Build Your Own Arcade Controls FAQ Message Board
A forum for the discussion of building genuine arcade controls for use with personal computers.
Build Your Own Arcade Controls FAQ


Some people don't understand.
by Cameron

I just pitched the idea of where my super cabinet was going to go to my wife. She said "No Way". 

She wants me to keep it in the garage or in the basement. Crap! 

It is rather large. It is 99" high, 45" wide and 66" deep. :)

I could probably put it in my office, but the ceiling in there is only 96" high. I would have to make some form of modification to the height of the cabinet. Plus I would have to totally disassemble the whole darn thing to get it up the stairs. 

I don't know about you guys, but most people think I am posessed or crazy or something when it comes to this subject of building my own emulation cabinet, but to me it is a dream come true from my childhood. 

Well anyway, thanks for the group therapy.

CJ 

Posted on May 09 1999, 08:34 AM
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Eventually unbeliever's come around
by saint

Have your wife talk to VoodooChile's wife :) Maybe they and my wife can form an arcade cabinet widow's club.

--- saint

Posted on May 09 1999, 09:49 AM
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Sinistar's joystick: 8-way?
by Desmond

I heard a long time ago that Sinistar used
a 16-direction joystick. Is this the same
as an 8-way joystick? I'm sort of confused,
as the 4-way joysticks can do 8 directions
4 + 4 diagonal, so does the 8-way do 16, and
if so is there any way to set Sinistar up
to take advantage of the extra 8 directions?

(Analog joystics seem to work fine, btw)

Thanks!

Posted on May 08 1999, 12:49 AM
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Sinistar's joystick: 8-way?
by Desmond

I heard a long time ago that Sinistar used
a 16-direction joystick. Is this the same
as an 8-way joystick? I'm sort of confused,
as the 4-way joysticks can do 8 directions
4 + 4 diagonal, so does the 8-way do 16, and
if so is there any way to set Sinistar up
to take advantage of the extra 8 directions?

(Analog joystics seem to work fine, btw)

Thanks!

Posted on May 07 1999, 10:24 PM
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Untitled
by Xiaou2
 

Sinistar used a 49-way opto Joystick. 

Basically, it was an Analouge joystick, but instead of using pots to get the values, it used optos (light sensing devices). 

Regular Analouge should be exactly the same.
 

Sinistar Rokz !!!

Peace
:)

Posted on May 07 1999, 11:47 PM
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No kidding!
by Desmond

How do you know, if you don't mind me
asking?

Now I have to find a nice arcade-style
analog stick. (Any hints?)

Des

Posted on May 08 1999, 12:51 AM
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49 way joystick
by Ray Iddings

HAPP Controls has a 49 way joystick

Part Number is: A-219391-1

Its a little pricey at 98 bucks though.
 

See Ya

Ray Iddings

Posted on May 08 1999, 09:00 AM
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AnaJoyz
by Xiaou2

I happened to visit a lot of web pages, and one was a dedicated sinistar site. Thats how I found out about the 49 way opto. 

But, I dont know if I would recomend using one, as they might not interface with your pc to well.

Might as well stick to normal analouge sticks. 

As far as a recomendation...well, it really dosnt matter - but what you should look 4 is one that feels 'smooth' all arround. Some of the analouge sticks have a double spring system that snaps the joy to the center - but it feels jerky. The best ones have ont one spring, and its mounted in the center bottom. That makes a big difference in the 'feel' of control. Believe it or not, you can find nice ones for $10 !!! Most times the cheapies, are better than the bigger expensive ones!!!

If possible, take the stick out of the box, and rotate it in circles. If it feels nice and smooth - vs -
jerky and resistive, then your good to go.

Happy Hunting,
:)

Posted on May 08 1999, 11:10 AM
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Joystick
by Desmond

Don't know how many stores I've been to, but
I can't seem to find a non-flight-sim joystick.
(for the pc) It really makes me wonder...

Thanks for the info.

Des

Posted on May 09 1999, 01:47 AM
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XMAME vs. DOS MAME for Arcade Cabinets
by Nate

Just wondering if anyone out there has used XMAME (for Linux) on their arcade machine rather than MAME or MAME32...would there be any benefits at all of running XMAME over its Wintel counterparts? If you know of anything, please post it here or email me personally as I am trying to decide which operating system I want to use on my project (pictures will be up shortly).

Nate

Posted on May 07 1999, 08:58 PM
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xmame.svgalib?
by Desmond

If you can get all of the odd resolutions
configured (using scitech), then I vote for
xmame. 1. No royalties to MS. 2. Real virtual
memory in Linux. 3. You can script your own
menu system with perl and curses or ansiterm.

Yeah, I'm slightly biased.

Des

Posted on May 07 1999, 10:17 PM
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I am planning on using Linux and xmame
by Bill Lash

I am planning on using Linux and xmame for my project, mainly because I like Linux and am very used to it. Also, any time I try to install a Microsoft product it always takes 10 times longer than my most pessimistic estimate. It's probably my subconcious punishing me for using a Microsoft product.

Anyway, a few things that I think Linux brings to the table, are the ability to remotely administer the machine (hook it up to your home network with a cheap ethernet card, and when a new version of xmame comes out, you should be able to put it on the machine remotely). You wouldn't necessarily need a keyboard hidden in the machine. I also want to rip most of my CDs into MP3s and have the MAME machine double as an MP3 jukebox. There are probably other things that could be done with a multitasking system as well. I also think that Linux's device model might alow easier switching between input devices if, say you have multiple control panels that you would like to use. 

The major downside that I can see is that a lot of people have put a lot of work into doing things under DOS. ArcadeOS and CabMame look great for running mame on a dedicated system.

Posted on May 08 1999, 01:00 PM
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Linux vs Windoze
by saint

Well, I'm a big proponent of Linux, and think it's a great choice. However, the reasons you stated can also be accomplished quite handily under Windoze 9x with a peer to peer ethernet network.

But I like Linux :)

Posted on May 08 1999, 03:54 PM
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What is easy for some is hard for others
by Bill Lash

As I said in my previous message, anything I try to do under windows seems to take forever to get working. Ethernet networking was the worst such experience that I had with Win95.

Anyway, I am sure that you could do the same sorts of things with Win9x. I don't want to turn this into an OS advocacy discussion. I just think it would be easier for me to do these things under Linux.

Posted on May 08 1999, 05:58 PM
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REAL Advantages of Linux over Windows
by Nate

OK, I expected to get a lot of "Microsoft sucks" messages but there havent been too many of those...what I'd really like to know is if there are any performance advantages to using XMAME over MAME or MAME32...I heard that XMAME can use a 3D card to render images, is this true? Will games play any faster w/ xmame opposed to MAME?

Posted on May 09 1999, 01:50 AM
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No argument there
by saint

Oh, nodnod no religious (O/S) debates here :) I dual boot Linux/Win9x myself depending on need. Nothing beats actually having a shell account on your machine when you're on the net for some serious work.

--- saint

Posted on May 09 1999, 09:51 AM
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that reminds me...
by Desmond

Both snes9x and xmame have support for
networked multiplayer.

Posted on May 09 1999, 01:53 AM
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DOS version is faster (use DR-DOS if anti-MS)
by Dave Dribin
 

I really wanted to use XMAME for for my cabinet as I really like Linux. I didn't even own a MS operating system and I wasn't about to buy one just for MAME. I ended up downloading a copy of Caldera's DR-DOS, so I could stick to my guns. DR-DOS has worked out very nice.

I've found XMAME to be a little slower the the DOS version, however, even when using XMAME in DGA mode. Plus, DGA mode did not seem to work for some 640x480 games. I do not have a 3D card, so I cannot say if this has any affect. I would guess that for most games, 3D acceleration would not help out. It depends what you want to play. Pac-Man is not a going to benefit from 3D acceleration.

I had a few other reasons for not choosing XMAME. Not all Linux emulators used full screen mode (Stella, for example) which doesn't look as nice. There are more frontends available for the DOS version, and those frontends already support multiple emulators. More emulators are available. I really wanted a NES emulator, and NESticle blows away the X version of iNES. So, I went with DOS. It's faster, worked better, looks better, has more frontends, and supports more emulators.

So as not to be too one sided, the parts I liked about XMAME was it ran under Linux so it could be scripted easily. It has better joystick support. I could use a cryptographic file system and it could use networking. The DOS advantages far outweith these, for my situation.

Oh yeah, I remember reading a post on the XMAME mailing list that said something like the DOS version is the fastest, XMAME (in full screen mode) is a about 5% slower, and MAME32 is about 5% slower still. I cannot verify any of these numbers, so take with a grain of salt.

-Dave

Posted on May 09 1999, 08:45 AM
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Wico trackball question...
by Cameron

Can you use the happ trackball interface with the wico trackball? Their trackball is about $20 cheaper and comes stock with a translucent ball.

Thanks...

Cameron

p.s. The Wico guy said that their trackballs are virtually identical to the happ ones.

p.p.s. Do any of you guys use the wico? If so, please let me know how it is.

Thanks again...

Posted on May 07 1999, 06:55 PM
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My little project.
by Cameron

Ha ha! My cabinet project is going along well. I acquired a Cadillac Jack cabinet. It is huge! When I finish assembling it, it will be 99" high!

It will house a 27" svga display and I just ordered the parts of the pc that I am going to build for it. I am sending the art for the Marquee off to the sign company tomorrow. The marquee is approximately 41" X 12.5", so I am going to have a professional do the transfer to backlit medium. The control panel sits about 30" away from the main part of the cabinet. it has some minor similarities to some of the dedicated arcades that you see these days. 

My control panel, is a conversion from a Mortal Kombat 3 machine. The joysticks are in great shape and they each have six buttons. I will probably buy the Wico 3" trackball, and the happ mouse interface. I just received my KE24 fast today. :)

I got my twistygrip spinner last week and it is working great.

I just ordered the rf wireless keyboard and scrolling mouse from Logitech. I hear that they are really good. I also ordered the Cabridge FPS2000 5 speaker surround sound unit for the cab.

One last little thing... I found this cool stuff that is a plastic tubing with colored lights in it. I bought 30' of the stuff in blue and I hope that it is cool!

Thanks for listening. Nobody else understands my craziness.

Cameron

Please let me know if you have any suggestions.

Thx.

Posted on May 07 1999, 06:52 PM
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I'm new at this, so I'm going to need some help...
by Steve

1. What is a microswitch? 
2. I'm making an arcade stick for my video game systems. Should I go with an 8-way or 4-way stick? Or should I get a switchable one?
3. What's the best brand of buttons?
That's all for now, see ya later!

Posted on May 07 1999, 02:48 PM
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questions
by Andy Desak
 

1. What is a microswitch? 

A microswitch is used in joysticks and pushbuttons. It is simply a momentary contact switch that is activated by pushing a pushbutton or moving a joystick.
An alternative to microswicthes are leaf switches. 
Instead of a button being pushed two strips of
metal are pushed into each other to make contact.
Some people prefer these to microswitches because they do not make the noise that microswitches make.

2. I'm making an arcade stick for my video game systems. Should I go with an 8-way or
4-way stick? Or should I get a switchable one?

You might as well get the switchable one...they do not cost anymore and if you need to have the 4/8 way option it will be there.
I have heard people complain about games such as Pacman which uses a 4 way joystick not functioning as well with an 8 way joystick.

3. What's the best brand of buttons?
Happ and Wico are both excellent choices.
http://www.happcontrols.com/gaming/gaming.htm
http://www.wicothesource.com/home.html

-Andy Desak 
Arcade Solutions

That's all for now, see ya later!

