"&%^!@#&^%^!#!!!!!!"

Well, it turned out to be a fairly productive week and a half, but it didn't start out that way. After becoming increasingly frustrated with my lack of workspace, I spent the day trying to find solutions for for the things I could get done. Maybe configure a few switch panels and test out the interface boards...

 Here's the first two button panels! No real thought into layout, but more of a proof of concept to see if they would work. The rotary switches were a challenge to process, so I worked up two "styles" - select + pushbutton or "always on" selector. Both seemed to work well in joy.cpl!

Here's the setup from the Arcade Interface Card. I knew this wasn't my final configuration, so I attached spade connectors and bullet connectors for the grounds. Keeping male and female connectors consistent makes it a lot easier to adapt and change later. Crimping connectors to the existing cables is explained below...

Here's how it looks connected to the GGG KeyWiz40. The screw terminals I installed on the KeyWiz made this setup trivial. Same connectors on the wiring harness allows me to swap out at will.

I used a terminal strip to connect all of the grounds together.

So, here's how I got it all connected:

Start with a WHOLE BUNCH of appropriately gendered  crimp connectors. I chose everything coming from the switches to be male, and all of my "receiver" cables to the boards with female. No reason other than I had to make a choice, and stick with it. 

 I made a bunch of pigtails from 4-lead intercom wire that my local electronic supplier happened to have on sale. These will run from the screw terminals on the card and plug into the switches.

 I got bags of both spade and bullet connectors. In most "real worl" applications, these connectors are not great as they do not make an electrically secure connection. I was not about to hard solder all of my experiments together - I already lost 2 Micro boards to that problem. These all came with rubbery insulators. Save stress and put them on the wires FIRST, then crimp the connectors.

 Here's the little pigtail 2-wire connectors that come with the arcade board. The spades that came with them are too small to be useful, so I cut them off and replaced them with those from my pile of connectors.
I needed a better shot of my stripping/crimping pliers - the small serrated pads on the front were invaluable. 




I learned a neat trick to strip the tips of the wires. Hold the pliers in your non-dominant hand, squeeze gently, and pull off the insulation. Keeping the flat side of the pliers in the direction you're stripping helps to keep from cutting the wire off completely.

 I found that holding the connectors like this helped me crimp the strain relief FIRST, then I could crimp the connector around the stranded wire. On many of them, I soldered the connector as well, just to make sure the wires weren't going anywhere.





More pics in following posts. It's refreshing that the nuts and bolts part is starting to come together.

Unfortunately, the  design has taken an unexpected leap forward again with the donation of two black leather Subaru seats. I'm working on a two-station design sooner than I thought...