My home built metal DDR pad (Part IV)

vietmars · Basic Member Joined: 05 Jan 2005

hi, ddrhomepad, can you update the movie section of yours? the link doesnt seem to work...thnx1

ch · Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2005 3:20 pm Post subject:

quick half hour job on this, sorry all the pics are post-production:

to make an alien, just unscrew the pcb off of a softpad and open it up. take the tape off the contacts and throw the rest of the pad away.

drill holes in each contact using the smallest drill bit you have. then drill 1/2" holes in the top ot the casing for each of your buttons SLOWLY. if you push down to hard, you'll be in trouble, especially if you use a flat drill bit. then, mount the buttons in there. i found room for only four buttons, but you might be able to put 6 on there.

solder wires to the contacts on the buttons. solder one of those wires to the individual contact on the board, and save the other for later. to solder, place the wire in the hole and bend it over. apply a hot soldering iron (PLEASE NOT A COLD HEAT OR INSTANT HEAT ONE, a conventional plug in one) for a few seconds, put on a tiny amount of solder, just to cover the hole and wire, then take the iron away. if the solder doesnt stick to the hole, hold the iron there a little longer. alternatively, you could put some solder on the iron and scrape it off into the hole, but thats messy.

the contacts for a softpad look like this from the bottom, with the contacts on your left:
- start
- circle
- right
- square
- down
[] ground
- up
- triangle
- left
- x
- select

for the ground, solder a wire to the ground contact, then bend over the other end. bend over the ends of the wires you put aside fron the buttons and hook them all together. there should be one ground wire hooked up the the four wires from the buttons. add solder.

repeat this process for all the wires from your pad, including putting another ground wire on the contact if you have to (i did). cut a notch in the bottom of the casing, where the softpad would be, for the wires from your pad. when you're done, route the wires away from any screwholes so they dont get pinched, then put the back back on.

to test, you can use a mulimeter set to ohms. when you touch the contacts on the board, you should get a small jump in the needle. when you press the button, you should get a bigger jump. dont worry if you get a little action when you press a different button, thats how the controller works.

or, you could plug it in and push a button.
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CStarFlare wrote:

I approve of the direction this thread is going

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch?e=20090310025322668

HitokiriX · Trick Member Joined: 27 Mar 2004 Location: Berwyn, PA

THANK YOU SO MUCH CARTOON HERO AND PADMAKER!! You really helped explain the whole connecting wires in the control board thing. but one problem I have with it is if I wanted to put my pushbuttons on my pad instead of on my control box. i dont' like stepping on something as fragile as my control box so putting th pushbuttons on the pad in my opinion is a better choice. anyway by doing so i would have nine separate wires to go through the network (four arrows, four pushbuttons, and ground). is there a way I could use a network cable with more wires inside? like is there a 10 wire network cable?

thepadmaker · Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2005 3:48 pm Post subject:

Do you need all four buttons? I only put 3 buttons on mine(x-box) You only need the A,B, and Back buttons. If you did that you would have no problems with only 8 wires...

4 Arrows
3 Buttons
1 Ground

Just a thought. Otherwise, No a network cable won't help you.

Chris
_________________

http://www.2legacy.com/ddrpad/
If it needs to be screwed, I'm licensed to do it!

ch · Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2005 3:49 pm Post subject:

daitenshi · Trick Member Joined: 11 May 2004

gah!
I've been playing for a few hours now and I just noticed that the lucite has cracked!!

any ideas on how I can redo this so it won't happen again???

daitenshi · Trick Member Joined: 11 May 2004

nevermind it isn't cracked, they are just really bad scratches :/

HitokiriX · Trick Member Joined: 27 Mar 2004 Location: Berwyn, PA

Ulala321 · Trick Member Joined: 28 Sep 2004

thepadmaker · Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2005 6:30 pm Post subject:

HitokiriX,

Check this link out. It is a picture of my 2nd pad. It only has 3 buttons on it, and I think it looks great.

http://2legacy.com/ddrpad/ddrpic2/100_1359.JPG

On the X-Box, you definately need the 3 buttons.

