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Connectors for swappable control panels
Searcher7:
--- Quote from: zzsprade on May 29, 2003, 06:18:07 am ---Can anyone think of an idea of how to have swappable control pannels that are attached by connecting the new control pannel onto a rail and sliding it into place, so that the connector on the back of the new control pannel lines up with the conencter on the arcade cabinet that would connect to the encoder. By pushing it up along the rail it would push the two connectors together, as they would be alligned.
Ie. something that looks neat that has no cable (That was so much simpler)
Any ideas?
-Alex
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Actually, I designed something simular for my Joust cabinet. The only thing left to do is to find the best way to make my own electrical contacts out of Phosphor-Bronze for the zero-insertion-force "connectors" I have to make. This is becuase there are no connectors out there that offer no resistance when put together and pulled apart, *and* also will consistently come together perfectly and without bending the pins. So therefore, I will be using flat strips of the Phosphor-Bronze as contact surfaces.
Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
Searcher7@mail.con2.com
bigmoe:
--- Quote from: Brad Lee on May 31, 2003, 02:52:14 am ---If youre interested, PM me and I can get some(ie 3 male and a female, or 2 females and a male, or any mix), this goes for anyone really
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Brad Lee: Thanks for the offer...I'm so far away from actually building something, it doesn't make sense for me to start investing in connectors yet. The design seems to change daily ;)!. (And with a dog tumor and a broken bathroom sink in one week...the MAME dream just got dreamier...:().
PaigeOliver: Thanks again for humoring me! It is so great to get details about how everyone is doing this.
Right now I'm leaning toward something even more modular...like some variation OSCAR used for swapping out a trackball/joystick/spinner. I'll have to check the dimensions on those to see how feasible that would be, especially for someone of so little woodworking skill. But it's an interesting idea that could save on parts and space, and give a lot more flexibility on cp layouts.
bm
pmc:
I got my prototype Control Panel up and running over the weekend. Just wanted to let those of you who haven't yet done the CP connections yet, don't use butt connectors instead of a barrier strip or something similar. I'm already having a problem with wires coming loose and wish I had done something more elegant. I used connectors that look a little like this:
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?DID=7&Product_ID=2740
The problem is that I'm out of real-estate on the bottom of the CP (it's narrow). So I took all the wires off the controls and tye-wrapped into a umbilical cord that is cut flush at the player-2 end of the CP. Right now I have 28 or so butt-connectors crimped to a ribbon cable that goes to a cabinet mounted IPAC. The butt-connectors hang down 1-2 inches below the bottom of the CP due to the weight. Every time I disconnect the ribbon cable or install the CP, all the wires get jostled a little and sometimes the butt connector crimps fail. Part of that problems is the light gauge wire.
Better to find the space for a barrier strip or mounted male SCSI/IDE and tightly screw both ends into the strip. The strip would be mounted to the under-side of the CP so nothing should move much. Certainly, the screwed in wires on the IPAQ are in place hard and fast.
So I'll retro-fit when I think of something better. Perhaps Jamma cards....
Hey wee.... what's under that wire-mold on your CP? i.e., how did you connect the wires from the controls to the telco cable that runs into your cabinet?
- Patrick