easiest LED method?

[boboli]

I've been wading through hundreds of posts about LEDs, LEDWiz, MaLA hardware, etc. I'm having a hard time understanding what is the EASIEST, most plug and play method of getting all of my buttons lit up (and preferably only the ones that are used in a particular game). Seems like LEDWiz and MaLA hardware are the two prime methods that people use. Some questions:

With either route, are there configurations offered that don't require any soldering, resistor calculations, etc.? Seems like a pre-built Mala hardware does what I need, I just want to be sure. I have read descriptions on their sites too, but I'm still a bit confused.

For reference, my control panel is only 2 players, 6 buttons each, 1 trackball, + player 1 and 2 + 2 coin buttons.

I also have a few admin buttons but I'd be fine not lighting those.

Thanks

[Kaytrim]

I had forgotten that Loadman made lighting hardware.  His stuff is nice however I like the Groovy Game Gear lighting stuff because thier LED boards fit right in the button and point the LED straight up the shaft.  Looking at Loadman's LEDs they are loose in the shaft and may not point straight.

One other thing to keep in mind is all the Front End support the the LEDWiz is getting.  The MaLa hardware is only supported by MaLa.  If I am wrong on this let me know.

[headkaze]

The problem with the MaLa hardware mod is that it can only use 8 colors while the LEDWiz can use 110,592 colors. It depends on if your using RGB LED's too of course. But now Mala supports standard LEDWiz(s) hardware using the new plugin which is getting an update as we speak to version 2.

Another option is GameEx which I've written a plugin for and updated a few days ago (it's in active development so I'm still accepting requests for features). It has some cool attract mode features, and is the first to have speak button actions, and colors.ini support (which lights up the LED's using the game's real CP button colors). You can read more of the features here.

And another option is Atomic, which has had LEDWiz support for a while. Although it may need an update to keep up with the Mala and GameEx plugins. It is still quite complete, has custom button lighting per game and an animation editor.

The final solution is using my LEDWizGen program and the LEDWizLighter commandline app by swindus. This can be used to add LEDWiz support for FE's like MameWah which don't have LEDWiz support built in. You can do a search on this forum for LEDWizGen to get that.

So really all the popular FE's now have LEDWiz support, and it's just a matter of which FE suit's you or what LEDWiz features are suited to you as well. My GameEx plugin is alot cooler with RGB LED's but that will end up costing more for RGB LED's, two LEDWiz devices and the Electric Ice buttons.

Nothing wrong with lots of choice

[boboli]

So if I buy LEDWiz, what kind of wiring and other supplies are needed? Remember, I'm looking for easy (along the lines of wiring up an iPac).

Also, I thought there was a limitation in that LEDWiz could only light up one player's controls at a time?

[loadman]

Seems like a pre-built Mala hardware does what I need, I just want to be sure. I have read descriptions on their sites too, but I'm still a bit confused

.
It is just plug-and play. What are you confused about?

Looking at Loadman's LEDs they are loose in the shaft and may not point straight.

Seem fine on my cab. You can get the LEDs closer to the top of the bitton which makes them brighter.

The problem with the MaLa hardware mod is that it can only use 8 colors while the LEDWiz can use 110,592 colors.

Correct. If you want RGB Leds use Led-Wiz

So if I buy LEDWiz, what kind of wiring and other supplies are needed? Remember, I'm looking for easy (along the lines of wiring up an iPac).

Resistors, Wire & Leds.

So to answer your question:

1) If you buy MaLa hardware you get everything you need (pre-made or in kit form) but you have to use MaLa FE (not like that is a bad thing  ) I have Led-Wiz for testing but have had MaLa hardware in my cab for the last year and a half

2) It is bit more fiddly for a newbie but you get RGB and wider FE support

Enjoy

[boboli]

so just to clarify, with Mala hardware, I just plug led's into the unit (like an ipac) - no soldering or transistors to worry about?

Why would I want RGB LED's - isn't color dictated by the color of the buttons, or would you use clear buttons and dictate colors with the RGB LED?

[horseboy]

No offense here, but have you even tried searching for any of this info? 

[boboli]

yes, I have searched, have you? There are a million threads & a million posts, and it's quite overwhelming if you're just starting out. A lot of the threads are very technical, and I'm looking for very basic info that doesn't seem to be directly addressed anywhere else.

