Table of Contents
Connecting an Arcade Joystick
Most of the arcade joysticks you'll ever encounter use either eight .187 inch Fast-On (spade) connectors or a single 5-pin connector. The 5-pin connector pinout can be tricky because the function of the pins will vary depending on the stick's orientation on the panel. The pinout for both Seimitsu and Sanwa sticks is the same, but they use a different colour order for their wiring harnesses. Also, Seimitsu puts their connectors on the top of the PCB, and Sanwa puts it on the bottom.
Wire Colours
For both Seimitsu and Sanwa, pin one is always ground. Some Namco cabs (like the Cyber Lead) use a unique pinout where pin 3 is ground. If your stick has a PCB part number that ends in NA (for example, LS-33NA) you will find ground on pin 3.
You won't hurt anything by wiring these up wrong, it just won't work right. So if you're not sure, go ahead and experiment.
The connector used for Sanwa and Seimitsu sticks, and most others, is a JST NH-series 5-pin. The part numbers are below.
The pinout for the LS-33 and the normal Seimitsu/Sanwa mechs, for each mech orientation, looking at the base of the mech, is:
Left
| Pin | LS-33 | Seimitsu & Sanwa |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Down | GND |
| 2 | Right | Left |
| 3 | GND | Right |
| 4 | Up | Down |
| 5 | Left | Up |
Right
| Pin | LS-33 | Seimitsu & Sanwa |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Up | GND |
| 2 | Left | Right |
| 3 | GND | Left |
| 4 | Down | Up |
| 5 | Right | Down |
Up
| Pin | LS-33 | Seimitsu & Sanwa |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Right | GND |
| 2 | Up | Down |
| 3 | GND | Up |
| 4 | Left | Right |
| 5 | Down | Left |
Down
| Pin | LS-33 | Seimitsu & Sanwa |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Left | GND |
| 2 | Down | Up |
| 3 | GND | Down |
| 4 | Right | Left |
| 5 | Up | Right |
Part Numbers
| Part No. | |
|---|---|
| Housing | H5P-SHF-AA |
| Contact (28-22 AWG) | SHF-001T-0.8BS |
| Contact (30-28 AWG) | SHF-002T-0.8BS |