I wanna hack an icade to USB and I would just sell the board on ebay so if somone was repairing one and wanted to use the original board (idk y) then there you go
Nearly 4 years later, I'm using one of these just as a controller for a couple switches, simply because I'm hopeless with electronics and its easier than using an Arduino, plus cheaper. Absolutely fine so far, although I feel like I'm under-utilising it so I'm thinking about making a button box just so I can make use out of the other connectors
Hey RMC! Amigos contributor John Marshall here. Just found this video when looking up info on this board. I just bought a Happ trackball to make a custom controller for Golden Tee, Centipede and Crystal Castles, among others. Great video!
Bought one of these for a simple button box for FC3. Works like a charme. The fact that i can turn the analog Joystick into 4 more buttons with the mode option makes it 16 Buttons in total. I love it.
Worth noting that the XCSource kits come in two flavours: One with no Sanwa/Seimitsu joystick cable but 20 of the other cables, and one with a Sanwa/Seimitsu joystick cable but only 16 of the other type.
For most of the wired spade connectors where they go on the back of the switches pin - you press the side of the connector when you want to slide it off - this pushes a small lever, and allows the spade terminal to slide off the button.. it has a tiny metal lever catch on it to stop it falling out :)
EDIT: I answered my own question. Looks like I will need to dedicate a single switch in order to always have access to the POV Hat function. I can rewire the leds on my joystick in order for it to show both power and proper Hat mode. I was worried this device wouldn't work for a standard PC joystick, but I see now with proper modifications it most definitely should work.
Recreate it with an arcade joystick, a few arcade buttons, and one of these boards, put it all in a small wooden box. Easy replacement of parts means it will probably outlive you. :D
3:35 My hitbox fightstick build had a problem precisely because of that, when it's on POV Hat mode(Green LED ON), if I pressed LEFT, DOWN, and RIGHT at the same time it would give me UP LEFT even if I didn't even have a button wired to UP, but clicking on Mode making it change to Joystick(Red LED ON) would fix it. I still had to set up those 4 directional buttons specifically as joystick input on Steam Big Picture mode tho, emulators too now that I'm remembering it. As an board for an standard arcade joystick build it would basically right off the bat even on POV Hat mode, there's just this very small inconvenience if you want to make a hitbox that you need to be aware of. But given the advantages an hitbox offers, for this cheap of a price it's a moot point.
so i got my pack in the post today. put it together and the only difference was that my comp. pro. was a leaf sprung kind, not microswitched.. however i connected it the same way.. and then fell at the final hurdle.. i got my up/down confused when connecting the leads to the board, had to take them out and re-seat them.. also found that both fire buttons couldn't be connected to one source. otherwise very happy to use my joysticks again. If i have a complaint, it's the same was yours, the cables were too small and I'd like a box of some sort to mount it in. I think i'll use a matchbox! Many thanks for this video.. it helped me out.. especially when looking what sockets you placed the leads into on the controller..
Why I'm not subscribed yet? A whole 5 years watching back and forth and now I see I'm not subscribed. 🤦♂️ Fixed. Thanks for your review. I'm about to test mine in here and decided to look for some light on the matter.
I just saw this at my local electronics store. all the same markings and circuitry --- for $30. and is packaged with only 10 cables. this now reminds me to look for reviews before i purchase.
I installed this board into my Mad Catz Street Fighter Tournament Edition Round 2 Fight stick for PS3. I used it on my older PC. On newer PCs it doesnt work anymore because of that oldschool UHCI - USB - Protocol. I didnt use the auto-fire-mode , so i connect only 10 buttons and the joystick. It works perfectly, no delay or lag. In my opinion its a cheap and good choice for Arcade-Sticks. It came with USB-Cable ( i used the longer original of my fightstick ) , 12 connector cables for Stick and buttons ( i connected the 5 pin Sanwa cable instead ) for around 10 Euros!! I did this conversion because i couldnt find a xbox version of the mad catz. The only issue with the original Sanwa-Joystick cable was that i had to turn the joystick 180 degrees. That means you have to unscrew 4 screws - thats it.
