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slvrshdw
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Joined: 05 Jan 2005
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5700.  Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 5:09 pm Post subject: |
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aluminum foil works, but thats not actually aluminum (right people?)
anyway, some "aluminum" products dont conduct electricity: like aluminum flashing...i have tried, it doesnt work
im in the works of my how-to pad/cabinet site
i might end up adding sensor pages for when people get them created
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trob xD
Trick Member
Joined: 18 Jul 2006
Location: Ohio |
| 5701. Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 6:02 pm Post subject: |
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| i used aluminum foil cookie sheets for my riptide pad, because the sheet metal contacts didn't work nearly as good as i wanted. |
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ChilliumBromide
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Joined: 16 Jun 2006
Location: Beaverton, OR |
| 5702. Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 4:35 pm Post subject: |
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| meander wrote: | | pinkdeath wrote: | | yeah. aluminum isn't the best for making connections. on my next pad, i'm gonna be using copper tape =D unless i can get some freakin sensors! gaaaah |
its not the best, but it is possible, the whole one valance electron away from a semi-conductor is true, but you must remember that lots of old houses have aluminum instead of copper wiring. |
Copper's gone up in price a ton over the last 20 years.
There's about 1.6 cents worth of copper in every US penny.
They're only 3% copper.
It conducts very well, although not as well as gold.
Most of the top quality media cables use gold contacts, and the slightly cheaper ones use copper contacts. I'm not sure what the cheap ones use, but on patch cords, you can hear the difference between the gold, the copper, and the whatever else mystery metal.
Water is also a good conductor. If you have an effective way to use it, do so.
I'm trying to design a wet switch, where the connection is made when water is flowing between the two wires, but the hard part is making a design that is safe and can be built by hand.
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Edible Bondage Tape
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Joined: 26 Jan 2002
Location: Kerri |
| 5703. Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 4:39 pm Post subject: |
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| DancingTofu wrote: |
Most of the top quality media cables use gold contacts, and the slightly cheaper ones use copper contacts. |
ofcrouse the bad thing is people dont realise that if the contact is gold (usualy just gold plated) and the wire is copper it dosnt matter what the contact is becasue its still being transmited over copper
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ChilliumBromide
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Joined: 16 Jun 2006
Location: Beaverton, OR |
| 5704. Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 5:15 pm Post subject: |
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| Exclusive Bonus Track wrote: | | DancingTofu wrote: |
Most of the top quality media cables use gold contacts, and the slightly cheaper ones use copper contacts. |
ofcrouse the bad thing is people dont realise that if the contact is gold (usualy just gold plated) and the wire is copper it dosnt matter what the contact is becasue its still being transmited over copper |
The contacts are the most important part for the signal. If you have bad contacts, the whole wire suffers.
Of course, a good wire is important too, but a gold wire would be impractical, since there would be no contact that could use it's full potential.
The contacts have to bring the signal to the wire, and then again from. Copper contacts will pick up an almost perfect signal, and gold ones will pick up a much more perfect signal.
Once the signal is picked up, any good wire will transmit it just as well as the next good wire.
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LightningXCE
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Joined: 17 Aug 2006
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riptide
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Joined: 14 Aug 2002
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| 5706. Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 8:25 am Post subject: |
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| DancingTofu wrote: | Water is also a good conductor. If you have an effective way to use it, do so.
I'm trying to design a wet switch, where the connection is made when water is flowing between the two wires, but the hard part is making a design that is safe and can be built by hand. |
Close, but not quite... water by itself is not a good conductor -- A science teacher in High School proved it to the class with a large battery(12v?)... he took one pole and connected it to a contact underwater. Next he connected the other contact to the side pole of a light bulb. Then he touched the bottom of the light bulb to the surface of the water. If water conducts, it should have lit up, but it did not.
Finally he added a lot of salt to the water -- ionizing it. The bulb lit up that time.