Posted on May 07 1999, 06:16 PM
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Help me avoid electro-shock therapy. A monitor question.
by Ryan Osborn

I've seen the projects that have monitors that can be easily rotated. I want to do that with my cabinet. What steps should I follow to discharge any voltage left on a monitor so that I can safely handle it?

Posted on May 07 1999, 12:04 PM
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discharge monitors
by MATT(V)

Not quite sure what you mean here, if you mean "how do I stop my monitor killing me when I take the cover off and start poking around" then the easiest way is simply to leave it unplugged from the wall socket for a few days, basicly the longer it has been unplugged for the smaller shock you will get.
The reason monitors can give you a bit of a jolt is that there are some pretty fair sized capicitors in them, when you leave them unplugged they eventualy run down.
If you want to discharge the capictiors every time you rotate the monitor I can't help. There must be a (safe) way but I don't know what it is. I suspose you could rig up some sort of momentary switch for the big ones and flick that every time you wanted to mess with it but that could well blow up your monitor.
Disclaimer: Im not an Electrical engenear, or an electrician, I think credit cards are tools of the devil and I don't which end of a soldering iron to hold, if you try any of the things I have sugested here and get killed don't come crying yo me

Posted on May 08 1999, 03:20 AM
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WARNING! How to and warning
by saint

I've contemplated posting this for a long time now, but haven't because I consider it dangerous. However, here's how I discharge monitors.

Standard disclaimer, but serious. Read it. Not only can you shock yourself, you can get nasty collateral damage. The force of the shock could send your arm flying into sharp metal, glass, etc... Someone one posted that after shocking themselves on their monitor they had flung their screwdriver into a wall so hard it stuck. Also, if you drop the monitor, it will probably implode - read that as a mini-bomb going off with you at ground zero. Glass shards can't be fun. BE CAREFUL!

-----

Here's how I do it.

Take a long long thin flat blade screwdriver with plastic non-conductive handle. Take an extension cord. Strip off several inches from both ends of the cord exposing the copper wire.

Wrap the copper wire around the metal of the screwdriver near the handle. Make sure it's secure. Take electrical tape and mummyfy the wire so there's none exposed. I not only wrap the wire, but several inches of the screwdriver for good measure below the wire, and up onto the handle so no stray wires poke out where I'm going to grab the handle.

That's your tool. On the monitor you'll see a little suction cup about 1 or 2 inches across. Probably dirty filthy black. Sometimes on top of tube, sometimes bottom, sometimes side :) Big wire coming out of it going into electronics of monitor. Take the exposed wire of your cord, and attach it securely to the metal frame of the monitor. Some folks solder a clamp on this end to make it easier. I just wrap the wire on to the metal frame. 

Put your left hand in your pocket. DO IT. This stops you from inadvertantly grabbing something and shocking yourself, or doing something dumb like trying to grab a falling screwdriver. If something falls get the hell away fast till it's stable. Also, if you are shocked, it keeps the path of electricity away from circulating in your body to your heart, instead going down your body to ground. 

Now, very very carefully slide the flat blade of the screwdriver under the suction cup, slowly. Don't scratch the tube. If there's still juice in the monitor, you'll hear an audible *pop* and probably see a spark. Keep sliding the screwdriver up until you hit metal in the dead center. The suction cup basically covers a thin metal connection into the monitor tube. Once it pops, take it out, wait a moment, do it again to be sure it's totally drained. First time you've done it? Sit down, because it sure scared the hell out of me :)

PRECAUTIONS: Wear rubber gloves. Don't stand on raw concrete (water in concrete == good conducter of electricity == bad for you). Do wear rubber soled shoes. Do stand on something dry and non conductive - a good rug (I stood on a rubber chair first time). Do make sure monitor is securely fastened before mucking with it.

THEORY: You are discharging the capacitor in the monitor. Shorting from the frame to the anode (I think that's the name) under the suction cup discharges the capacitor suddenly, giving the pop and spark. It's like shorting a wire across both terminals of a battery (don't do it :) ). Some monitors discharge themselves slowly over time unplugged, so you won't get a pop. Some don't. Always try to discharge.

DO NOT: Some people have thought, erroneously, that you could put the other end of your wire into a ground somewhere instead of wiring to frame, like grounding an appliance to your house wiring's ground. Don't don't don't. This isn't what you're doing here. This won't short the capacitor in the monitor, and will probably zap the hell out of you.

DISCLAIMER: I'm not an electrician. I have done this several times now, but all my information is based on what I've heard on the net. It could very well be wrong.

Good luck!

Should I make a page with this?

--- saint

Posted on May 08 1999, 11:29 AM
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Please do.
by Minke

Yeah, I just started working on my cabinet, and just took out the old monitor and am building the rotatable base for the new one. For the old, I just tried to be as careful as possible while removing it, but it worried me and discharging it would have made me ten times happier about the whole process. I will follow your directions and discharge the new monitor before mucking mounting and installing it. Thanks!

Minke

Posted on May 08 1999, 08:36 PM
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SNEAK PEEK!
by saint

The page is up, but not linked as I'm asking folks in the know to make sure I haven't advocated anything stupid.

The URL is http://www.arcadecontrols.speedhost.com/arcade_monitors.html

It has some pictures which help illustrate the steps.

Let me know what you think :)

--- saint

Posted on May 09 1999, 09:54 AM
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Using diodes to prevent ghosting
by Kris Hunt

Has anyone used diodes in the controller to 
get around ghosting, i looked at the circuit diagrams at http://195.185.158.36/tricks.htm but he adds a note that he has never actually tested it himself. 

Anyone here connected diodes in series with buttons before?

Help?

:)

Thanks

Posted on May 07 1999, 04:21 AM
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soon, kits will be available
by Tom61

Soon(should be later this week, but knowing my luck, end of the month), I will be selling kits, 2 player first then others.
I also plan to sell everything related such as T-molding, Arcade Paks(for PC and PSX), kits for other than PC(Mac, PSX, etc) and remakes (PC,PSX)(ie Frogger).

The reason there has been a delay in me posting updates (I was expecting to be taking orders a couple of days after the last post) is that my computer has been down.

Posted on May 06 1999, 12:02 PM
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I'M HAVING A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN!!!! :(
by Intensify

Well, I just wanted to apologize to everyone who has been either visiting my web page looking for updates or for pictures..

I've had a slew of problems in the past 3 days.

1.) I learned that the company I work for (where I spend most of my day) has a firewall up, so I can't submit any updated web pages to my site.

2.) My alternator in my car died. Since I spent $900 already on my cabinet, and paid off all my bills, I only have $460 left for the MONTH (I get paid monthly, doesn't that suck?!?), and I have to pay to get the alternator fixed (~$300) :(

3.) The control panel I spent 5 hours designing and cutting and drilling has the buttons placed too far apart... That's not so bad, I figured I'd just use it for a practice wiring board. So I wired one joystick 2 nights ago.. YAY! It worked!!

Then, I tried 2 last night. I spent 5 hours wiring these puppies up, stripping the wires, crimping on the quick-disconnects, using wire-nuts for the common row/column wires... 
Then I plugged it in.

Guess what?!?!?!?!?!?

NOTHING WORKED!! NOT ONE LITTLE TINY BUTTON!!!!!! ARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

On TOP of that, The Polaroid camera my girlfriend was SUPPOSED to give to me on SUNDAY still hasn't turned up. I'm gonna go buy one today, I think.

Maybe you'll see some updates soon. (I hope).

Sorry for the inconvenience! :)
(god, I sound like the BLEEM! team.. :) ). 

--Intensify
(Michael P. Gerety)
(http://barcade.home.dhs.org)

Posted on May 06 1999, 06:23 AM
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If I could have started over again, I would have ...
by Paul Leskowitz

I am in the process of building my machine. I am eager to read from you changes or extra features you would have added. I have a list of wants that I plan to add. Any ideas?

wireless keyboard
credits given through pushing coin return
beer holder
easily removeable control panel 

Posted on May 05 1999, 09:53 PM
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If I could...
by Ray Iddings

Well if I did it again (and I am helping a friend)

I'd probably find a bigger cabinnet, now the wife wouldn't like it but when you get a couple of guys playing on my cabinet...its close.

Thats about it though...
 

Ray

Posted on May 06 1999, 09:08 AM
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Realism
by Desmond

> wireless keyboard
> credits given through pushing coin return

Hmmm... more satisfying dropping quarters
into the machine for credits. Get a lock for
it, and give the key to your wife. More fun
when you are really paying for it, IMTO.

Posted on May 09 1999, 02:04 AM
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PowerRamp Mite
by Minke

The (amazing) Roswell Project used the PCB from a PowerRamp joystick (which uses a passthru cable from your keyboard into the computer. It has a joystick (which simulates the arrow keys) and 14 programmable buttons.

Based on a review (linked from Saint's site?) that I read on the Powerramp Mite ($30 + s/h), and after some research (trying to make sure that it at least *sounded* like it would work similarly) I've purchased and received my Mite.

The Mite is a much smaller unit, about the size of a PSX controller, but has joystick (arrow keys) plus *16* programmable buttons. And it's $10 cheaper than the PowerRamp.

At any rate, I've checked out the little PCB and it looks workable, but I was wondering if anyone here has gone this route or has heard things, bad or good, about this method of keystroke capture.

Oh, I'm planning on running wires from the PCB into a standard computer connector (like a serial or SCSI connector) and mounting that to the cabinet underneath where the control panel would be, in the back under the middle front of the monitor. So, then the interchangeable control panels would have the matching connector dangling down and ready to plug into the the cabinet's connector.

That's the idea at this stage. It sorta bothers me, though, that it yields only 20 buttons (4 arrows + 16). That gives me:

2 for # of player
8 for 2 joysticks
(trackball and spinner on separate panels, ala Roswell)
8 for 4 buttons per player
1 for ESC
1 for one coin drop

And that's it. No pause. No second coin.

I could lose a button or two for the players. Or I could set up the 1 player and 2 player buttons with macros (cool PowerRamp feature) so that pressing a "player" button effectively inserts a coin ("3" key) then selects the player ("1" key). That might be okay, although it deviates a bit from the original plan. Sorry thinking outloud here. That would give me back the pause button and allow for targeted coin dropping (I'm pretty sure that at least Gauntlet *requires* that to be player specific).

Alright, I think that's enough mind spew for now. Anyone have any comments?

Minke

Posted on May 05 1999, 01:56 PM
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well...
by Ray Iddings

I guess I didn't catch if your mite has a keyboard passthru. And even if it doesn't and you are running to the serial port, why not get a wireless keyboard. 1 its good for those buttons you sometimes use and hey the pause button is the greatest feature of MAME...no losing that all time high score cuz the phones ringing...(my wife on her days off will play KLAX all day and just hit the pause button while she's doing laundry or whatever) You can really rack up some AMAZING score.

Just a thought.

Ray

Posted on May 05 1999, 04:06 PM
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keyboard passthru...
by Minke

Yeah, the PowerRamp Mite does have a keyboard passthru. I was planning on putting in a keyboard drawer with a keyboard and trackball mouse inside, but my current set of tools is not much to speak of, and I don't treasure the idea of installing a full-blown drawer without the aid of decent tools. So maybe the I/R keyboard would be a reasonable alternative.

I wonder if you could daisy-chain PowerMites. Hmm, that'd give you 40 keys for $60 + s/h. I may have to call the company on that one...

Minke

Posted on May 05 1999, 04:51 PM
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Nope.
by Minke

Actlabs just got back to me. No daisy-chaining PowerRamp Mites. Oh well.

