My home built metal DDR pad (Part IV)

MarKoPoLo · Basic Member Joined: 18 Oct 2003

well yeah that is how it works. your visual is correct.

now here's the thing each button (controller) has a + and -

as to the
1 2
-(| |)-

look.

when i made mine i didnt know which where which (to lazy to check the internet). so all i did was solder one wire to 1 and another wire to 2 then i just soldered each wire to a different part of my contacts. this works trust me. i currently have a fully working home built pad. i just did that with each of the buttons and as i said it works. i used a MadCatz controller. i had no problems with this controller but for some reason others are. not everyone but some. i honestly had absolutely no problems with it. as far as soldering goes and getting a tutorial on it....just trial and error. all i can say is practice. um as far as getting a soldering iron or a gun.....get an iron or pencil (as they are sometimes called). the gun will get way to hot for the circuit and you will fry it for sure. make sure you get solder with flux already inside it. this helps with soldering and for making a good strong conection. hmm... hears a pointer for soldering...heat the conection with the iron then feed the solder in and remove the heat source (iron). if you need further instruction, ask. ill try to explain as best i can.

now for you who asks which one is the best design? MINE! hah! just kiddin. well not really...i think mine is the best because...well like the other guy said....it has everything i wanted and need. which isnt much in the sence of all that fancy dancy lights and stuff, but meh. good enough for me. so yeah there are lots of designs out there. and many more modifications of those designs. just look around and see whats out there and know what you want. then build

which reminds me i still havent made my website for it. damn! been really busy. that and lazy. oh and im now in the process of making my own RPG. dont ask. unless you really want to know.....*sigh*.....so much work.......
_________________

Death comes swiftly to those who run in fear. I stand waiting.

"Yellow headed, purple dress!" Thus spaketh Gord

Paranoia Survivor · Trick Member Joined: 22 Jan 2004

Also, when I wire the ground wire to the controller, can I solder 4 wires straight into it, or do I need to wire 1 wire, then connect 4 wires to that wire? Thanx

Heres what I'm asking, the blue are the ground wires, and the black is where im going to solder, will either way work?

And How many watts should I use for the solder pencil?
_________________

tolookah · Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2004 8:48 pm Post subject:

ok, you CAN wire it either way, but i would suggest connecting one wire to several, because it's easier.
_________________

Aim: Tolookah
MSN: Tolookah
XBox: Tolookah
DDRPad Soldering and electrical Help: http://www.tolookah.net/DDR/ As hooded_paladin put it: "Currently, help for Beatpad Pro, official Sony Playstation Controller and ANY controller unless you are extremely stupid or lazy."

Paranoia Survivor · Trick Member Joined: 22 Jan 2004

how many watts should i get for the solder iron/pencil
_________________

hooded__paladin · Trick Member Joined: 10 Nov 2003

it doesn't really matter. the wattage just decides how fast it heats up; get a cheap one if you don't plan to solder many things in your life.

MarKoPoLo · Basic Member Joined: 18 Oct 2003

yeah pretty much. if you have a radio shack by your place you should be able to pic one up. if not, try any electronic hobbyist shops. they would have them. either one of your wiring schemes would work, i did mine differently but yours in theory would work (either one). all i suggest is to take a look at the controller layout befor you solder to it. anyways i hope that answers everything.
_________________

Death comes swiftly to those who run in fear. I stand waiting.

"Yellow headed, purple dress!" Thus spaketh Gord

maxxlimited · Trick Member Joined: 24 Jan 2004

hey guys, i finished my pad, but for some reason when i do fast steps like a group of 1/8th, the button doesn't work. I was wondering if it's the weather strip thats causing this.

Diaclonex · Trick Member Joined: 19 Sep 2003 Location: Chicago, IL

question about soddering

I am using the circuit board from a red octane soft pad which died.

do I need to scrape the contacts for the sodder to stick?
The sodder doesnt seem to hold. It may be that I am using a thick gauge wire....

tolookah · Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2004 9:12 pm Post subject:

ok, im not sure what the inside of the RO soft pad looks like, but if im thinking correctly, you shouldn't have to scrape off anything for that.

Just in case im thinking wrong, possibly upload a pic to show?

anyways, here's my quick and dirty soldering guide. Three simple steps to soldering the right way every time. (there are more steps, but these are the important ones, and function on their own just the same.
*note: This is for surface soldering (when you don't drill that hole), if you want instructions for soldering when there is a hole, just ask, and i should get one within a day or so. *
1) Attach some solder to the wire, most likely, you'll have to hold the wire with some outside object (like a clamp, or just bend it up and hold it down with anything even remotely heavy)

2) Attach some solder to the Contact you are soldering the wire to. A light coat is the best way, try not to make it bubble, and don't spend alot of time touching the iron to the board, as that may damage parts.