[QuixoteQuest]

I've been hoping to find an easy how-to guide for installing the LED-Wiz. Lots of info out there scattered all over. Plus as a GameEx user I've been following headkaze's progress with excitement for what he's been putting together to deliver a cool FE implementation using the gear.

My main fear is getting it powered correctly. GGG lists their RGB LEDs as 60ma each. 500ma max spec'd for each LED-Wiz board. So even if you have one LED feed going into each of the 32 ports, you're already at 640ma if all LEDs were firing at full capacity. SO how does one plan on what power the board is actually going to be using? Or does everyone just fire their boards with external power.? (And do people feed that off the PC power supply or with a a DC power supply?) If you use a power supply cord with an in-line fuse per GGG's recommendation, how do you plan what size of fuse is best, so it is neither too low rated nor too high rated? Can you gang up the same power feed when using multiple boards?

It seems the installation is nearly as easy as doing the usual wiring a CP requires, especially if you buy GGG's products. The RGB LED boards are already loaded with capacitors, can come with the ribbon leads, and if you use the ICE buttons there is already a hole drilled to take the LED and each board snaps right in place. If you are comfortable stripping a ribbon it appears pretty easy to get these wired up. The thing that is more confusing is that GGG really hasn't seemed to integrate strong software support with their product yet, and the instructions are unclear (to me) about how to properly implement multiple boards.

Therefore, as I'm a little confused about how multiple boards get used well, there is part of me who wants to do it all with one LED-Wiz. Certainly external power supply would be required in this case. But as long as I'm willing to have buttons (like the 1p and 2p 7-button clusters) behave and light the same as other buttons I probably could do it all with one board. My hunch is that some effects may not work well if I double up on the outputs, but other than that the LED-wiz sounds like it can handle it. I have 14 buttons (7 ea player), and a trackball that would be cool to RGB light. (I already have a lighted trackball, but am considering getting GGG's RGB trackball upgrade kit.) I wonder, though, if it'll look stupid not to go ahead and light all my other buttons like the 5 Asteroids buttons and 3 mouse buttons. And then there are the pinball buttons if I really wanted to bling it out. Since the ICE buttons are white when unlighted I'm thinking perhaps short of a few unlighted admin buttons that it'd look better to have all the panel done in ICE.

I couldn't even do my whole panel in distinct RGB buttons, not even including the pinball buttons and admin buttons, without moving up to 3 LED-Wiz devices. Wow the price goes up when one does that. So it seems figuring out how to double up effectively is the most cost effective if I want a whole panel lighted in RGB. And I'd probably need two LED-Wiz boards no matter what I try to do.

[loadman]

so just to clarify, with Mala hardware, I just plug led's into the unit (like an ipac) - no soldering or transistors to worry about?

Correct if you buy the pre-made kit.. USB Plug in.  Then Plug the Leds into you Buttons (need a 8mm hole). To be fair it's more expensive as it's handmade but it is trully plug-n-play. It just works

Why would I want RGB LED's - isn't color dictated by the color of the buttons, or would you use clear buttons and dictate colors with the RGB LED?

Have a look a the GGG site. If you want to go that way you can buy these at extra cost. The buttons can change color if you want
http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=83&products_id=238

[boboli]

Thanks for all the info - seems like Mala is easier but LEDWiz may be more flexible/capable

By the way, I had not seen that Starcade cab before. That is freaking awesome! Nice artwork.

[QuixoteQuest]

Thanks for all the info - seems like Mala is easier but LEDWiz may be more flexible/capable

By the way, I had not seen that Starcade cab before. That is freaking awesome! Nice artwork.

You're welcome. I purchased my cab as a custom manufacture job, so most of the credit is due to them. However, the marquee design is my own, as is the tweaked layout for the CP. I've also installed the PC and added a few functionality tweaks, so I've been able to add my own touch to it too. "StarCade" is mainly in homage to the interstellar artwork theme, and my favorite classic space games, the Galaxian/Galaga series, but, of course, in the process I give props to the old gameshow for its influence on me "back in the day".

I love my plasma/lightning disc bling, which won't be complete till I can ultimately add some RGB-LED lighted buttons, too. Hopefully a reader in the "know" can reply to this thread to help answer some questions I still have, too. (Detailed in the earlier post).