I've used two of those - one in arcade stick, another in universal converter (two 9 pin sockets driving 2 C64 joysticks at once, or both connected to drive one fightstick). Boards work really well, but quality can be an issue (I had some cold joints on one).
I just got this board and I found out that the mode button does switch to the POV hat instead of the X/Y axis as described in the video, but it doesn't SAVE this to the board. The next time it powers up the default X/Y axis mode will be enabled. Just a heads up for those wanting to use it in a closed cabinet and don't want to add a dedicated button somewhere just to switch modes EVERY SINGLE TIME you use it..... *sigh*
I plan to make either a hitbox or standard control box using one of these, some 2.8 mm connector buttons, some very short height joystick, and two beautiful £3 chopping boards I bought. Should come in at a cost to me of around £32 as I already have the drill bits for this.
Hmm, I'm planning on using one of these for something completely different. I'll use it in a Virtual Pipe organ to change registrations with pistons (buttons) under the keyboard. Commercial usb midi encoders can be expensive.
hi used this to make an arcade stick to use on my fire tv running on retro x frontend fire tv picks it up and you can map the buttons inside the app works grate it is also plugin to a USB hub
Are’nt super responsive like jamma’s but they get the job done most of the time. They can glitch a bit (rarely) when pressing many buttons at the same time. It’s okey for entry level controls but don’t expect the best.
I can see the delay while you're testing galaga :-/ You should make another comparison with a joypad to see if it has any difference and it's just the emulator if this is possible.
For some reason my joystick only works when I connect it to the regular button inputs, but it doesn't work when connected to the joystick inputs. Any ideas?
Hi there! I have the same configuration and i set up my arcade DIY unfortunatley both of the joystick has the same error. The UpLeft and DownRight directions do not work. Could you help me?
Hello Mr. Cave and all others who night read. Were teh both variants of encoders (Ipac 2 and Zero Delay) already compared in respect of their actual Input Delay. I have my Cabinet set up with a Mister FPGA and a retropie and have both here to install. But I cannot decide. If Zero Delay would really have less delayy than Ipac 2 I would go for Zero Delay. But some technical FACTS could be usefull.
Im having problems with the zero delays i have 2 for two player but everytime ones disconnects on accident and reconnect it makes the 2 players works a one giant controller 😢
mine didnt come with the wire for the joystick. I tried using the single wires but my sanwa joystick has a pcb and just one single black ground wire. I daisy chained all the direction wires but it still wont work. buttons work fine so the board is good. is there anything else to try here?
Hello Thank you for bringing the subject.. Since operating system (windows) recognize up to 128 switches is there any way to connect two or more boards to get 24 or more micro switches using this controller Regards
I'm thinking of using this to build an arcade joystick for my PC. I was wondering what it is detected as in game? For example I use an Xbox One controller on my PC, so any in game prompts, menu commands etc are displayed as Xbox One A, B, X, Y etc coloured buttons. I was planning on making my joystick have 8 coloured face buttons for A, B, X, Y, LB, RB, LT, RT plus buttons on the back or side for the "back" and "start" buttons (also possibly an Xbox home button but that only brings up the "game bar" which I never use so might leave it off). But if the button names and colours don't match what's in game then I might do something different. Sorry for the long comment!
I put one of these inside a MAME cab with other emulators, The only Issue I had was the software I was using was looking for key presses, not joystick inputs. So i found apiece of software that converted joystick inputs to virtual key presses and all seemed good after that.
Is the joystick connection analog or digital? I would like to make an h-shifter and clutch pedal for sim racing and it would help if it had analog inputs as well (for the clutch)
Basically the controls(joystick, and buttons) and one Pro Micro(its a dev board based on ATMega32u4, others MCU may not work like the ATMega328p) And some code( basically switch case statements and functions provided by the Joystick library). It is also possible using rf transceivers to do it wireless, but it may add some input lag. I may do a video on the building and coding.
