I just finished my control panel for my MAME cabinet, but the Happ Competition Joysticks feel weird. The stiffness I expected, but I’m having a really hard time finding some of the diagonals. Is this the way their supposed to be, or should I take a second look at my installation. Maybe the stick doesn’t have enough clearance or something.
i presume you know that most of happ controlls use a square gate like those found in the american cabinets the center hole can obviously effect the throw of the joystick my question for you is it just the diagonals you are having trouble with or are you having problems also hitting U, D, L, R? if so this may be a question of drilling out the center hole the same 1 1/8th inch hole saw used to mount buttons works quite well for drilling out the hole for the shaft of the stick also the spacers may have something to do with it what type of materials is your cab made out of perticularly where the joystick is mounted
Happ competition joysticks use a square actuator, not a square gate.
its square right ? i suppose you can argue simantics all you like but the fact of the matter is its square none the less and if its not something your used to hitting diagonals will take time to adjust to regaurdless
but to me it sounds like he might have problems in the mounting of the actual stick and/or center hole itself
It’s not really semantics as it is two different parts of the joystick that serves a different purpose.
The actuator is the part of the joystick that touches and activates the micro-switches while the gate is the part of the joystick that restricts the movement and throw range.
In the case of the Happ comp stick, it uses square actuator and a circular “gate” (a circular hole on the top that restricts the movement of the shaft).
There is no semantics going on.
There is a Square Actuator in Circle Hole.
The hole is acting as a “Gate” for the Shaft Throw.
This is a square actuator:
It allows the stick to make contact with the microswitches without damaging anything
This is a square gate:
It restricts the movement of the stick to a strictly square movement. It also stops the stick from damaging anything.
We call them different names to avoid confusion, that’s all.
i suppose i stand corrected what i ment by a gate on happ parts is the part that actually resticts the actuator so it doesnt damage the microswitches im not sure how to post pictures of it or i would but im not sure how this deviation from the original question is helping this poor fellow i dont deal with japanese parts really at all so thanks for the clarification
Their mounted in 1 1/8th holes. That I used for Happ buttons also. In about 3/4 inch thick MDF. I don’t think its centered right, since when I slam it in all 8 directions, some make a different sound than others. Like their hitting the plexi, or side of the wood.
3/4 inch of MDF is pretty thick for a wood panel. Try lifting up or removing the joystick dust cover and then move the joystick around to see if the hole in the wood panel/plexi is restricting the movement of the joystick shaft.
1 1/8th inch hole is more than enough clearance tho on some of my early sticks i had the same problems happ has a very distinct click fokkusuhaundo is right lifting the dust cover and moving the stick or if you have the ability to see inside the cabinet where the actuator hits the microswitches thats your best bet from the sound of it tho they are a bit off center this can be easily corrected tho 3/4 inch is about the max you can mount happ controlls infact the arcades i used to work in all of the panels with the exception of a few that i needed to replace were mounted in 3/4 inch mdf or ply in short: if thats your problem the easy fix is to bore the hole out a lil larger and go from there