My home built metal DDR pad (Part IV)

Tyris · Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2004 6:54 pm Post subject:

not fair

building a pad in the states is so cheap...
mine have costed $250 each so far :'(
of course $250AU... which in US$ is about... $170 atm... but about $125 when I built em...
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-Tyris
master of http://www.square-cubed.com and http://nintengu.net

Didjivibes · Trick Member Joined: 06 Jun 2004 Location: Springfield, VA

hey guys, i posted a problem i was having a few pages back and have narrowed down where the problem lies. i notice when there are short wires (under 12in) soldered to the pcb everything works fine. if i solder longer wires (roughly 6ft) the buttons go crazy. has anyone else had this kind of problem?

thanks to everyone who has posted pics of their homepads. does anyone know if there are picks showing the wiring of a pad inside as a full pic? would someone upload some so i can see in more detail what's going on inside the pad? the only pics i can find show only one arrow panel exposed. i was curious as to the length of the internal wires and whether or not the housing containing all the wires in a telephone cable is removed. also, should the thin thread-like material encased with the wires be left intact? i assume it serves a purpose, such as shielding from static, but i really have no idea.

one last thing. should i use a barrier strip? again, i have no idea what its functionality is so i can only assume what its purpose is. i have seen it used in homemade joysticks.

if anyone could help me i really need it. i've been sitting here looking at the frame for my pad for weeks while i try to figure out the wiring problems. thanks!
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Didjipad DDR Homepad
"Soft without hard cannot strike. Hard without soft wastes energy."

Tyris · Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2004 4:15 am Post subject:

Length of wire shouldnt matter that much... technically over a longer distance, the signal will get weaker... but over a few metres it shouldnt matter... also, over a longer distance there is more chance of interferences... i dunno... try it in another room or something XD (most of my pads refuse to work in certain locations... like my mates house... wierd as anything :S)

are you just testing one wire at a time over long distance? and how so...?
As far as wiring inside the pad... its all very simply... I just run all the wires to the center, and then inside the 'sleev' up to the gamepad... just make sure none of the metal parts are touching really =S
otherwise maybe you have some dodgy cabling...
Finally.. make sure the wires are probably insulated from each other... ie: no cuts in the protective plastic etc =S
as for the thin bit of wire... I've no idea really XD

and dunno what a barrier strip is ... so I'll leave that to someone else

;
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-Tyris
master of http://www.square-cubed.com and http://nintengu.net

Didjivibes · Trick Member Joined: 06 Jun 2004 Location: Springfield, VA

DDRdre · Trick Member Joined: 08 Feb 2004 Location: Fl

Is Plexiglas Panel better than hard acrylic plastic?
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Didjivibes · Trick Member Joined: 06 Jun 2004 Location: Springfield, VA

Well I tested the wiring in a different room and the same thing happens. I took it outside in the heat and it seems to be working good so far. Guess I run the a/c too cold or something. Regardless, if anyone has any suggestions I'm open to whatever you got. Thanks.

For now I guess I have to play outside in the heat.

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Didjipad DDR Homepad
"Soft without hard cannot strike. Hard without soft wastes energy."

Didjivibes · Trick Member Joined: 06 Jun 2004 Location: Springfield, VA

Just wanted to finalize my need for assistance. Thanks to everyone who posted their designs and pics on the web. Thanks Tyris for giving me advice which made me rethink and redo what I had already started. Not sure what exactly fixed it but I assembled the entire thing outside this time, in the heat, sweating bullets, dying of thirst, and trying to hurry before the thunderstorm hit. Everything is working perfectly now except for a few minor tweaks.

If anyone is curious I used ddrhomepad's and riptide's designs to get started, then added a touch of my own. I should have some pics up by the weekend if anyone would like to see them.

Now I must DANCE! DANCE! DANCE! and break this baby in. Thanks again everyone!
_________________

Didjipad DDR Homepad
"Soft without hard cannot strike. Hard without soft wastes energy."

