Control Choices - will this work?

[paulscade]

Hi All,

If you haven’t noticed (by my post count), I’m a beginner when it comes to cabinet building.  I’ve been thinking about it for some time and, only recently, I’ve decided to take the next step.

I’ve been planning over the past few weeks to build an arcade cabinet.  I bought and read the Project Arcade book.  After lots of thought (and lots of research), I’ve decided on the Ultimate Arcade II cabinet (with some tweaks of my own).

I’ve also decided on the following electronics and controls:
-   Billabs 27” BL27CB0P
-   Slikstik tornado spinner
-   Happ 3” lighted trackball
-   Happ pushbuttons
-   Mini-PAC encoded

Now, I know that everyone has their own opinions about sticks… believe me when I say that I’ve read most all of them.

I’ve chosen:
-   Mag-Stik Plus (x2) – I love the 4/8 way switching feature.
-   Ultrastik 360 (x1)

The two Mag-stiks will interface via the Mini-PAC… and I have questions about the Ultrastik.

I wanted the Ultra because it can be an analog (like) stick and it’s very “techie” (like me   .  I was thinking about configuring it in output mode and wiring the (LRUD) in parallel with the P1 Magstik.  This would let me use either stick for player 1 (both active at the same time).
I also wanted to connect the Ultra via USB (i.e. both USB connected + parallel connection to Magstik).  This would allow easy programming/reprogramming over USB and it would allow analog use (when programmed that way).

You may be thinking… why would I want this (or maybe not)… I’d like to be able to reprogram the Ultra for analog use for emulators other than MAME.  So I would have an analog stick available in the cabinet.

My questions:  Will this work?  Is there anything that I’ve said above that doesn’t sound right?  Does anyone have anything bad to say about any of the components that I’ve chosen?

I wanted to run this by the experts before I start investing.

Tkx!!

[shardian]

Your setup sounds fine to me. Although I would recommend a TT2 spinner that will interface your spinner and a trackball, and an economy sized encoder for buttons (GPwiz eco or Ipac VE).

[TPB]

Slikstik tornado spinner

As Shardian has mentioned :

Reconsider your choice of spinner.

GGG has an impeccable corporate reputation, and the TT2 is the best spinner out there, which you'll be very happy with.  It is top quality, has the highest number of transitions (1,200) per revolution, and has options available such as a Steering Wheel.  The only competing spinner you may wish to consider, is GGG's latest release, the TT-HL up/down spinner.

As a newbie, you may be unfamiliar with the circumstances surrounding SlikStik.

I won't go into it here, as there's a thread devoted to it :

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=72444.0


Suffice to day, the SlikStik website is now offline ... but even when the site was active, product was not being delivered ... here's an example from that thread, pertinent to your purchase intention :

I was able to successfully recover the funds I "lent" to Slikstik for a spinner that didn't ship after 30 days of ordering

[shardian]

Happ is also not sending any Slikstik products...well because Slikstik is not providing to them either.

Unless you are buying used from a member here, you really can't get a Slikstik anyways.

[paulscade]

Thank you for your feedback!!

Funny... as I was researching, I could have sworn that the slikstik website was up.... but, you're right, it's not there now and I hear you guys loud and clear about my choice of spinner.

When I first started my reading/researching, it seemed that the spinner to have was the Oscar Vortex... I found out pretty quickly that those just aren't that easy to find (no more Oscar... and I can't find them on eBay).  I went looking for a substitute.

I'll be changing my parts list to include the TT2.

I'll also have a look at your recommendation of encoder.  If I don't need spinner and trackball support in the mini-pac, it makes more sense to go with something less expensive (even though $69 wouldn't kill me).

I did like the "only one of the [trackball or spinner] devices would be active at one time" feature of the ultimarc product.... and I also like the shift function.  I see that GGG's got the Shazam key.. so that's a wash... I'll probably just reconsider "needing" the option above (or at least weighing the difference in cost vs. feature).

I'm really excited about this project... and I don't want to make any beginners mistakes in selecting components.