Posted on May 05 1999, 05:29 PM
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Maybe...
by Six Feet Under

I have some Interact 3D Program Pads (Have no idea what the hell makes them "3D"...) They have 18 buttons (8 directions + 10 buttons) and can be used as a 6 button joystick, a 10 button keyboard passthru joystick, or a combo of both. (even has a button for on the fly programming, and you can save as many configurations as you want)

These were supposed to not work daisy-chained, but as long as I don't map them to the same buttons, I can get 3 of them to work at once. I can get a 4th working, but not all the buttons work.

So... you've got 3 people on the ProgramPads, one on a joystick, and another on the keyboard, and you can easily get 5 people playing at once with decent controllers, 'cept whoever is stuck on the keyboard. But they can cheat since they have the keyboard mapped ProgramPad controls right at their finger tips.. hehehe..

Why do I have so many of these joysticks?? Because I loved the Duke Nukem 3D cd that came with it so much I had to have 3 more! Actually not... I found them for only $10 each in the cheap bin at office depot. Everywhere else has them for $40. Nice discount. I would hav gotten more, but my friend showed up when I was clearing out the store of them, and he needed some too :)

Posted on May 05 1999, 09:23 PM
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What about lag?
by Desmond

My powerramp has bigtime lag. Does the
powerramp mite have the same problem? It
makes playing games like Pulstar, etc impossible.

Posted on May 07 1999, 10:05 PM
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Neo Geo/computer arcade sticks, help.. please
by Jason Anthony

Thank you in advance for any responces. I want to build an arcade stick but I was wondering which computer game controller to use, Prefered a USB or fully programmable pad. Any Info? 

Posted on May 04 1999, 07:16 PM
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Help...I can't figure this out
by Ray Iddings

I opened up a Playstation controller so that I could make a arcade controler for my PSX.

I can't figure this board out. 

Here's what I do know:
The L1,L2,R1,R2 buttons both have a common ground, so it seems fairly easy to use one of these contact points for that purpose. 

But for the other buttons I can't figure out which is the open and which is the ground. I suppose I could take the old trust Multimeter to it.

I did look at saint's link to http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Haven/1236/pinouts.htm#conjoy, which has pinouts to PSX controlers but that didn't help me a lot (since most of it is greek to me).

So please help me if you can.
 
 

Ray

Posted on May 04 1999, 08:06 AM
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PSX controller
by Andy Desak

I opened up a Playstation controller so that I could make a arcade controler for my PSX.

I can't figure this board out. 

Here's what I do know:
The L1,L2,R1,R2 buttons both have a common ground, so it seems fairly easy to use one
of these contact points for that purpose. 

But for the other buttons I can't figure out which is the open and which is the ground. I
suppose I could take the old trust Multimeter to it.

****Acutally every button on the controller has the same common ground.

For the other buttons you should be able to see the circuit traces coming from each one.
Find the trace from each button that goes to other buttons and that is the ground as it will hit every button....but an easier way if you cant really see the traces would be to do this....

solder a wire to one of the grounds you are sure of and with the control open load a game that uses most of the controls....when the game is running tap the wire on the connections for each control....if the control responds that is the side you are looking for if nothing happens it is the ground....shorting the ground to ground will not hurt anything (it is the same wire)
Just make sure you dont hit any other connections besides the ones for the buttons.

LMK if you have any other questions.

Andy Desak
Arcade Solutions

I did look at saint's link to
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Haven/1236/pinouts.htm#conjoy, which has
pinouts to PSX controlers but that didn't help me a lot (since most of it is greek to me).

So please help me if you can.

Posted on May 04 1999, 03:48 PM
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Thanks Andy
by Ray Iddings

Well I wire up to what I know is the ground and did your touch wire see if the game moves technic,
tedious but it worked...Thanks a lot.

Ray

Posted on May 05 1999, 07:21 AM
Respond


Cabinet Painting Tips Requested
by Ryan Osborn

I'm in the process of stripping my cabinet and will be ready to paint it (black) soon. What type of paint should I use for the most authentic look? My coin doors may also need to be touched up since they have some scuffs. What paint works best here? Thanks.

Posted on May 04 1999, 07:19 AM
Respond


Paint tips
by Michael Bobroski

I used Sears Brand Satin Flat Black for my cabinet, and it came out pretty authentic. I applied it using cheap, foam brushes. I'm pretty sure any Satin finish will do fine.

As for the coin doors, any glossy black spray paint should look okay. I went with a metallic flake finish, because I came to the point saying, 'I finally got to the point to make my own machine, why stick to standards?'. It's not every day you walk by a machine in an arcade, see two joys, a glowing trackball, and a spinner... I figured I'd throw authenticity out the door.

Take care,
Mike

Posted on May 04 1999, 02:45 PM
Respond


Paint
by Paul Leskowitz

Whatever you do, do not spray paint the cabinet. Trust me on this one. I also went the foam brush route. I am pretty happy. It has a orange peel look but looks good. 

Sand it down 150 and 220 grit paper before you paint it. I had to put four coats before I was truely happy.

Late

Posted on May 04 1999, 09:13 PM
Respond


painting tips
by Stonent

For my cabinet, I sanded using 60,120,200 grit and made it smooth as possible. Then I used a tack cloth to pick up the dust. Then I removed the monitor and laid it on its side and painted using gloss black with foam brushes. I applied it very thick and would very lightly smooth out the pooling of paint by lifting the brush upward while making strokes. In between coats I hand sanded the rough spots and used a tack cloth to pick up the dust. The result after about 4 coats, the cabinet shines like a mirror. I even painted over the "leather textured" T molding and it looks like new. For the back of the cabinet, I thinned the paint to about 4 parts paint and 1 part water. This was just to "freshen up" the paint on the back. I also used this thinned paint to repaint the coin door. 
Hope this helps someone.
StoneNT
Skyscraper.fortunecity.com/cray/209
(My cabinet)

Posted on May 08 1999, 09:29 PM
Respond


Acer cordless keyboard
by Ray Iddings

If you have a compusa close these are only 30 bucks. I got one yesterday for the radical mame machine and its great. works up to 30 feet away has a built in mouse on it (kind of wild how the receiver splits into a keyboard connection and a mouse connection). Works good and was cheap what else can you ask for.

Ray

Posted on May 04 1999, 04:28 AM
Respond


I was thinking about it....
by Intensify

I was thinking about doing that, it WOULD save me the trouble of installing a keyboard drawer in the damn machine.. But those cheezy pointing devices SUCK! :)

Where did you mount the IR receiver?

-- Intensify

Posted on May 05 1999, 12:57 PM
Respond


IR reciever
by Ray Iddings

I painted it black and mounted it between the two speakers that are underneath the marquee.

I just sit it on the control panel (like now) and type away.

Its smaller than a normal keyboard which makes it nice and when I had a regualar keyboard sitting on top of the machine it was just a big pain with the cord and all that. Lets face it for 30 bucks its a pretty cheap feature to add.

Ray

Posted on May 05 1999, 04:11 PM
Respond


Has anyone actually used diodes in a matrix circuit?
by Dave Dribin

I've managed to convince myself (and others, I think) that using diodes is the way to go to get rid of ghosting. But, has anyone actually built a real circuit using diodes? I have tried and it is a big pain in the butt!!

I've mapped out my ideal control panel, and I get around 35 buttons. I can't imagine doing, say, a 7x7 matrix with 30-40 diodes on a piece of perfboard. The wiring is a real pain because a row or column must go to multiple diodes (7 in a 7x7). I am imagining busing the row/column signal would be much easier on a PCB, but I am unwilling to learn how to do my own PCBs just for this one circuit.

I think I'm just going to pop for another KE24 (or LP24) and daisy chain them. The $80-$100 is well worth the time I'll save unless someone can convince me otherwise.

-Dave

Posted on May 03 1999, 10:08 PM
Respond


Yes!!
by Ryan Osborn

I used diodes in my matrix. I didn't have to worry about fixing a ton of them onto a PCB, though. I simply soldered the diodes onto the switches and ran the wires like I was using a diode-less configuration. You lose a "quick" connect, but I can live with that since I can heat a solder connection quicker than I can remove one of those things anyway.

Posted on May 04 1999, 06:55 AM
Respond


Solution? -- No diodes, no extra KE-24
by Michael Bobroski

Dave,

Why not use a hacked keyboard to handle menu/command keys (ESC, ENTER, 1, 2, P, etc.).

Take care,
Mike

Posted on May 04 1999, 02:37 PM
Respond


Good idea, I forgot about hacked keyboards
by Dave Dribin
 

I was hoping to avoid hacking a keyboard, but it is a good idea I forgot about. One disadvantage is I lose the ability to hook up a full keyboard if I go this route. It would occupy the pass thru of the KE-24.

-Dave

Posted on May 04 1999, 10:29 PM
Respond


Use a KB Switch...
by Michael Bobroski

If you're worried about losing the functionality of the KE-24 kb passthru, you could hook up a keyboard switch to swap between your hacked keyboard and your regular keyboard.

Take care,
Mike

Posted on May 05 1999, 03:13 PM
Respond


Easy way to use diodes
by Jim

Here is what I did... hope this helps people.

I used a hacked keyboard for my controller and used diodes to stop the ghosting. The quick connect terminals many people suggested here are the trick. USE THEM!!! They will make your life easier! Anyway... to use the diodes with the quick connects just solder the diode in the wire. It isn't that hard and you don't have to worry about messing up a pcb board or switch cause your soldering skills suck (like mine :). Just cut a piece of wire about 2 inches, strip it and solder it on to diode, cut another piece of wire to length and solder it to the other end of the diode. Make sure to put some heat shrink over the diode when you are done soldering so you don't short anything accidentally. Walla... you now have a wire with a diode in it and you can put quick connects on either or both ends of the wire.

Posted on May 04 1999, 08:52 PM
Respond


Heat shrink, novice (stupid) question, how do they work?
by Dave Dribin
 

Ok, I've seen those heat shrink things in the store. I'll ask this question here as those clerks can be a little snobby sometimes. How do those things work? Do you need some special heater or use a blow dryer or something to get them on? Then you get a nice, air tight connection?

-Dave

Posted on May 04 1999, 10:21 PM
Respond


Heat shrink tubing advice
by Ryan Osborn

I've always used a heat gun with it, but I realize those aren't really a common tool. A lighter will work. Just quickly pass the flame back and forth over the tubing. A hair dryer might work. If it's not shrinking the tube just cup your hand over the intake vent and the air should get hot enough to do the job (DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK). You don't need an airtight seal, just make it tight enough so that it doesn't move. The main objective is to insulate the leads to prevent shorting.

Posted on May 05 1999, 06:59 AM
Respond


Diodes on the switch itself, very elegant: one more question
by Dave Dribin
 

Thanx Ray and Jim! I like this idea a lot. One thing, how do you handle all buttons using the same row or column? Did you have one screw per row/column and attach many wires coming out of it? 

-Dave

Posted on May 04 1999, 10:34 PM
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Re: one more question
by Ryan Osborn

I have only used one screw per row or column. It gets pretty crowded on a few of the screws when using spaded terminals. I had to crimp one terminal onto 3 wires in one case. It may be wise to use multiple screws for the busiest positions.

Posted on May 05 1999, 11:41 AM
Respond


LP24 vs KE24
by Paul Leskowitz

I just bought the LP24. Did I make a mistake? All I read about is everyone buying the KE 24. Is it that important to be able to do macros? Do you guys use the macro function or just wanted the best. I thought I would save the $20.

Posted on May 03 1999, 09:35 PM
Respond


LP24 probably OK
by Dave Dribin

I got the KE24, and I do not do use macros. The LP24 is probably fine. It has discrete mode, right? I was a bit concerned about programming over the keyboard interface. It seemed a little "weird". How does it work, anyways? Also, can you program the controller while it is powered on?

