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Swappable CPs design input/questions...

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jfunk:
OK, so I'm building my first cab!  I'm in planning phases but plan to build the bulk of the cabinet this weekend.  Nothing like a bit of warm weather and a free Saturday to get things started!

Anyways, my questions regard 'swappable control panels'...  I'm doing almost everything by "The Book"  :)  In there, Saint mentions creating different control panels and hot-swapping them..  But I didn't see much in the way of elaboration.  I've searched the board, but haven't found much.  Maybe I'm using the wrong terms..  After all, I am a newbie..  :)

I've actually thought of a couple of ways to do this:

#1 - EXPENSIVE - I could just attach a USB IPAC to each CP I build.  Just unplug/replug the USB cable, and you're up and running.  Each could have it's very own programmed prom and everything..  But yikes, what a cost!

#2 - COMPLEX - Could create some sort of 'wiring harness'..  Just plug in the harness to a common IPAC and away you go.  Would just have to match up the wires on both sides of the harness and make sure they're the same for each CP.  A pain, but possible.  Not sure what parts I'd need, though...

What have others done?  I really want 3 different CPs..  I'm going to post my 'first draft' pics of each here for opinions on them.  The one I'm DEFINITELY going to do is what I call my EVERYDAY CP.  It's shown below.  I'll post my Q-Bert CP and my Fighter CP next...

My Everyday CP will have 2 Ultimarc T-Stik Pluses..  I want that 4/8-way swappability (is that a word?!)  If I can get an inexpensive, yet quality, 3" trackball (like from Peale), I'll keep the 3"er..  But I may just go with a 2.25" one from Ultimarc.  I'm not going to play any spinner games, so no spinner...  The templates are taken from "The Book"..  The buttons are in the '7-button Medium Fighter' layout..  Thoughts?

jfunk:
Here's my Q-Bert/Congo Bongo CP..  Just using an Ultimarc J-Stik rotated 45 degrees counter-clockwise.  I added 2 buttons on each side for lefties and righties.. However, I'm pretty sure I'll only need one on each side?

The rest is pretty straight-forward.  Are there any other games besides Q-Bert (and it's variations) and Congo Bongo that need this type of layout?  Not that it matters..  I like the games enough to have a dedicated panel for them  :)

THANX AGAIN!

jfunk:
The Fighter CP is my final one.  Again the '7-button Medium Fighter' layout from the templates..  A Happs Competition for each player.  This gets rid of the trackball for extra room, and provides a better joystick for hitting those diagonals..  Pretty simple.

Is the 'Neo Geo' button really worth it?  I'm not even sure how it's mapped, but I know this is a popular layout..  Does the mapping go:

 1 2 3
 4 5 6
7

or is there some other mapping that is common?  Is the 7 button a duplicate of one of hte main 6?  It's been so long since I've played some of these things in the arcade that I can't think of the best config for them!

Looking at the pic, I might switch the P# Start and P# Coin buttons..  They seem backwards..

Really looking forward to everyones thoughts!  I know these aren't the most original layouts, but hey, I want functionality over originality!!  :)

THANX!

SOAPboy:
well.. id reckon you could use RJ 45 jacks to "swap" out the CPs..

jfunk:
That's a great idea!  You get so focused on one or two thoughts, and you miss things like that  :)

Will Cat5 be thick enough wiring?

Thanx!

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