First time modding: Dreamcast Green Goblin project

#1

Goal: To have a stick for use on PS2, PS3 (through converter), Dreamcast, and PC (through converter) - custom art, Japanese buttons, Japanese stick but with an American style grip, American buttons for start/select.

I like working with my hands, but I’ve never really done anything that involved wiring. I have read this and this, both of which give me a really good idea on how the project is going to go. What I am looking for help on is someone to review my parts checklist and then the steps I have listed, as there are some technical issues I am really in the dark about.

Parts Required
-Dreamcast Agtec Arcade Stick x1
-Sanwa OBSF-30 buttons x6
-Sanwa JLW-UM-8 Bat Handle Joystick x1
-Two cheap “man from bathroom sign” buttons for start/select
-A Playstation Dual Shock Controller (model “A” to allow for solderless hack)
-Suitable printed material for artwork, Lexan or other clear material

Steps
-Take the stick apart completely
-Trim/drill where appropriate to fit in the new buttons and stick (the guides are quite detailed on this, I think I can handle it)
-Use metal cover as a guide to cut the Lexan that will go over the art
-Print out art (is there a specific high quality material to print on for best results?) and screw the Lexan over it
-The wiring, which is the part I need the most guidance on, done exactly as it is done here
-Close it up

On that page about the wiring, the link to the solderless Dual Shock hack is down but I found it through Google’s cache. It is very easy and I will have no problem doing that. As far as PCB’s and stuff goes, I have no idea what I am doing. I would like to make it like the sample one where it can be used as a PS2 or DC pad without needing a converter, so I know I’m missing some parts on my checklist. I assume for the Dreamcast button wiring I can just reconnect everything how it was, but after getting the Dualshock wired properly I’m not sure how it works into the stick itself.

Can I pull this off with my obvious limited knowledge? The handywork parts involving sanding and such I can accomplish with ease (and I look forward to it), but I’m worried about how the wiring is going to turn out. What do I need to add to my ordering checklist? Am I forgetting any other steps? Are the parts I have picked out of high quality and recommended use? (I’ve never really used Japanese buttons before, but I can tell just by looking at pictures that they are more comfortable).

Thanks for any input and advice, and hopefully I end up making something good.

#2

follow essential joystick thread -> how to solder guide and read that overly verbose POS that I wrote and that should explain how PCBs work. Hope that helps.

#3

Ok, after reading that I am still a little hazy. My question is, how do I get two PCBs working concurrently? When I put the original Dreamcast PCB from the Agtec stick back into it, I am just re-soldering it exactly how it was before. This seems easy enough and makes sense to me, since at that point it would be back to its original state just with new buttons. On this guide, he has both a Dreamcast and PS2 PCB working. I see the solderless PCB hack for the PS2 controller, but how do I get it in there working at the same time as the Dreamcast PCB?

Thanks a lot for the help, sorry that I’m not picking this up easier.

#4

two concurrent PCBs is not a newbie project. What is on those links is NOT concurrent PCB’s, it’s a project box setup. The PCBs are kept in a project box, and he plugs them into the stick when they’re to be used.

#5

Where can I learn more about a project box (and where to get one) so that I can wire it the same way he did? Also, am I correct in thinking that the solderless A-series hack will be all I need to do for the PS2 wiring, while all that will be required for the Dreamcast is making sure everything is back how it was before I took it apart?