3) Hold wire and contact together, touch with hot soldering iron and viola! you are done. Enjoy the soldering!

Tips: I think the best soldering tip out there is to not put solder on the soldering iron and slab it onto whatever you are soldering, but to heat the spot with the iron, and put the solder on the item (heat the same spot on the contact, or just a little down the wire) . This will ensure a good grip with the solder, and not have you battling the soldering iron versus the controller for the solder.

hope i helped at least one person out there...
_________________

Aim: Tolookah
MSN: Tolookah
XBox: Tolookah
DDRPad Soldering and electrical Help: http://www.tolookah.net/DDR/ As hooded_paladin put it: "Currently, help for Beatpad Pro, official Sony Playstation Controller and ANY controller unless you are extremely stupid or lazy."

Paranoia Survivor · Trick Member Joined: 22 Jan 2004

HEy. I don't know where the soldering points are, could someone help me? and tell me which one is which (like up, down, ground, etc).

This is a InterAct Gamepad. Thanx

http://67.10.170.168/solder.jpg
_________________

hooded__paladin · Trick Member Joined: 10 Nov 2003

okay, here is your guide to finding the contacts.

See the two prong-shaped things on either side of each button area? One of those is the ground, and one of those is the 'hot' side of each button.

The grounds are all connected together. Find one contact of each button area that is connected to another contact of another button by a line. Those are the grounds.

SO, you solder the ground wire coming from your pad to one of the ground contacts (it doesn't matter which, because they're all connected together). Then you solder the other wires coming from your DDR pad to the corresponding 'hot' contact of each arrow.

Paranoia Survivor · Trick Member Joined: 22 Jan 2004

thanx! i've finished soldering! and it works! yay!!!!!!!!!! thanx alot!
_________________

redhotfanboy · Basic Member Joined: 12 Aug 2003

Want to put my controller in a box and wire some buttons to the box. If i head to radio shack tomorrow should they have everything i need to wire up a control box???

Things i need to do to finish pad = lucite and wiring

_________________

AK's Fastest Computer???
Not so POS 01 score anymore

Paranoia Survivor · Trick Member Joined: 22 Jan 2004

How far is the bar from the pad? I've read, but all it says is the height, width, and other crap like that.
_________________

islanders54321 · Trick Member Joined: 07 Feb 2004

How does the wiring work? WHat kind of wire should i use?Where do put the wires i soldered to the contacts.

Future Master · Trick Member Joined: 10 Jan 2004

Hi, I have a RO metal pad and i did The Korn kids mod http://www.geocities.com/chris_pruss/DDR/Howto_mod_metalpad.html. My problem with this mod is it made my pad way too sensitive(i.e. barely stepping on it causes it to register). At first I thought this was a good thing, but I went to my local arcade to play ddr thinking that I had gotten better, but I had gotten worse. I had gotten worse, because I got used to barely needing to step and that doesn't work at the arcade(i.e. I couldn't even hear myself stepping at the arcade). So I've decided to make a ddr metal pad using ddr homepad's design. I was wondering if the sensitivity is accurate to the arcade with ddr homepad's design, and has anyone else had this problem with sensitivity?
_________________

Remember this name i will be your master someday...

MarKoPoLo · Basic Member Joined: 18 Oct 2003

i have never done that mod so i wouldn't know about that problem. but i have built my own metal pad. and to answer your question. i have never had a sensitivity problem. well unless you consider it a problem when your weather striping goes. which is a problem. but can be fixed easily. anyways, if you build a metal pad you shouldnt need to worry about the sensitivity. you actually can practicly set it to be as sensative as you want.

hope that helps.

enjoy!

_________________

Death comes swiftly to those who run in fear. I stand waiting.

"Yellow headed, purple dress!" Thus spaketh Gord

CeLLuLoiD · Basic Member Joined: 03 Dec 2003

Hey, I'm building DDRhomepad's design and I'm at the wiring/soldering part. I have a category 5e. I have a few questions. I have 8 wires in the whole telephone wire, and 2 are wrapped within each other. (There are four wires that consist of 2 wires if you can understand.) I want to know does it matter what colors go where,(up,left,right,down) and if I untwist the wires which will give me a total of 8.

tolookah · Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2004 5:34 pm Post subject:

CeLLuLoiD · Basic Member Joined: 03 Dec 2003

I have a few more questions, that might have to do with my last post (2 posts up)--
1. I opened the cat5e telephone wire and there were 8 wires with diffrent colors which were twisted into 4 diffrent pairs(one color one white). My question is can I use the 4 colors for UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, and one white one for ground even though it was wrapped up with another color?
2. What do I do with the 3 extra wires?
3. How do I test the connection?