This fantastically engineering steering column is easily removed from the system to be worked on.
It features from left to right, a two state shifter knob, a gauge, the wheel, another gauge, and a start button. The gauges can be back lit, as well as the start button. I believe on some cabinets the gauges also functioned! Though I am not sure how.
I plan to back light them, as well as the start button and I may add some more buttons at some point.
It features from left to right, a two state shifter knob, a gauge, the wheel, another gauge, and a start button. The gauges can be back lit, as well as the start button. I believe on some cabinets the gauges also functioned! Though I am not sure how.
I plan to back light them, as well as the start button and I may add some more buttons at some point.
On the back we have a nice wire assembly which I re-used, and the steering box (with circuit board).
Here's a look into the steering gear assembly. The gears turn an optical encoder wheel. And here's the kicker. It is voltage compatible with modern mouse wheels! Yes, you heard me right. The output can simply be hacked into a mouse.
My other arcade, the one I built from scratch, features a trackball with a spare axis for the mouse wheel. I was able to simply wire the output of the steering wheels encoder circuit into the mouse and presto - a working steering wheel which scrolls webpages, zooms in on graphics applications etc. Most games picked it up no problem as well. The buttons of course were even more straightforward, just being switches.
The shifter knob actuation to the microswitch seems to be the first weak point in this engineering as it is a bit finicky.
My other arcade, the one I built from scratch, features a trackball with a spare axis for the mouse wheel. I was able to simply wire the output of the steering wheels encoder circuit into the mouse and presto - a working steering wheel which scrolls webpages, zooms in on graphics applications etc. Most games picked it up no problem as well. The buttons of course were even more straightforward, just being switches.
The shifter knob actuation to the microswitch seems to be the first weak point in this engineering as it is a bit finicky.
Here's a shot of the optical encoder. It even has LEDs on it to show you it's working, though they aren't required. The black vertical things in the middle are the encoders which the wheel passes through as you turn it. How cool is that for 1982. And like I say, compatible with modern computer mice. Weird.
I re-greased the hub and bearing but it was all in pretty good shape. If I made a steering assembly from scratch (which I actually started to do in high school but never finished) I would copy this design.
I re-greased the hub and bearing but it was all in pretty good shape. If I made a steering assembly from scratch (which I actually started to do in high school but never finished) I would copy this design.