Ben Klammer

First, let me be clear I am not using this to generate profit. I'd prolly either make it always spit the coins back out, or keep a bowl of coins next to the cabinet and empty all the coins back into it every once in a while. Anyway, me and my dad have been working on this MAME cabinet for a while, and we got a coin mech for it. Problem is, it was a cheap knock-off that's made for 100 peso coins and the manual was written in engrish. I think I figured out how to set it up, but I need to know how to wire it to, say, an I-PAC. Here's what it says about parts: 3-Way Micro Switch - Distinguish accuracy degree:accurate, normal and low 4-Pin-Plug - DC12V, COIN, GNG, COUMTER 2-Way Micro Switch - Distinguish N.O (normally open) and N.C (normally closed) 3-Way Micro Switch - Distinguish signal transmission speed of coins: fast, medium and Jow Micro Switch - SET button ...and some other mechanical parts. So, my best guess is that I'd want to use coin and GNG, which I'd assume is ground. Thing is, that's the same ground to go with the 12v in. I don't really want to risk breaking anything with experimentation. And what would counter be? No where else on the sheet does it go further into detail. That set button has to do with set-up, which I've figured out. Just to get it used to what coins it's looking for; I've calibrated it to Canadian quarters, and it seems fairly good at rejecting other coins.

While cleaning out some sauce, I came acros the manual to Star Raiders for 2600. I noticed you guys don't have a scan, just an HTML version. How would I go about contributing a scan of my manual? (Or was it trascribed to HTML 'cause of lingering copyright crap?)

I'd atcually rather get the Opti PAC. It's $78 around here, quite expesnive but not deadly so. Not as bad as buying a whole 'nother track ball that's made for USB.

Well, I wouldn't need a Y cable. I'd be using ardade parts for the joystick and buttons, and just dials for the paddles, and solder the wires right to the console. But like I said, a plug in case you want to use another controller. And another plug for P2, since there'd be no P2 controlls built in ('cept the second paddel). As for the cartradge slot, I would likely have to move it. I'm not sure where I'd put it, though. I'd make the arcade have the same flavor as the six switcher, with the six switches on the front, just below the screen. But if I put the cart in the middle of the switches, like normal, it might get in the way of the controlls. So I think I'll put it on the side, like a Vectrex. And yeah, in my imagination, I thought I'd be building it off of a grodilated 2600 Jr. But I don't know what I'll find.

I know that some parts might use the same wires, but, if you only use the joysitck on a joystick game, and only use the paddles on paddle games, it'll be good?

Well, we found the pinnout for the cable coming off the trackball, and my dad wired it to the mouse, but.. I dunno. I'll get him to say the whole story when he gets back from work.

I kinda want to, in the future, make a bartop arcade machine out of an Atari 2600. I'd get one where the case is really screwed up, but it still works. Just so I don't ruin much. But, it'd be using actual arcade parts for the controls. Now, I'd want to have a joystick, with it's button, and the two paddle spinners with their buttons as well. I'd also have a port for connecting some other flavors of controller into P1's spot as well. But, would it work to have all these controllers 'plugged in' at the same time? Or would I have to rig up some sort of uber switch?

They were made specificly for arcade machines, but we're making a MAME machine. We tried wiring the arcade sensors directly to the sensors on the mouse, but that didn't work at all.

Me and my dad made a MAME cabinet. Right now, it has two Joysticks, with three buttons each. We made it so you could lift off the controlls and put in other setups. Our second one shall be a trackball. We got a Happ 3" Trackball through Kijiji, in nice enough condition. It came with the arcade sensor things, but we couldn't use 'em. Instead, we got the sensors off an old computer ball mouse. It works, but iff you spinn the ball fast enough (not actually THAT fast), it dosen't pick up. As it slows down, it then starts to pick up the movement. What's up with that? I noticed this happens less with Left/Right, which might be because the light is much ferther back from the sensor wheel there. But it still exsists. Happ makes sensors for the ball that plug in with USB and act like a mouse, however, the only vendor of arcade parts near us only sells the entire track ball. It has both the normal and USB varients, but dosen't sell just the sensors, as far as I know. And while we got the Trackball for $25, that store has the arcade one for $78, and the USB one (BTW it's the same ball but with different electronics) for $166. Quite a bit. Dose anyone know what might be causing this numbness to speed, and how to fix it? Thanks!

Yhis thread now has absolutly no point to exsist. I made another one elsewhere with a better title to get more attention (which it did), and I fixed the Trak-Ball all by myself last night after realizing two wires were in the wrong spot. I hadn't noticed it before because the lable saying which colour wire goes where was partialy obscured by a foam pad. Anyway, moderators, this thread now has no purpose. Please close it. Thanks.

Actually, never mind, I fixed it. The brown and purple wires were swaped, making neither up nor the left button work. I didn't notice earlier because a foam pad was covering the labels on the cicuit board. Happy days. Also, sorry for the dubble bump. I would have edited the last post, but such rights are not provided for non-donators.

Bump please? Anyone have the know-how to fix these things? I'd really rather not have to buy another.

...that was interesting. Guess no one's making StrongBadZone.

Well, I'm not sure if I have any games compatible with the TB mode. I'll check that out now. ~~~ Actually, apperently, there aren't any games that work with it in TB mode, except a few on the 400 computer. I have that, but the games and cables and the thing itself are buried in boxes. So I can't really test that.

I can imagin my first post being a 'it's broken, how fix' kinda thing is a bad first impresion, but these forums do look interesting, and there are many other things I might want to talk about, but here's my issue at the moment. I have a track ball for my Atari 2600/7800. And, simply put, it only works left/right, not up/down. Buttons are ok, too. However, my trackball looks a tad different then most I've seen online. The biggest difference is the two buttons are trapazoid shaped, rather than circles. And the ball is yellow. Otherwise, it looks the same, so I hope that means the internals are the same, too. And yes, I cleaned it. Made the buttons more responsive, but still no up and down. I'm not really able to order any replacement parts, so if I can fix it at home, I will. And I can. Any suggestions on how to fix it are appreciated. Also, I'm not sure of the model number. All it has is a sticker with 'KMO342' and 'Made is U.S.A.' on the plastic.And there's a switch with TB and JS, which I know JS means make it work like a joystick (what I set it to) and TB makes it analog, for compatible games. So again, thanks for any suggestions, and more details will be provided upon request. UPDATE- Found out one of the wires that goes from the circuit board to the main cable (to Atari) fell off. It was just a friction fit, so I slid it back on, and my problem was half fixed. Down workes, but up still dosent. Left, right, and buttons all still work as before. I tried cleaning every one of the connections with water and a cotton swab rubdown, but that had no effect. the next thing I guess would be to check that all the wires work and have no cuts. I'm assuming this means the sensor works? UPDATE TO THE UPDATE- Tested all the wires that go from the controller to the system with a multimeter, all work fine. (Note: This is taken from a thread of mine in the wrong forum with the wrong name. If moderators want to, please delete that one. Sorry for the inconvienience).