You say theres no noticable delay, but when i see the video of you playing that space invader type game, the ship movement was terribly far behind your joystick movements.. though i think this could be partly to blame on your monitor
It seems to me that the buttons are not switching to ground but to +5V. Can you confirm? Even the Sanwa(?) connector shows AU, AD, AL, AR and VDD not GND. This makes it impossible to use an old joystick having a auto-fire circuit built in.
Trying to set one of these up. But for some reason whenever I press one button, the computer recognizes it as pressing all the buttons! Anyone have any similar issues? I bought two and tried swapping the board out, same thing. Hooking it up to an old arcade cabinet with a PC in it.
![[PS4 | PC] Arcade Stick Build - Clear Acrylic](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Fq0rY3h4FYk/mqdefault.jpg)
![[PS4 | PC] Arcade Stick Build - Clear Acrylic](/img/tr.png)
I bought several of these boards for various arcade bartops. Never failed
The fact that you saved the old parts for the joystick to put it back to it's original state makes you aces in my book.
Thanks, we can't be destroying Comp Pro's!!
I wanna hack an icade to USB and I would just sell the board on ebay so if somone was repairing one and wanted to use the original board (idk y) then there you go
Nearly 4 years later, I'm using one of these just as a controller for a couple switches, simply because I'm hopeless with electronics and its easier than using an Arduino, plus cheaper. Absolutely fine so far, although I feel like I'm under-utilising it so I'm thinking about making a button box just so I can make use out of the other connectors
Hey RMC! Amigos contributor John Marshall here. Just found this video when looking up info on this board. I just bought a Happ trackball to make a custom controller for Golden Tee, Centipede and Crystal Castles, among others. Great video!
Nice one John. I was playing golden tee at an arcade just last week. Great fun
Bought one of these for a simple button box for FC3. Works like a charme. The fact that i can turn the analog Joystick into 4 more buttons with the mode option makes it 16 Buttons in total. I love it.
Worth noting that the XCSource kits come in two flavours: One with no Sanwa/Seimitsu joystick cable but 20 of the other cables, and one with a Sanwa/Seimitsu joystick cable but only 16 of the other type.
For most of the wired spade connectors where they go on the back of the switches pin - you press the side of the connector when you want to slide it off - this pushes a small lever, and allows the spade terminal to slide off the button.. it has a tiny metal lever catch on it to stop it falling out :)
I’ve built several arcades and used these, simple easy and just works
I made a 4 button Bishi Bashi controller with this board. Completely flawless performance!
Currently looking at using old keyboard switches to make myself a usb joystick keyboard
pretty excited :D
EDIT: I answered my own question. Looks like I will need to dedicate a single switch in order to always have access to the POV Hat function. I can rewire the leds on my joystick in order for it to show both power and proper Hat mode. I was worried this device wouldn't work for a standard PC joystick, but I see now with proper modifications it most definitely should work.
Oh god. I loved my Comp pro joystick. Lasted for years. Miss it.
Recreate it with an arcade joystick, a few arcade buttons, and one of these boards, put it all in a small wooden box. Easy replacement of parts means it will probably outlive you. :D
3:35 My hitbox fightstick build had a problem precisely because of that, when it's on POV Hat mode(Green LED ON), if I pressed LEFT, DOWN, and RIGHT at the same time it would give me UP LEFT even if I didn't even have a button wired to UP, but clicking on Mode making it change to Joystick(Red LED ON) would fix it.
I still had to set up those 4 directional buttons specifically as joystick input on Steam Big Picture mode tho, emulators too now that I'm remembering it.
As an board for an standard arcade joystick build it would basically right off the bat even on POV Hat mode, there's just this very small inconvenience if you want to make a hitbox that you need to be aware of. But given the advantages an hitbox offers, for this cheap of a price it's a moot point.
so i got my pack in the post today. put it together and the only difference was that my comp. pro. was a leaf sprung kind, not microswitched.. however i connected it the same way.. and then fell at the final hurdle.. i got my up/down confused when connecting the leads to the board, had to take them out and re-seat them.. also found that both fire buttons couldn't be connected to one source. otherwise very happy to use my joysticks again. If i have a complaint, it's the same was yours, the cables were too small and I'd like a box of some sort to mount it in. I think i'll use a matchbox! Many thanks for this video.. it helped me out.. especially when looking what sockets you placed the leads into on the controller..
