Keyboard Encoders

Keyboard Encoders offer the functionality of a keyboard hack in an easy-to-use form. They offer several benefits including reduction of ghosting, ease in connecting controls and time savings.

I-PAC2

I-PAC Encoder (PS/2 version)

Ultimarc's IPac2 was the first full-featured affordable keyboard encoder to hit the BYOAC community and quickly became the hook-up of choice. Up until it's release most people were still hacking keyboards, since most keyboard encoders came with a high price tag or were difficult to find.

It's still a very popular choice and comes in PS/2 and USB flavours.

Both versions have 28 inputs. They are all programmable and are designated as 2 joysticks, 8 buttons each, plus coin1, coin2, start1, start2. One of the inputs is assigned as a shift key to access an alternate code set (usefull if you want to keep administrative buttons to a minimum on your control panel). Both models also have connectors for NumLock, CapsLock and ScrollLock keyboard LEDs.The PS/2 model includes a very usefull keyboard passthrough.

I-PAC4

The I-PAC4 is designed for 4-player panels or where large numbers of inputs are needed. It also comes in PS/2 and USB flavours.

Both versions have 56 inputs. They are all programmable and designated 4 joysticks, 8 buttons each plus coin 1,2,3,4 and start 1,2,3,4. Two of the inputs are assigned as shift keys to access two separate codes sets covering the player 1,2 and the player 3,4 inputs, again, usefull if you want to keep administrative buttons to a minimum on your control panel

I-PAC VE

This "value edition" of the I-PAC only comes in USB form. It is suitable for all Windows versions, Linux, and Mac, but not DOS. You may require a standard A-B USB cable (check the Ultimarc website for details regarding this).

One important difference with this model is that when a custom codeset is used, it is stored in RAM instead of EEPROM, meaning that storage needs refreshing after power-down (this does not apply if you always use the built-in default MAME code set of course, the settings revert to MAME on power-down)

This model has 32 inputs. They are all programmable and are designated as 2 joysticks, 8 buttons each, plus coin1, coin2, start1, start2. One of the inputs is assigned as a shift key to access an alternate code set (usefull if you want to keep administrative buttons to a minimum on your control panel). This model also has connectors for NumLock, CapsLock and ScrollLock keyboard LEDs.

KE-USB36

The Hagstrom KE-USB36 is a USB keyboard encoder and trackball interface.

Relevant Links:
Hagstrom's KE-USB36 Page