about to make my first parts purchase

[clickhea]

Id appreciate it if any of you more experienced builders could look over my parts and see if anything iam ordering is incorrect or will not work with each other for whatever reason before i go and waste all my $

My control panel will be a 2 person control panel using:

2 ultra 360's (with hard springs, circle restrictor plate)
http://www.ultimarc.com/ultrastik_info.html

7 buttons per player in the neo geo layout:
iam not sure if i want to go with the clear buttons(leds) or the solid ones i'll have to make that choice later i guess. Also i think iam going to upgrade to the micro leafs.

admin buttons:
iam going to throw a few on, nothing crazy, the keyboard encoder iam choosing has a shift key, which i'll make use of.  most of my admin buttons will either be on an admin panel above the control panel, or on the side of my control panel (another factor i havnt decided fully on yet)

Trackball
I think i like this led trackball from ggg the only issue i see is its 109 bucks
http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=74&products_id=270
i also do not understand what the option on the site means where it says
USB DEVICE NUMBER: use if first or only if this exact controller.

i also just noticed its sold out. so i may have to go with the 3" golden tee ball from happ

Spinner:
http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=86&products_id=268
same thing with the USB DEVICE NUMBER

also not sure if i need master or slave, i'll have to do more searching on the boards after i post this unless someone is willing to shed some light.

keyboard encoder,
after much research i think i want to go with the mini-pac
it has all the keyboard functions i want like the shift feature, and it also has inputs for trackball and the spinner, which i like.

would this encoder be fine to light all my LED buttons if i choose to go LED?

Also iam aware that my 7 player buttons can connect to the u360, i wanted the keyboard encoder for any other buttons i wish to add, and the fact it has the trackball,spinner functions added to it is a plus.


hopefully i diddnt forget anything.. iam trying to do this off the top of my head, i want to leave a few days for replies before i order.. iam figuring i'll order sunday night (today is friday)


usb:

iam pretty sure everything iam going to get is going to be usb related, because iam not sure the computer iam purchasing for this product will have the ps2 ports.  if anyone suggests agaisnt this, please let me know asap.

i was reading that the usb has problems with more than 6 inputs at once, but the project arcade book is saying ipac took care of this problem.


thanks for your time in advance

[pmc]

Most of this stuff is newer than when I built my panel so I can't comment directly on the parts. But I would make the suggestion that you count all your inputs and make sure that you have enough points on the mini-pac. Don't forget to include credit/coin door inputs, admin buttons (quit, pause, etc.) and multiple inputs for each joystick.

-pmc

[divemaster127]

I stock a lot of these items in my buy/sell thread I have both happ & ultimarc, the happ 3" usb trans. trackball is $84.99 if you need a quote send me a pm
dm

[clickhea]

yeah i understand, from what i been reading the u360's can hold up to 8 buttons each

so the mini pac would be more than enough for what i need(i think)

if anyone else could veryfiy everything else and maybe answer my trackball/spinner question id appreciate it

[divemaster127]

the mini pac will be plenty, I use the spintrack for a spinner I do not know anything about the GGG, the happ trackball you just plug it into the usb & thats it

[clickhea]

i noticed that ggg has a cable which from what i understand allows a trackball to interface with the turbotwist 2 spinner, would i be better off going this route, and just switching to a ipac?

or would i be better off getting the ipac, and than an optipac to interface with my trackball, and just use the turbotwist interface board to take care of the spinner it self.

[clickhea]

damn.. replies are slow today 

[Pops]

2 U360's will cover the joysticks and up to 16 buttons.

The minipac will give you 2 joysticks and 16 buttons (pos 18, not certain), trackball, spinner and two mouse buttons.
Using both gives you 2 sticks and up to 34 buttons, trackball and spinner.
3 usb's to connect all the items.

To light the buttons - other than aways on - you'll need another encoder the minipac won't do on it's own. I think.

Check out other encoders and optical encoder in combination with the U360's.
But first decide on how many inputs you need, then see what encoder combination will cover that for the least cost.
Also I don't know if the 360's have a shift function, check that out, it may cover the admin buttons.

[protokatie]

Odd that I just noticed this thread, since I have JUST (as in 5 minutes ago) made my first cab parts order.

I got the minipac regular (no need for spinner/trackball support for me)

Plus some esticks and a bunch of the usual buttons..

I decided to go with esticks for my first cab since they are.. well easy to install, and I am green at all of this.

Also, I am going to have to have a shift button that is dedicated (and have p1 start be mapped to another unused button) as well as a dedicated pause button. unfortunetly I will have to have the esc button be used while holding down on the shift button. So here is the question, can I map the esc in the minipac to be the p1start/shift button and still have it behave properly?

