Hi everybody, Just wanted to say hi and give some input as well as ask a question.
This has been a great thread, in fact I’ve read all 105 pages (default view without registering), and I decided to make my own stick. Instead of going all out, I decided to order the redoctane box with pcb (no stick, no buttons) and some parts from haps to throw it all together.
I wanted to offer some info about it:
First of all the box is designed ok. The space inside is a little cramped, so there’s not a lot of room for drilling more holes. Some people complained that the start button on the regular octane stick is a little too close to the main 6 for the standard SF layout, so I ordered a button plug and put that in and moved the start button over one. In total there are 9 holes, 6 for the standard SF layout, 2 for start/select, and 1 for the stick.
Second, the box I ordered did come with a lexan/plexi cover (or something of the see through smooth nature), unattached. It had all the holes drilled except for the stick itself. :o So I found myself putting in the stick first, then the cover, then the buttons to hold it in place…which works ok, but I get the feeling that it vibrates a little when i hit my punch buttons a little hard. I wish I had a drill.
Third, the pcb is disappointing. I mainly got it because I didn’t want to do any soldering (since I don’t have the money to spend on an iron and time to mess with it just yet).
The wires were ok, not great. To my surprise they all came with quick disconnects already on…and to my dismay, I found out that only 5 of them were the right size (joystick and ground), the rest were too small, so I had to recrimp those suckers. In addition, the ground itself was only done singularly, so I had to cut it and recrimp it in a daisy chain style. And lastly, none of the wires were labeled so I had to do some blind checking touching wires together until I found the ground.
The other disappointing thing is, RedOctane decided to leave out L1 and L2…I don’t know if it’s missing all together from the pcb, but it’s definitely not soldered.
So basically, the box is ok, check one of the other threads for more info about that. The pcb could’ve been much better, but I guess for only $5 and no hassle, you could do far worse. In the future I’ll probably replace it when I get enough time. I recommend the box to those of you who are afraid to work with wood, just be prepared to spend a lot of time with a chisel so your stick won’t be so short, and I only recommend the pcb for the truly lazy, I really really suggest you learn how to solder and go with a 3rd party pcb.
Now for my question. Thanks to all of you guys’ info, I was able to successfully put it together in 2 days. First day it took me a few hours to chisel into the top for the stick so it wouldn’t be so short, by then I realized that some of the quick disconnects didn’t fit, but all the stores around here were close to closing so I wasn’t able to go out until today, and I got all the wiring done.
Anyway, the problem is this: I wired all of my buttons except for select, which is just in the box dangling freely. Unfortunately, if I turn on my ps2 and have my stick plugged in, some of the buttons turn “rapid”; in other words, if I hold them down, they work rapidly…but if I unplug the stick and plug it back in without turning off the system, the problem goes away. I’ve tried reseting and that doesn’t work; I always put my ps2 into standby mode vs turning it off. After some testing, I found out it happens on the same buttons: start, square, circle and R2.
Why does this happen? Is it just because RedOctane’s pcb and cord are crap? Any help is appreciated.
