My home built metal DDR pad (Part IV)

Lhet · Trick Member Joined: 15 Apr 2004

I had a question, could Riptide's pad handle PSMO AAA, (or in ITG, summer speedy mix expert) because I want a strong pad that can handle really hard songs with good accuracy.
I can't manage psmo AAA, but I want the pad to be able to.
The main reason I'm thinking of riptide's is because of the 4 sensors, and the construction video.
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Enterprize · Basic Member Joined: 26 Jul 2005

Update on the pad forte and I are building. Wow, it looks really, really nice.

After a few months of it sitting on the shelf waiting for laminite, its finally been done. We hooked up the cbox rudimentarily and it works like a dream. A pinky finger can press it down, and it handles songs beautifully. The cbox will be fully soldered this weekend and we'll get the bar (detachable probably) installed shortly after. I'll post some pictures and a link to our modified guide when we're done with it ^^

geckoinc99 · Trick Member Joined: 11 Feb 2005 Location: Chattanooga, TN

Lhet,
I can attest that the pad will hold up well, but with one minor modification. Back on page 244 of this forum I posted a picture of what I did on my pad. Just by adding a small center support, you make it impossible for the plexiglass to bend enough to crack. The support I used was actually bigger than needed. My new pad (pictures to come) uses a dowel that was 3/4" in diameter and cut to a height just below the contacts. This allows for room to adjusts, but keeps the plexi from bending too much. As stated before, I've had over 300 pounds jumping on my pad and no problem.
Something you can also do to make the pad more sensitive is a small wiring adjustment. Instead of alternating the mending strips between power and common (as Riptide did), I made all the mending strips power and made the sheetmetal underneath the plexiglass common. The advantage here is that you only need to make contact in one point. Say you hit at an angle and dont bridge two mending strips. On Riptide's design it wouldn't register, but on mine you get a hit. It's a small design change that I think makes a world of a difference. Feel free to try it. The only thing is that you must make sure that all contact points break from the mending strips when the arrow isn't pressed, though this isn't that hard to accomplish (that's what you should be going for anyway).
So what do real world tests do with these mods? I had a guy once play on my pad who was a noobie. For some reason he thought he had to play dinosaur stomp to hit an arrow. It was so loud it sounded like gun shots. However, after all that, the arrows held up and played just fine with no cracking. As for sensitivity, I had a guy make it half way through MAX (mind you my pad has no bar and I don't know anyone that can make it all the way through a 10 footer). I myself have been able to make an A on Rhythm and Police (only missing that AA by a few steps!), though I know that's not the fastest song in the world. It's just the most impressive one I can do so far. Anyway, good luck with the build.
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Life is very different 3000 feet above the earth with only a wing to hold you up....
Can't wait to be there again. Wanna join me? Visit http://www.hanglide.com

Aflac · Trick Member Joined: 28 Mar 2005

Enterprize · Basic Member Joined: 26 Jul 2005

Of course. We're probably going to add a bar but there's no guarantee it'll be detachable. We'll try to post a guide of sorts on how to build one like ours though.

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

Aflac · Trick Member Joined: 28 Mar 2005

how thick are the bars at the arcade? I want to say a 2" diameter, but I'm not sure...

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

Yoda_ISU · Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2005 3:28 pm Post subject:

My fiancee and I have gone through six mats (yes, six) since playing DDR - one pair of flat softies, some 1 1/2 inch soft foam ones, 2" hard foam pads, and now I'm on my way to Lowes to begin purchasing construction materials for some DDRHomepad-style mats.

I'm wondering if anybody has had any amount of success converting the control box from the soft pads into a hard mat? I'm decent with circuits, soldering, and the like, and already have some ideas on how to do it, but if any of you have tried something and found it unsuccessful, let me know before I duplicate the mistake unknowingly.

Thanks!

-Yoda

ubernoob (1st post)

geckoinc99 · Trick Member Joined: 11 Feb 2005 Location: Chattanooga, TN

Yoda,
If you're referring to using the circuit board out of the soft pads (but not the plastic sheets), then yes they have been used. Actually, they seem to make the best boards to use because of their easy to solder contacts (after scraping the black conductive paint off), usually well marked buttons, and their resistance to static electricity. So by all means, if you have those boards, USE THEM! Saves you money and headache. Good luck with the build. Read up in this forum. There's lots of information.

David
_________________

Life is very different 3000 feet above the earth with only a wing to hold you up....
Can't wait to be there again. Wanna join me? Visit http://www.hanglide.com

stoli · Trick Member Joined: 27 Mar 2005 Location: Southern NH

Just after I built my first pad using the mirror finish sheet metal, someone asked if I would post a picture of the pad after a few months of use to see how the finish held up. It has been over 6 months now and if I took a picture, you would not be able to tell the difference between then and now. I do have a few observations to report, but they are minor.

1. The mirror finish sheet metal smudges easily (finger and foot prints) but a little windex and few paper towels and it is good as new.

2. There is minor scratching but unless you are using a magnifying glass, it is not noticeable. Most of the pad use has been in bare feet however, so I would expect more scratching in a dirty shoe environment, like a garage.

3. The screw heads of the arrow panel corner screws have oxidized a little, probably due to the salt from sweaty bare feet. I am going to build a few more pads (x-mas orders for nieces and nephews) and will try clearcoating the screw heads to prevent oxidation. It would be better to use stainless steel screws but I have not seen any of that particular design in SS.

-Stoli
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Aflac · Trick Member Joined: 28 Mar 2005

Lhet · Trick Member Joined: 15 Apr 2004

so, if I follow riptide's directions exactly with that one minor modification, it should be ableb to 98% summer speedy mix(ITG) or SDG PSMO?

I want high precision, because it's gonna get lots of playing as I progress from 10s to 13s with no bar (requires a LOT of playing to get to that level)
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HitokiriX · Trick Member Joined: 27 Mar 2004 Location: Berwyn, PA

t3h 3d · Trick Member Joined: 17 Jun 2004

Ok, I have a homebuildt pad. The wood and everything is still in shape, I want to fix it up. I'm considering sheet metel sensors, me and my friends play hard so I need the toughest sensors, any suggestion? I also have corner brackets on my panels, I want to get panels with the screws on each corner, does anyone know how I what I would need to make those?

geckoinc99 · Trick Member Joined: 11 Feb 2005 Location: Chattanooga, TN

t3h 3d · Trick Member Joined: 17 Jun 2004

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

mindless2 · Trick Member Joined: 24 Oct 2005

Hey, I was wondering if cat6 ethernet cable would be fine for this? I have a bunch leftover from wiring my basement for internet.

Edit: also, will This guy's method of getting the pads to connect require a lot of force? It dosent seem like it, but I want to make sure.
edit2: Also, Is there 1 or 2 pieces of wood for His base? Is that top sheet with the arrows drawn on it just for refrence untill he sticks the actual panels on it? I'm going to be building this pad w/o the borders and I want to make sure the screws dont go through the wood or something like that