Cool… Yeah I use the electric ice 1 and LED drive in my arcade table and they’re pretty awesome, and I like the concave buttons and the classic happ competition feel. And the electric ice lights up very evenly. But i’m going to be changing them to Semitsus (and joystick to Sanwa JLF) because everyone who comes over to my place to play prefers the Japanese setup.
My complaints about electric ice 1 are:
- LED colors seem to differ slightly from led to led (quality problem of LED?)
- Mounting depth with micro-switch is meant for wood panel MAME cabinets (no good for portable joysticks)
- Button squeak (fixed with a shot of WD40). IMO, the quality doesn’t feel the same as happ competition.
- only comes in the 1.125" variety, so no easy swapping with 30mm buttons (1.18")
But his product is aimed at the DIY MAME cabinet crowd. Arc-Eye is for the DIY joystick crowd 
Good points. The electric ice were sold out when I worked on Berzerker Barrage, so I ended up going with the Nova Gems, which honestly worked better for the look I was going for on that project. Since they were translucent colors, that helped negate any variation of the LEDs, especially since they were the same colors as the buttons (yellow and white, respectively). I probably could have gone to LizardLick and got the translucent iL buttons, but the GGG version already had the LEDs, so that was one less thing I had to worry about fussing with! As for portability of a happ stick, you are giving up at least an inch in height to a sanwa or seimitsu based stick, but that’s not that much of a big deal for some like myself (although I do like the low profile you can get with a japanese based stick).
A happ based Arc-Eye would be tits, but there are 2 things I’d see being a problem. First, would having the Arc-Eye rest against the plunger spring be a good idea? It would already have to be smaller to fit inside the plunger, so I imagine soldering those would be a major PITA. Second, from a business standpoint, not too many people are using happ parts in their joysticks (which is a shame, IMO, but I understand). Would it work for the MAME crowd? Possibly, but I don’t have a clue.
In the end I can see myself with 3 sticks - my OG happ based QCF case (my first, so I can’t get rid of it for sentimental reasons), the upcoming super luxury japanese stick with Voltech’s new case, and probably another custom happ stick with lights of some sort. Covers all the bases
Do you suppose it’s possible to make the buttons light up ONLY if all 3 punches/kicks are pressed at the same time i.e when doing an ultra in SF4?
It would be less destracting to the players IMO
Yes its possible.
Yep, that it very simple. You need just my on button press mod for the Buttons 4K and 4P. Take a look at the previous schematics in this thread.
I`ve made this weekend an light up mod on button press. For the light up I chosse Guide, Start and Turbo button. To activate the light show with play buttons is somehow too much, nor?
[media=youtube]KC7zRJQ1xtw[/media]
Its more than an inch. More like a few inches… lol… the shaft is bit long and the microswitch on the bottom adds to the length too… May not be a big deal to most to add an inch or two in height to compensate for the height of happs/electric ice, but you remember that american style joystick I built for a friend uses happs? I had to make the joystick taller to fit them… but the result is that the joystick is tall enough to make it feel slightly awkward in your lap because your elbows naturally rest at a lower level than the top of the joystick… thats one thing to consider (where your forearms will feel most natural)… easy to get away with a little low, very easy to notice if its a little too high… heres a comparison pic of the height of the jap sticks vs the balrog american stick…
http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss240/purplearms/box6.jpg
No I dont think it will work out well on happs because the plastic is opaque (not translucent) and the spring gets in the way. Thats the whole reason why GGG has the electric ice, because its a translucent white. Basically there is a little hole on the base of the electric ice that you wedge the bulb of the RGB drive into. Theres a cutout in the board to prevent interference with the plunger. It rubs sometimes in my arcade table setup. On the right track, but not the nicest solution. So thats why i assume that the electric ice 2 has different mounting method for the RGB drives…
I think the height thing depends on the design of the case. The QCF case I have is about 3 inches high and fits the happ competition fine (they did route the MDF for the base a bit).
http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss13/spenzalii/fightstick029.jpg
http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss13/spenzalii/fightstick036.jpg
BB was around the same height, more or less, and has enough clearance for the JLW and the competition. I’ve even seen one down to about 2 1/2", but that took some routing the MDF to top mount the competition (I think I have pics of that somewhere)
Now, if you’re trying to put a p360 in there, I have no clue how much clearance you would need. I should find out soon, as my buddy wants me to build a stick for him with one.
Yeah routing the top and a thin plexi bottom might save you up to an inch, but I’m pretty sure electric ice buttons are a fair bit longer than happs
That’s possible. I know the NovaGems were the same length as a regular happ button (may as well been a happ with the 5mm hole drilled for the LED). But I can’t say for the electric ice, especially the new ones.
Bencao74 will make the official project master strike announcement tomorrow! Link to the thread will be posted here and on the first page.
What does everyone think of yellow as a PCB color? I’ve never seen anyone do it before and it will really stand out… The problem is that yellow may not be everyone’s cup of tea!
Yellow is definitely different, but if it works it could be fuschia for all I care!
Im cool with yellow, and u r right i haven’t seen one developed yet in that color so that’ll be interesting (so far green and black for cthulhu on SRK) but if u r worried about color, blue is another eye catching alternative.
The AXISdapter came in Red and Blue and Green and White and Black.
oh snap, i just looked at that since u mentioned it lol never really looked into doing wireless but ya thats alot of colors… i say call dibs on yellow then before some1 else does ;D
A manufacturing order for Master Strike has officially been placed!
it turns out purple solder mask is possible, but increases cost by 100%… LOL
Yellow also increases price… so i’ve decided to go with red which does not increase cost…
i’ll save the diagrams and talk for the official thread (whenever Bencao74 gets around to it)
Oh and Arc-Eye manufacturing should be done around now. I’m just waiting for shipping confirmation. If everything goes according to plan, arc-eyes should begin shipping by the end of March!
Hooray for progress. Sounds like this board will make things easier (few physical switches, if any) and more involved (a bunch of solder!) at the same time. Can’t wait to see how it all works.
Now to get around to solering up these arc-eyes…
Sweet! can’t wait to get my hands on those A-eyes XD… been messing around with some leds and this will totally be worth the wait once i add em to my current setup.
USB Power limitations
Hey guys… i’ve been asked about current limitation of USB (500ma) and it is possible to go above that. What i’m about to post exceeds USB standards, may not be safe, and i take no responsibility for what you do to your setups 
To get more power to usb:
- Get a USB Y Cable like this. Or build your own…
Only one of the two heads will transmit data. The other is purely for tapping power from another USB port. Portable hard drive makers often supply these types of cables. This effectively doubles available current to 1A at the cost of a usb port.
- Get an AC adapter like this
Instead of plugging the second head into another usb port to draw power, you can plug into an AC adapter like this.
Not elegant, but thats one quick and easy workaround if you absolutely must have 11 buttons and multiple colors searing your retina (giving you arc-eye syndrome LOL)…