Lightgun owners: How do you have it connected through your cab?

[Sasquatch!]

I'd like to have lightguns on my next cabinet, but I'm trying to think of an elegant way to have the wiring coming OUT of the cabinet.  Fishing the wires through the coin door is what I first thought of, but that ain't exactly "elegant".  

My absolute preferred method would be for the guns to be detachable - maybe by having ports underneath the control panel that the guns could plug into.  I don't think that I necessary want them to be always connected, if possible.  I know that someone here made an attempt to modify them so that they could be plugged/unplugged, but if I remember right, it didn't work.

On the off chance that it won't work, what else would y'all recommend?  Underneath the control panel?  Backside of the control panel?  I open to anything!  

[fogman]

Check out this link.  You can get a mounting plate from the same site.  You can mount this right on top of the CP (like I am) so that you can plug in different USB controllers as necessary or mount it underneath.

http://datapro.datapro.net/products/1598.html

Hope it helps.

[Pungo76]

I don't have a light gun, but was thinking of adding one.  My cabinet control panel is hinged from the front, so easily flips up.  I currently have the keyboard inside, so I just open it up and pull it out, cord runs out the back, then set on top.  Also keep my restrictor plates inside.  So my plan was to do the same for the light gun, when needed open up control panel, grab the gun, close it and play, when done put it back in and never know it was there.

[papaschtroumpf]

My CP has a USB hub built in, I got a cheap model meant to mount inside a 3"5 floppy drive bay so it's flush with the CP front. Because the CP top overhangs the CP "box" a little bit, the hub is out of sight but handy for plugging an extra controller, driving wheel or (I wish I had one!) light gun.

[Hammerbot]

I'm doing a holster that is mounted to a drawer that will slide out of the coin door. That way I can lock it away when I am away.

Not done yet, but the picture I have in my head is sweeeeet....

[slug54]

I made a holster for mine also.
It hangs on the side out of the way when not in use.
here is a link to my webite with some info on how I did it.

http://home.insightbb.com/~anson66/gun.htm

The page hasn't been updated in over a year though.

                            Slug

[Sasquatch!]

I made a holster for mine also.
It hangs on the side out of the way when not in use.
here is a link to my webite with some info on how I did it.

http://home.insightbb.com/~anson66/gun.htm

Not bad!  Thanks for the link.

By the way, for those suggesting having a USB port mounted on the cab, that won't work.  As slug54's site says, "The cable from the gun to the big box that the monitor plugs into is permanently attached. "

Hey slug, there are eight wires, aren't there?  If so, couldn't one just crimp an RJ45 onto the cable and then mount an RJ45 plug onto the cab?  (Although, I seem to remember that this wouldn't work for some reason, but I can't find that original thread...).

[GamingGreg]

The light gun would need more than a USB hub to plug into.  It needs to be hooked to your VGA out (or TV out) connectors as well.   Not real easy to move that to the front of the cabinet.

I'm not sure why the RJ45 idea wouldn't work as long as everything else is hooked up properly on the inside.  Perhaps it's something to do with the gauge of the wire, but I don't really know.  

I wish I could find that old thread for you as well, but for some reason the search on this forum doesn't work really well on finding older stuff.  Not sure why.

I'm planning on adding a couple of light guns to my cabinet sometime (probably using Analog+ MAME to get two player support).  My CP comes completely off, so for me it's just a matter of cutting a couple of U slots just underneath the CP, and adding some holsters.  The cord length may still be a concern though.  Also, I've heard of some people using plastic car cup holders as holsters.  They could also be lined with felt, leather, nagahide, etc. as well.

Good Luck!

[slug54]

There are 8 wires.
I didn't go the cat5 route even though I have wall plates punch down tool and cat5 cable is because
this type of connector wont take a lot of pulling and twisting on it before the cable will start to work out of the connector. I just wanted something more durable.
my cab gets alot of abuse and I didnt want the gun connection to get flakey.
                       Slug

[Sasquatch!]

I wish I could find that old thread for you as well, but for some reason the search on this forum doesn't work really well on finding older stuff.  Not sure why.

Yeah, the search feature is POO.    I found the thread though:
http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=6288;start=msg45777

AX seems to have found a workaround, but I'm not entirely clear on what/how exactly he did.  I emailed him to get clarification, so hopefully he'll answer me.