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EvanW:
Hi All,

  Long time lurker, first time posting. Why? I have FINALLY bought myself a cabinet. For years my wife said we didn't have the room. Until I sneaked an older version of MAME on her computer. Now she is right into it. I picked up a Golden Tee 2005 shell that had the monitor and boards removed. Everything else is in good shape. Working marquee light, speakers, coin door. It's all there. I found a copy of Project Arcade 2 at my local Chapters and set about reading. I plan to add a 4 player control panel to this so my nephews can all enjoy it when they come over. For joysticks so far I have purchased 2 Ultra Stik 360's, and 2 Mag Stik Plus'. I just picked up an IPAC4 and some lit buttons from Starburst in Toronto. After looking through the forum for a few days (and getting led off topic on artwork and other things, I am still confused about a few items. Probably more, once I get into it. The PA2 book is a GREAT source but I can't seem to find direct answers to some of my questions. Mainly encoder types (right vs wrong for my application). I want to light the buttons on the CP (using MALA to light needed controls for a selected game), and am wondering if this is what I need:

1 I-PAC4 (already have)
1 MINI-PAC (want to use the HAPP trackball that came with Golden Tee and hook up i hi-lo spinner for playing DOT) Can the MINI-PAC interface with a HAPP 3" track ball and a Groovy Gear hi low spinner?
1 PACLED64? Not sure about this one as Ultimarc directs me to the PAC-DRIVE for MALA control (am I reading this wrong?)

Any help would be greatly appreciated. And thanks to the site owners for creating and combining this wealth of knowledge!

Thanks,

Evan

Mario:
The Minipac is a keyboard encoder, like the Ipac, so this seems an unnecessary expense. All you want is a mouse interface. Maybe get an Optiwiz trackball interface, or to save money, just hack an old mouse (which is what I did).

Mario

EvanW:
Thanks for the tip!

LeedsFan:

--- Quote from: Mario on November 23, 2011, 11:22:04 pm ---The Minipac is a keyboard encoder, like the Ipac, so this seems an unnecessary expense. All you want is a mouse interface. Maybe get an Optiwiz trackball interface, or to save money, just hack an old mouse (which is what I did).

Mario


--- End quote ---

It depends which version of the Minipac he goes for. I was just gonna say were wrong on this... but I checked Ultimarc's website and it seems they do different versions of it now. Minipac standard is keyboard and buttons only. But Minipac Opti will also handle trackball and mouse. When I bought the Minipac some time back it always handled trackball and mouse but it seems Andy decided to offer different versions.
http://www.ultimarc.com/JShopServer/section.php?xSec=3

If I were the OP I would get the Minipac Opti which will cover all his needs. It's the I-Pac 4 that is the unnecessary expense in that case.

Or... he could go for the Opti-Pac to pair up with his I-Pac he already has. (Or the Opti-Wiz as you already mentioned)
http://www.ultimarc.com/optipac1.html

BobA:
He already has the IPAC 4 so it should be used.   I have to agree with Mario that an optiwiz and or mouse hack is the required equipment to get trackball working.  The lighting can be handled by an LEDwiz from GGG or multiple Pacdrives or the Pacled64 from Ultimarc.    The LEDwiz seems to be the one most often used.

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