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I tried mapping the second stick a la robotron but it doesn't seem to work for me at all. Perhaps it's because of the mame version used on the raspberry pi.  I'll have to double check on my windows pc to see if I can map it to the second stick .

The problem could be that the gamepad's thumbsticks are in analog mode instead of digital mode.
- When my knockoff USB PlayStation2 controller is in digital mode, the left thumbstick shows up as four D-pad directions and the right thumbstick shows up as four button presses.


Scott

i think whats thrown me off track is my colourblindness, firstly i see the green line and the green dotted line. but the line also to the zero delay unit looks green to me. but it is red.

Sorry about my confusing color choices.   

How about orange instead of green?

my only concern is the 12v relay, this is being triggered by a 12v signal from the mech, but the zero delay unit cant have 12v going through it, so im thinking.. the zener needs to be applied to the right side (the "no" output of the relay).

With a relay, the coil side (VCC, GND, and IN1) on the left of this relay diagram is electrically separate from the contacts side (COM, NO, and NC) on the right.



The coil side is like your hand moving a light switch and the contact side is like the wiring contacts for the light switch.

When you turn a light switch on and off, the switch contacts move (mechanical control of the connection), but the electricity to power the light does not flow through your hand or the part of the switch lever that you touch. (no electrical connection between your hand and the wiring)

Your active low relay has 12v on the coil side coming from the 12v power in and the coin mech signal line.
- The contacts side has the 5v COM coming from the ZD encoder and wires leading from NO to the 5v inputs on the encoder and timer relay.
- The 12v on the coil side is electrically separate from the 5v on the contacts side so there's no need for a zener diode on the contacts side.
- You would only need a zener diode to regulate the 12v signal line from the coin mech down to 5v if you had a relay module input that would be damaged by 12v.

Your timer relay's coil side uses 12v to power the coil and a 5v control input.
- The module's circuit design keeps the 12v operating voltage for the relay from feeding back through the 5v input line
- The contacts side uses 12v on COM to power the beacon on NO.
- The 12v is only on the COM terminal because you connected an external wire with 12v to the COM terminal.  It did not come through the relay's coil side circuit.


Scott

Thanks for the detailed response.  I tried mapping the second stick a la robotron but it doesn't seem to work for me at all. Perhaps it's because of the mame version used on the raspberry pi.  I'll have to double check on my windows pc to see if I can map it to the second stick .

The video is a nice glimpse of how it plays using the proper controls. Hopefully I can find a way for it to play using a control pad. I still think having a spinmame "hack" would serve better but let's see if I can figure out a way to map as you suggest.

One game that drives me nuts and is outright unplayable is Front line because of its use of a digital rotary instead of a standard spinner.  Would there be a way to modify its control so that we could play the game and remap the arm movement to an analog spinner, which on a control pad could be the L or R buttons or Left Trigger / Right trigger?   Games like Tron are superbly playable by mapping them to a controller via the L/R buttons.  nothing beats a spinner but at least in letting us map that control to those two buttons, it's playable.  Front line without, is not playable at all on a control pad

Front Line is one of six games that use a "Taito Aim-n-Fire" style controller:
- Front Line
- The Tin Star
- Wild Western
- Sheriff (Nintendo)
- Bandido (Exidy -- licensed re-release of Sheriff)
- Western Gun Part II (Taito -- licensed re-release of Sheriff)

 

The "Aim-n-Fire" acts like a top-fire 8-way joystick where a cardinal direction (U/D/L/R) or diagonal is always pressed.   It is used to . . . aim and fire.   
- On a twin-stick cab (think Robotron), you can map the right stick to both the aim inputs and the fire input.
- You should be able to do the same with a gamepad that has twin thumbsticks.   

Another option is the rotary joystick from GRS.  They are available as a stick you can install on your cab or as a fightstick.

With the right settings in MAME, the appropriate mode selected, and the correct handle installed, this stick works like these specialized controllers:
- Mechanical rotary joystick
- Optical rotary joystick
- Taito Aim-n-Fire
- Atari Twist-to-Turn joystick (Xybots)
- Push/Pull spinner

Front Line gameplay shown from 49:20 - 56:23.




Scott

Hello all, I hope someone here has built a sim racing machine. I have the controls picked out but now need the monitor, the cockpit, and then the individual accessories, monitor stand, shifter holder, seat, etc.

