Construction
I pretty much constructed the encoder box out of pieces of 3/4" particle board for the top and bottom and some 1/2" x 1/2" pieces of lumber for the sides. The top and bottom measure 8" x 13". I first primed it with Behr Interior Enamel Undercoater and then painted it up with Behr Interior/Exterior Hi-Gloss acrylic latex in "Lamp Black". I then gave it a couple of coats of Krylon semi-gloss black spray paint for good measure. It's pretty much as simple as you can get.
Instead of soldering the wires from the pins on the LP24 right into the D-SUB connector, I put a row of terminal blocks in the middle. I didn't really have to do this, but I did it as a "just in case" measure. On the off-chance that I'll want to split some of the connections off somewhere else, I'll be able to do it very easily since the wires aren't soldered to their final destination.
And speaking of soldering, I once again had to call upon the assistance of T for this project. I managed to do the whole Arcade Paradise cabinet without laying down a single bead of solder, but having the D-SUB connectors meant that the smell of burning rosin would have to permeate my basement. And since I didn't know the first thing about soldering, T was kind enough to give me a quick tutorial. It's not nearly as bad as I thought that it would be, either. Of course, all connections were tested with a multimeter to check for continuity.
Since You Don't Know Jack only requires eight individual key presses, I just whipped up a really quick matrix for the LP24 encoder. The only real concern that I had was that I wanted to make sure that the three player "buzz-in" letters (Q, B, and P) didn't ghost each other, so I just put those three buttons in different rows and in different columns. Again, whenever I revamp the Encoder Box for other controllers, I'll revamp the matrix that the LP24 is running too.
But enough of my blathering...here are the pics:
 The wiring job. |
 Back (the LP24 side). |
 Front (the D-SUB side). |
 Done - with lid open. |
 Done - Back. |
 Done - Front. |
