I always wanted to use special circuitry to interface original controls since I know of the limitations of most keyboards and joysticks. A  special circuit can be designed to overcome those limitations. I initially planned to build the circuits myself but my time is limited since I just had my first child. I found the Button Box site and talked a lot to Leif. I also found the I-PAC site and decided to try these products out since their prices are really competitive (compare it with designing and building it yourself) and it had shift key support. Shift keys would make it possible to get rid of additional support buttons and keep the authentic look and feel of the control panel. It turns out that Andy is just the best guy I ever met on the net. The quality of the products, the service and attention you get from Andy, the price and the fact that he is located in Europe is enough for me to not even consider any other interfacing products. I connected the colour coded 12-lead cables from the controls to the I-PAC and the trackball to an Opti-PAC.

This picture is of the new control panel folded  open. Note the colour-coded harness connected to an I-PAC and the trackball connected to an Opti-PAC.

This picture shows the gut trough the coin door. The AMD 233 motherboard and other computer parts are temporarily mounted in  the cabinet. A PIII 450 will be permanently mounted when I buy a new computer. Note the 12-lead cables from the controls to the I-PAC (to the right in the picture, on top of the power supply) and the Opti-PAC (in the bottom centre of the picture) not yet  mounted.