Please let me know what you would do differently or any success you may have had

thank you again for your reply.
I dont know whats up with me. I can look at the diagram all day long (am currently in bed still puzzling over it before i go to sleep lol) when it comes to connecting it to the actual devices, you could swear ive never seen that diagram in my life XD

like its so simple to follow as well but today im like.. "in1".. is that why its not working? is this not a trigger? why is a active low relay not triggering with an active low signal?
(adjusts header to active high).. "right now it should work"...

doesnt work..

so i get stuck at that point researching the module again if i got the right one.

i think whats thrown me off track is my colourblindness, firstly i see the green line and the green dotted line. but the line also to the zero delay unit looks green to me. but it is red.
so in my mind is "green is 5v".

in the diagram it shows the zener diode connected to the trigger of the 12v active low module. so im thinking then "aha! so the trigger must be 5v for the whole circuit as the trigger for the timer delay module activated at 5v. and 5v must go to the zero delay panel, it must also be 5v for the active high/low unit... right?

the module has a 12v trigger and outputs 12v.

this module in the "in1" its only a 12v trigger that activated it, so it wasnt activating the relay when the timer was triggered, the timer works for a 5v trigger, but it has to be 12v for the other relay. making me then think its not working..

so if the coin mech outputs 12v, then this is all good. ive just stumbled over my own feet.

my mistake for testing it without the mech (i tested with just a 12v supply for the circuit and a 5v line inbetween a manual button switch to simulate a 5v trigger).

tomorrow evening i will properly get it all connected and should be all good to go.
just wish my brain would delete all of the useless info built up over the years and get this diagram in there permanently.

this and lighting circuits always confuse me for some reason i have no idea why!!

my only concern is the 12v relay, this is being triggered by a 12v signal from the mech, but the zero delay unit cant have 12v going through it, so im thinking.. the zener needs to be applied to the right side (the "no" output of the relay)..

im probably totally gettng this wrong again.

i will check 1) as you say with the jumper of the -dc to the in1 to see if it triggers (there is a jumper i can switch between high and low)
2) just connect everything as you say and not overthink it XD

have not been around this forum for a while and a google search brought me back here.

So what brought me here?  Something similar but for a different game.  I have a retropie system to play retro games (along with mame on the PC like most civilized fans eheh).  One game that drives me nuts and is outright unplayable is Front line because of its use of a digital rotary instead of a standard spinner.  Would there be a way to modify its control so that we could play the game and remap the arm movement to an analog spinner, which on a control pad could be the L or R buttons or Left Trigger / Right trigger?   Games like Tron are superbly playable by mapping them to a controller via the L/R buttons.  nothing beats a spinner but at least in letting us map that control to those two buttons, it's playable.  Front line without, is not playable at all on a control pad

anyway just a thought

There's a line about a fix for Manic Panic Ghost in the changelog

EDIT - I have figured out my mistake. I attached the zener diode so that the "in1, or "trigger" input is downgraded to a 5v signal. This module requires a 12v signal input, I have to connect the zener diode to the right side output of the relay to the zero delay joystick module.

The module needs a 12v input so you don't need a zener diode for the green line.

You don't need a zener diode for the red and purple because they are 5v lines.


Scott

When I trigger the timer module with a 5v trigger signal; the timer works, relay clicks, and powers on the beacon just fine but I hear no click of the relay for the active high/low module. there is a power light on the module though.

The module I have the 12v active low relay set up, the connections on the left are dc+, dc-, and in1. on the right its no, com and nc. in your diagram it says trigger, but there is no connection for "trigger" just "in1".

Glad to hear that the timer relay is working for you.  As long as the ZD encoder can provide enough current to trigger the relay, that part of the setup will be fine.   

The following reaction chain is a one-way street.
- If you manually trigger the relay in step 2, the chain will continue down the list.
- If you manually trigger the relay in step 4, it won't go up the list to trigger the relay in step 2.  That's why you didnt get a click from the active low relay when you triggered the timer relay.
1. When a coin is dropped into the mech, the green line pulses LOW.
2. That LOW triggers the relay which momentarily connects COM (red) and NO. (purple)
3. That connection applies 5v from the ZD encoder common (red) to the ZD encoder input (purple) and the delay relay trigger. (dotted purple)
4a.When the ZD encoder input (purple) has 5v applied, the encoder outputs a button press via USB
4b. When the timer relay input (dotted purple) has 5v applied, it triggers the timer relay which connects 12v COM (yellow) to NO (blue) for the set time period.
5. While that relay is closed, 12v is applied to the beacon so it lights up.

"in1" (Input 1) is the control input that you use to trigger the relay.  Different labels, same function.

To trigger the active low relay, you need to apply logic LOW (ground) to "in1". (green line)
- Try touching a jumper wire from "dc-" to "in1".

If the relay clicks, power down and hook everything up like the diagram to confirm that everything does work together.

If the relay doesn't click, you might not have the high/low jumper set right or if there's no jumper they might have sent you an active high relay or you might have a defective relay module.
- Set your multimeter to DCV and check if "in1" is logic HIGH or LOW.  It should be HIGH if the relay is active low.
- Post pics and/or a link to the relay you ordered.


Scott