Luuk Posted April 20, 2020 Report Share Posted April 20, 2020 Hi, my name is Luuk, from the Netherlands and recently joined this site, that has lots of useful information. I am thinking of building my own cab. Already have a 23" touchscreen, a Core i5 pc where I will put an ssd in. I have a question though I hope someone can answer. Plz don't kill me cause I am at noob-level here . - Besids the touch-function I will be using physical buttons that I am gonna hook up to an iPac. The lighting will come from a PacDrive, so the ROM is able to control the lights. How many buttons would at most be necessary? Thanks for everyones response. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jabbathehut Posted April 20, 2020 Report Share Posted April 20, 2020 I would say if you intend to use the touch screen for the features then 8 to 10 buttons would be the amount.The cancel button 4 hold buttons ,feature exchange/collect ,transfer and start and maybe 2 small buttons for hi lo that are sometimes there thats what i would do.I made a console that i can plug into my laptop and i used all 16 that can be connected to the pacdrive but most machines don't use more than 10 or so for the whole machine.DOND are the most button heavy i have 8 on the bottom and 4 banks of 2 buttons above for the features/hi lo etc. I think having the flashing lights definitely adds something to the experience esp the holds that flash faster. Good luck with it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reg Posted April 20, 2020 Report Share Posted April 20, 2020 @Luuk I would agree with @jabbathehut The second one that I need to pick up and start working on again has a touchscreen and seven buttons. This is a close up on how I've assigned buttons using the shift function on the iPAC. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luuk Posted April 21, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 (edited) @jabbathehut tnx for the info! @Reg that one looks great! The shift-function definitely gives more options. In my mini vpin the KL25Z (Pinscape encoder) also has a shift-function. Is that an old cabinet that you customized? I intend on building from scratch around my monitor, but it should also still have ‘enough’ toom to accomodate a sff pc, coin mech and hopper. I noticed the pacdrive.dll in the MFME main folder. Does anyone know is if besides the pacdrive mfme also works with the Ultimarc U-HID? Edited April 21, 2020 by Luuk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reg Posted April 21, 2020 Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 The one at the back is an old Vogue cabinet that was redone. The one that I am showing you here was the newer one - need to get back into working on it and was a Bank Raid machine customised. Currently when I last played with it stuck with the coin mech, I'll pick it up again soon. To be honest, I would go with the iPac controller that uses the pacdrive, it all just works. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ultimarc-I-PAC-Keyboard-Encoder-Cable/dp/B0103KPNLC 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luuk Posted April 21, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 Anyone have any experience installing a working pull arm on a self made cab? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slasher Posted April 21, 2020 Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 3 hours ago, Luuk said: Anyone have any experience installing a working pull arm on a self made cab? Good idea. I imagine you could use an arm with springs etc to simply trigger a micro switch when it's fully pulled down and use that to drive an input on the Pac drive? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luuk Posted April 22, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2020 (edited) 12 hours ago, slasher said: Good idea. I imagine you could use an arm with springs etc to simply trigger a micro switch when it's fully pulled down and use that to drive an input on the Pac drive? That's what I was thinking about. Something like the ones on the pics below. There are 'pull arm kits' for sale, like this one from Suzohapp: https://eu.suzohapp.com/en/products/handle_mechanisms/12-300532 Or maybe a used slot machine part. Edited April 22, 2020 by Luuk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slasher Posted April 22, 2020 Report Share Posted April 22, 2020 I'm sure ive seen those ones down at the excel at one of the game shows in London. I'm also sure storm gaming use one on one of their digital cabinets and they've got it working quite well. Basically as long as it can send a pulse signal to say it's been triggered you should in theory be able to get it wired up to a pacdrive of some sort and simply map that button/switch 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luuk Posted April 28, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2020 Just bought a used Bally pull arm handle with mechanism. The idea is that pulling the handle down pushes down a microswitch which closes its contact. Then the ipac would read it as a keystroke. I will also use a regular start button, but I feel the pull handle would be a nice extra touch. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slasher Posted April 28, 2020 Report Share Posted April 28, 2020 Great stuff! Let us know how it goes. Brilliant idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luuk Posted May 21, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2020 So it begins... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luuk Posted May 23, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2020 Installed the pull arm today. Needs finishing. But looks good already! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slasher Posted May 23, 2020 Report Share Posted May 23, 2020 It is being built into a kitchen? Looks like a kitchen cupboard at the moment with a handle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wizard Posted May 23, 2020 Report Share Posted May 23, 2020 (edited) On 21/04/2020 at 08:32, Luuk said: I noticed the pacdrive.dll in the MFME main folder. Does anyone know is if besides the pacdrive mfme also works with the Ultimarc U-HID? I can get it to work, but all these boards ( apart from the PACdrive ) aren't quick enough to keep up with the flashing lamps in MFME so aren't suitable tbh The main issue is that you can't write to all output ports at the same time, so there is always lag. The PACdrive allows you to write to all 16 outputs in one message whereas the others only allow 8 outputs, so need 12 seperate messages to update all 96 outputs ( UltimateIO ) It's a shame they behave this way as they are very good hardware wise. Edited May 23, 2020 by Wizard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luuk Posted May 23, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2020 58 minutes ago, Wizard said: I can get it to work, but all these boards ( apart from the PACdrive ) aren't quick enough to keep up with the flashing lamps in MFME so aren't suitable tbh The main issue is that you can't write to all output ports at the same time, so there is always lag. The PACdrive allows you to write to all 16 outputs in one message whereas the others only allow 8 outputs, so need 12 seperate messages to update all 96 outputs ( UltimateIO ) It's a shame they behave this way as they are very good hardware wise. Thanks for the explanation. I'll go with the Pacdrive then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luuk Posted May 23, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2020 3 hours ago, slasher said: It is being built into a kitchen? Looks like a kitchen cupboard at the moment with a handle If you pull the handle, then out comes the beer, lol 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luuk Posted June 6, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2020 Little update. Got the pull arm installed and added a microswitch for the connection to the ipac 2. Drilled holes for buttons and cut out the section for the coin insert front plate. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slasher Posted June 6, 2020 Report Share Posted June 6, 2020 (edited) Looking good and also seems it has the meow bag's approval Edited June 6, 2020 by slasher 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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