You're welcome and thanks for watching I'm glad it helped you
Why I'm not subscribed yet?
A whole 5 years watching back and forth and now I see I'm not subscribed. 🤦♂️
Fixed. Thanks for your review. I'm about to test mine in here and decided to look for some light on the matter.
I haven't used mine yet, but am glad to find a video of the exact board I have. Building 2 systems.
I just saw this at my local electronics store. all the same markings and circuitry --- for $30. and is packaged with only 10 cables. this now reminds me to look for reviews before i purchase.
Does this work with the nintendo switch?
I installed this board into my Mad Catz Street Fighter Tournament Edition Round 2 Fight stick for PS3.
I used it on my older PC. On newer PCs it doesnt work anymore because of that oldschool UHCI - USB - Protocol.
I didnt use the auto-fire-mode , so i connect only 10 buttons and the joystick.
It works perfectly, no delay or lag. In my opinion its a cheap and good choice for Arcade-Sticks.
It came with USB-Cable ( i used the longer original of my fightstick ) , 12 connector cables for Stick and buttons ( i connected the 5 pin Sanwa cable instead ) for around 10 Euros!!
I did this conversion because i couldnt find a xbox version of the mad catz.
The only issue with the original Sanwa-Joystick cable was that i had to turn the joystick 180 degrees. That means you have to unscrew 4 screws - thats it.
I've used two of those - one in arcade stick, another in universal converter (two 9 pin sockets driving 2 C64 joysticks at once, or both connected to drive one fightstick). Boards work really well, but quality can be an issue (I had some cold joints on one).
the led part wires up separately, so just get a separate board to control your led
Thank you for the video. Getting my kit in mail soon. I will update you
Thank you much. I'm using this to create a Button/dash box for iRacing.
I just got this board and I found out that the mode button does switch to the POV hat instead of the X/Y axis as described in the video, but it doesn't SAVE this to the board. The next time it powers up the default X/Y axis mode will be enabled. Just a heads up for those wanting to use it in a closed cabinet and don't want to add a dedicated button somewhere just to switch modes EVERY SINGLE TIME you use it..... *sigh*
Changing J1 to the other position will make it start in analog mode. It's also possible to change J1 for an SPDT switch
it seems you can get 4 full range analog axis out of these if you remove the resistors on the board.
I plan to make either a hitbox or standard control box using one of these, some 2.8 mm connector buttons, some very short height joystick, and two beautiful £3 chopping boards I bought. Should come in at a cost to me of around £32 as I already have the drill bits for this.
Did you do it? Any Tipps for a beginner?
Used one for years. Work perfect
I used one of these boards, without the plastic connectors, in a handheld I built for my kid. They're cheap and they work great
I bought one to convert a nes advantage to a standard usb controller and it worked great! awesome price and it works as it should.
Is it possible to connect a 2" trackball to the board?
made a fighting stick for it and it works very well
Das Richter does it work for pc and ps4 street fighter?
Hmm, I'm planning on using one of these for something completely different. I'll use it in a Virtual Pipe organ to change registrations with pistons (buttons) under the keyboard. Commercial usb midi encoders can be expensive.
Could I use this board to build something like a flight sim joystick? Couldn't find any info on that
Does it feature x-input? I guess not, cause I would love to use it in my stick for steam shmups :)
hi used this to make an arcade stick to use on my fire tv running on retro x frontend fire tv picks it up and you can map the buttons inside the app works grate it is also plugin to a USB hub
Are’nt super responsive like jamma’s but they get the job done most of the time. They can glitch a bit (rarely) when pressing many buttons at the same time. It’s okey for entry level controls but don’t expect the best.
how does the turbo or auto fire function? That's what led me to the video. Might need to buy a toggle switch for that?