This is one of my disappointments with the KE24. You have to power it off the computer and put on a jumper to reprogram it. I was hoping I could reprogram it on the fly and change the configuration as I ran a particular emulator or program.

-Dave

Posted on May 03 1999, 09:55 PM
Respond


I Agree With Dave
by Ray Iddings

I Have a KE-24 and I think I probably could have got away with the LP-24. I wish you could program on the fly. 
 

Ray

Posted on May 04 1999, 04:24 AM
Respond


KE-24 Programming Question
by Michael Bobroski

I just ordered my KE-24, but didn't even bother to ask how to program it. I guess I could wait a few days, but i'm a bit anxious -- How do I program it?

I assumed it would come with a little program, but from the way the conversation is going, I may be wrong.

Any help appreciated.

Take care,
Mike

Posted on May 04 1999, 02:33 PM
Respond


Yes, you get a DOS program
by Dave Dribin

You do get a program to configure the card. However, you have to put the card into "program mode" by using a jumper. This jumper is must be on when the board is powered up and it must remain on the entire time. So, the procedure for programming is:

1) Power off computer
2) Place jumper
3) Power on computer
4) Run Hagstrom program
5) Dowload configuration
6) Power off computer
7) Remove jumper
8) Power on computer and use new configuration

I was hoping to be able to download a new configuration while the machine was still running.

-Dave

Posted on May 04 1999, 10:02 PM
Respond


And you can get the downloading protocol, too...
by Dave Dribin
 

Since the Hagstrom program is completely interactive, there is no way to automatically send a particular configuration file to the card. I asked for the specs to their download protocol so I could write a simple non-interactive program myself. They sent me the 2 page description for nuthin'. I cannot say what the protocol is (it is confidential, proprietary information :), but it is very simple and easy to implement. It would not take much to write a Perl script to talk to the card (at the time, I was thinking of using Linux as the OS of choice for my cabinet).

-Dave

Posted on May 04 1999, 10:08 PM
Respond


programming option
by Andy Desak

Putting the jumper on merely jumps the X and GRD pins....so if you are in direct mode and are using the X pin.....
Instead of opening your controller and disconnecting your encoder cable and installing the jumper just hold down the button the X pin is wired to...as long as you dont press any other buttons this is the same as installing the jumper.
You will have to hold it down the entire time you are programming so you may want to tape it down but this is still a time saver.

-Andy Desak
Arcade Solutions

Posted on May 04 1999, 03:57 PM
Respond


I was thinking of adding a toggle switch....
by Dave Dribin
 

I was thinking about adding a toggle switch in parallel with whatever button uses the X pin. This way, I could just throw the switch instead of holding down a particular button.

-Dave

Posted on May 04 1999, 10:16 PM
Respond


toggle switch
by Andy Desak

I was thinking about adding a toggle switch in parallel with whatever button uses the X pin.
This way, I could just throw the switch instead of holding down a particular button.

That is even a better idea!

-Andy Desak
Arcade Solutions

Posted on May 05 1999, 05:17 AM
Respond


Dave, Andy -- Thanks for the help! <NT>
by Michael Bobroski

<No Text>

Posted on May 05 1999, 03:56 PM
Respond


LP24 worked great for me
by Gary Enos

The LP24 worked fine...easy to program. Just plug keyboard into LP24 and plug LP24 into computer. No serial port connection, and both cable ports are on the same side of the encoder, so I was able to mount it flush on the back of my controller. It is programmed using the included configuration program. The manual says to run the config program in DOS mode, but I found it to work in a Win95 window. The LP24 has 50 pins- two each of A thru X, plus two which are "ground" pins, but are not used. Use one of the A thru X pins as your ground, and connect one contact on each of your buttons and joysticks to this ground. Use the remaining A thru X pins as needed by connecting another contact on the buttons and joysticks to different pins. Then program the LP24. I connected my 15 buttons and two joysticks in a 1x23 matrix with no chance of ghosting. Use a 50-pin ribbon cable to connect to the LP24, very easy. Everything works great, even in two-player games. I use Happ joysticks, one joystick in 4-way mode and one in 8-way mode and Happ pushbuttons.

Posted on May 06 1999, 07:58 PM
Respond


Help With Wiring Microswitches to Matrix.. PLEASE!!
by Intensify

OK. Today I'm going to start my wiring but I'm sort of confused as to how to wire the microswitches.

I'm using a HAPP encoder, and am using Screw-Style Terminal blocks to connect the wires to the encoder (Not important really).

Now, I understand that to set up a matrix, each microswitch must be wired to a individual row/column combination in the matrix. But how do I wire this? Do I wire both the row and column wires to the NO terminal on the switch?? Where do I wire the ground for every switch??

HELP!!

-- Intensify

Posted on May 03 1999, 08:23 AM
Respond


Microswitches
by Andy Desak

OK. Today I'm going to start my wiring but I'm sort of confused as to how to wire the
microswitches.
 

Now, I understand that to set up a matrix, each microswitch must be wired to a
individual row/column combination in the matrix. But how do I wire this? Do I wire both
the row and column wires to the NO terminal on the switch?? Where do I wire the
ground for every switch??

****There are 3 terminals on your microswitches. You are going to use 2 of them. The NO (Normally open) and the COM (common)

Put a 'row' wire on one and the 'column' on the other....doesnt matter which...to make it easier to identify wires later just put rows on all NO or on all COM...one of which will be acting as a ground.

The way the switch works is like this...
The COM terminal is the common terminal between the other 2. When the button is not pressed then there is a junction between the COM and NC (normally closed) terminal and when you press the button a connection is made between the the COM and NO.

If you were not using a matrix you would just connect your ground wire to all the COM terminals and each switch line to the necessary NO terminal.

Hope this answers your question....if you need any other help just let me know.

-Andy Desak
Arcade Solutions

Posted on May 03 1999, 02:51 PM
Respond


Where can I get a BIG PC Trackball.. CHEAP??
by Intensify

Anyone know where I can get one?

Intensify

Posted on May 03 1999, 07:50 AM
Respond


I got two 2 1/4" ones from CompUSA.
by Just Michael

They were only $19.95 each.

Posted on May 03 1999, 05:07 PM
Respond


Glowing Trackball
by Ray Iddings

Get compusa's brand track ball. It's like 10 bucks and it glows...(I have one and it works great.

(you can check it out on my page.
 

Ray
http://www.home.sprintmail.com/~voodoochile/

Posted on May 04 1999, 04:31 AM
Respond


How did you mount it??
by Intensify

What method did you use to mount your trackball to the control panel? I'm going to get the compusa brand trackball, so any help you can give me would be appreciated.

--Intensify

Posted on May 05 1999, 08:15 AM
Respond


Mirosoft EasyBall
by John

Do a search for Microsoft EasyBall and buy it ANYWHERE on the net. It only costs ~$20!!!!!

And it is HUGE!!! 4" at least. Bright yellow.

Works as a serial mouse. I plan on using it for track ball games and simulaneaously using a PS2 Mouse for a spinner someday.

Posted on May 04 1999, 11:05 AM
Respond


Good things come in small packages...
by Xiaou2
 

I just wanted to say, that Bigger isnt always better. I bought a Panther XL (joy & trackball), 
and while it was better for certian games, it just didnt 'feel' like the arcade trackballs that I remembered.

I went to a friend who has a centipede in his shop, and I was amazed at the difference in feel. If you spun that ball fast, it kept spinning for a few seconds !!! 

I have decided that when I build my cabinet, it will be well worth the extra money to put a real trackball in.

The real ones have HUGE precision bearings. They spin 5 times longer, last longer, dont 'stick' (need cleaning), and are a lot more enjoyable overall.

Dont waste your $ like I did the first time...

Peace
:)

Posted on May 04 1999, 04:42 PM
Respond


Ive got my Y -cable but still have problems
by Nando

Well yes. I cant neobeta recognize that I have two joysticks and windows detects them but only as a 2 button joystick each(they are 4 button)
can I fix it if not there is another solution to have 2-joystick on my Pc?

Posted on May 03 1999, 06:24 AM
Respond


There is a solution.
by Just Michael

This is due to the standard gameport only having 4 axis and 4 buttons. The Y cables splits this in half. The solution I went with is the L4 by PDPI ( http://www.pdpi.net ). It can connect up to 4 full analog joysticks at once with the add-on bracket. I have four 6-button joysticks and I can connect all of them at the same time and windows sees all 4 and Mame32 works great with them. TMNT is a lot more fun with four people playing at once. One big bonus is it takes less cpu time to read all four joysticks connected to the L4 card than 1 joystick connected to my old gameport. I hope this helps.

Posted on May 03 1999, 05:23 PM
Respond


the planning continues... TV (rca) VS Monitor (rbg)
by misato-san

Well, I am at a impass at whether or not to buy a RGB monitor. I could buy a normal 25" TV for like $220, and use a converter to get all the RCA inputs from my various systems into it, but if I make this cabinet Jamma+ compatible, Im not sure If I would be able to use that TV. If I purchase a RGB monitor, I would probably spend AT LEAST $100 more ($325 for a refurbished 25" monitor).
Well Im a relative newbie to all this these are my main questions:
#1 is it safe (and/or a good idea) to buy refurbished Wells/Gardner monitors? (a K7000 25")
#2 Which is a better overall picture: a decent TV, with an RCA input, or a RBG monitor, with a RCA input converted to RGB.
#3 Are there RCA --> RGB converters? (and if so 
#4 Are there RGB --> RCA converters? how much?)
#5 If the main purpose for your cabinet will be playing home consoles (RCA inputs), is the investment in an RGB monitor worth it? (If so, where are the best prices?)

Thank you for your help, its much appreciated.
Misato69@hotmail.com

Posted on May 02 1999, 09:29 PM
Respond


monitors
by Andy Desak

Well, I am at a impass at whether or not to buy a RGB monitor. I could buy a normal 25"
TV for like $220, and use a converter to get all the RCA inputs from my various systems
into it, but if I make this cabinet Jamma+ compatible, Im not sure If I would be able to
use that TV. If I purchase a RGB monitor, I would probably spend AT LEAST $100 more
($325 for a refurbished 25" monitor).
Well Im a relative newbie to all this these are my main questions:
#1 is it safe (and/or a good idea) to buy refurbished Wells/Gardner monitors? (a K7000
25")

****Wells Gardner is one of the top name brands in arcade monitors so you should be ok even with a refurbished monitor....make sure it does not have a lot of screen burn.
 

#2 Which is a better overall picture: a decent TV, with an RCA input, or a RBG monitor,
with a RCA input converted to RGB.

****RGB

#3 Are there RCA --> RGB converters? (and if so 

****Not sure about this one but I would think that there are.

#4 Are there RGB --> RCA converters? how much?)

****Yes...they are not cheap...I think around $200 or more...but if you are thinking of running actual arcade pcbs on a tv they are not the best.
I used to have one and (not going to go into the tech. reasons) in some games can cut off some of the picture.

#5 If the main purpose for your cabinet will be playing home consoles (RCA inputs), is
the investment in an RGB monitor worth it? (If so, where are the best prices?)

****If you are only going to using home video games than I would just stay with a tv....I dont know what kind of video game systems you will be running but the Sony PSX for example has a S-video output that will give you a very nice picture getting near RGB quality.

Hope this helps

-Andy Desak
Arcade Solutions

Posted on May 03 1999, 03:01 PM
Respond


thanks for the help, one more question
by misato-san

how much screen burn in does a refurbished monitor generally have? Is that the usual reason for a montior to get refurbished in the first place?
I might consider getting a 33", any problems with larger refurbished monitors?
thanks
misato-san

Posted on May 03 1999, 08:39 PM
Respond


monitors
by Andy Desak

how much screen burn in does a refurbished monitor generally have?