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slvrshdw
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Joined: 05 Jan 2005
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| 5707. Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 3:32 pm Post subject: |
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yeah, water, or pure H2O is not a good conductor.
it has to have some other means of passing the current thru it...ie: salt
anyway, for anyone else who wants the "real" DDR graphics i have them, and im getting the ITG arrows in case they are needed
and i will host them on my tut site once i get it done (its coming along nicely btw)
i also plan on actually working on my pad/cabinet this weekend, and getting new pics, as well as a modified "Matrix" sensors and "Riptide" style altogether
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riptide
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Joined: 14 Aug 2002
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| 5708. Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 4:00 pm Post subject: |
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slvrshdw, will you send me those graphics? I'm trying to collect stuff to put together into a doc on the FAQ section here on DDRFreak. I'll also host them on my site so they'll have multiple homes.
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slvrshdw
Trick Member
Joined: 05 Jan 2005
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| 5709. Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 8:08 pm Post subject: |
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riptide: check your PM, and here they are
 
 
and for a quick update on my pad
I've completely taken it apart and im in the works of building a new one 
new/redesigned sensors and everything (possibly a bar for people who want one)
keep updated/PM me if you want pics when i get the pad done/more complete :-p
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Weston
Trick Member
Joined: 17 Feb 2003
Location: Minnesota |
| 5710. Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 8:49 pm Post subject: |
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UPDATE on new pad design! I'm thinking of calling it the Drunk Jackal Model 3 (after another alias of mine) or just the DJ3.
I assembled everything but the handles and arrow graphics and tested it out for the first time. Red Zone [Difficult] 232 Perfect / 12 Great. Would have tried something more difficult, but I'm playing on the third floor of my apartment.
The switches are a modified Matrlx design, and they work wonderfully! It held freeze arrows even when I bounced a little. The panels are very stiff too, which works better than what I had before. Now my little sister will finally be able play a song without turning off freeze arrows because of her light weight.
What is left?
1) Print and laminate arrow graphics, attach with double sided tape.
2) Replace corner metal panels. I made a mistake in two of them so the metal looks lumpy. A simple fix.
3) Attach handles for carrying pad.
There is only one design flaw that was very difficult to work around, but it still holds well. The second thing is that the switches are kinda clanky sounding, but I suppose a good tap sound isn't so bad. |
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ChilliumBromide
Trick Member
Joined: 16 Jun 2006
Location: Beaverton, OR |
| 5711. Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 10:37 pm Post subject: |
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| riptide wrote: | | DancingTofu wrote: | Water is also a good conductor. If you have an effective way to use it, do so.
I'm trying to design a wet switch, where the connection is made when water is flowing between the two wires, but the hard part is making a design that is safe and can be built by hand. |
Close, but not quite... water by itself is not a good conductor -- A science teacher in High School proved it to the class with a large battery(12v?)... he took one pole and connected it to a contact underwater. Next he connected the other contact to the side pole of a light bulb. Then he touched the bottom of the light bulb to the surface of the water. If water conducts, it should have lit up, but it did not.
Finally he added a lot of salt to the water -- ionizing it. The bulb lit up that time. |
Well, I guess I've been got, but thanks for sharing that knowledge, I'd figured that it was true on the basis that it was such a common belief. Is it a good conductor when ionised?
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riptide
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Joined: 14 Aug 2002
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| 5712. Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 5:28 am Post subject: |
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| DancingTofu wrote: | | Well, I guess I've been got, but thanks for sharing that knowledge, I'd figured that it was true on the basis that it was such a common belief. Is it a good conductor when ionised? |
I doubt it would compare to say... gold.... but with the right electrolyte solution, I think it can be pretty good. After all, our bodies use an electrolyte solution to surround our brains.
In case you're wondering, electrolyte is defined as a substance containing free ions that behaves as an electrically conductive medium. (from wikipedia) Mixing salt and others with water causes this because when the salt, acid, or base is disolved, the atomic components get separated for stronger bonds which leaves charged ions.
The article also says that sodium and chloride (the components of salt) are some of the primary ions of electrolytes used in our bodies (among several others). The electrolytes in our bodies allow our neurons and muscles to operate correctly. Too much or too little of these ions versus water can lead to neurological and cardiac problems. (sorry, way off topic, but I thought it was interesting stuff)
As a side note, I can relate this back to DDR by saying that if you are playing hard and sweating a lot, drinking just water by itself isn't necessarily good as it can offset your electrolyte balance. Sports drinks can be better in the short term (water's probably better as just a drink as there is generally enough salt and other stuff in our food) for keeping you hydrated.
