. |
| Fozzy The Bear:
--- Quote from: Minwah on March 07, 2006, 05:29:14 am ---I would just have a hidden toggle/rocker switch to cut the power to the LED's. Simple & effective. --- End quote --- That's exactly what I've done with mine.... They're no longer powered fron the gun lead, but directly from the PC's 5V power supply and there's a rocker on the side of my CP near the Pinball buttons Best Regards Julian (Fozzy The Bear) |
| jcrouse:
--- Quote from: Fozzy The Bear on March 07, 2006, 07:41:45 am --- --- Quote from: Minwah on March 07, 2006, 05:29:14 am ---I would just have a hidden toggle/rocker switch to cut the power to the LED's. Simple & effective. --- End quote --- That's exactly what I've done with mine.... They're no longer powered fron the gun lead, but directly from the PC's 5V power supply and there's a rocker on the side of my CP near the Pinball buttons Best Regards Julian (Fozzy The Bear) --- End quote --- That is my plan also. John |
| ErikRuud:
There is nothing really special about the LED stands. Your PC doesn't even know they are there, except possibly as a power load on the USB bus. Disabling the driver wouldn't affect the LED stands at all. The IPAC doesn't really have any I/O pins, except for the keyboard LED's and there isn't enough power available through those pins. You could use additional circuitry to handle the power through a relay. A better solution would be to use an I/O board. The LEDWiz could be used or something like the Phidgets boards, their 0/0/4 would be ideal unless you really want a lot of output pins. |
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