It does not really have to have any (but will probably have some....make sure you look at it with the power off....so you can see it better)

I think they have ways to 'clean up' screen burn now-a-days....but I dont think it lasts nearly as long as a new one.

Is that the usual
reason for a montior to get refurbished in the first place?

There can be many reasons but this is not necessarly the biggest one although I would say it is an important one since screen burn is very annoying.

I might consider getting a 33", any problems with larger refurbished monitors?

I have never dealt with anything bigger than 25....although a 33" sounds awesome I think it would definately be to big for a cabinet....you generally see monitors that big in games where you stand further away.

-Andy Desak
Arcade Solutions

Posted on May 04 1999, 04:23 PM
Respond


RGB
by Stonent

Converting from RCA to RGB will look like crap. I use straight RGB from my Psx, Saturn, Genesis, and PC and it looks awesome. For info on using RGB for all your systems try www.gamesx.com or the PC2Jamma page which I don't know the address off hand but it is one of the cabinets on www.arcadeathome.com.

StoneNT
skyscraper.fortunecity.com/cray/209

Posted on May 08 1999, 09:37 PM
Respond


Optical gun
by Matt Bresnan

Alright, three posts in a row is not quite enough, so here's number four.

Does anyone know if it is possible to hack an optical gun from a Sega or Nintendo and hook it up to a PC? Has anyone done this yet?

Those optical guns Happ sells are kinda spendy. Just looking for a little cheaper solution. Maybe I can get a used one, but I'd still need a way to interface it to the PC.

Any thougts?

Posted on May 02 1999, 08:01 PM
Respond


optical guns
by saint

I've been hoping to see someone do this for some time now. I've heard from a couple of sources (some now defunct) that they've been working on it, but no results so far.

--- saint

Posted on May 03 1999, 09:50 AM
Respond


Here's that gun website.
by Ricahard Ragon

The other day I found a web site that claimed they have the first PC gun!! I personaly have not talked to them, or have bought a gun, but it sure looks interesting.

-Richard Ragon/HotRod 

Posted on May 03 1999, 11:04 PM
Respond


Dough...
by Ricahard Ragon

I guess it wouldn't hurt to actually post the web site address for that gun huh.. :)

http://www.a4tech.com.tw/pcgun.html

-Richard Ragon/CEO HotRod Joystick

Posted on May 03 1999, 11:05 PM
Respond


It would be nice...
by Michael Bobroski

It would be nice if we could get the MAME guys to write in support for this thingy.

Take care,
Mike

Posted on May 04 1999, 02:50 PM
Respond


Spinner
by Matt Bresnan

Any recommendations on where to get components to build a spinner? TwistyGrip is not selling their blueprints or spinner-guts at the moment. 

Thanks

Posted on May 02 1999, 07:58 PM
Respond


MK in MAME
by Matt Bresnan

Does anyone else get an error starting the machine emulation in MK? I believe I have a valid ROM set. Maybe I just don't have enough processing power (I need to upgrade). 

Thanks in advance for the info!

Posted on May 02 1999, 07:56 PM
Respond


Celeron Processor
by Matt Bresnan

Has anyone used a Celeron PC in their MAME cabinet? I need to upgrade the PC that I'm putting in my cab, but I'm not sure how much processor I need to adequately run the larger MAME and Raine games. Any suggestions or info? What about amount of RAM, is 32 or 64MB ok?

It seems that the Celeron Chips or much cheaper than the standard Pentiums. Is the only difference that the Celeron has a smaller internal cache?

Also, does the video card have much of an affect on the game performace? I have a STB PowerGraph Pro with 2MB RAM. Should I upgrade the video card as well?

Anyways, any info regarding hardware would be greatly appreciated.

Posted on May 02 1999, 07:54 PM
Respond


I'm using a celeron 400...
by Intensify

I'm using a celeron 400 in my cabinet for a couple of reasons...

1.) You can overclock the HELL out of them (If you cool them ok) :)

2.) Lately, I've been reading articles on how the celeron actually STOMPS ALL OVER the PII in speed tests. (At least the new ones with 128k L2 Cache ON DIE..) .. It seems that because the celeron has on die cache, it accesses it FASTER than the PII can access its cache, and the celeron in general will run a tad faster than it's more expensive brother.. :)

I've got it overclocked stable to 506 and it's runnin like a champ.

I'd recommend it :)

-- Intensify

Posted on May 02 1999, 08:26 PM
Respond


Question for Intensify...
by Michael Bobroski

Which speed processor did you pick up?

I just picked up a 400 PPGA at a show, running in one of those slot converters, fit in an Abit BX-6 rev 2 MB.

I was upset to find out that it only ran at a 66Mhz bus. From what I've read, there weren't supposed to be any problems upping it to 100MHz. My computer won't even start when I up the bus.

Any help appreciated.

Posted on May 03 1999, 06:53 PM
Respond


A couple of suggestions..
by Intensify

The only things I can think of are...

1.) The PPGA chip may have a restriction on it, possibly because boards w/ PPGA don't clock faster than 66?? (I have NO idea, It's just a suggestion for you to check out.)

2.) Actually, there IS no other suggestion! :)
I have a BH6 and a 400 Slot 1, and I haven't had a problem.. I don't know what to tell ya. :(

If I run across a problem w/ mine, I'll let you know how to fix it. :)

-- Intensify
(Michael P. Gerety)

Posted on May 05 1999, 12:54 PM
Respond


Celeron
by Stonent

I am using a 300a overclocked to 374 (450 won't work unless I disable cache) It works great on all my games. UltraHle's sound is a little choppy but the games play good. (My friend's PII-350 has choppy sound also) Mortal kombat is still barely playable and Unreal doesn't like the small cache on the celeron but it still beats the hell out of my K6-200 that I burned out. (Mame started crashing at startup) As far as a video card I would upgrade it. The powergraph cards are like snails compared to a cheap card today. A good emulation card would be an STB Velocity 128 (~79$US). Its got 128bit video that is very fast in 2d. I use it because I can wire directly to an arcade monitor with it. (I plan on getting a TNT2 card soon but I will keep this around for my arcade cabinet). 

StoneNT
skyscraper.fortunecity.com/cray/209

Posted on May 08 1999, 09:47 PM
Respond


UK supplier of arcade buttons and joysticks?
by Medic

Just looking for a joystick supplier in the uk, or has anyone ordered for Wico or Happs from the uk , what is the service like?

Cheerrs 

Medic

Posted on May 02 1999, 05:10 PM
Respond


Differences between Arcade Solutions, HotRod and V-Stick joysticks
by Andy Desak

Hello gaming fans,

I have been receiving this question quite often and decided to
make a post explaining the differences.

To state the question more specifically it would be why are the
joysticks
from Arcade Solutions so much more expensive.
The V-Stick and HotRod range from 80 to $100...Mine start at over $200.
Here is why:

First of all I offer the only arcade style joystick that is 100%
programmable.
This means that you can program EVERY control to emulate ANY keystroke.
The V-stick and HotRod use keyboard hacks and are not programmable.
If your joystick is not programmable than you are very limited in what
you can
use it for. Basically you cant use theirs for anything else but what
they have
it set up for.
You can use mine for ANY game that can be controlled with the keyboard
which in
todays PC gaming world is about every game made.

And with this great convience comes a little cost. The encoder I use is
made by
Hagstrom Electronics and costs $80+shipping. This one part alone costs
as much as the
V-Stick!! It can be seen here:
http://www.hagstromelectronics.com/
 

My joysticks are also CUSTOM built. I make each joystick to the
customers 
specifications. I dont think I have made two orders the same yet. If
you buy
the other joysticks you dont have any say so about how your joystick is
built.
This includes the number and color of the buttons. The style of
joystick.
4/way or 8/way joysticks. And one very important factor....the layout
of the 
buttons. Let's face it, if everyone had their choice they would have
there
own different layout which is what I offer.
If you want to play fighting games then neither the V-Stick or the
HotRod offer
an acceptable layout....you need 6 buttons for each joystick in many
fighting
games which neither one has. You can have as many as you want with an 
Arcade Solutions joystick.

I also offer trackballs for games like Missile Command and
Centipede....another option
no-one else offers.
These are also expensive. They are from Happ Controls:
http://www.happcontrols.com/gaming/gaming.htm
The trackball with the adapter, power supply and plate comes to $160
plus shipping.
A hefty price but it is worth it. The trackball also doubles as a
mouse.

My joysticks are also made out of 3/4" A/C finished plywood which is
much stronger
than the particle board the others use...and consequently, more
expensive.

Since everything is CUSTOM built this requires a lot more on the labor
side.
I cant just get a 100 or 1000 board stamped out because I make all of
mine 
different so this requires quite a bit more time.

One last important thing is turnaround time. My joystick are ususally
shipped
within 2 weeks of payment reciept. I keep hearing reports of the
V-stick taking
over 3 months and the HotRod, although on the net for months is not even
available
yet.

I can also hook up your joysticks to be used on other systems such as
the 
Sony PSX, Nintendo, Commodore and Atari computers etc.
 

I am in no way bashing nor do I mean any disrespect to the owners of The
HotRod 
or the V-stick and I hope no-one takes it
that way. I have never used a V-stick and ,well, the HotRod is not
available 
yet. I am just pointing out the limitations of each to make it easier
to 
understand why mine are more expensive. If their joysticks suit all your
needs
than I would think you are crazy to spend the extra money on mine.
But if you want to be able to use your joystick on any PC game and have
100%
programmability than there is only one way to go. And that is with a
totally
programmable CUSTOM joystick. I have sold joysticks from $200 to $525
and I 
can honestly say that the majority of money is in the material and
controls.
The labor rate is at a minimum.

I hope this answers the question but if you have any others on the
subject or
any other than feel free to ask.
 

Thanks,
Andy Desak
Arcade Solutions
http://members.home.net:80/hutt1/arcade.htm

Posted on Apr 30 1999, 09:15 PM
Respond


Something that I would like to see
by Bill Lash

I have started building an arcade control panel, and my main problem is building the physical enclosure. For me the electronics is fun and
relatively easy, but I don't have good tools, time, or
the patience to build and finish a nice enclosure.

I have taken apart an old keyboard, mapped out
the matrix, bought the joysticks, buttons and diodes, and am ready to go, but have not gotten
very far on the enclosure that I am making, and
also haven't decided on the best layout.

Posted on May 01 1999, 12:33 PM
Respond


How does this sound
by Andy Desak

Get your layout figured out and send me a pic.
If you want to save money I can build you an
unfinished box....when I say unfinished, I mean
you will have to apply wood putty, sand and paint.

I will build the box with the button holes
predrilled and have the t-molding slot cut in and 
you will be ready to go.

I'll do it for $50. This includes the material.

If you want to add in the t-molding and grommet
for the wiring just add $5

LMK if you are interested and I can just throw
yours in with my next batch that I put together.

Or if you just want to do it all yourself and have
any specific questions on how to build it just LMK :-)

-Andy Desak
Arcade Solutions
http://members.home.net:80/hutt1/home.htm

Posted on May 01 1999, 01:28 PM
Respond


Thanks for the offer
by Bill Lash

That sounds very reasonable. I'll have to think
about it and get back to you in private e-mail.
Thanks for the offer.

Posted on May 02 1999, 12:58 PM
Respond


I'd like to take a minute to respond too this.
by Richard Ragon

Greetings,

I'd like to take a moment and respond to this if I may..

>>>The V-stick and HotRod use keyboard hacks and are not programmable.

