MAYFLASH XBOX 360 / PS3 / PC Arcade Fighting Stick V2 Compatible with Sanwa Parts out of the box 69$

Tech Talk
61

Lol, I have about 20 of those exact cables, bought them for about £3 total shipped from China on eBay. Just search on ebay for 5 pin connector, JST 5 pin connector etc - they’re hardly an elusive conductive speciality.

This stick looks great, as in it seems to correct every single complaint that these sticks normally have (weight, compatibility, aesthetics). If they were on sale in the UK at the equivalent of $60, I would buy today.

Looks like a good buy even as an import to the UK - since for some reason the 2nd hand market on eBay has gone mad, with 2nd gen TEs listed as “ULTRA RARE!!!” and selling for over £150, and Brawlsticks et al fetching £60 +. Even Namcos have gone from £30 to £75 :frowning:

62

Would you kindly send me a link to a JST-EH 5-pin female-female listing, if that is the case?

I’ve been around the block, trust me. The EH series has 2.5mm spacing (as is the standard for 5-pin headers on eastern sticks, constructed to metric dimensions), whereas the XH series (the commonly found on ebay) have 2.54mm or 0.1" spacing. You can find cables with the proper connector on one end and tinned leads on the other, but not a female connector on both ends. This is the closest you can get without ordering a custom batch, and it will not suffice.

I would certainly love for you to prove me wrong, however.

63

I need to remember this link, it work well for the stereo audio headers for a SNK NEO GEO MVS board.

64

Forgive me, I didn’t realise you’ve been around the block.

It’s been a while since I fiddled with these things, and I cannot go and look, but I do remember the distinction.

The ones I have are XH spacing, and they are perfectly serviceable in the sticks I own. The reason I assumed you meant XH is that you specifically said that what is needed is the same cable that is present in the ZD encoder package - a set of those exact cables is what I have.

Edit: I recall that Hori use the EH headers, and if the board header here is the same then I see your point. A JLF will accept an XH connector, and the ZD uses XH, however. The image looks like an XH to my eyes (the empty header next to the larger one occupied by what looks like the control panel cable).

65

I’m thinking of picking at least one of these up. I’ve got 4 JLFs with Cherry switches that could go into some of these and a ton of white buttons left over from my delve into refurbishing all those Madcatz TEs and SEs. The fact that it’s now $60, and a PS360+ costs that alone is a big benefit. The downside is I’d be spending more money on sticks I don’t think I’d need.

If I were to pick these up to put good parts in them and sell them, that’s another story, but doing so would mean finding people who need a cheap dual modded stick, and I’m unsure if the profit margin would be worth my time.

66

@alainvey‌
I’m curious as I was convinced that 2.54mm and 2.5mm spacings would not be interchangeable with the combined difference of 5 pins (~0.16mm difference at the last pin). I know that 2-pin connectors of the 2.54 and 2.5mm pitch are interchangeable, however, due to the negligible difference. I do not have an XH connector to test, can you confirm that it will fit on a JLF? If it will, then that could certainly be a godsend, and this is my mistake for being too abstract. Sure, the more pins you have in a row, the more your exact spacing matters, but I wouldn’t know for sure with the ~6% margin with the 2.5mm and 2.54mm 5-pin headers.

In retrospect, the difference definitely seems negligible, and I’m certainly open to your idea.
If your XH connectors fit on JLF headers, we can use XH instead (unless they do not fit on the Mayflash PCB male pins by some margin). I’ll purchase an XH cable ASAP upon hearing your confirmation, I’d definitely like to test it to see if it also fits the PCB properly. That would be the ideal solution, as it’s readily available.

I’m so very glad to have participated in this thread; learning a lot from the resulting discussion.

67

The pitch is definitely interchangeable with that margin. Fun fact, the Cerberus socket for the JLF is a 2.54mm spaced one since JST sucks the big one for making decent PCB mount sockets, and soooometimes it takes some pin bending if it’s skewed too much, but overall it fits fine. Any more than 5 pins and it becomes really sketchy though, it’s almost a nice little limit.

68

@Phreakazoid‌ Thank you so much for the input. There’s definitely a sizable gap in knowledge between regular modders and the wizards who constantly design and have boards printed, much from hard-learned experience no doubt; hopefully with more documentation like this we can narrow it, even if only by the smallest amount.

Welp. Ordered some to test out. I’ll keep y’all posted on whether it fits the Mayflash PCB properly, but I’d only be providing a second confirmation of Clayton’s experience at this point (as it should be either a perfect fit, or a matter of bending pins slightly while fitting).

