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Building an arcade stick - finished! See post #118


Dave
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I'm pissed off by the lack of arcade sticks available in the UK and their price, so I might ask my Dad to help me build my own (I've got no tools :blush:).

 

Anyone done it before? Anyone else fancy having a go at it with me? :lol:

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Memories flooding back when I clicked on that guide. I absolutely loved the NES Advantage. What a joystick (the Ghostbusters agreed). :smitten:

 

Used to love the dull click of the buttons. Made it sound as if I was doing something worthwhile.

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I have my PCB. :)

 

Might as well make a log.

 

First off I've asked my Dad to have a look on that site (giving him the URL was kinda embarrassing) and he's going to ring me tomorrow with what he thinks regarding making a casing. Rather than waiting for what he's got to say I just went ahead and started buying things. ;D

 

Plans/actions so far:

It's going to be for 360. PSN is a disgrace, so fuck it. :lol: Therefore I needed a PCB to hack. Decided wireless was too complicated (with the battery and shit) so settled on a wired pad. I don't have one of those, so I got a Mad Catz thing from Argos. £19.99 it was, and is a good choice apparently for a number of reasons that I'd checked up on first. It's got what's called a common ground, so it basically halves the amount of soldering required. Also, the contacts are exposed, giving a nice large area to solder to. On the official pads the copper contacts are covered with insulating material to stop sweat knackering the circuits over time, but this won't matter as it'll be in the casing.

 

I tested the pad and it works fine. Feels cheap and nasty though, so I didn't mind butchering it. Undid the screws and dismantled it to find the triggers just broke away in my hands. Rubbish tat. Anyway, I've cut off the rumble motors (after checking about a million times that this was right :blush:) and removed all the plastic crap, like the rest of the triggers and the analogue sticks. You don't need to remove the analogue/trigger connections themselves as it creates a problem with the pad thinking they're always on. As I'm just gonna be using six buttons (A, B, X, Y, LB, RB), this is fine.

 

You end up with this (not my pic):

http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/6131/fronti.jpg

 

Basically you solder wires from the new buttons/stick to each of the 'signal' bits, and a ground to one of those available.

 

Next task is to order some buttons and a joystick.

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Well yeah, I was just referring to the face buttons on my stick there. I'll obviously be wiring up Start, Back and the Xbox button too, probably on the front. :thup:

 

Ordered my buttons and stick last night from Gremlin:

8 x Sanwa OSBN-30 white (A, B, X, Y, LB, RB, Start, Back)

1 x Sanwa OSBN-30 green (Xbox)

1 x Sanwa JLF stick with white ball top

1 x 5-pin joystick cable

 

Came to about £47 delivered so I've already spent nearly £70 before doing anything. *gulp* Oh well, it'll be good - my Dad's well into projects like this and always ends up building quality stuff. I won't have to buy any tools and I can nick the timber from work. The stick/buttons are supposedly the best available too, plus I can reuse them in the future.

 

Just got to wait for them now, there's apparently a shortage due to SFIV. :angry:

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The stick/buttons are supposedly the best available too, plus I can reuse them in the future.

 

Bear in mind that with it being an Xbox pad inside you'll also be able to use it on your PC in MAME, NeoRageX, Callice, Kawaks etc.  I've got my Hori stick up and running on my PC now and it's got my playing TMNT, Ghost n Goblins, Double Dragon, Metal Slug etc again.

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I have decided on a layout and an idea of basic construction/dimensions.

 

It's going to be like this (excuse the shitness, I've only done it on Paint):

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/7407/basic.png

 

Obviously that's looking from above, but showing the construction underneath the top panel. Mitred edges and the top panel covering the lot so there's no edges on the top or the sides. The screw tops seen will be the only things barring the stick and buttons on the top. It's going to be A4-sized, and about 2in deep. Think of a ream of A4 paper, and it'll be about that big I reckon.

 

What I plan to do is fix the stick to the top panel but have a perspex sheet on top of that so I can stick some artwork (or a blank piece of paper) underneath it. I'm not sure how this is going to affect the construction though.

 

I've pocketed some woodscrews whilst I'm here on site. :shifty:

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Guest Heneage

Mid-Life Crisis Dave mate? :lol:

 

What games are you inteding to use this on ? I'm tempted to get some retro games but the cost puts me off.

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