This is not true.. Although the HotRod is not programmable, it most certainly IS NOT A KEYBOARD HACK. We built it from the ground up ourselves with a completely new technology, nothing and I mean nothing will be able to out perform the HotRod. We've created specifications for ourselves and certain goals that we must meet. 
Each one of HotRod's PCB boards have 32 input pins (26 buttons are used in the -SE version). A standard keyboard has the capability to press maybe 4 buttons at the same time, if your lucky.. Our specifications are 32 buttons at the same time. 32 buttons can be pushed at the same, and released without a hitch!

But it is true, HotRod is not programmable. The programmable feature was not very high on our priority list. HotRod was specifically designed for MAME. MAME is 100% internally software programmable. Come to think if it, I can't think of a single emulator that is NOT software programmable.. Even every PC game that I have has 
software programmability. A programmability feature would have easily doubled the cost of HotRod and although it sounds like a really nice feature, is it worth it to easily double the cost for something you'll never use?

>>>>there own different layout which is what I offer. If you want to play fighting games then neither the V-Stick or the HotRod offer an acceptable layout....you need 6 buttons for each joystick in many fighting games which neither one has. You can have as many as you want with an Arcade Solutions joystick.

This is not true either.. HotRod doesn't have 6 buttons. The HotRod -SE version has 16 buttons topside, layed out in a standard SFII style set up, more than enough to play NEO-GEO and SF.

>>>>I also offer trackballs for games like Missile Command and Centipede....another option no-one else offers. These are also expensive. They are from Happ Controls: http://www.happcontrols.com/gaming/gaming.htm The trackball with the adapter, power supply and plate comes to $160 plus shipping. A hefty price but it is worth it. The trackball also doubles as a mouse.

Yep, this is an item that's not available on the HotRod Joystick.. yet.

>>>>My joysticks are also made out of 3/4" A/C finished plywood which is much stronger than the particle board the others use...and consequently, more expensive.

Stronger? The type of material used doesn't necessarily make it stronger. My psychics teacher in High school can show you a building made out of wood that is twice as strong as a metal building, simple by the way it is engineered. The HotRod meets commercial coin-op specifications. I haven't taken one out to the parking lot and 
ran over it with a car yet though.. :)

>>>>Since everything is CUSTOM built this requires a lot more on the labor side. I cant just get a 100 or 1000 board stamped out because I make all of mine different so this requires quite a bit more time.

Agreed.

>>>>One last important thing is turnaround time. My joystick are usually shipped within 2 weeks of payment reciept. I keep hearing reports of the V-stick taking over 3 months and the HotRod, although on the net for months is not even available yet.

How V-stick can come back is beyond me.. However, if he started selling again, I think I would send him some money just to get it for the novelty. The price is unbelievably low, how can you pass on that one.

I can come up with a million excuses as too why HotRod is not out yet, but I'll pass. :)

>>>>I can also hook up your joysticks to be used on other systems such as the Sony PSX, Nintendo, Commodore and Atari computers etc.

There's a market for this, indeed. We'll be working in that general direction later on.

Perhaps this is a apple to orange comparison here. The maker of RetroStick used to tell me that we're in two different markets, and I think I even sent him a few customers.

..Just wanted to throw my two cents in this. Take care.

-Richard Ragon/CEO HotRod Joystick

Posted on May 02 1999, 01:14 AM
Respond


I'd like to take a moment and respond to this if I may....I knew ya would :-)
by Andy Desak

>>>The V-stick and HotRod use keyboard hacks and are not programmable.

This is not true.. Although the HotRod is not programmable, it most certainly IS NOT A
KEYBOARD HACK. We built it from the ground up ourselves with a completely new
technology, nothing and I mean nothing will be able to out perform the HotRod. We've
created specifications for ourselves and certain goals that we must meet. 
Each one of HotRod's PCB boards have 32 input pins (26 buttons are used in the -SE
version). A standard keyboard has the capability to press maybe 4 buttons at the same
time, if your lucky.. Our specifications are 32 buttons at the same time. 32 buttons can be
pushed at the same, and released without a hitch!

****Sorry Richard my mistake:-) But I cant really see any reason to have the need to press that many buttons at once in any game....

But it is true, HotRod is not programmable. The programmable feature was not very high
on our priority list. HotRod was specifically designed for MAME. MAME is 100%
internally software programmable. Come to think if it, I can't think of a single emulator
that is NOT software programmable.. Even every PC game that I have has 
software programmability.

****I have to disagree on the one...I dont know about all the emulators but you definately cannot change the button configuration on all games....this one comes to mind quickly since I just played it last night. The You Dont Know Jack trivia games can not be altered....and I am sure most other games that I own also cannot.

A programmability feature would have easily doubled the
cost of HotRod and although it sounds like a really nice feature, is it worth it to easily
double the cost for something you'll never use?

****Like I said above. It will definately be needed for other PC games and would certainly get used.

>>>>there own different layout which is what I offer. If you want to play fighting
games then neither the V-Stick or the HotRod offer an acceptable layout....you need 6
buttons for each joystick in many fighting games which neither one has. You can have as
many as you want with an Arcade Solutions joystick.

This is not true either.. HotRod doesn't have 6 buttons. The HotRod -SE version has 16
buttons topside, layed out in a standard SFII style set up, more than enough to play
NEO-GEO and SF.

****I was referring to your basic modle with 4 buttons total for each joystick.

>>>>I also offer trackballs for games like Missile Command and Centipede....another
option no-one else offers. These are also expensive. They are from Happ Controls:
http://www.happcontrols.com/gaming/gaming.htm The trackball with the adapter, power
supply and plate comes to $160 plus shipping. A hefty price but it is worth it. The
trackball also doubles as a mouse.

Yep, this is an item that's not available on the HotRod Joystick.. yet.

>>>>My joysticks are also made out of 3/4" A/C finished plywood which is much
stronger than the particle board the others use...and consequently, more expensive.

Stronger? The type of material used doesn't necessarily make it stronger. My psychics
teacher in High school can show you a building made out of wood that is twice as strong
as a metal building, simple by the way it is engineered. The HotRod meets commercial
coin-op specifications. I haven't taken one out to the parking lot and 
ran over it with a car yet though.. :)

I agree with that but I dont think that anyone here sat down and engineered a joystick to withstand a tornado....3/4 plywood is stronger than particle board though....not a major issue unless you're throwing the controller off the wall
when the 'brains' in Robotron get the best of you!!!!
 

>>>>Since everything is CUSTOM built this requires a lot more on the labor side. I cant
just get a 100 or 1000 board stamped out because I make all of mine different so this
requires quite a bit more time.

Agreed.

>>>>One last important thing is turnaround time. My joystick are usually shipped
within 2 weeks of payment reciept. I keep hearing reports of the V-stick taking over 3
months and the HotRod, although on the net for months is not even available yet.

How V-stick can come back is beyond me.. However, if he started selling again, I think I
would send him some money just to get it for the novelty. The price is unbelievably low,
how can you pass on that one.

****That is an outstanding price!!!

I can come up with a million excuses as too why HotRod is not out yet, but I'll pass. :)

****Just share a couple hundred thousand then :-)

>>>>I can also hook up your joysticks to be used on other systems such as the Sony
PSX, Nintendo, Commodore and Atari computers etc.

There's a market for this, indeed. We'll be working in that general direction later on.

Perhaps this is a apple to orange comparison here. The maker of RetroStick used to tell
me that we're in two different markets, and I think I even sent him a few customers.

Yeah, it is definately two different markets...but quite a few people dont seem to realize that and I constantly receive questions about the pricing compared to yours and others.....Basically one word can sum it up....CUSTOM-BUILT.
Not everyone can afford it but I think it is worth it if you can.

TTYL Richard...good luck at E3!!

-Andy Desak
Arcade Solutions
 

..Just wanted to throw my two cents in this. Take care.

-Richard Ragon/CEO HotRod Joystick

Posted on May 02 1999, 07:48 AM
Respond


Untitled
by Anonymous

>>>>Sorry Richard my mistake:-) But I cant really see any reason to have the need to press that many buttons at once in any game....

Think of it like an auto manufacture tells you that their car can go 200 miles per hour. Do you think that anyone is really going to go 200 miles per hour? Not likely that the auto manufacture is going to endorse going 200 miles per hour either. Consumers like the fact that we can...

>>>****I have to disagree on the one...I dont know about all the emulators but you definitely cannot change the button configuration on all games ....this one comes to mind quickly since I just played it last night. The You Dont Know Jack trivia games can not be altered....and I am sure most other games that I own also cannot.

Humm. The only thing that keeps coming to my mind here is, "When you make something to try to satisfy everyone, you end up satisfying no one." We're not really interested in trying to build something that works with everything, we're interested in building something that works perfect with one thing. We believe that we have a 
better mouse trap, but maybe everyone is not into catching mice.

>>>>I agree with that but I dont think that anyone here sat down and engineered a joystick to withstand a tornado....3/4 plywood is stronger than particle board though....not a major issue unless you're throwing the controller off the wall
when the 'brains' in Robotron get the best of you!!!!

Ok, I've got an idea. Stay tuned on this one. :)

>>>>Yeah, it is definately two different markets...but quite a few people dont seem to realize that and I constantly receive questions about the pricing compared to yours and others.....Basically one word can
sum it up....CUSTOM-BUILT. Not everyone can afford it but I think it is worth it if you can.

Customers getting on you, huh.. :)

>>>>TTYL Richard...good luck at E3!!

Thanks, its going to be hell week here.. 

-- 
-Richard Ragon/CEO HotRod Joystick

Posted on May 02 1999, 10:06 PM
Respond


Sorry.. forgot the headers, so it posted as nobody!!
by Ricahrd Ragon

Sorry.. forgot the headers, so it posted as nobody!!

Posted on May 02 1999, 10:14 PM
Respond


Opinion by John Q. Public
by Ray Idings

I definitaly think that you are comparing 2 NON COMPITING Products.

For Pure Plug and Play - HotRod would appear the way to go. Lets face it there are alot of people who prefer plug and play...no set up, no configuration. (there are days I play Pac Man on my playstation because I just don't wanna mess with my arcade machine)

But if you want to customize and you want it 'the way you want it' Then of couse arcade solutions is the way to go.

I mean throw price a side for a second and you can see that you can't compare these two products.

anyway as a "disintrested third party" Thats what I think.

Ray

Posted on May 02 1999, 07:28 AM
Respond


I agree
by Andy Desak
 

I definitaly think that you are comparing 2 NON COMPITING Products.

****Yes, but quite a few people that email me dont seem to realize the obvious differencs and I am just trying to clear it up.

For Pure Plug and Play - HotRod would appear the way to go. Lets face it there are alot
of people who prefer plug and play...no set up, no configuration. (there are days I play
Pac Man on my playstation because I just don't wanna mess with my arcade machine)

****I definately agree, as I stated in my original post. Unless you really need a custom-built setup you would have to be crazy to pass up HotRods price.

But if you want to customize and you want it 'the way you want it' Then of couse arcade
solutions is the way to go.

I mean throw price a side for a second and you can see that you can't compare these two
products.

****I agree!

-Andy Desak
Arcade Solutions
 

anyway as a "disintrested third party" Thats what I think.

Posted on May 02 1999, 07:54 AM
Respond


My Project Page is UP! BARCADE!!!!
by Intensify

Well, here you have it! :) 

It'll be called Barcade.

