Cabinet at near-completion

At this point, I'm near completion on the joystick cabinet. I still need to:

• Add the Lexan
• Add the artwork
• Add a bottom panel
• Add some rubber feet
  
• Sand
• Paint
• Sand
• Paint
• Sand
• and Sand

Otherwise, I got impatient and hooked everything up for a Street Fighter IV test drive. First, this is going to take some getting used to. I got my caboose handed to me in pretty much every match. What's the problem? I've narrowed it down to two possibilities, the second being the more likely of the two:

• I am not used to the controller. The buttons are easier to work with, but I'm not yet comfortable with the joystick. I still prefer the directional controls on the gamepad instead of the joystick.
• I'm a little out of practice and just plain incompetent at this game. I've been spending all of my free time in the garage inhaling sawdust instead of playing Street Fighter IV.

Here Are Some Pictures:
That's Luigi (dachshund/rat terrier mix) inspecting the common ground wiring. He's probably wondering why this is the worst tasting pile of "spaghetti" he's ever tasted.


Here's a closer look at the wiring. As you can tell, I have minimal experience with this sort of thing. The black wire is the common ground. You can see it looping around from switch to switch. I used 22 gauge stranded wire from Radio Shack for the ground wire. I cut pieces 3 or 4 inches long and connected them with the quick disconnects.


Here's Luigi pointing out the fact that I had the router set too low when I started rounding the edges of the box. Though most of his time is spent licking things he shouldn't be licking, he's actually a master craftsman and I really respect his work.


Some of you may have noticed that I redid the top panel. You can see the first one I was working with in this post. Instead, I used this Sega layout from Slagcoin.com. The only thing I added was the two buttons above the joystick for Start and Analog. I'll probably remove the Analog lead and replace it with Select (mute) in case I ever end up playing some monkey with a headset.

Afterthoughts?
This is probably the ugliest PS3 controller you've ever seen, but it actually works and it's a lot of fun.

At the very least, I've learned a lot about what to do, and more importantly, what not to do, when working with a circular saw and router.

Spiffyshoes' Solderless Gamepad Hack

So I successfully finished Spiffyshoes' solderless gamepad hack. This did not take very long once I stripped the wire... speaking of which is a very critical part of being able to pull this off. Spiffyshoes uses 26 gauge solid core wire so be sure that you have 26 gauge solid core wire. I picked it up at Fry's Electronics for about $3 for 35 feet.



Did I vary from Spiffyshoes' instructions? A little. I did not cut the ribbon, but otherwise, I tried to follow everything in his set of instructions.

On the other end of each wire, I used a quick disconnect so that the wires easily connect to the Cherry switches on each button and the joystick.

Dual Shock A-Series

Not much progress today. I realized that the controller I'm using for the PCB is a PSX Dual Shock A Series. I've decided to go with Spiffyshoes' solder-less method. I'm just cutting and stripping wires so there's nothing much to show here that can't be found on Spiffyshoes.com. Once I have all of the wires ready, I'll add more photos of my work.

The good news is I've tested Spiffyshoes' method and it works. I hooked up the PCB to my PS3 with one wire on the ground (7th pin from the left), and another on the X button (5th pin from the right). Both wires were connected to the microswitch. I was able to press the microswitch and the PS3 behaved as though I actually pressed the X button.

Construction Day 1 - Top Panel

Here are some photos from day 1 construction. I'm working on the top panel which is made of 3/4" MDF panel. Constructions started a little earlier than expected. I was planning to use my brother's tools, but Home Depot was having a sale so I picked up my own circular saw and router today. I went with Ryobi since they were within my budget and have received overall good reviews.

My new Ryobi router and circular saw with laser...


It's been a while since I've used these tools so I'm happy to report I still have all of my fingers and both of my arms still attached to the rest of my body.

Anyway, back to the joystick... that's why you're here right? I finally got started on the top panel. It's 8 1/2" by 10 1/2". I started with a template I found online, but didn't like the position of the buttons. I pretty much placed the buttons based on what feels comfortable. The position of the buttons and joystick allows me to rest my hand comfortably on the panel. Here's what I ended up with. You can see the panel at different stages of drilling. Each hole is 1 1/8". There are 9 holes, one for the joystick, and the rest for the action buttons.

I got most of the holes drilled in this photo. I have a really crappy battery powered drill and it died during hole #8. Maybe that's the next tool I need to pick up.


While waiting for the drill to recharge, I flipped the board over and decided to try out my new router. I routed out some space for the joystick mount. This is the view from the underside of the top panel.


After routing, I took the dogs for a walk to let the drill finish charging. When I got back, I was finally able to finish the 8th and 9th holes. Just for kicks, here's what the panel looks like with some of the buttons dropped in. Notice the chip in the lower corner. I'll have to fill that in with some wood putty or something. Hopefully the artwork will hide that.

The parts have arrived

These are some pictures of the parts I have received. Looks like I'm almost ready to get started.

PSX Dual Shock Controller


PS2 > PS3 Controller Converter


Happ Buttons (2 each of green, yellow, red, black, and white)

• Green = Light Punch and Light Kick
• Yellow = Medium Punch and Medium Kick
• Red = Heavy Punch and Heavy Kick
• Black = Triple Punch and Triple Kick
• White = Start and Analog button
  

Happ Competition Joystick (black)

More parts are arriving

The parts are starting to arrive in the mail. Just got my PS2 > PS3 Controller Converter and a used PSX Dual Shock controller from Amazon.com. Both are in working order. I only tested on SFIV, but that's the only game that matters in this case, isn't it.

My only disappointment is that my old PS2 Soul Calibur joystick is not compatible with the controller converter. Otherwise, it looks like I have the right parts to start the project.

The buttons and joystick have shipped from GroovyGameGear.com so I should see those any day now.

Planning to build a PS3 arcade joystick

I got SFIV in March and I can't find a decent deal on a decent joystick for the game. Most of the Madcatz FightStick models have been bought out and are selling on eBay for way more than retail. Soooooo...

I've decided to make my own. Thanks to a lot of advice from shoryuken.com, the parts shopping has begun:

• Happ Competition Joystick - Black
• Happ Buttons - Green, yellow, red, black, white
• Recycling a PSX Dual Shock for the PCB (from amazon.com)
  
• 3/4" MDF board for the case (Lowes)
  
• Still looking for artwork... gotta learn Photoshop
  
• Will likely use Lexan for the top over the artwork
• Hopefully my brother will let me use his tools. It's going to be hard to build this with my teeth.
  
• 22 gauge stranded wire from Radio Shack

If you've got experience doing this sort of thing, feel free to chime in. That's what the comments are for. I'd like to find out sooner than later if I'm heading down the wrong path.

I'll continue to post updates and photos here as I make progress. Stay tuned.