(IE will pressing and holding down on it make it do a shift and an escape, or just the shift?)

[DeLuSioNal29]

I used GGG for all of my parts, so here's some info.

Spinner:  Comes with it's own interface, so there is no need to plug it into the Trackball with another cable.  GGG just offers the option of the interface cable if you are installing a spinner that does not have it's own interface built in.  Again, the TT2 spinner comes with its own interface and it is USB.  In Win XP, etc... Plug it in and bingo, no drivers needed.  Nice and simple.  (choose USB device # 1)

Trackball (I got the ICE T model):  Comes with it's own interface, so again, there is no need to buy any other interface cards.  It is USB (choose USB device # 1).  It will not conflict at all with the Spinner.  Win XP will detect it with no drivers needed.

My quick comments on the ICE T model - A)  It looks cool lit up.  B)  It comes with the Trackball Booster Kit pre-installed - which will upgrade the trackball's performance and precision.  C)  It comes with it's own interface board (USB) and is plug and play.  It may be sold out, but I would contact Randy T (owner) to see when it will become available.  It's worth the wait.

A word on device #'s.  You should usually always select device # 1 when ordering.  The other device #'s are there in case you want to order multiple trackballs, spinners etc running from the same interface.

As far as lighting up the buttons with LED's - You'll need the LED Wiz to do that.  Encoders only control the keyboard/joystick interface.  However, GGG does make a LED Wiz+GP, which has the LED Wiz for LED's and 16 inputs and outputs for controls.  It's the best of both worlds.  But again, it all depends on how many controls and buttons you are installing.

One last thing.  GGG stocks Happ Controls and buttons as well.

Hope this helped.

~ DeLuSioNaL

[clickhea]

hey guys thanks for the replies

delusional ur awesome

after doing some math i decided for now iam gonna stay away from the led buttons

its adding up way too fast (with everything needed and the quantity to make them work)

so for now i'll go with solid buttons, with the ice trackball and i guess one day in the future i'll change the solid buttons out for leds.

alright so i guess if each comes with their own interface i wont need a mini pac with trackball/spinner support

maybe i'll just go with the ipac2
i really want that shift function

oh by the way do i need a mouse button harness for the trackball?

in my previous "search" readings i remember someone suggesting it saying the contacts were almost impossible to soder too.

usb interface over ps2 is fine in my situations?
i know the happ trackball in usb expierenced alot of bad feedback

other small hardware like terminal strips, cables, should i pick up any?

http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=66

[Fozzy The Bear]

maybe i'll just go with the ipac2
i really want that shift function

Why are you going with the Ipac when the rest of your stuff is coming from Groovy Game Gear. Their Keywiz is an excellent encoder. The Keywiz includes a Shazzam button, which is effectively a shift button. So you'd get the same functionality anyway.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

[clickhea]

yeah it doesnt matter keywiz or ipac is fine

i researched the keywiz as well and it seemed to get good reviews

[DeLuSioNal29]

I went with the ipac4, because I had a 4 player setup and it had 56 inputs.  However, had I only needed a 2 player encoder I probably would have went with the Key Wiz at GGG just for consistency's sake.  But either way it doesn't really matter.

As far as USB to PS2.  I'm not positive, but I heard that there may be problems if gender changers are used.  I'm not sure on the specifics though but I stayed away just in case.  If you are looking to "save USB ports" and not fill them all up, do what I did:  Get the ipac or keywiz in PS2 format.  It will then plug in where the keyboard will go (saving a USB slot) and then you can plug your keyboard in the passthru on the encoder itself.  The keyboard works fine that way.  There is no difference in performance from USB vs. PS2.

Let me know if you have any other questions.  I found out all of the above the hard way...     But luckily for me it all worked out perfectly!   

~ D

[clickhea]

gotcha yeah iam not too concerned with usb ports, i can always buy a usb hub

i think instead of the ggg trackball iam going to go with the 3" highlip from happ.

which means i'll probably go with the mini-pac that way i can hook the trackball into it.
when purchasing the tornado2 do i still need it with the interface board or should i get it without and hook it into the mini pac?

[DeLuSioNal29]

I'm pretty sure the tornado spinner does not come with an interface board.  But I'm not sure since I don't have it.  The TT2 from GGG came with everything and was a snap to install, which is why I got it.  It was also the cheapest one.

~ D

[clickhea]

sorry i meant tt2

thats the one iw ant

[DeLuSioNal29]

When ordering the TT2 it automatically comes with an interface board.  You can't buy one without it.  So there is no need to plug it into anything to get it to work.  Except the USB port of course.   

[clickhea]

so then happ track ball into the mini-pac and tt2 i dont need to worry about