WOW you reply fast
man i’m just sitting here at school killing time before class starts and i notice that i wasn’t the last to post a message. Thanks for all the reply. i acually i have one more question.
I noctice that some people say that they made the stick without soldering. How do you do that?
~RaNDoM
Don’t get Ultimates as they’re the worst as far as getting your diagonals when gettin your game on. Get Competitions or Supers for your first and if you’re daring (following the instructions on the first through third pages of this thread) go for Perfect 360s.
WOW you reply fast
You actually buy a cheap ass joystick and you can use all of the wires from that to connect you your buttons. It seems that RoTeNdo swears but this method. I would have done it, but since I made a 2 player cabinet, it seemed to expensive to me to buy 2 joysticks. Here is my cabinet I made.
WOW you reply fast
If you buy a joystick say like the “Fighter’s Choice” joystick that I have, you can take the old joystick out and put one of your choice in there using the wires from the old quick connect and mounting some metal quick disconnects on the extension wires. What I did was wired the original wires to a wiring block and then screwed some extension wires and crimped on the metal quick disconnects on the ends to connect them to the joystick. The rest was just making an extension base on the bottom since the stick extended way too low for the original base. The original buttons are still being used on the stick (rubber springs) and they work decent and haven’t worn out on me yet.
Ha that was excatly what i was thinking of, now i know thx. But if the solder points are pretty big (and pre-drilled holes!) the enforcer might not be a bad buy for 5.99.
EDIT: it’s not on EB’s site anymore, do you have a SKU so i can call the store.
Re: WOW you reply fast
Yep! 
All my projects are SOLDER FREE baby!
you find a joystick/controller that connects their buttons and joystick/d-pad by wires from the pcb.
you then disconnect them from the buttons and d-pad/joystick and label them. don’t disconnect from the pcb
buy some 8/12 way barrier strips (2 or so) the white ones at Radio Shack (no spade connectors needed either)
buy some .22 awg wire, and but ### wires all the same length (solid or stranded, doesn’t matter)
run the wires from the pcb all to one side of 1 barrier strips (I use two barrier strips; one for the buttons alone and another for the directions, up, down, left, etc…) Don’t forget the ground wires too.
next, simply run the wires on the other side of the barrier strip/s and label them
crimp the female quick disconnects to the end of those wires that you just labled. (daisy chain the groud wire for the buttons and for the directions, then crimp them.
now that you have everything wired, fasten down the barrier strips to the bottom of the enclosure or somewhere close to the pcb. That way, no matter what happens and if it were to open up and the lid or whatever opens accidently all the way, the wires from the pcb will not get yanked out from the barrier strip or it.
optional neatly connect the wires to the micro switches and then use some sort of fasteners to have them running alongside of the corners/bottom or whatever to keep it organized, then use mini tie-ties to help (a lot easier to close the top of the enclosure without having wires sticking out of everywhere!)
and that’s about it…
I use two color wires. red for everything and then black for the ground. This method is alot neater than soldering (IMO), and quicker. Another reason to use mini ties is to keep the other wires from bumping into each other causing it to get loose from the microswitch inside and having a button not work, but that can be avoided by just using .187 female disconnects that fits snugly and tightly onto the micro switches.
yeah, I’ll post it once I get home (work) cuz I’m returning it. I don’t like soldering and I have an agetec on the way anyway that I got off eBay. Hopefully the EB close to you carries them (in the stockroom anyway).
lol i wondered what you meant by solder free, you just use barrier strips instead of solder lol. I too can’t really solder, so the work arounds i’ve used are to drill small holes or buy a joystick with pre drilled holes, it basically makes the soldering trivial, you just need solder so it doesn’t fall out of the hole. It’s easy to aim a small drill into the relatively bigger pad, whereas the solder has a mind of it’s own sometimes after you melt it. It’s also more secure since the wire never pulls the solder out.
The first time I tried using a pcb that needed to be soldered onto, I had a terribly hard time doing it (also my first attempt :D) Takes time so I said to myself, “fuck this shit!!, I don’t have time for patience.”, and thus I experimented by opening up my PS Arcade that I use to use to play SF games on my PSX and when I saw the inside I chuckled to myself :lol:, that’s what I’m talking about. Wires already soldered, and glued for me!! So it begins…
can i use the pelican joystick
i have this POS laying around in my house
http://www.bestbuy.com/videogames/productinfo.asp?e=11067841&m=937&cat=969&scat=1101
its a pelican joystick for the ps2.
Do u think i can use this to make a solder free joystick?
~RaNDoM
can i use the pelican joystick
Take that MOFO apart and take a look at it.
here are the insides. sorry i will try to get better pics.
~RaNDoM
how to post
sorry i’m new,
how can you post moe then one pic?
also how do you quote peoples text?
Can’t see shit on those pictures. Use a flash.
Yeah, please, use more lighting or something. I can’t see anything either. I can barely make out some sort of wires, but we’ll wait for some better pics.
some questions
2)You don’t have to use all 8. But I recommend that you do in case you decide to buy adapters for other consoles.
3)Dunno, but once you get started, it’s a lot easier than it seems
4)take your time. Don’t rush. Especially with the soldering. If your soldering is weak, many people solder + caulk. i.e. after they solder the joint onto the PCB, they use a caulking substance to cover the PCB so the wires/solder joints don’t move. <-- make sure the caulking substance is safe with plastics.
Stick to a layout that matches your arcade. I.e. Straight line buttons, 1.5" button spacing(center to center), etc. Going for an ergonomic layout may feel better however, you might have a hard time doing air combos when you switch to a straight layout.
Stick with parts that match your arcade.
5)As someone on this thread already mentioned, order in the parts, and build the box while the parts are coming in.
6)try http://www.therealbobroberts.com
7)After I determined the size of my box, I opened a new file in Photoshop and specified the size in inches, cm, whatever you’re comfortable with. Cut and paste pictures that you like filling it. Overlay the top layer with drilling points and you’re ready to go.
If you don’t have a flash…try using a bright light on the object.
I’d be interested to know about this stick because I have one amongst my crap stick collection
ok here is a lil better
i found a old lamp in the garage. so here is a new pic.
I have new questions.
Would it be easier to use a Dreamcast controler/joystick to make a solder free project? i have lots of regular DC controllers and i have one enforcer joystick. also has anyone tried using the “magic box adapter” to play on xbox? either with DC or ps2 controllers?
~RaNDoM
what sticks do you think are the best?hard spring,soft or medium?
Why are you guys afraid to solder? It’s not that hard to learn, you can get a soldering iron from walmart for 5 dollars and a coil of solder for 1 dollar. Your connections will be more reliable if they are soldered anyway.
cardhero: medium