Perhaps PCB reliability tests are next in order.

69

I cant wait for the updates.

70

Please, please, please keep me informed. If common ground I’m in for 4 of them. Then @"Jasen Hicks"‌ will get more of my business as I’d be ordering vinyl graphics from him.
Thanks @deserada‌

:slight_smile:

71

I’ll be able to get my hands on it tonight (in ~14hours) and ohm the whole board out. My suspicion is that it is indeed common ground, but we will see.

I’d also like to add that Mayflash never responded to my email suggesting that they add the cable for a Sanwa 5-pin header in further shipments (or why it is important, rather), but if they saw it at all my work there is done.

72

All this connector talk really should be summarized in a FAQ. Engineers like myself have access to the correct tools, but don’t work with the stuff often enough to recognize exact connector types on-sight could use the info. Things like detailed connector info, part numbers, correct die types, etc. would save many hours digging through the Digikey and Mouser catalogs.

73

^ Agreed 100%

I like making my own cables too so that would be a big help.

74

That’s a good idea, especially since this sort of information doesn’t seem to be compiled elsewhere.

Everything I’ve learned has been from casually browsing datasheets on mouser (a new hobby of mine) and from worklogs for the projects of others.

A lot of it is common sense, but at the same time not apparent if you aren’t in the right mindset. I’ll see what I can do, though it may be a day or so before I can confidently post the whole of it. Anyone is welcome to contribute, of course.

75

Played through arcade mode on Melty a few times to test it out, and promptly ohmed the board out afterward.

Not common ground, but the action buttons and the directionals are common, in case you were so inclined to substitute your own harness in (no real benefit of doing this; the wiring is very clean).

“Start” and the top row of buttons are on completely independent reference grounds. Neither group is common to the ground on the USB connection, so this PCB would unfortunately not be suitable for a traditional dualmod with a (next-gen) common-ground PCB.

Interestingly, the start button is tactile. It clicks upon actuation, and feels like a Cherry MX Clear.

The stock lever feels like an LS-58. I do not intend to replace it, other than to test a JLF.

Stock action buttons look and feel like a heavier Seimitsu PS-14-GN. Actuation force is around 150% as much as a PS-14-G, a definite workout for the fingers. They slide smoothly and the button plungers do not come near colliding with the rims, which is very promising. No friction at all. If you like high actuation force, or want buttons for building relevant muscle, this might be an option (read: the training sword is always heavier).

Top-row navigation buttons are membrane rubber-dome type, as expected.

One issue I had was that the (X/Y)/D-pad (read: analog/POV hat) switch seemed to be incorrect. In the up position (marked X/Y), no directionals were registered by the computer, and in the down position (d-pad), analog axis signals were sent. It still functioned properly, I just had to map the game to take that input (would not be an issue with consoles, or with most other games which might expect analog axis signals anyway). Tomorrow I will rectify this and report any additional findings; it may have been operator error (and I do believe it was).

The second switch from the left alternates between 360 mode and PS3 mode (Xinput and Dinput respectively). Tomorrow I will test on both consoles. I’ll also test the vibrating wrist strap. ;o)

I can also scan the instructions and post here, if they aren’t online already. No engrish, but there are some ever-so-slightly awkward clauses.

As an aside, I think it’s cool that they use @FreedomGundam‌ 's preferred layout. The magnetically retained top panel is pretty slick. No screws, it just pops out with pressure in the right place and you can change your art.

If I make any modifications to this stick, it would be to plug the last two holes (L1, L2) and to install OBSF-30s (although I would certainly keep the buttons, they are interesting to me).

Stay tuned for more.

o7

76

Nice information there, thanks for the write up. The easy art swap is pretty cool, and further increases the value for anyone who likes changing it.

77

Here,Here

78

Can any of our other members who own this stick confirm/deny that they can get POV hat directionals (d-pad equivalent), as well as XY axes directionals (analog stick equivalent)?

79

I will agree that the stick and button feel is rather… excellent. I rather quite like it. That state button is interesting, though. Feel like something meant for industrial applications?

The XY/D-pad switch behaves exactly as you’d expect in both Xinput and Dinput modes on Windows 8.1 for me. X/Y are their respective axis and the Dpad mode is the POV hat. I think I may have Xbox controller driver installed though.

80

Can confirm with @energizerfellow‌.
Got the Xbox Controller driver installed as well.