Chris
_________________

http://www.2legacy.com/ddrpad/
If it needs to be screwed, I'm licensed to do it!

5thDementian · Trick Member Joined: 12 Oct 2004 Location: Kalamazoo, MI

Hey guys (and gals)... I replaced the weatherstripping in my second pad. I had rubber tubing in there and it made the buttons too stiff, so I changed it today... HUGE difference.

I'm not a great ddr player, but my score was very good after trying it out (I haven't played in about a month either... it comes back to ya very quickly)

Anyway.... check the link in my sig for the pics of the inside of pad two, and how I wired up the "arcade buttons" that I use for "back" "start" "a" and "b"... the pics are near the bottom of the page.

Let me know what you think.

FYI (this is on the xbox, in case anyone is curious)
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I FINALLY got my website back up... look at my ddr custom pad pics!!!

View Click here to see the pictures!

Ulala321 · Trick Member Joined: 28 Sep 2004

Lookin' good.. did you get open cell or closed cell? I was told open cell pwns closed cell.. I like your arcade button setup, even if it's a little ghetto.. I may have to use it myself!

5thDementian · Trick Member Joined: 12 Oct 2004 Location: Kalamazoo, MI

grgisme · Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2005 8:11 pm Post subject: Project Dream Pads Commencing

**These asterisks are next to important questions since this is lengthy.

Yo, I'm starting the research phase of building my two pads (which I have a budget of $350 for). I actually started researching back in September, and now have a couple questions I'm hoping can be answered for me. I'm looking for comments on which pad has been found the most reliable. **I've been doing a compare and contrast, and the FAQ says there is no difference, but which is the most sensitive and easiest to repair? ***Also, where can I find better instructions and pictures of the "screw mod" for ddrhomepad's design? I've searched all over, and while I know I saw it back in September I can't find it anymore. Someone please please help me out there.***

This is a more technical question now. My desire is to build the two pads with essentially two cables coming out and going to the control box.** The aim is to enable the pads to be plugged into different control boxes depending on what system you are going to play on. I'd have one control box for the PS2 and one control box for the XBOX (and possibly one for the PC though I don't currently play on the PC at all because I prefer hte console games).** If you have ideas on how to do this, or if you can tell me its impossible, please do. I've read some about the XBOX pads and making them xbox live compatible and don't understand that, if someone wants to take a shot at a decent explanation go for it, but its not important. *****I want to place low voltage lights in the pads that can be powered by the draw from the PS2/Xbox. Is this possible and has anyone seen any information on how to tap into that voltage?*****

Thanks in advance for the help. I'll be on this forum constantly now as I build these pads. I'm going to be building a webpage with a tutorial and pictures, I'll update it as I go. I hope to provide a nice and easy to follow tutorial, one to compliment Riptide's and DDRHomepad's and Patster's.

~Grgisme

----------------
One more question: What game(s) can I buy that support the Pump-it-up style of play (four diagonals and center button)? If there are such games out there I want to design a 9 panel pad.

Sain · Trick Member Joined: 19 Jul 2002

grgisme · Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2005 10:33 am Post subject:

That was my thought exactly.

How about drawing current from either of the console's controller ports? I'm going to take a multimeter and measure the voltage coming out of all the different pins, I figure this might give me some hint as to where to begin (if no one else has done it). If anyone has seen or finds anything on this topic or has messed with it themselves, let me know. I know its possible because the commercial pads do it. I'll keep researching and post info I find too.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE: I NEED PICTURES AND INSTRUCTIONS OF THE "SCREW MOD" IF ANYONE HAS THEM

~Grgisme

thepadmaker · Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2005 11:15 am Post subject:

Ok for the record. I already have a pad that works on both PS2 and on X-Box. The control box is external. You simply hook the pad up to which ever control box is for the system you want to use. Simple.

What is this "Screw Mod" that Grgisme is talking about?

Chris
_________________

http://www.2legacy.com/ddrpad/
If it needs to be screwed, I'm licensed to do it!

HitokiriX · Trick Member Joined: 27 Mar 2004 Location: Berwyn, PA