My home built metal DDR pad (Part IV)

[muniac007]

thank you much!

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If you pinch a mime, does it squeal?

[Xeon Transponder]

nnot a problem. BTW, oyu will need 6 2X4's instead of the usual 4 since you will be placing them on their side, for the center ones, just connect 2 2X4's together basically making a 4X4 piece of wood out of them. Any questions about patsters design still, PM me and ask, i can explain pretty much anything about any pad design.

hey zot, i think i came up with a way to solve our problems. Instead of using the black drywall screws on the flat corner braces, use the ones that are placed in the non arrow panels and the corner braces (the 1-1/4" phillips moss lath screws). These screws have a head size of 1/8 and hte flat corner braces are 1/16 making the total size 3/16 leaving 1/16 travel distance. I am going to try it tonight and ill tell you if it works. I still gotta think of a way to get rid of the noise tho.
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[-joe-]

[krillin2121]

Just letting everyone know that the RipTide instructional videos on my FTP server will no longer be up and available for download after these next couple of days. My computer is being locked away for the summer (family issues ), and so it will be a good 3 months before they will be back up again.

This is also my last post for a while, so I would just like to let everyone know that for whoever helped me with my pad questions and to all those who actually answered them, thank you. Thank you very very much. My pad is looking (and working finally) a lot better thanks to everyone's help.

Good luck to everyone and thier pads. Have a good summer. Bye.
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Download RipTide's DDR Pad Instructional Building Videos here
My FTP Server

[Patster]

If anyone has questions, just PM me and I'll do my best to help you out!
I've been away for quite a while because of my newest hobby: modding my car! Since I'm pretty much satisfied with the work I've done on it for now, I may go back to completing my 2nd platform which I started a long time ago. My #1 priority is my girl, of course, then my car , then my hobbies. It's great to see that this thread is still very active with lots of great ideas being exchanged. I like lookout321's idea about using copper tape as contacts, but why not use copper tape for both sides of the contacts? - just a suggestion.

In my design, the 2x4's are on their sides. This does bring the height up to about 5 inches tall which is very close to the height of the DDR machines near me. The space inside had to be large enough for the lightbulbs to fit. I opted not to go with a lower profile design because this would have forced me to use smaller bulbs placed closer to the acrylic arrow squares. The diffusion of light is harder to achieve when a bulb is located very close to the acrylic arrow squares.

A word on microswitches -> don't waste your time with them.
Reasons NOT to use microswitches:
1. Expensive (unless you can get them for free like I did )
2. Difficult to properly install and align.
3. They break down easily. You will have to replace them often.

[riptide]

Patster, what kind of car do you have? What modifications have you done?

I bought a 2003 1.8T Jetta recently and have installed a cold air intake, but plan on chipping it , getting a new DV, a boost gauge, and a catback exhaust soon.... just the start
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- RipTide
riptide (at) digitaltorque (dot) com

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My pad design: http://www.wubros.com/ddrpad/

[-joe-]

[Blue Beefman]

well you COULD just get a 79 Trans Am, do no mods and STILL have an awesome car, but hey thats just my opinion, most people hate them...grrrrr oh well
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He is the Painkiller

[Towlie 2dx (psmoni AA)]

is there anyway to make the pad exactly like the arcade one????
like using all metal instead of wood or something??

don't laugh at me if i sound retarded
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[-joe-]

[djdtalongrl79]

79 trans am? come on lol. Try 72 challenger with a 340 block and pistol grip shifter. or better yet, 67 gtx with a 426 hemi. yes, it is tru, those are the cars I have lol. Well, that and a infiniti i30, gotta love the luxury lol.

sry to get so way off topic, but when i talk bout my cars, i get into it. hehe, newayz, I'm just bout done with my pad but i think the responsiveness wont be to my liking. How can i lower the the top metal sheet? Just not scrtew it in so far?
D
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Everything happens for a reason. You love DDR for a reason!!
DJ D

[Xeon Transponder]

ok, my solution, see above, worked perfectly, i passed max 300 heavy today with a B on my beefman dance pad. It also minimezed the niose since the panels have a shorter distance to travel. Tower, i suggest you try this on your pad as it might save you a lot of frusturation wile trying to figure out how to raise the flat corner braces. Thanks for the flat corner brace idea beefman. i appreciate everyones help, now if youll excuse me, im off to learn doubles.
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[lookout321]

Could you give a brief description on how you did the lighting for your pad?

I just put lights in my pad - 4 20 watt low voltage halogens hooked to a transformer, with a different contact under the arrows - it works OK, is definitely bright enough in a dimly lit room, but with a daylit room, the lights are not that impressive.

[Blue Beefman]

[-joe-]

beefman, i tried black drywall screws and they conducted horribly. Mabey because of the black paint around it, idano???

Mister Saturn, what exactly are the screws your talking about? and what gague sheet metal are your ground contacts?

thanks
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good times, good times.

[Patster]

riptide - I've got a black 2002 Nissan Altima. You can see it in stock form in the background of one of my homepage pictures: First tilt your head to the left, then click this link...http://home.attbi.com/~patster/Painting_trick.jpg Now it looks like this: http://www.nissantalk.com/registry/showimage.php?imageid=10571&vehicleid=1721 I've installed new front grilles, rims, lowering springs, intake, exhaust, custom catback, tint, sound insulation, sub & amp. I tell you, modding is addictive whether it is a car or a DDR pad!

muniac007 - the dimensions of my rear deck are not the same as the arcade. It measures 33" wide by 5" (not including the 3/4" trim around the perimeter). The angled corners are just cut at a 45º angle.

lookout321 - If the 20W halogens aren't bright enough, try 50W halogens. I am assuming the transformer steps the 120VAC down to about 12 to 13VAC.
You ask if I can give a brief description on how I did the lights in my pad... my answer is NO. Download my lighting document by right-clicking it and "save as" whatever. Keep in mind, it is just over 4MB small. : http://home.attbi.com/~patster/DDR_Platform_Lighting.doc

[Andreq]

Easy ??

ill try to make a small flash tutorial if I have time



G = ground
UP = + of the UP arrow.... or whatever

edit : I used PNP transistor.. lol
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My dance dance revolution metal pad pictures and stuffs : http://membres.lycos.fr/csclanbef/DDR/

[tr4il]

My pad seems like it can handle the most of the ddr songs and do very well. Maybe it's the tubing I used, since it looks nothing like what Zot or Joe used.

My tubing
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NY/NJ
MASSystems Clone - 1 2
"TerTerBox" For DDR Home Pads
p.s. my avatar owns yours

[MoonJihad]

Patster: How do you bend your sheet metal? The job you did with the sheet metal looks really clean, unlike a lot of pads out there. Is there a special technique to use to get clean bends like that?

[Ren@ud]

Patster : send me an e-mail or contact me by msn, I shorted out your document file to 436 ko - viva acrboat. contact me and i'll shoot it to ya.