Should be a condensed one. Perhaps even oblique/bold.
Nice stickers!!! I hope buy a spark set very soon.
I got my spark installed yesterday and it works like a champ! It takes a little getting used to at first, but once you’re used to it, it works just as well as the TP-MA. Spark does work on PS2 without a boost converter, though the diagonals are a bit touchy most of the time. I’m also getting an LS-55 spring to increase the tension a bit.
@shiryu22 The best way I can describe the sound of the Spark is the same as the JLF minus the microswitch clicking (obviously). The only thing you hear is the dust washer lightly rattling as you move the stick.
Great work, Toodles.
Spark is awesome. I I’ve had mine installed since i bought it from toodles at EVO (I was the guy who didn’t have enough and had to run to the ATM). I immediately made my way over to the madcatz booth and scooped up one of the TE keychains and headed up to my room and installed it with my ChImp SMD andI’ve been using it ever since.
The only downside to owning a spark is when other players use your stick and claim it’s the reason they drop their combos. I’ve told countless people to just pretend it’s not there and they’ll be fine but the stick usually ends up taking the blame : /
Just got my sparked Installed. Took less than 5-minute in my VLX (just crammed it’s 5v lead into the usb cable’s connector on the 5v line). Makes paying $300 for an Ascii FT on eBay very foolish.
Thanks Toodles.
Any way you could take a picture of that? I have a VLX and I am looking to do the same thing.
USB cable goes to a 5 pin connector on the black box. One of those wires is red. Shove Spark wire in with red wire.
[S]Quick[/S] question for anyone who might know… I have a TE Kitty, Spark, and a Sparkfun LiPower DC-DC converter (http://www.sparkfun.com/products/10255 - as suggested by Toodles) installed in my Fightstick TE-S. The stick works perfectly on xbox 360, PS3, PC, and Wii/Gamecube with this setup, but simply will not work on PS2. After I installed the LiPower Boost Converter, the controller will not register with the PS2 and I get a very faint, high pitched whistle coming from inside the stick (haven’t pinpointed where the whistle is coming from, but it’s definitely either the original TE board or the TE Kitty). If I disconnect the 5v line to the Spark, the controller will register and the buttons work, but obviously no joystick inputs from the Spark due to no power. The stick will work just fine on a PS2 with a TP-MA.
The way I have the LiPower hooked up is I connected the + terminal to the VCC screw terminal on the TE Kitty (side going to the original TE board), the - terminal to the GND screw terminal (once again, side going to the original TE board), and the VCC terminal on the LiPower straight to the Spark. See the diagram below for a visual explanation
http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/409/unledpeq.jpg
Is this the correct way to install this? Like I said, it works perfectly fine on USB (PS3, PC, 360) and Wii/GC.
Prior to installing the LiPower, I was getting 4.46v from the bottom VCC and GND terminals on the Kitty, which was ample to work with for the Spark. After, I am getting 5.06v from the LiPower. I was getting just over 3v from the same terminals when connected to a PS2, and when I disconnect the 5v line to the Spark, the LiPower supplies 5.06v just like normal. If I reconnect it, it doesn’t work again. I don’t have a multimeter at home that can measure current draw, but I’m borrowing one from work tonight. I’m suspecting the LiPower current draw might be too high for the PS2.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I know Toodles said such an installation wasn’t supported, but I would greatly appreciate any help!
I was under the impression that the upconvertor was only needed for PS2 PCB’s because they only power at 3.3v instead of 5v needed. I understand that you are using toodles board in PS2 mode but I though his boards output a higher voltage than the standard ps2 3.3v in ps2 mode so it was not needed
@RosserRooster I wish that were the case. The Kitty will operate at whatever the input voltage is, much like the MC Cthulhu. This is evident by the dimly lit button and Circle of Light LEDs when operating on a PS2. Without the DC-DC converter, the voltage at the bottom screw terminals (those leading to the TE mainboard) in PS2 mode reads right around 3v. The Spark was operating and receiving joystick input, even at this low voltage, but was rather unreliable in diagonals, and would sometimes not return to neutral.