I have a page up. Although preliminary, it'll have full content by late tomorrow night.

http://barcade.home.dhs.org

** Saint ** -- Please link this :)

Posted on Apr 30 1999, 04:10 PM
Respond


crazy idea for someone whos crazy about import fighters...help?
by Dan

Alright, many have told me Im crazy, but I really think this would be neat, so long as I can get it too work properly. Here is my idea: although I might get into buying full stand-ups a bit later on, for now (while college still costs a 100 grand), I have to stew in my discontentment with home consoles. But I am such a big fan of the "stand-up feel" and of fighting games in general, I have been thinking about building a cabinet that will give me authentic arcade joysticks to use with multiple home consoles (ie: Playstation /Saturn/etc). Now let me be a bit more specific, I plan to use a decent sized T.V, about 25 - 27", and wire a small, single-purposed, stereo system into the cabinet (using 2 satelites and a sub, assuming I can find a relatively inexpensive, non-tuner amp that will out out seperate high/low signals), now the tricky part is getting a real set of arcade joysticks to interface correctly with home consoles. I have been told that through some type of soldering method, that I am in no way familiar with, you can connect each joystick switch/button sensor to the corresponding area on a game pad, this would be fine, as long as someone can explain to me how to do it. Or just some how splicing the console gamepad wire to the signal out wire from the joysticks would be fine. (whatever works really). I also was going to have a button (lit when selected) by each system connected to the cabinet's wiring, and when you were going to play a game on that system, you would hit the button and a switch would send the signal to that consoles wiring. (the joysticks wiring would half to be split, one set for each system, maybe the selector light could not only change the switch to direct control signals to consoles, but also give the system power as well?) 
Well what I am really interested in is finding out how to properly connect an arcade set of joysticks to a console game pad (in this case Playstation, Saturn, Dreamcast), but any help or ideas.feedback would be greatly appreciated, thank you. Maybe one day I will get this thing completed! (I'll be sure to send you pictures).
-Dan
misato69@hotmail..com

Posted on Apr 30 1999, 02:15 AM
Respond


An idea...
by Michael Bobroski

I'm not too sure how you would go 'all funky' w/ illuminated buttons and whatnot, but a simple way to do it would be to wire up the arcade joysticks to a barrier strip, which you would connect on the other end a printer cable. Then solder a printer cable to each 'hacked' joystick (Saturn/Playstation/Dreamcast). Pick up a Printer switch, and bingo! Support for all systems. Come to think of it, if you have extra leads, you could hook up a nice illuminated interface, which will highlight a different light for whatever system you're using.

For this thought, I'm assuming all of the joy buttons for each of the 3 systems share a common ground, unlike keyboards. If I'm wrong about this, you may have to figure something else out, since printer cables only have 25 leads.

Good luck!

-Mike

Posted on Apr 30 1999, 03:50 PM
Respond


I'm back - more problems, matrix question
by Colin

Well, I finished up my final projects for school and decided to give this Sidewinder thing another try. As I expected, I botched up the new pad I got. I just really suck at soldering and these Sidewinder contact points are too small for me. I decided to look into keyboard matrices because I have an old keyboard laying around and I don't care if I mess it up. I read up on matrices and opened up my keyboard to see the details. To my horror I found more tiny solder points in the form of a card edge like on a Nintendo game. Normally I would have given up at this point, but I've already spent $50 on the controls and many hours on the box. So my question is, is there an easier way? I mean, is there a keyboard that would be easier to work with or something? If not, how about some soldering tips for these card edge type connectors (although it may just be hopeless with me). Thanks.

Posted on Apr 29 1999, 10:58 PM
Respond


keyboard encoder
by Ray Iddings

Keyboard encoder is the closes to solderfree you can get..

Ray

Posted on Apr 30 1999, 04:47 AM
Respond


Keyboard is not necessarily least amount of soldering
by Colin

I'd have to disagree with that. To hook the keyboard up to a connector block takes 26 solders (13x13 matrix). The Sidewinder only takes 14. My problem is, how do you solder to those black strips on the keyboard's card? Solder won't stick to that from my experiences with the Sidewinder. Do you scrape it off or something?

Posted on Apr 30 1999, 02:48 PM
Respond


Yup... Scrape it off.
by Michael Bobroski

Scrape the black stuff off with a razor blade/exacto knife. Under that, you'll have clean contact points.

Solder tips: Pick up a rosin pen -- Much better than the solder/rosin mix -- Goo up everything with it.

'Tin' all of your wires first: Coat them with just enough solder that they look silver, prior to sticking them onto whatever surface you intend to solder it on.

good luck,

Mike

Posted on Apr 30 1999, 03:31 PM
Respond


Hagstrom encoder
by Matt

I think Ray was referring to the Hagstrom Keyboard Encoder, not a hacked keyboard. I haven't used Hagstrom's encoder so I'm not sure how you hoook the wires up to it. 

Anyway, some keyboards have solder points on them that are easy to attach to. One of the keyboards I hacked is a Gateway. I just tinned the wires (put solder on the wire, let is harden) then put the wire on the existing solder point and heated it up. It worked very well. 

You might want to practice your soldering a little more on one of those sidewinder cards.

Good Luck. Also, check Hagstroms web site for info on the encoder. 

Posted on May 01 1999, 07:25 PM
Respond


$67 sound ok for a kit?
by Tom61

2 Happ Ultimate Joysticks

18 arcade push buttons (Happ, horizontal)

Keyboard Matrix (removed from keyboard before shipping)(ps/2 type, adaptor included for AT type)

Matrix Map (what contacts=what key)

instructions on building a control panel

recommended layouts (the buttons go here if..)

65 dollars (US) sound OK for the above configuration?

Posted on Apr 29 1999, 02:39 PM
Respond


Sounds great...
by Michael Bobroski

The price is wonderful. However, speaking for myself, I'd rather pick up everything from Happ, since many cabs will also need new t-molding, little buttons for pause/esc/tab, etc.. 

I'd still be inclined to purchase the matrix setup/instructions/layouts, though. Make sure you offer those as a separate package as well!

Good luck -- I'd like to see this happen.

-Mike

Posted on Apr 30 1999, 03:54 PM
Respond


The Project Begins Tomorrow!! -- Photo Tour!! :)
by Intensify

Well, tomorrow I get paid (FINALLY) so I'm going to start building my home arcade machine. The cabinet we got was in such bad shape that we decided just to rebuild the damn thing by hand.

We already ripped that puppy up, but it's still free-standing, so I'll include a pic on the page of the *original* cabinet.

The page will include an entire photo tour of the process. Cutting up the parts, building the machine, wiring it all up, painting it, finishing it, and finally playing it! :)

And we came up with a name for the project......

But you'll have to wait till tomorrow to find out! :)

nyone have any comments/suggestions? Just let me know!

STAY TUNED!! :)
I'll post the URL for the page here tomorrow.

--Intensify

Posted on Apr 29 1999, 09:40 AM
Respond


Tease :)
by saint

Send me an email with the web page so I can link it :)

--- saint

Posted on Apr 29 1999, 06:22 PM
Respond


LAST CHANCE TO TALK ME OUT OF IT!!
by Intensify

Well, I got a lot of flack over thinking about
using a TV in my computer instead of a monitor,
due to the restrictions of output cards to
640x480 and their crappy refresh rates.

HOWEVER, I found an EXTERNAL PC-TV Signal Converter by Focus(www.focusinfo.com) called TView Micro XGA, capable of displaying 1024x760 @ 16.7M colors with refresh rates up to 130 Hz!! (And since it's external, I don't have to use any drivers to initialize it. EVERYTHING, including boot-up, will display on my TV. AND, A good 21 in monitor will cost me like $500, but a good 21 in. TV will cost me like $150.)

So, Anyone have any experience with the Tview or want to *TRY* to talk me out of it before I buy? It's your last chance! I'm buying everything TODAY! :)

--Intensify

Posted on Apr 30 1999, 08:07 AM
Respond


Good luck ... :)
by saint

The only thing I've heard about those (not that brand in particular) external adapters is that the quality of the video is not as good. Your milage of course may vary. And of course, it is a much cheaper way to go. Good luck, let us know what you think :)

--- saint

Posted on Apr 30 1999, 11:21 AM
Respond


HotRod ArcadePC gearing up for the E3 show
by Richard Ragon

In gearing up for the E3 show here in Los Angeles, we have been busy building a few cabinets in our shop. I've put together a little photo tour, with some pretty kewl photos that I took last week. If your interested in seeing just how we make the ArcadePC, check out: http://ArcadePC.aceisp.net/shop.htm <> -Richard Ragon/CEO HotRod Joystick 

Posted on Apr 28 1999, 10:51 PM
Respond


Cool
by Tony Perkins

I'll be sending my E3-able friend over to enter the drawing and take the thing home to give to me. Might as well save yourself the trouble of transporting it to the show. :)

Posted on Apr 29 1999, 07:21 AM
Respond


Richard...lets be reasonable about this.
by Ray Iddings

Ok, you haven't release the hotrod, because you want to unveil it at E3, you tease with the arcade pc AFTER I build one...and now your gonna give one away at E3 when I can't make it...what gives...How about making that a e-mail contest (fixed in my favor of course) and letting me WIN ! I mean try to win (wink wink).

Ray Iddings
http//home.sprintmail.com/~voodoochile/

Posted on Apr 29 1999, 02:26 PM
Respond


We'll give away a HotRod in the near future
by Richard Ragon

Once we get going on the HotRod Joysticks, We'll be giving away a HotRod Joystick on a very popular website. :)

-Richard Ragon/CEO HotRod Joystick

Posted on Apr 30 1999, 01:21 AM
Respond


How many buttons?
by Tinker

Just wanted to know if the max number of joystick buttons is 6 or 7?
thought i remembered seeing somewhere that a few neogeo games can use 7 in MAME.

Posted on Apr 28 1999, 05:07 AM
Respond


6 buttons is the maximum
by matt(v)

The only reason you would want to habve more than 6 buttons per player is if you wanted to have an A+B button and a C+D button for games such as samuri shodown (1,2,3,4). THe actual neogeo arcade machine only uses 4 buttons and a few capcom fighter games such as Street fighter use 6

Hope this helps

Posted on Apr 28 1999, 01:13 PM
Respond


Trackwheel Control from Happ
by Darren Finck

From webpage:

"HappControls is now selling a Trackwheel Control (read that as a spinner) for $11.95 as a replacement for Arkanoid machines. This would make an excellent spinner for do-it-yourselfers interfaced to mouse guts. If you do this and have pictures please let me know! Thanks to William for the news!"

The page linked in that news item indicates the price is $110. What gives?? That's quite a sale...

Posted on Apr 27 1999, 06:36 PM
Respond


It was listed for $11.95 but now OUCH!!(NT)
by Just Michael
Posted on Apr 28 1999, 12:31 AM
Respond


how can I connect two standar joysticks to my computer?????(no text)
by Nando

no text
thank you for helping me

Posted on Apr 27 1999, 04:40 PM
Respond


Two standard joysticks
by saint

If you mean via the game port, you need a joystick "Y" cable available at almost any computer store. 

--- saint

Posted on Apr 27 1999, 05:22 PM
Respond


Playstation Controller
by Ray Iddings

I have many `greatest hits` titles for my playstation...has anyone hacked a old controller?

How difficult is it to solder to? (I make one control panel and now I want to solder everthing:)
Please let me know.

By the way Control Panel 2 for my arcade machine is done (pics will be up soon) http://home.sprintmail.com/~voodoochile/

Ray

Posted on Apr 27 1999, 12:30 PM
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Playstation, Sega, n64, Atari controllers on pc...
by Ozone

Find everything you need on www.ziplabel.com/dpadppro/

Posted on May 04 1999, 10:30 AM
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8 way Happ competition joysticks
by David Edens

Has anyone tried the Happ Competition joystick? I hear a lot about the Ultimate, Super, and the infamous Universal stick. I have Supers, which are good, but I want a good ROBOTRON joystick! Any sage wisdom out there?