Ipac was confusing shit, used one when i was in 6th grade, no idea what i was doing
Its advertised as a ps4 pcb also. Have u ever tried it?
I made a arcade stick using a korean lever and some seimitsu buttons. Works really well and is like 50€ cheaper than other options.
I can see the delay while you're testing galaga :-/
You should make another comparison with a joypad to see if it has any difference and it's just the emulator if this is possible.
For some reason my joystick only works when I connect it to the regular button inputs, but it doesn't work when connected to the joystick inputs. Any ideas?
Any chance of covering which connector is which and what type of button to use on each? So little information about this board.
Why not use an I-PAC2 instead?
The I-PAC is a great product but there's a big cost difference between these devices. If you don't need the bells and whistles then this is an option
@@RMCRetro 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Handy review, thank-you. I was also hoping for a jumper for the coin slot but, it doesn't appear so :-( For the price it should do the job.
Coin impulse is like any other buttons. Map your coin door to one of the regular inputs.
What are the 12 buttons for?
Im guessing:
the 8 standard fightstick inputs, but what are the other 4?
IAmQuiteThirsty for any other buttons you might think of
Start, Select (Coin), and now games are putting training options on L3, R3 and Touchpad buttons.
What type of plugs do the micro switches use? XHP?
I seem to have lost a couple cables, and I might need to buy replacement.
Hi there! I have the same configuration and i set up my arcade DIY unfortunatley both of the joystick has the same error. The UpLeft and DownRight directions do not work. Could you help me?
Can I use a pot instead of joystick? I'd like to have two separate pots, to control different axis, instead of one joy. What pot would I need?
they look brilliant to use for making control simulators for trucks or planes setting up buttons ect but i noticed they can not do control axis sadly
Hello Mr. Cave and all others who night read. Were teh both variants of encoders (Ipac 2 and Zero Delay) already compared in respect of their actual Input Delay. I have my Cabinet set up with a Mister FPGA and a retropie and have both here to install. But I cannot decide. If Zero Delay would really have less delayy than Ipac 2 I would go for Zero Delay. But some technical FACTS could be usefull.
Im having problems with the zero delays i have 2 for two player but everytime ones disconnects on accident and reconnect it makes the 2 players works a one giant controller 😢
Hi can i use a dual axis joystic in that board?
Thank you so much !!!!
I didn't find any tutorial for this controller before !
Thank you !!!!!
Can I use led encoder with regular non-led buttons?
Is the microchip under the black pad? Surely there has to be one
mine didnt come with the wire for the joystick. I tried using the single wires but my sanwa joystick has a pcb and just one single black ground wire. I daisy chained all the direction wires but it still wont work. buttons work fine so the board is good. is there anything else to try here?
Does it work with Ubuntu Linux? If it's HID it should.
Yes it works in Linux including RetroPie distros
I love using them. Easy to use.
Can a multi position rotary be added to this board? I just want it to hit a button on right turn and a different button on left turn.
03:30 Did you hook up a button or a switch to the mode connection? It looks like you used a toggle switch there.
Seems to be easy, and maybe I can attach 2 of this to a Pi2/3. But.. where can I find compatible and SMALL buttons? Thanks
Hi! I have the same usb encoder and i have the push button with 4 legs… if possible use the power of USB connector?
A-ha!.. just ordered one of these, fingers crossed :) thanks
Anyone have any experience attaching rotary encoders to the board? Any success?
Awesome review and very helpful!
would this work on a console
I'm interested in those missing sockets and spots for resistors... Anyone know what they're for?
WHat is the default buttton maping?
1,2,3,4??
if I buy HAPP controls, do I need a 2 pin or 5 pin or 4.8mm usb kit?? Thanks
Hello
Thank you for bringing the subject..
Since operating system (windows) recognize up to 128 switches is there any way to connect two or more boards to get 24 or more micro switches using this controller
Regards
Can I use rotary switches, and momentary toggle/rocker switches with these?
Would this work for a single button? I am looking for something I can hook a single button to, and the computer recognize it?
