What are terminal strips for and how do they work?
Also, which buttons should I get for my cabinet? I know that sanwa buttons are great for fighting games but what about other mame games such as side scrollers, sports games, will sanwa buttons be good for those type of games too?
Sanwa or Seimitsu. They both work well, unless your cabinet is fitted for Happ stuff. They’re both great products. I prefer Seimitsu, but Sanwa is most popular. It’s all a matter of taste, honestly. All joysticks and buttons electronically work the same, so they are all electronically interchangeable. However, they may not all fit on the same mounting brackets. If your control panel has univeral mounting brackets, all Sanwa and Seimitsu stick will mount, but they may require different mounting plates. For more info: http://shoryuken.com/f177/sanwa-seimitsu-faq-118289/
This is a terminal/barrier strip. It connects the first terminal of the left side to the first terminal of the right side, the second on the left to the second on the left, etc. It is useful for cleaning up wiring. You can use wire to connect the first terminal of the left side to the second of the left, to the third, on and on to the last to make them all the same wire. This is useful for extending ground wires to many terminals and wires without daisy-chaining.
Note: Eurostyle terminals (pictured) are preferred, as they don’t require spade connectors, like American-style terminals.
For more info on those, check this out: Joystick Controller - PCB and Wiring
That page also includes a lot about wiring joysticks, which will be very useful, too. Highly recommended reading.
thanks a lot brotha. You’ve been extremely helpful
Don’t forget that Sanwa parts will not just drop in on a cab made for American hardware. Be sure you have the proper tools.
yea, the cabinet I have is for happ parts. I have to file the holes so the sanwa buttons will fit. What about for the joystick? Anything special I have to do?
Probably attach a mounting bracket or cut into it to mount, which really depends on how thick the cabinet’s CP is. You may need to actually thin it out around the button and joystick areas, and definitely be sure to get Screw in OBSNs, not OBSF, which are snap ins, because Happ CPs are usually thick wooden CPs, as opposed to Japanese CPs, which are usually a thin sheet of metal.
Yes and no.
For the stick, if you want the stick to sit at proper height, you are going to need a router. If the CP has a plexi overlay, I’d recommend top mounting the stick (using the plexi overlay to hide bolts). Check out slagcoin instructions on how to do both.
As for buttons, if you use screw in sanwas, you are definitely going to need to route out the underside of the button area of the CP. Screw in Sanwas are not nearly as long as screw in Happ/iL buttons; they will not clear 3/4 inch thick CPs. You could use make the holes snug and use snapins, but it’s a bit ghetto.