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ChilliumBromide
Trick Member
Joined: 16 Jun 2006
Location: Beaverton, OR |
| 5713. Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 2:31 pm Post subject: |
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Maybe I should try making sensors that use Gatorade. xD
It's supposed to have lots of electrolytes.
Poll time, how many people would buy a pad with Gatorade sensors?
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meander
Trick Member
Joined: 05 Feb 2007
Location: Greenfield, MA |
| 5714. Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 6:28 pm Post subject: |
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meh, i guess ive decided to cannibalize my ignition 3.0. i mean, it sticks and misfires to the point where i cant even hit a single step. so theres nothing i can do, so its toss it, or toss it sans controller board  it seems to be simple enough, ill look into it with more detail on my day off, but if anyone has already done this and has any hints/tips itd be appreciated. if not, ill just figure it out myself
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slvrshdw
Trick Member
Joined: 05 Jan 2005
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| 5715. Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 8:48 pm Post subject: |
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well, i dont have the ignition 3.0, i have my friends 2.0...but i imagine thats close enough anyway :-p
the thing that made me so pissed off why red octane is selling those pads for so much..
the ONLY difference is that there is the thick foam in it, the arrow foam panel things, and there may be another THIN layer of sensor foam in it...plus the ps2/xbox campatibility..
its just another softpad really (or the sensors are anyway)
i can get some pics later since i already *tried* to mod it so its good...and it didnt work at all
anyway, i just got done re-working my whole pad after about 6 hours (t'is quite fun i might add..but be sure to have music to help you get thru the  times)
so tomorrow all i have to do is work on my sensors and fiddle with the arrow to make them fit right.
i also took quite a few pics while taking apart, and redoing my whole pad
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ChilliumBromide
Trick Member
Joined: 16 Jun 2006
Location: Beaverton, OR |
| 5716. Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 9:32 pm Post subject: |
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All I have to say is good choice and good luck!
Oh, and use either precut wood or a machine saw; hacksaws take forever and are the bane of IIDX players.
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Weston
Trick Member
Joined: 17 Feb 2003
Location: Minnesota |
| 5717. Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 11:05 pm Post subject: |
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Pad is completed! I still have to do final testing on it and attach handles to the front. If I have time, I will upload videos of the pad performance.
As a review of the features:
- Very sturdy frame
- Modified Matrlx switch design with great sensitivity
- Each panel is removable individually for replacement if needed
- Detachable controller
- Stiff panels hardly bend or bounce
- 1/8" sunken arrow panels
- 2" height
DJ3 pad picture
I have also been keeping pictures of the progress, so if anyone is interested in building this design, let me know so that I won't waste time writing something nobody reads. |
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MasterInuYasha
Trick Member
Joined: 09 Nov 2006
Location: Columbus, Montana |
| 5718. Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 12:22 am Post subject: |
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| Weston wrote: | Pad is completed! I still have to do final testing on it and attach handles to the front. If I have time, I will upload videos of the pad performance.
As a review of the features:
- Very sturdy frame
- Modified Matrlx switch design with great sensitivity
- Each panel is removable individually for replacement if needed
- Detachable controller
- Stiff panels hardly bend or bounce
- 1/8" sunken arrow panels
- 2" height
DJ3 pad picture
I have also been keeping pictures of the progress, so if anyone is interested in building this design, let me know so that I won't waste time writing something nobody reads. |
I am highly interested in that SAME design, PLEASE post the info! materials, etc. Sent to [email protected] if needed. |
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Weston
Trick Member
Joined: 17 Feb 2003
Location: Minnesota |
| 5719. Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 7:16 am Post subject: |
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| Great! However, all that exists now are pictures, and writing the guide will take some time (I also may need to find webhosting). However, I could send you a zip file of all the pictures of the frame so far. |
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