My home built metal DDR pad (Part IV)

riptide · Trick Member Joined: 14 Aug 2002

Sounds like you've really customized the design. I hear ya about the extra weather stripping. I didn't really have any trouble with ghost steps, but I did want my panels a little tighter so they don't move as much when I play, so I stacked another layer of weatherstripping ontop of what I had. It added more of a restoring force to the steps which makes it much easier to hit the quick steps required on many heavy songs. So, if you're looking to tighten up the panels and get a more arcade like feel, add a bit more weatherstripping to the top of what's there and maybe lift the mending brackets or screws a bit for less movement.
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- RipTide
riptide (at) digitaltorque (dot) com

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

Snof · Trick Member Joined: 09 Jun 2003 Location: UCSC

Instead of weather stripping I used strips of an old mouse pad. I like the feel much better than weather stripping. The main issue is that the arrows barely go down at all, so the contacts have to be exactly the right height to work. It's also quieter since the arrows aren't hitting the contacts as hard. I decided on mouse pad since the weather stripping I had was getting a bit compressed after using it some, the mouse pad returns to it's original thickness very well.

riptide · Trick Member Joined: 14 Aug 2002

snof, which pad design did you use? With double weatherstrip in mine and the mending brackets at the right height, the movement on my arrow panels is barely any. The play is very similar to arcade feel as well except that the sensitivity is much greater... way easier to hold freeze arrows

_________________

- RipTide
riptide (at) digitaltorque (dot) com

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

GumshoeSleuth · Basic Member Joined: 28 May 2003

Hey riptide sorry for draggin this out so much but you think you could take a picture of your pad with the mending brackets or a picture or anything? ( Im sort of confused as to how it works but it sounds like a better alternative to screws )

Thanks.

Snof · Trick Member Joined: 09 Jun 2003 Location: UCSC

KrakenGuy · Trick Member Joined: 03 Feb 2002 Location: Edmonton

Well, first off I screwed over my metal pad again, friend another controller. Congrats to me. 2nd off, I am starting another metal pad next weekend. This time I am using 25 Guage sheet metal for the solid panels and am using 20 guage sheet metal for the contacts. Than, instead of wooden corner bracket inserts, I am gonna use plastic inserts, why? Because they won't crack or split that easyily. And instead of Plexiglass, LEXAN! I can get all the lexan I need for $60, score. Well, thats all. Good Night.

BrokenSpaceBar · Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2003 4:13 pm Post subject:

I was just wondering... I'm using DDRHP's design and I want to print out the arrow graphics on my printer. What kind of paper should I use?

wesdives · Trick Member Joined: 15 Feb 2003 Location: Utica, New York

perhaps someone here can help me. I've followed the soldering instructions for the controller exactly, yet every time I do it I end up with a pad that works for an hour and a half and then quits for no apparent reason. Nothing on the pad appears to have shorted and every connection is fit, and I am 100% sure that the pad itself is working properly.
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Matrix + DDR:
"Do you believe that my being faster, or having more stamina, has anything to do with my rhythm, in this place. You think that's Stepmania you're playing now? hmph"

lightbulbkid · Basic Member Joined: 31 Aug 2003

I was planning to make my own pad for the XBOX release of DDR. If i followed the instructions on ddrhomepad's site and got a Magic Box or some other converter would the pad work on the XBOX? Another question is the XBOX going to have the same layout as the PS2 version and what is X,Y,A,B going to represent. Some input would really help me out becasue I woul dlike to know before the building process. Thanx

GumshoeSleuth · Basic Member Joined: 28 May 2003

So Iv been working all day.

We have the base made and pretty much everything done but the contacts and the wiring. Theres not much room between the glass and the wood so were probly going to have barely any extra room , you know what that means? we cant use double sided tape most likely

. Wooooo noisy panels hopefully wont be too bad though.

If I get it finished tomorrow Ill update.

Istari Asuka · Trick Member Joined: 27 Oct 2002 Location: Tucson, AZ

Istari Asuka · Trick Member Joined: 27 Oct 2002 Location: Tucson, AZ

Double Post...

revolutionZERO · Trick Member Joined: 15 Apr 2003 Location: Somewhere

Can someone summarize the advantages of both DDRHP's, Riptide's, and maybe Patster's? I don't have the time to search the thread even though the answer is probably right on some page, errr, whatever. Don't yell at me about it, just please don't say anything if you don't wanna summarize.

::EDIT:: One more question. On any of the designs, how do you get the wires that run from each arrow to go through the whole pad and to the controller circuit board? Are there holes cut for the wires? Please clarify.

shuiend · Trick Member Joined: 07 Aug 2003

OK i have finally decided to make a meta pad. I am planning on following riptides design mostly. I do have a few questions though. Do the arows just get placed in the holders? With how they look cut it seems that u just place tem down and dont really secure them in. Also i am still confused on the whole wiring for the project. Could someone please explain how the wireing is done and maybe provide some pictures?

Collector · Trick Member Joined: 24 Jan 2002 Location: Canada

OK, so I haven't checked this thread since page 2 or so back in the day since I talk to riptide on MSN mostly. I asked him a few questions 2 days ago (forgot what they were) but his answers were like this:

1. Don't use screws, use (Forgot what he said).
2. Use washers (Say what?)
3. Something (forget that too)

So what in the world is he talking about?

Snof · Trick Member Joined: 09 Jun 2003 Location: UCSC

Blue Beefman · Trick Member Joined: 31 Oct 2002 Location: WI

Ok I am getting angry, I would be done with the pad I put the new contacts in, but they didnt work, so I tried my corner brace thing, but the pad wasnt set up for those, so I went to the screw/washer idea, and I cant get it right, all the holes keep stripping...Im getting angry

help, anyone, any advice
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He is the Painkiller

GumshoeSleuth · Basic Member Joined: 28 May 2003

Well I finally got my pad finished!

but only got to use it for an hour before we had a problem

.

The problem was , I bought elmers spray adhesive ( the cheapest kind i found ) , after about an hour i noticed i lost alot of sensitivity. I unscrewed an arrow panel , turned it over , and the contacts had slid around! The glue wasnt strong enough obviously. So then we tried super glue. Didnt stick. Then we tried epoxy. Didnt stick. So today im going to get some expensive spray adhesive and were tryin that.

( note : we tried tape first but the tape we had was thick and we didnt have enough room between the screws and the glass to use it , we got .25 plexiglass instead of 22. )

But it worked great for an hour , felt like the arcade

.

Should have it working by tomorrow , if the new spray works.

Collector · Trick Member Joined: 24 Jan 2002 Location: Canada

So what do these "mending brackets" look like? I'd also like to see a pic of em used on someones ddr pad so I can get an idea of where to put them on my pad.

KrakenGuy · Trick Member Joined: 03 Feb 2002 Location: Edmonton

Elmers Spray Adhesive not strong? Wow, you must've got a dud bottle, how long did you let it sit? I use this undustrial strength spray adhesive, my dads work place uses it somtimes, it smells like propane but it gets the job done. Last time I used Elmers I had to struggle to pull the sheet metal off. Try spraying the spray adhesive onto the plexiglass and letting it sit than spray some on the sheet metal than paste it onto the plexiglass, that should work.