DUH !:lol:
Never connect anything while the system is on.
OR ELSE:lol:
What size screw should i use for a Competition joystick?
I tried reading the pdf given at happs’ website, but they don’t say.
THanks.
I say avoid screws and use carriage bolts. 
Go to ace hardware and look for any that fits the joystick hole.
IF you dont find any and end up using screws,just get #8 screws from HD.
Thanks, #8 screws are good cause i got some lying around.
BTW, what are carriage bolts?
I have a problem with a stick i am currently building. All the buttons and directions work fine except for the up direction. The stick is stuck in the up direction and i dont know why. When i turn the board (mad catz dreamcast) upside down to check if anything is touching that shouldn’t be sometimes it stops holding up.
Does anyone know what is wrong?
umm…
Trace the up contact and solder it again somewhere else on the board.
I am sure your up wire is somehow touching ground(happens).
Hey man thanks yeah the problem was there was the most TINY bit of solder connecting the ground and the up on the circular soldering point.
YEAH now this stick is great 
Oh yeah does anyone have any idea where to get a 5V supply for a 360 stick? The people at the happ’s distribution center here say they carry nothing like that and tried to tell me a 5v supply is built in and then pointed to the two connecters that go to the 5v supply and ground.
I can connect it to the 5V point on a board but it would be much easier to wire to an external source (Don’t want to risk burning out anything)
hey, this is a really good thread! i’ve been playing cvs2 on my xbox and i think its about time i made my own stick.
i want to make a two player stick, with about 18 buttons, i want a nice picture on top, shiny plexi-glass etc.
how do i go about making it? what is the best pad to use etc? and how much am i looking at?
if anyone can help me out i’d be very grateful!
well plexi = :lame:
lexan’s the way to go
well first of all, you should go to the first post of this thread and check out those links on how to make one. they should have all the info you need. but i’ll give u the thread in a nutshell. u need to make a box. most people use 1/2" and 3/4" medium density particle board it’s like $6 at home depot for a 2’ x 4’. check out the links for some good designs. then you need to buy parts. either get a competition stick or a p360 stick and either ultimate(concave) or competition(convex) buttons. p360’s you’ll have to find a 5v power source for it by either external adaptar or hacking your pcb. as for hacking a pcb. you can use a psx one and use a ps2 to xbox converter or just hack an xbox controller. the links have info on hacking those. if you have good tools like a table saw/circular saw/handheld jigsaw cutter, a drill, 1/8" drill bit etc. it should cost you about $40-$60 if you’re good. expect to possibly pay more if it’s your very first time. good luck.
thank you very much, i’ll check out those links.
i’m very unsure of the basics, do you , in essence, just link up the stick and buttons through an xboxpad, and house it in a wodden box?
whats the best pad to use, and what is the alternative to using a pad? are there any?
in layman’s terms yeah, that’s exactly what you do. an xbox pad i dunno. kevin’s badass site has info on hacking a mad catz xbox pad. he also has stuff on using an xbox reflex and taking out the parts and sticking them in a wooden housing. alternative to using a pad would be to pm SNAAKE or Dread Fist on building you one. Dreaded Fist charges $140 for a two player stick. check them out at http://www.geocities.com/konxept/ (very nice sticks). or you could just buy a two player x arcade(or any 3rd party stick maker) and just replace it with happ parts.
i want to play cvsnk2 on my xbox using a custom stick i have made.
should i use another pad instead of an xbox one?
which is best then?
i feel the hardest part will be making it look good, is the box and overlay hard to get looking good?
well if all you have is an xbox and all you’re goin to use ur stick for is cvs2. then use an xbox 1(makes most sense rite?). if u have a ps2 and say you also have an xbox, a dreamcast, or a gamecube, use a ps1/ps2 compatible pad and just use converters for the other systems. and yes and no to making the box look good. if u don’t have the rite tools, ur goin to have a harder time makin ur box look rite. if want a custom overlay, it may take u some time if u don’t have or know how to use photoshop or something like that. so in other words, the nicer it is, the more effort u gotta put in.
hey thnks man, yeah i’m planning on playing mainly on xbox but perhaps on ps2 too, so i guess i should be using a cheap playstation controller.
which is preferable ps1 or ps2. will there be a difference in performance depending on the price of the pad?
