Thanks rtdzign, this really clears up everything!
Thanks Nerrage. If you can actually pull off a video, then I think I’ll be all set for trying myself!
No problem. Here’s a simplified version of that I just whipped up. But I think you understand it.
This, however, is only the first step in connecting the two boards.
Yeah, I wanted to make a video, and now you’ve given me the extra incentive. And good luck with the soldering. You should be fine, though =)
I have a few questions. (Finalizing my shopping list)
Should I go for the screw terminals or not? It seems like it costs more but I have have to do just a bit less soldering so that’s good. Are there downsides to the screw terminals?
What kind of wire should I get for soldering the connections? Is there a different kind of wire I should use for different connections? If this isn’t important I guess I’ll just use whatever I have in my home then.
Other than that, I’m going to buy the soldering iron and CHImp soon and am going to give this a shot.
Personally, I don’t like screw terminals. I’d rather just solder them on and save a few bucks. But that’s me. You can certainly get them if you’d like. It’s just a matter of preference. The only big downside I dislike is that they do take up a lot of space, which really isn’t too big of a problem in the TE. If you bought the kit, then you really shouldn’t worry about saving soldering. It’s not nearly as hard as you think it is ;D. Once you put all the components on the board, I think you won’t mind soldering a few more wires. But, that’s just my feelings. Get them if you want them.
Wire is pretty much wire. If it conducts, you’ll be good. More colors are helpful, though. Though, if it’s too thick of wire, you may have a problem. You can just pick up hook-up wire at a radioshack. 4 bucks will buy you 50 feet of what they market as “Insulated wrapping wire.” Good enough.
Good luck with the mod! I’m likely getting my ChImp tomorrow. If not, then Monday. It will be a while before I get my SE. But, I may assemble it beforehand so you can see it done and get your hands wet with soldering before I finish up my full mod, which I’m likely going to video and add instructional voiceovers so that the modding community will hopefully benefit from seeing the whole process done. Going to stain the plastic, custom art, seimitsu PK-14-KN pushbuttons with art in them, sanwa joystick, octogate, dual system, the works. Hopefully that by showing every mod that can come to mind, it’ll appeal to a lot of modders out there.
I hope you the best, comrade. I always find a bit of pride in a modified controller. Though, it only makes me wanna scratchbuild one more. I’ll just need more woodworking skills and equipment before I tackle that beast. Haha. I haven’t even gotten anything for the equipment I want to mod, and I already wanna build one from scratch. Grr. So addicted. Lol.
Because I don’t want to botch my ChImp the first time around, I bought the assembled kit, with USB jack. Reason is that you can check if it works via PC just by using a standard USB cable. The new revision of the board (from Lizardlick at least) has separate (and larger) VCC/GD/green/white solder points for the usb cable, so you don’t have to worry about the tiny points on the first run of the boards. It does cost a bit more, but I didn’t want a hassle of needing to reorder a board because I botched up the initial part soldering.
Got my ChImp in the mail today. Gotta find my tripod, and I’ll have it assembled soon. You can decide whether or not it’s worth buying the kit. Hopefully my SE will be here soon ToT.
Finished assembly, have video. Going to add voice and edit. Will keep you posted.
EDIT: Will probably be in three YouTube portions, meaning about 30 minutes of video. Wanted to be as in-depth as possible. Hopefully this will help you. Or somebody 
Second Edit: It’s just a matter of time. Have to convert movie files, upload to YouTube… Lalalala. Just a matter of time.
Edit ?? Got first part uploaded, the rest is to come. [media=youtube]5wLKRVcTRqE[/media]
You are a god. 
Thanks a ton. I’m wanting to do a ChImp mod on my SE, and finding information in threads with 200 pages can be difficult. Favoriting your video now. :tup:
Great video, but the background music is really annoying.
What exactly are the integrated circuit sockets? Why should a person keep those on? Why have you taken them off? What would I have to do different if I kept them on?
Nothing.
It is just to be able to put on or remove an IC without soldering and desoldering.
But why did he remove those in the video?
Personal preference. I don’t like the added height or the way they look. It’s odd. Part 2 is up. You should leave them on, though. You won’t be able to damage the ICs with excess heat, and if toodles puts out a new IC, you can just pull it out. And, in part 3, you’ll get to see me struggle with putting the ICs on the PCB! =D Lol.
Also, I add ambient music because my voice sounds very boring on its own. I’m sorry if it’s annoying.
@Kendrik?Glad you like it. I hope to be documenting my full SE mod, which will show you how to dualmod, change pushbuttons, replace the joystick, and modify the artwork, as well as placing it into Seimitsu PK-14-KN pushbuttons. Probably the only thing else possible would be LED lights, which may come later.
Cool. Glad to hear it. :tup:
I dual-modded a Mayflash with a basic MadCatz padhack a year ago or so. I’m not an absolute scrub at mod work, but the more guidance I have, the better.
If I understand the wiring correctly, the typical approach is to leave the buttons all plugged into the MadCatz PCB and run a wire for each button to the corresponding place on the ChImp board. The result (put in terms that make sense to me at the moment) is that, when using the ChImp board for PS3 usage, the connections on the MadCatz PCB end up being a detour of sorts… nothing more than a point in the path between button and ChImp PCB. Because I hate soldering on board when I don’t have to, I’m wondering if I buy a ChImp with the screw down terminals… can I run wire direct from the button into the terminal and then a wire out back to the quick disconnect terminal strip already in the stick?
It seems to me that this should work, but I could certainly be overlooking something, so I decided I’d risk a “use the search button, scrub” comment and just ask here. If I can do this, however… I cut down on so much soldering. This would be make my task a whole lot easier.
You can go from Button Terminal to ChImp Terminal.
Do like Donovan Myers if you do not want to solder.
http://www.donovanmyers.com/2010/02/dual-mod-a-mad-catz-fightstick-tournament-edition-using-toodles-chimp/
Right now I’m sweating bullets about whether or not I can assemble the CHImp in the first place lol. I couldn’t tell some of the actual soldering points for some of the components but hopefully it’ll be more obvious when I actually get it myself.
EDIT: Also how do you mount the CHImp? Would this require a drill? Can you just electrically tape it down?
^^ What he said. That’s the best solderless solution available. My guide will be done soldered, as fair warning.
@gamerkim28?It is MUCH easier to see when you have the actual board. My camera just couldn’t focus on the small details. The board is a little small to get into it with your first try, but remember, anything that can be soldered can be desoldered.
EDIT: You can mount it any way you want. There are four holes for screws, but you can likely hand-screw it, though it depends on the material you’re trying to drill through. You can tape it down, too. I’m probably going to just hot glue mine somewhere. Lol.
Thanks, man. That’s really helpful. :tup:
@Nerrage: Like it or not, I’m still gonna have to solder so far as the USB cable is concerned, so I’m still gonna be glad to see a video of how you do it. And the rest of your mod guide will be nice to see as well.
@Kendrik?Very true, I’ll get to it as soon as my SE gets here. Believe me, I’m waiting in anticipation! Oh, my last video is nearly uploaded. ^^
@gamerkim28?Also, this picture is horribly messy, but it may hopefully help you to see what goes where since Lizardlick has a good close-up shot of the board
EDIT: Finally uploaded the last portion! No more drained bandwidth! Whoo!
Do the integrated circuit sockets have to be soldered down as well? Other than that, I think you’ve answer all of my questions for assembling the CHImp. Thanks for the help and I’ll be sure to update when I give the actual thing a try myself.
EDIT: I also hope I can tell a difference between the C2 and C3 (I can’t in the picture). Knowing me I’m going to break this board lol.