Converting Area 51 Cab

[Beeman]

Hey everyone.. I'm converting a control panel from an Area 51 cabinet (i took the guns/plexi off and there are 2 setups for 1 controller and 3 buttons on each side.)

I'm looking at buttons and controllers from groovygamegear at the moment and am trying to figure out exactly what it is that I need to buy.
I assume that size wise, a button is a button is a button.. But that you can spend a bit more and get nicer switches etc.

My main question is by looking at groovygamegear I can't find dimensions for any of the joysticks on their site.. Maybe i'm just not looking in the right places. But what I'm leaning towards are the Happ Competition sticks.. I think they're just under $9 each. So i'll probably grab 2 of those, a handful of buttons, and a interface board.

Does anyone happen to have the dimensions for the happ joysticks? Also when using an interface board for a PC what particular board would you recommend for the amount of buttons I'm talking about here..

Thanks for the input/help

[Siris]

Happ has the dimensions of most of their sticks on their site example:

http://happcontrols.com/joysticks/competition_joy_e.htm

Just go to the the stick you are considering and click the Mounting and Exploded Views button.

[releasedtruth]

If you're comfortable being able to pretty much only play 8-way games, the competition is a great stick. I use them myself. Many will attempt to persuade you to get the delightful U360s which, while expensive, are far more versatile.

[bkenobi]

Please post pictures of your progress (when you get going...assuming you haven't started yet).  I built an Area 51 a few years back and I'd like to see someone else's take on it!