Nice video, Can this USB board be used on windows 10?
+Victor Bocanegra yes its just fine on win 10
It works in most things, as they just see a very generic usb joystick.
Can this joystick use for android box?
can you also assign an Axis so like for flying helicopters or is it just on and off?
I'm thinking of using this to build an arcade joystick for my PC.
I was wondering what it is detected as in game? For example I use an Xbox One controller on my PC, so any in game prompts, menu commands etc are displayed as Xbox One A, B, X, Y etc coloured buttons.
I was planning on making my joystick have 8 coloured face buttons for A, B, X, Y, LB, RB, LT, RT plus buttons on the back or side for the "back" and "start" buttons (also possibly an Xbox home button but that only brings up the "game bar" which I never use so might leave it off).
But if the button names and colours don't match what's in game then I might do something different.
Sorry for the long comment!
You could probably set it up with some sort of joystick to keyboard stuff
RetroManCave good video I got a question I got the same board but I don’t know where is the connector for the LED’s goes please help
Can u connect in a Mi Box? I did that but it doesn't recognize it
what is the polartiy of wires when you hooked it up to the micro switches ? thanks
Thanks for the video, does it support potentiometers by any chance even one or two for X and Y? Cheers
Can this board be use to power led switch’s?
@rmc this board are really works for beatmania IIDX d.i.y controller with LED light.??
Have two, using with PC and MiSTer. Work great :)
Does your pc recognize them separately?
@@drstinky816 I use one for each platform - never tried plugging in two at once to same machine - you mean for two player gaming ?
can i get the name of track before the intro(not 8bit themes ) ?
can you use it in reverse mode so you can use usb controllers on arcade?
I put one of these inside a MAME cab with other emulators, The only Issue I had was the software I was using was looking for key presses, not joystick inputs. So i found apiece of software that converted joystick inputs to virtual key presses and all seemed good after that.
John-Paul Parker Joy2Key perhaps? Very useful bit of software
RetroManCave it may have been. I'll post photos of my Cab on Instagram. It's not pretty, but the kids love it.
John-Paul Parker awesome looking forward to seeing it
Is the joystick connection analog or digital? I would like to make an h-shifter and clutch pedal for sim racing and it would help if it had analog inputs as well (for the clutch)
Can i use this board for xbox 1st gen? Model 2005..
I made my own arcade controller based on atmega32u4, and i didnt noticed any input lag.
Basically the controls(joystick, and buttons)
and one Pro Micro(its a dev board based on ATMega32u4, others MCU may not work like the ATMega328p)
And some code( basically switch case statements and functions provided by the Joystick library).
It is also possible using rf transceivers to do it wireless, but it may add some input lag.
I may do a video on the building and coding.
Btw, i just posted one video about it, if you have interest check it out.
You say theres no noticable delay, but when i see the video of you playing that space invader type game, the ship movement was terribly far behind your joystick movements.. though i think this could be partly to blame on your monitor
I bought one of these and It is only showing up as one button in windows 10. Clearly this thing doesnt just work by plugging it in.
Thinking of starting my first DIY arcade stick. Are all encoders compatible with any system? (Asking for xbox one)
It seems to me that the buttons are not switching to ground but to +5V. Can you confirm? Even the Sanwa(?) connector shows AU, AD, AL, AR and VDD not GND.
This makes it impossible to use an old joystick having a auto-fire circuit built in.
Is it possible to use an analog stick on these? it doesn't seem like it
can a game steering wheel, throttle, brake, clutch gear set be made using this thing? (google translate used)
sir do you have a link where to download arcades games using this usb encoder or perhaps a software that could be used in the classroom. tnk u
Trying to set one of these up. But for some reason whenever I press one button, the computer recognizes it as pressing all the buttons! Anyone have any similar issues? I bought two and tried swapping the board out, same thing. Hooking it up to an old arcade cabinet with a PC in it.
That’s lucky,I bought two of these last week.
does it work on ps3? Some source says yes but the manufacturer says no, can you identify it?
Nice video @RetroManCave