Arcade Stick Wiring Advice?

Tech Talk
#1

Hi everyone…

I am planning to build a couple of arcade sticks for me and my friends to use in our SFIV tournaments. I have ordered all of the necessary (Seimitsu) pushbuttons and a pair of Seimitsu LS-32-01 joysticks. I plan to wire up the D-pad, X, O, Square, Triangle, R1, R2, Start, Select and PS buttons to be operated by the joystick and pushbuttons respectively.

I have managed to pick up a pair of used PS3 Dualshock 3 controllers for £10 and plan to extract the PCBs in order to make the guts of the sticks. The only part of the build that I am still having trouble researching is regarding certain questions I have regarding wiring up the extracted PCBs.

I was wondering if there was anybody here who has undertaken a similar project? The parts that worry me are hardwiring out the analogue sticks using resistors (I’ve seen how most people do it using two 5k resistors bridging the 3 solder points but in the DS3 PCB photos I have seen there seem to be 4 solder points in the variable resistors?), wiring up the R2 button so that it can be operated using a simple pushbutton and wiring the L2, L3 & R3 buttons out of use.

I have not yet recieved my eBay controllers so hopefully this will be a bit clearer when they arrive later this week but the help would still be much appreciated. I plan to document the entire build and will post it up at various stages in it’s own thread so that I can hopefully help out other people undertaking similar projects by showing them how I worked out the important issues.

Thanks guys! I look forward to hearing from you all!

#2

One thing you should do when you get those DS3s is check if they’re genuine. A lot of fakes are sold on eBay.

#3

Don’t worry… They’ll be getting the once-over when they arrive and if they’re not 100% genuine they’ll be going back.

I made sure to stay clear of the Hong Kong auctions that looked dodgy and opted for a local auction anyway. Thanks for the heads up though!

#4

If you don’t need to actually remove the analog sticks, you can just leave them on and not have to put resistors on to neutralize them. You can also put a little hot glue on them to make sure they stay in the neutral position.

Most people like to use a AXISdaptor PCB to plug right into the ribbon connector of the PCBs. Note, not all DualShock 3 controllers have the spot for the ribbon connector, only early versions of the DualShock 3 do, so you may not get the chance for that.

#5

Thanks for the info, Nerrage… Yeah, I’ve seen the “spiffyshoes” solderless technique done but I guess I won’t know if I can do it that way until I crack open the controllers. I’d normally prefer to solder anyway as then I’m not gonna have to worry about connections dropping out etc. I’d much rather neutralise the sticks too just to save on space (I’m planning on making pretty small, angled controller cases and the sticks might make space an issue). If I can’t find a decent way to do it I may just leave them on, however. I’ll definitely have to figure out the way to sort out the R2 button either way…

#6

I recieved the pads today… They’re definitely genuine. They were mis-sold as DS3s when they’re actually SIXAXIS but whatever. They’ll do the job nicely.

I’ve cracked them open and had a play around and it looks like the best option may be to leave the ribbon circuit board in (I’m pretty sure cutting it out will mean I’ll have to start wiring in resistors etc to get it to work properly) and take the feeds for the signals and commons from the pins on the ribbon terminal. I’m planning on just soldering a wire to each pin and taking it to a terminal block. I looked at doing the solderless technique but am still concerned that the wires would slip out and would much rather solder. Plus this way seems a lot less trouble than messing around soldering to the test points. I’ll just have to be careful not to solder two pins together.

I may just take your advice, Nerrage… I hadn’t realised quite how small the analogue stick component was when you stripped away all of the plastic. I can’t see leaving them on and gluing them into the neutral position causing a problem sizewise. It will save me a massive headache though!

I’ll let you know how I get on.

#7

So here we are! I had a bit of a false start last night but after learning to work with flux a little better I’ve managed to get it wired up!

I’ve just finished testing it and it works perfectly! No messing around with resistors to neutralise the analogue sticks or to get R2 to trigger properly. Brilliant! I’ll be working on the second on over the weekend…

For now, here are the pics of my work in progress… This sixaxis fightstick build is coming along very nicely!