Tyris · Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2004 5:04 pm Post subject:

wow... building it outside fixed it? thats insane...
I reckon my friends house gives some sort of interference... coz my pads dont work anywhere in his house... on the other hand, the one I got from lik-sang (CRAP, had to do a complete rebuild!!) works there... wiiiierd...
I've been told it couldnt be something like the house interferring... but i dunnooooo

Glad everything is working out for you

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-Tyris
master of http://www.square-cubed.com and http://nintengu.net

DDRdre · Trick Member Joined: 08 Feb 2004 Location: Fl

Before noone answers me Is Plexiglas Panel better than hard acrylic plastic?
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diabloslayer469 · Trick Member Joined: 15 Feb 2003 Location: Neo-Geo Land

Nephus · Trick Member Joined: 22 Jun 2004

is there a working link around where I can get a look at the different switch design beefman used for his arrows? I tried the link in his sig, and even tried using the wayback machine on archive.org for the url but unfortunately there's nothing there right now.

I'm just now getting into DDR (don't even own my own copy yet) but I know I'm eventually going to build my own metal pad for my xbox, so I'd like to look at everything out there first and see what I can improve upon. I already have a few ideas about lighting, and I'm really liking riptide's version of the arrows... so who knows, by the end of things I might have my own design up on a website. I'm looking forward to the promised post about switches with no moving parts since I've been trying to figure out how that could possibly work for the past day or so.

Oh, also.. for people trying to use aluminum... in my experience it's very hard to get a good solder joint on aluminum, but your mileage may vary.

Verified · Trick Member Joined: 01 Jun 2004 Location: Behind You!

For people trying to use aluminum. DON"T USE IT! and Tyris, I tried your ideas, still crappy as all hell. You can't solder to aluminum, like it says. And wiring it to a screw by crimping the wire in a little circle crimpy thingy*don't know what thier called.* Doesn't work either, screws don't make it much more sensitive, and adding weatherstripping made mine less sensitive. Also, make it thinner than 3 1/2 inches. thats damned heavy!!! So yeah, just don't use aluminum flashing for your dancepad. Don't even cover the squares with it. it scratches and tears too easilly. get it? got it? good.
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Didjivibes · Trick Member Joined: 06 Jun 2004 Location: Springfield, VA

DDRdre - Plexiglass is more durable than hard acrylic plastic. I opted for Lexan which is expensive and hell to cut without the right tools. Luckily I have two Dremel tools.

American Tokyo - The screws I used for my connectors are extremely sensitive. My screws are zinc so that could be a difference.

Tyris - Strange that being outside helped isn't it. I read a soldering tip about not doing electrical work indoors with the a/c or heat in full effect. Seems to be what was giving me the problems since my a/c is set almost too low. I don't need ice in my drinks.
_________________

Didjipad DDR Homepad
"Soft without hard cannot strike. Hard without soft wastes energy."

DDRdre · Trick Member Joined: 08 Feb 2004 Location: Fl

Didjivibes · Trick Member Joined: 06 Jun 2004 Location: Springfield, VA

DDRdre · Trick Member Joined: 08 Feb 2004 Location: Fl

Didjivibes · Trick Member Joined: 06 Jun 2004 Location: Springfield, VA

I bought a sheet of lexan that was 24" x 48" x 1/4" that cost about $30. I was able to get eight arrow panels out of it. I originially planned to make lighted panels but didn't want a thick platform. My new design will make the height of my pad just over 2". Being 6'5" I don't really like standing that high up when I'm playing. Depending on the design you could use four pieces of plexiglass and save some money by using masonite or pegboard for the underside of the arrow panels if you don't really care to have lighted panels.

I don't own a pre-made metal pad so I never thought of modding a broken one to be homemade. I have thought of using the insides of a soft pad somehow but haven't tried it yet. When my soft pads wear out I will probably see about using them somehow, or their design, to make a metal pad. Theoretically, it would make really nice contacts and be extremely quiet when being played.
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Didjipad DDR Homepad
"Soft without hard cannot strike. Hard without soft wastes energy."

DDRdre · Trick Member Joined: 08 Feb 2004 Location: Fl

Aceldamor · Basic Member Joined: 22 Jun 2004

Hey everyone....newb to the scene and want to make my own DDR Pad, I'm a big fan of Patster's pad, but his site is down per the other thread and I was hoping to get dimensions of the pad so I can manufacture my own.

If no one has his dimensions, could someone give me the dimensions of each individual square so I can come up with my own variation of his design?

Appreciate any help provided,

Thanks,

Aceldamor

Aceldamor · Basic Member Joined: 22 Jun 2004

sorry....for some reason...posted twice..

*edited for content