Which IPac?

[QuackMasterDan]

Hi there, I've been looking at guides, cabinet examples, all sorts of interfaces, and am currently calculating the costs of everything I'm going to need. One piece that I am unsure about what to get, is which keyboard encoder.

I am making a 4-player cabinet. 4 8-way joysticks, 6 buttons per player, 4 start buttons, a credit button, and I will have a physical keyboard also plugged in for editing the game. I can't find how many wires will be plugged into the 8-way joysticks. I know it is one wire per button, plus a ground. On a 4 way joystick, there are 4 wires plus one ground touching 4 terminals.

Do 8-way joysticks have 4 or 8 connections to them?

My numbers go as:

Joysticks (4*4) =16
Buttons (6*4)  =24
Start     (4*1)  =4
Credit    (1*1)  =1
TOTAL = 45 wires, plus two grounds (each side of the I Pac)

So will the I Pac 4 be good enough? Also, if the I Pac simulates a keyboard, and I've read you can only have 24 inputs, how can I have these 45 inputs with my control board?


My next question is, in all of the diagrams for wiring the boards I have seen the same ground wire connected to every common, and each individual wire connected to each NO connector. I understand stripping wires at the ends, but how do you connect one wire along 20+ connections. Do you cut the ground wire into 20 pieces, and solder it in 20 sections in one long chain?

And thats about it.

[ChadTower]

You could try an X-Pac.

[shardian]

An IPAC 4 would address your needs. I will advise you to do ALOT more research before you start buying though, especially if you aren't sure how many inputs are on an 8-way joystick. Have you picked up a copy of project arcade and given it a read-thru yet? That book wil solidify the basics of cabinet building.

With grounding, a ground loop is good because if you lose a ground, then you will know exactly where the problem is. The best way to wire a ground loop is to use quick disconects at each connection. You can crimp two wires into each quick disconnect to continue the loop.

[xmenxmen]

Do 8-way joysticks have 4 or 8 connections to them?

4 connector.  a 4 way is just one that has the diagional locked so when you move it to the diagonal, it never trigger the switch.

So will the I Pac 4 be good enough? Also, if the I Pac simulates a keyboard, and I've read you can only have 24 inputs, how can I have these 45 inputs with my control board?

You will need the IPAC4 which has 56 input.  Don't forget you also have the 'shift' key which give U even more.

My next question is, in all of the diagrams for wiring the boards I have seen the same ground wire connected to every common, and each individual wire connected to each NO connector. I understand stripping wires at the ends, but how do you connect one wire along 20+ connections. Do you cut the ground wire into 20 pieces, and solder it in 20 sections in one long chain?

Take the group cable, tie it with another wire, crip it together into a connector, connect to switch, now repeat with the other end of the wire until you reach the last one.

[unclet]

A typical 8-way joystick has the same number of microswithes as does a 4-way joystick.  What makes a joystick a 4-way or 8-way is whetherthe joystick allows the stick to move into the diagonal position (thus activating two microswitches at one time).

I purchased a Hagstrom KE72 keyboard encoder for my 4-player panel.  IT allows for 72 inputs (and I used all of them).  It is more expensive than the others, but I love how it allows me to map multiple keypresses to one button press.  I believe the maximum keys allows to be mapped to one keypress is around 32.    This allows me to execute BAT files if required by pressing one button and also allows me not to worry when an an emulator has multiple keypresses to EXIT or execute commands.   I can easily map to anything.   Now, I currently have 40 emulators configuerd on my system as well as many PC games, so I guess the keyboard encoder to choose is based on exactly what you plan on doing with your cabinet.

Are you going to also have your cabinet function as a jukebox?  Are you going to add enough buttons to play Visual Pinball (side buttons, plunger button, perhaps even tilt buttons)?   What types of PC games are you going to play on the cabinet?

Basically, my thinking when purchasing my keyboard encoder was that all games, programs, etc.... to be played on the cabinet were not all going to have single button press key mappings associated with the functions I might want to perform.  Knowing that I will be keeping my cabinet until I am extremely old I did not really consider spending a few extra bucks here and there as big of a deal as others might.   After all, the price is pretty negligible over time ..... the thing is .... do you have the money to spend now on the project.


Here is a link if you are interested:

http://www.hagstromelectronics.com/products/modules.html


Anyway, just my thoughts .....

[QuackMasterDan]

To Shardian: Thanks for the suggestion, I will order a copy of the book today. From what I understand it's a step-by-step walkthrough of how to build a fully functioning cabinet?

I'm not going to be creating a jukebox, just a arcade machine for my friends and I to play in our gameroom/den. It should be good for parties along with Foosball tournaments =)

As for the keyboard encoder. First off, I do NOT want to do a keyboard hack, though I can do some simple wiring and soldering. I live in California, and would like to have an American vendor, just for ease of shipping. I would like to solder my wires to small clamps, and make it much easier to connect everything in my control panel. Where do you even solder/clamp/screw-in the wires on that Hagstrom?

Also, thankyou very much to this board, you guys are very helpful and quick to reply.

[acevedor2]

I hate soldering.  That is why I love the IPAC.  No soldering required.

[QuackMasterDan]

I just ordered Project Arcade from amazon.com and it should be here on March 5th. I'm getting excited now. Is it unwise to start planning dimensions and buying parts?

I'm currently tallying up the costs of everything, and I will most definitely be able to afford  all of the parts. This next question is off this topics, but as I am building the machine out of 3/4" plywood, is it unwise to paint it with acrylic spray paint?

And as another off topic question, I intend to use lexan to cover my control panel, but do not know where to buy it. With a quick search on google I find that most sellers are in European countries, and it is not possible to just buy a 50"x30" board. If I have to, I will get plexiglass, but for fear of cracking it, I'm willing to shell out more money for the polycarbonate (Lexan).

[SavannahLion]

And as another off topic question, I intend to use lexan to cover my control panel, but do not know where to buy it. With a quick search on google I find that most sellers are in European countries, and it is not possible to just buy a 50"x30" board. If I have to, I will get plexiglass, but for fear of cracking it, I'm willing to shell out more money for the polycarbonate (Lexan).

Whereabouts are you in California? If you live near the Capitol, I believe I know of at least one shop that sells Lexan. For extra money, they'll even cut, shape, and polish it for you. Otherwise, check the phonebook under "plastics" or "Plastics Fabricators."