My First CP.

[Malikai]

Ok I have been looking around and reading as much as I can to figure out where to start.  I eventually would like to make a bartop or full size cabinet.  I figured that a good start to get into that would be making a control panel.  It is going to be a two player seven button layout, with pinball controls on the side.  First of all I have got a list of parts going that I think should cover everything I need.  If I missed anything let me know.

KeyWiz Max 1.5                                                                             $34.95
KeyWiz40-ST                                                                               $35.95
Player 1 Pushbutton                                                                     $1.40
Player 2 Pushbutton                                                                     $1.40
Black Horizontal Pushbutton - HAPP™- Microswitch Cherry™     X25  $30.00
HAPP™ Competition Arcade Joystick - BLACK X2                          $16.98
Smooth Black 3/4-inch T-Molding                                                                                                   $4.00
Female Quick Disconnects .187       (50)                                       $3.49
Budget Crimping Tool With Connects                                            $2.49
20 Gauge wire (how many feet?)

First question is which encoder should I get? Those are the two I was looking at but am open for suggestions. Will the competition joysticks work fine for playing mainly fighting games and possible a few older games such as pacman?  Also doing this with limited experience is it really hard to figure out?  I have someone that will cut all the wood for me which is a plus seeings how that is not my strong point.  Also any other pointers, help or parts that are needed would be great to know.  I think that is everything I had questions on and thanks in advance for any help.

[fjl]

What about a spinner and a trackball? You also didn't include the total for the 7 buttons for each player. But you'll need more for admin controls, coin and all the other stuff.

I would go for the Sanwa joysticks. IMO they feel much smoother than the Happs plus they have the option to convert from 8 way to 4 way for switching from fighting games to Pac-man.

DONT get a budget crimping tool. Trust me, you'll end up with more problems than you can imagine. Get a quality tool. I tried a budget crimping tool and nothing would hold or the connections that did hold would break off.

As for wire, I would think 25ft should be enough. But don't quote me on that.

[Malikai]

Ok sounds good for the wire and crimper. I will get a decent one then.  I am figuring 25 buttons in total, that gives me the 14 for two players and then 4 for pinball and a few extras for escape and pause and those controls.  Also what are the spinner and trackball for, I only really can think of golf games that use the trackball. 

[jardine]

Spinner and trackball games list can be found her for you... http://www.mameworld.net/maws/

Just use the nav on the left hand side to get what you want.

Also...make sure you do a template on cardboard or 3mm ply first before you go drilling button holes into the original cp. That way you will see how it all looks first and wether or not every thing is to close or not. Check out what games you really like to play as well...i like Ikari Warriers and Heavy Barrel and realised that they needed a rotary joystick to play after building my cp...!!

The main thing is to read, read, read...do a hell of a lot of searches on this site, you'll be amazed the amount of thing that will help you out. And don't forget to read the WIKI

[Malikai]

O yeah one other thing i forgot, what is the average dimensions for a two player panel?

[jardine]

  how do we know??? What design are you following if any?? Are you gonna make it from scratch?? Maby you should look at buying saints book...massive hep and great read.

You can try this link to: http://spystyle.arcadecontrols.com/01/index77.htm
                                     http://www.jakobud.com/

[Malikai]

Lol yeah good point, sorry was in a hurry and just posted that really quick.  I am thinking about just a basic rectangular design with a slightly slanted top, that way if I ever go with a full cabinet I can just add it on.  I will have to check out the book, was just wondering if anybody had average sizes that they have used.