What tools do i need to make it look real proffessional?
btw, i really appriaciate your help here.
it doesn’t matter imo. just as long, it works on ur ps2. what you also wanna check is also getting the converter and seeing if the converter converts it correctly. if it does then you got urself a winner 
performance in pad is basically the same. what you want to stay away from is the ps2 dual shock. i hear the contacts are just way too small to work with. for the ps2 i use ps1 pads. they usually have 1 ground making it easier for yourself. check the links cuz they have some good info on hacking $3 pads tools to make it LOOK professional or must make it? if u want a professional look, you gotta get a table saw, a nice sander, maybe a router, and a drill press. but if u don’t have any of those, then the next grade would be a circular saw, a decent sander, and a drill. if u don’t got those well then u should have a hand held jigsaw cutter, sand paper atleast, and a drill but at this point you’re going to want to shoot yourself :lol: let’s just say the quality of our work will show what kind of tools you used. if u got any more questions, just keep em coming.
thanks a lot, i’m wising up now.
what components should i be looking at? basically i love capcom and snk games, and also some tekken, is a p360 the best option?
the thread is massive, are there any links to where i can buy the internal bits like the stick, buttons and other stuff?
I was wanting to ask… I got some spare time, but how long do you think it takes, estimated, to make a decent stick? I am totally new to this, but have some spare time, being layed off from work, so any opinions? Also, maybe an estimate price if you make it yourself? I remember reading some estimates, but what do you think? I plan on using a p360 stick, looking around on the happ site, I thought i would use concave (sp) buttons… I have no idea what I am getting into, so I thought I would ask for some estimates.
ive read plenty of times that 360’s suck for tekken cause it doesnt register neutral as well
The Mullah: p360 uses optical sensors instead of micro switches. this means that the p360 makes no clicking sounds while the super, competition, and ultimate do. if u love fighters, people say use the competition. i forget if its the super or the ultimate but 1 of them uses a soft spring for the broken in feel. buttons as i said before, ultimate(concave) and the competition(convex) are your choices. just use whatever is in ur arcade. again as i have said before, the p360 require a 5v source either by hacking your pcb for it or using a plug for it. for more info go to http://members.cox.net/joysticks/perfect_360.html ANYONE WITH QUESTIONS ON THE P360 GO THERE!!! for parts, the links were on the very first post. go to www.happcontrols.com or www.therealbobroberts.com . bob roberts doesn’t carry p360’s.
Juggy: 
sorry to hear bout the layoff. well anyways a raw estimate should be the cheapest around $40 to i guess $60-$75 if u screw up a bunch :lol: as i just told mullah, use the buttons ur arcade uses, if u don’t go to arcades just flip a coin then i dunno. i personally use convex. about the p360 refer to my response to mullah. the price isn’t so much the issue as the time and effort you’ll have to put into it. if u love ur stick, ur stick will lover u back (that sounded kinda wrong 
)
Mulligan: sorry dude i dunno, i’ve read someone else post about that a looong time ago but don’t remember. if nobody can give u an answer soon, just post outside this thread.
and for everyone who doesn’t even feel or think of looking at the links provided by rotendo on the first page here’s the resources i used.
parts and adapters:
http://www.happcontrols.com
http://www.therealbobroberts.com
http://www.levelsix.com/products/pc/EMSUSB2.shtml
arcade stick related pages:
http://members.cox.net/joysticks/
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/jdpyle1/arcade_sticks.htm
http://www.arcadecontrols.com/arcade.htm
http://wrongcrowd.com/arcade/
http://www.darkravenwind.com/cdvision/arcade.htm
http://syste.ms/joystick/
http://tobywong.50megs.com/
http://snake11417.tripod.com/main/
info on consoles:
http://www.gamesx.com/index2.htm
overlay help:
http://rainworld.com/psworkshop/