Installation sounds correct. When all hooked up properly and plugged into a PS2, voltage on the ‘VCC’ and + points on the LiPower would probably seal the deal, but most likely you’re correct that the PS2 isn’t able to provide enough current. If the voltages on those two point are significantly lower with the Spark plugged in than without, that’s exactly what’s happening.
@Toodles I’ll measure the current draw tonight and report my findings. I’ve tried the same on more than one PS2 with the same results. If it is indeed the case, do you have any suggestions? Or, would it be safe to say such an install with TE Kitty, Spark and a PS2 just ain’t happening?
Thanks again!
Except for battery pack or two headed cable (to get power from PS2 USB jack), the only other hail mary I can think of is shorting the ends of the protection diode for the RJ45 jack. That will help make a little more power available, but means you could have problems if you ever plug it into two consoles at once.
@Toodles I’d be hesitant to remove any protection diodes, even though I’d never connect to two consoles at once. I am, however, intrigued by the idea of a two-headed cable. Just to clarify how this would be done - would i simply use a USB cable for ground and VCC and the PS2 controller cable for the other five pins?
In essence the Corresponding RJ45 pins:
1 - GND from USB
2 - CLK
3 - CMD
4 - DATA
5 - ATT
6 - empty
7 - ACK
8 - VCC from USB
Would this work?
Thanks for your patience and helping me brainstorm, Toodles. Much obliged. :china:
Yup, that’s the idea. No idea if itll work for sure, I’d expect it would.
Man, it was a genius idea if I had ever heard one, but no dice. I tried the pinout above, and while the stick and components were lighting up the control panel lights per normal function, the button inputs weren’t being registered by the PS2. I tried again, swapping the ground wire with the one from the PS2 connector, but it still didn’t work.
I took a reading of the current draw and it’s around 440mA over the VCC. By comparison, the draw over USB is 80mA.
Reading through the thread again, it seems Nerrage had similar problems (except mine doesn’t do random inputs) with his experimentation. Unless someone has been able to get the Spark to play nice with the LiPower DC-DC converter in PS2 mode, aside from a battery (not something I care to bother with) I think it’s safe to say the LiPower just won’t do the trick in PS2 mode.
On the bright side, it does help decrease the dead zone on the Spark, so that’s a plus.
Well, we gave it a shot. 
WTF? I gotta think on that. No way it should be ever be that high.
I did notice when connected to PS2, the LEDs on the control panel do light up brighter, when compared to how they normally light up dim when running off the 3.3v VCC from the PS2 controller port. This leads me to believe that the Kitty and the other components in the TE are also drawing from the LiPower through the ground line on the 5-pin joystick connector, which could explain why there’s so much current drawn.
If there’s a way to isolate the ground for the power leading to the Spark, I think that might solve the problem. Any thoughts?
Well the ground on the USB cable should be tied to the ground for the PS2 cord on the PS2 itself, but I haven’t verified that.
You’re passive agressive about a PM I didn’t answer within 7 minutes that has nothing to do with anything I make or support? You’re better than that.
There’s the description for installing I put up when I recommended that piece on the previous page:
And the one higher on this page from Titan_X:
But since that’s a USB device, you shouldnt need it at all; you can get 5v direct from the USB cable. If you’ve verified the power line is providing 5v to the Spark, but the Spark isnt working properly but a TP-MA microswitch board is, you may need to install signal diodes on the four direction lines. For each of the four signals, connect the diode end with the band to the Spark side, and the other end of the diode to the PCB side. Any cheapy diode will work, including the super cheap N4148’s available at Radio Shacks and Fry’s. The Brawl stick PCB and PS360/Paewong pcbs are the only ones I’ve seen to require this.