Wiring The Controls

The next thing I had to do was wire up the control panel. I'm using an ipac keyboard encoder to connect the buttons to the computer (the green thing on the left). I used some computer "feet" to secure the ipac in place underneath the control panel.

The ipac plugs into the computer via a USB cable and the microswitches on the buttons are wired to the nodes on the ipac. Everything is clearly labeled on the ipac and the default settings were perfect for my needs. The black wires are form the "COM" (common) pin on the microswitches and they are all daisy chained together (from button to button and into the ipac). The red wires are from the "NO" (normally open) pin on the microswitches and each one is individually wired to the ipac (to the default node on the ipac that corresponds to what I want the button to do).

The wiring from the hidden admin buttons was done the exact same way and you can see one of the microswitches in the top of the picture that I hooked up after the control panel was in place (by reaching through the coin door and placing the microswitch in the button - blind!).

This whole process couldn't be any easier! When I first started building these cabinets the wiring was the part that I was most intimidated by but it really is a snap.

More later.