Posted on Apr 26 1999, 05:47 PM
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Soldering on Sidewinder pad - Tips?
by Colin

I currently have a panel almost completed using Happ controls and a Sidewinder pad. However, in the process of trying to connect the controls to the pad I managed to mangle the pad and blow out the gameport on my Soundblaster Live. (Don't worry, I wasn't soldering while it was plugged in, I just happened to touch the ground to the wrong place later on.) So I got a new Sidewinder and I guess I'll have to get a gameport card too now. Anyway, I'm determined to finish this thing so I'm looking for some tips. I think my biggest problem with the soldering is that my pen was too weak; I could barely get the solder to melt. (I guess I'll need a new pen too, doh!) If anyone has tried to work with a Sidewinder you know that the "easy" solder points are really close together, probably too close for someone with my lack of skill. I was thinking about just soldering the wires to the where the buttons contact instead. Is this a bad idea? Am I just going to blow more things up? Any tips on precision soldering or alternatives would be appreciated.

Posted on Apr 25 1999, 11:47 PM
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soldering
by saint

I don't solder worth a darn, but I've tried a lot :) Some tips:

If you are adding solder to the pad, instead of looking at your pen being too low power, look at your solder being icky. I've heard from folks who've learned soldering the "right" way that the combo rosin/flux solder typically bought at Radio Shack is junk that just doesn't melt easy enough. Buying "professional" solder with separate flux seems to be the recommendation. I haven't tried this yet but it makes sense to me. 

You can also try tinning your connection wires first - melt solder to your wires separate from the pad. Then when they're coated in solder, put them on the pad and re-melt them. Lots of people have better luck this way.

If you're mangling the pad due to heat on the pad, try a heat sink. 

I haven't seen the inside of one of these pads so couldn't tell you about the buttons, but off the cuff I'd usually recommend the solder points.

--- saint

Posted on Apr 26 1999, 06:11 AM
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Soldering
by Hamish Friedlander

If you can afford it (and I recomend it - how many gameports do you want to replace?:), get a variable temp soldering iron. That way you can set it high enough to melt your solder, but low enough not to instantly turn the plastic to muck. I have mine set to about 250C when doing plastic, or 350C when just soldering wires together. Tin the wires first. Stick a gob of solder on the iron, then wipe it onto the wires. This makes it easier to stick them. Make sure your iron nib is good / clean. If you've used it to melt your shoes together, it won't solder anymore. Get a handy-grip (a bunch of claws on a stand). That way your not trying to hold two things and a soldering iron still (the sidewinder might be too big for a handy grip, in which case blue tack it to the bench - make sure the blue tack is not near where you are soldering or it will melt and you'll never get it off :) That about covers it. If the solder looks messy, take it off and do it again. Oh, and dont be in a rush. Do as small as amount as possible, and then wait for it to cool down. Hamish P.S. - If you can get some _UN_galvinised nails (quite hard these days) practise soldering by soldering these into cubes / hexahedrons / semi-sided rombo-dodecahedrons :)

Posted on Apr 26 1999, 02:55 PM
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Thanks
by Colin

Thanks for the tips guys. I went and picked up a better soldering pen today, but I couldn't find a gameport card. I guess most people don't blow theirs out, and thus there isn't a high demand. Due to 3 major final projects for school due this week I'm going to have to put this off until next week. Hopefully everything will work out this time.

Posted on Apr 26 1999, 03:07 PM
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Leaf/Microswitches...
by Michael Bobroski

Isn't it possible to replace a typical micro-switch joystick with leaf-switches? The actual joysticks aren't built any different, are they?

By any chance, does anyone know the prices of a leaf switch from Wico? I haven't received my catalog yet, and I'm a bit curious...
 

Take care,
Mike

Posted on Apr 25 1999, 09:26 PM
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Leaf,micro
by Ray Iddings

I pretty sure you can't replace microswitches with leaf switches. It has everything to do with the way they are actually mounted to the stick. (when you get your wico catalog you can see what I mean,sorry I can't explain it better than that.)

Ray

Posted on Apr 26 1999, 05:16 AM
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Doy!
by Michael Bobroski

Oh yeah... I just remembered what my leaf-style buttons looked like... the switches are nothing alike.

When looking through the online wico catalog, it seems that the only leaf joysticks they sell are ball-tops, or euro-style. Am I correct on this?
 

I did pick up an interesting tidbit on my way through the online Happ catalog -- It seems that you can convert any Super or Ultimate micro-switch joystick to a Perfect 360 by just purchasing the interface for $21. Since the Perfect actually uses Super parts, you're not going to have an inferior conversion.
 

Take care,
Mike 

Posted on Apr 26 1999, 10:51 AM
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Untitled
by Anonymous

I don't think you can (easily) convert a joystick from microswitch to leaf (or vice versa)--but I suppose it is possible...

I just got two ball-top leaf switch joysticks from Wico last week. They cost about $10-$15 ea. (I didn't care what the cost was...). I also got some leaf switch buttons, which apparently have been discontinued. So if you want some you'd better not dally (the selection of colors is already limited). 

Don't forget, for each button you'll also need a button holder (this is the unit that has the actual leaf switch on it) and a "pal-nut"... Total cost per leaf button: abt $2 or $2.50

Posted on Apr 26 1999, 07:38 PM
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Twistygrip plans
by Joey Holman

Hey, anybody want a set of Twistygrip plans? I had bought a set a while back to see how it was built, but wasn't too impressed and decided to build my own the way I wanted it. Anyway, I don't suppose it's doing any good to have a set of plans collecting dust when someone else might put them to good use. Somebody email me and I'll let you have them for the shipping cost.

Posted on Apr 25 1999, 07:57 PM
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Can I suggest Paul?
by saint

Paul apparently is having problems getting TwistyGrip plans sent to him out of the country, and was looking to buy plans from someone. His email is albers@attcanada.net :)

--- saint

Posted on Apr 26 1999, 06:14 AM
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Box for controls
by M. M.

I recently built a control panel using a Sidewinder gamepad. I used Happ Buttons and an Ultimate Joystick. I mounted them on a 16 x 10 board (which I had cut at Home Depot), but did not know what to do about the frame of box, since HD wouldn't cut wood into pieces that small, and I didn't have the proper tools. I finally found an adequate box-base. KMart is selling a "footstool" this week for 12.99. If you remove the cover and mount the control panel top to the footstool base it works out very nicely. Hope this helps for those who would like to build a panel, but don't have all the tools necessary to make a complete box.

Posted on Apr 25 1999, 05:37 PM
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Where can I get a clear ball for my trackball?
by Just Michael

Mine is 2 1/4" in diameter. I have tried the local billiard places and several other kinds of stores but no luck. Any help would be appreciated.

Posted on Apr 24 1999, 02:17 AM
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Happ Controls
by saint

I would contact Happ Controls.

--- saint

Posted on Apr 24 1999, 05:55 AM
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Joystick and Button Layout Question
by Jason Purcell

Hi, I am currently putting an arcade style controller together and I want a streetfighter 6-button style layout. I dont have access to any streetfighter cabinets to measure the button layout so I was wondering if anyone could send me some measurements for the button spacing and joystick placement.
Thanks.

Posted on Apr 23 1999, 11:20 PM
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it varies
by misato

I work in an arcade, and typical SF 6b layout varies. The horizontal space between buttons has never been greater than 1/4" but the vertical space, Ive seen range all the way up to about a 1/2", I say whatever feels good for you, unless you have really big/small hands and you will be playing alot with others. To find out what you like either lay quarters down on a table, or check out whatever SF fighter your local arcade has. (and play it too). Good luck.
misato

Posted on Apr 30 1999, 02:58 AM
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Multiple button presses
by incoherent

When using a Hagstrom encoder, is there a problem with multiple key presses at the same time? For example in fighting games where 2 buttons pressed at the same time to do a special move, will this be possible?

Thanks

Posted on Apr 23 1999, 01:07 PM
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Depends
by saint

Depends on how you configure it. If you use it in direct mode, so that you only have 24 possible buttons, then it should not be a problem. If you use it in matrix mode, then you still need to be careful of ghosting and such. However, with careful planning you should be able to avoid this.

--- saint

Posted on Apr 24 1999, 05:54 AM
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Composite Sync
by macros

The arcade monitor I got to use with arcadeos and cabmame has inputs for R,G,B,Earth, and Composite sync. My question is should I be twisting together horizontal and vertical sync from my vga card to get composite sync? Thanks.

Posted on Apr 23 1999, 12:30 PM
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Nugen or Joytech playstation gamepad
by carl

Is it possible to convert either one or both of these gamepads with arcade controls ? I live in the UK, can't find where to get the MAD KATZ or HIGH FREQUENCY gamepads which I've seen are recommended, unless somebody can help me !!

Carl

Posted on Apr 23 1999, 11:05 AM
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Interfacing spinner w/ hacked mouse?
by Intensify

** I thought I submitted this before, but I don't see it on the message board. If I duplicated this, forgive me... **
 

Does anyone know if it's possible to interface a spinner control w/ a hacked mouse?

I got the spinner on the cab I bought, but I don't want to spend an extra 100+ to buy the inerface board from HAPP (Christ, starting on the 30th of April, I'm probably gonna spend $1000 in about a week building this piece! :) )

Anyone know how?

Thanks, 

Intensify

Posted on Apr 22 1999, 11:47 AM
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Sorry about the repost. The main message board page isn't updating for me :(
by Intensify

Sorry again.. :)

Posted on Apr 22 1999, 11:48 AM
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No worries . . .
by saint

This is a mellow message board :)

Posted on Apr 22 1999, 05:52 PM
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Look no further than Build Your Own Arcade Controls :)
by saint

Check out the "Controls" link from the web page - Then hit the Spinner section. Both Drew and Stephan Hans have pages linked from there that offer information on hacking together your own spinner control. Drew uses mouse guts to interface with, while Stephan Hans has a circuit you can build (he built his spinner entirely from scratch I believe).

Good luck!

--- saint

Posted on Apr 22 1999, 05:50 PM
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Hundreds of people can't be wrong.
by TwistyGrip

Yes, it can be done...very, very well. If you go to http://www.twistygrip.com you'll see a picture of hacked mouse guts at the bottom of the spinners page (Yuck!). Yeah, yeah, yeah we're all sold out.

Stephen Han's article on spinners is pretty good, IF you can find the parts. We WERE working on spinner blueprints with easy-to-find parts...but was anyone really interested?

Posted on Apr 22 1999, 08:09 PM
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Boy, I'm glad...
by Michael Bobroski

I'm glad I picked up your spinner when I did! -- Only weeks ago.

Out of curiosity, what are your plans for the poor folk who missed out on the final batch? New design? Professionally manufactured?

Don't keep us in suspense! :)

Take care,
Mike

Posted on Apr 22 1999, 09:05 PM
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What will happen...
by TwistyGrip

NO WAY is TwistyGrip closing down! The products are being overhauled, but we're having trouble overhauling the price. Meanwhile, the Yoke and Spinner blueprints will take the front page. I have a few finished spinners and Star Wars yokes for my personal use (as gifts), and I'm debating whether or not to sell them.

Posted on Apr 24 1999, 03:43 PM
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One Million Dollars! -- Not a get rich quick scheme! :)
by Michael Bobroski

<snip> starting on the 30th of April,
I'm probably gonna spend $1000 in about a week building this piece! :) )
<end snip>

Heheh.. I started off the project saying, '$20 bucks for a cab, a $100 worth of joys/buttons, the only big purchase is the $400 monitor...'

A few months later, a few dozen trips to Home Depot, a half-dozen trips to Radio Shack, a few orders to Happ, Twisty-Grip, probably Hagstrom, etc... I'm lucky if I keep it under $2000! :)

It'll definitely be worth it... It already is. 

Take care,
Mike

Posted on Apr 22 1999, 09:25 PM
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