THE PCB ITSELF… JUST STRIPPED EVERYTHING OFF INCLUDING THE BATTERY. NOTE THE RIBBON STILL ATTACHED.

AFTER SOLDERING ALL OF THE WIRES TO THE PINS THAT I’M PLANNING ON USING. WORKED OUT AT 17 IN ALL FOR THE GROUND LOOPS, ALL OF THE DIRECTIONS, X, TRIANGLE, SQUARE, CIRCLE, R1, R2, START, SELECT AND THE PS BUTTON.

I’VE ALSO GLUED THE STICKS IN PLACE AS PER THE SUGGESTION AND GLUED ALL OF THE SOLDER JOINTS.

ATTACHED THE WIRES TO THE TERMINAL BLOCKS. I THINK THAT’S ENOUGH FOR TONIGHT…

So far this way of doing things is working really well. Quick, easy, and effective. :slight_smile:

#8

You could have gone with the axis adaptor, if they where still in stock, or a project leo board. The ribbon connector would have made everything a little more compact.
http://www.lizardlick.com/Toodles-Axisdapter-Board_p_538.html

#9

Yeah, I looked at the ribbon connector but it just seemed like an added expense. A couple of nights of soldering and I’ll have two circuits all sorted. I’d prefer to put some extra work in than shell out. Makes it more of a project for me. Something to sink my teeth into.

#10

ARGH! I’ve spent a good chunk of today working on the second pad and am having a problem.

I tried soldering it but the new soldering iron I bought has died on me. I decided to attempt the ‘spiffyshoes’ solderless technique and it has worked well. I removed the ribbon from the Sixaxis pad, soldered (with my older, larger soldering iron) a 7.5k resistor between pins 7&8 and 13&14 and pushed wires into the connector in all positions but 1 (L1), 2 (L2) and 14 (No button).

Every single thing is working perfectly but the square button (pin 15). |The wire is definitely secure in the connector but I do not think that is the issue. I have tried to press it by placing a wire between pins 13 & 15 but even this does not work.

I just can’t figure it out as I would think that if cross, triangle and circle are all working why not square?

Any help guys? I’m stumped. Has anybody else encountered this? Is it a known issue?

Picture of my wiring set-up below.

Any assistance is much appreciated guys…

#11

Sorted! I replaced the 7.5k Ohm resistor between 13&14 with an 8.2k Ohm resistor… Easy. Looking at it now I’d definitely recommend the solderless method. Much more compact, stress-free and less time-consuming. I’ve hot glued all of the wires and resistor joints in place so nothing’s going anywhere.

Now to decide how to build the box!

#12

Awesome work. I am sure you learned alot during your time with your project.

I like to see the finished product.

#13

Thanks! I’ve definitely learned a lot and am really enjoying the project.

I’ll keep you updated on my progress!

#14

Im glad you got it working, but I can tell you 100% that going from a 7.5k to an 8.2k would not have made the difference. There had to be a problem with the wiring that you fixed when replacing the resistor. If you want to test to know for sure, either replace the 7.5 back in, or use a 90k-ish resistor (perfect value would be 87857.1 ohm, but 90k is close enough. Hell, 100k is close enough, and makes the resistance 7578 ohms) in parallel with the 8.2k you put in. If it stops working, Im wrong and the value is important, and if it keeps working, it was a wiring issue you already solved. Either way, if it works, you’re good, and there’s no reason to dick with it, but Im sure the change from 7.5k to 8.2k isn’t the reason its fixed.

#15

Oh right… I think I know what the problem must have been then. I’ve tried it without the resistor and it wouldn’t work properly at all. It seemed odd that the only button that wasn’t working was square. So, the only possibility is that when I soldered in the 7.5k resistor I must have bridged the 14 & 15 pins. That would probably explain it. I was having to use my HUGE soldering iron so bridging two pins is probable.

It works brilliantly how I’ve set it up so I’m happy with it. I would try replacing the resisitors to see what the deal is but I’ve hot glued it all in place so it’s really not worth messing around with. Thanks for the info though… I’m sure it will be helpful for future projects.