Mounting UltraStik 360

[mikeveli20]

Sorry for a noob question, but how does the UltraStik 360 come apart so it can be mounted to a control panel?

[ids]

You don't really take it apart.  What you do depends on whether top mounting or bottom mounting.

For a bottom mount, you just need a hole ~1"?? for the shaft to get through and have enough room to move.  Remove the knob to get it through.

For top mount...not really anything to worry about, that I can think of.

Are you mounting to wood?  5/8" or 3/4"?  Or metal?  I'm guessing you don't have the sticks yet.

[mikeveli20]

It's 3/4" wood. I do have the sticks, but didn't realize you could just unscrew the ball top lol. I thought it would be the same as the mag-stik where you pull the whole stick out or something. Thanks for your help.

[Ginsu Victim]

I certainly hope you ordered the longer shafts if you're bottom-mounting in 3/4" wood.

[ids]

I've bottom mounted in 3/4" with standard length shafts, and don't see any issues.

Perhaps it's a matter of taste, or what we're used to?  I can't debate authenticity, since I haven;t seen a Galaga machine in ...too many years to count.

[TheShanMan]

The longer shafts aren't that much longer anyway. It's whatever works well for you. Not all arcade games had long shafts anyway (e.g. defender).

[Ginsu Victim]

Actually, I'm using the standard shafts bottom mounted in wood and I like it, but some people don't care for it. On my friend's new control panel, they seemed REALLY short, so we made sure to order the long shafts. It made a difference.

[severdhed]

i went with the longer shafts, bottom mounted in a 3/4" panel...with the longer shafts, they were the same height as the x-arcade sticks they were replacing.

i dont think i'd want them any shorter than that

[javeryh]

you can get an extra 3/8" if you route out underneath the panel.  That's what I did and it made a big difference (i also have the long handles).

[Franco B]

You could also [top mount] them too.

[Todd H]

I have my U360's bottom mounted in my 5/8" control panel using the longer handles and find the height perfect.

[paulscade]

Be sure to consider the orientation when mounting the 360's... they are not square and there is a top/bottom.  When I mounted mine "wrong", I didn't think that it would be too much of an issue (because I could simply program which way is up).... but then I realized that you can't program the direction for the analog mode.

In the end, there was a simple fix that I had overlooked:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=82241.msg896290#msg896290

[Kayden]

I top mounted my 360s.  It's only hard if you don't already have a router. 

I had a template that I designed in viso and transfered the dimensions of the metal plate to my CP with carbon paper.  In the center of the joystick hole, I drilled a 1/2" hole and inserted my joystick upside down.  I traced the plastic housing and then cut it out with a jigsaw.  Then I routed out the rest to a depth of about 1/8".  The plate sits flush with the top.

Sorry if this doesn't make as much sense as I want it to, I'm kinda sleep deprived.