How do you wire an 8 way joystick?

[djll]

I have a Happ's 8-Way leaf joystick.  Not really sure how to wire it to my ipac.  Am i going to have to use 8 wires and split the corner movements' wires into two so that they reach into both of the corresponding areas?  Anyone have a diagram?

Also, how do you do daisy chaining?  Do you use a seperate wire inbetween each switch that you connect to?

Thanks.

[pathdoc2]

Its wired exactly like a 4 way.  The only diff is the 8 way will allow 2 microswitches to be activated at the same time allowing diagnal movement.

[tmasman]

You just wire the Up to up, down to down, right.....
You get the picture...
It only takes 4 inputs, up, down, right, left.
Diagonals are up+right, etc...

As far as daisy chaining the ground wire, just cut wires long enough to extend between each of your controls, and attach them in order...

Just move the joy in the direction you want & note the switch it's hitting to make sure you wire the correct switches to the correct inputs...

[djll]

Dude you're awesome!!! Thanks so much!

Okay, so I only have to solder the wire to one of the metal brackets?  the one on the outside of the two?

[tmasman]

Dude you're awesome!!! Thanks so much!

Okay, so I only have to solder the wire to one of the metal brackets?  the one on the outside of the two?

Do yourself a favor and put quick disconnects on all your wires... This way if one of your switches goes bad or anything, you can easily replace it.  If you're using an IPAC the only soldering you might even think about doing is to secure the crimp connection between the wire & quick disconnect.  The IPAC is great for that reason. No soldering neccesary.

Just connect 2 wires to the ground wire quick disconnects. (like the red line in the pic...)
And it doesn't really matter which of the "metal brackets" you attach your wires to... Just make sure one of them (the ground, or the input) is attached to the bent bracket and the other to the N/O tab.  The N/C tab is not switched (always connected) and you won't use that one...

They should be labled on the switch NO (Normally Open) and NC (Normally Closed) or something like that.

[djll]

Uhhh, quick disconnects?

Uh oh... I've been soldering the wire to all the switches and back to the IPAC.  I just started soldering the ground.  Is that OK?

[tmasman]

Don't worry about it if you've already started.
It won't hurt anything...
Quick disconnects just make your life easier if you ever have to change anything...
Here is an example of a quick disconnect.


If you've already started, I'd say finish it the same way...

[djll]

Thanks tmas... I'm gonna finish it up and hope that it works...

I didn't add a coin insert button yet... I'll do that later I think.  I can't wait to see if this works

[djll]

Another problem.  I don't see a ground anywhere on the joystick.  There aren't any metal brackets besides the two where the main wire should go.  Although near the inside of on of the brackets on each side is a parallell strip which goes alongside and touches one of the main brackets.  That couldn't be it, could it?

Any idea where the ground could be?

[tmasman]

Another problem.  I don't see a ground anywhere on the joystick.  There aren't any metal brackets besides the two where the main wire should go.  Although near the inside of on of the brackets on each side is a parallell strip which goes alongside and touches one of the main brackets.  That couldn't be it, could it?

Any idea where the ground could be?

 
You don't need a ground on the joystick itself, if that's what you're talking about...
You just need the ground wire daisy chained to each switch, and the 4 directions wired up like the pic above...

You'll need to clarify or show a sketch or something if that's not what you're talking about.

[djll]

So unlike the picture there is no ground anywhere on the joystick?

[tmasman]

 
Sorry...
I'm being confusing again...

There are 4 switches on the bottom of the joystick. They should be hooked up like the pic above. The switches are not labeled "Ground". You just need to wire them up like the pic.  They are just simple switches that can be used anywhere, so they won't be labeled very specifically.

There are 3 tabs on microswitches...
The bent tab on the side of the switch and 2 tabs on the end.
Connect your ground wire to the bent tab, and your directional wires to the tab labeled "N/O" (which means Normally Open). The third tab is typically left unattached to any wires.

I hope I was able to clear up my jumbled comments above. Let me know if not.

Edit:
When I was saying no ground on the stick itself I was talking about the black base of the joystick... For some reason I was just having a masive brain-fart at that moment. I was thinking you already had the switches wired & then were looking for another ground connection on another part of the stick...

[djll]

Thanks for the help.  What I'm trying to say is there is no place to put the ground wire anywhere.  I'm talking about the joystick now.  I have all four directions wired but there isn't a prong on the side or anywhere to wire a ground to.

Do you get what I mean?

[djll]

I have all the buttons correctly done.  They had the NC, NO and COM.  I grounded the buttons too.

The joystick is the thing giving me the problem.  I swear it only has two prongs and I don't think either one of those is where I ground the joystick is it?  Look at this picture because this is what I'm seeing on my joystick:

[tmasman]

interesting...
You probably put the ground on the other prong, but if you want to be sure before soldering anything...

Test to see if those 2 prongs are Always connected or only when the switch is triggered...
If you have a multimeter, check for continuity with & without the switch triggered. If not, wire one up to the IPAC & test it out... If it registers the keypress properly when you trigger the switch, then that's it... If it looks like that key is constantly being pressed or stuck, then I'm confused too...

I hope I didn't confuse you too much... The basic idea is just test to see if a current always flows between those 2 tabs or if it only flows when the switch is triggered.

[djll]

The prongs are only touching when the joystick is pushed in any direction.  The prongs aren't actually like your picture shows.  The two prongs are outside like in the picture but close to the middle near where the actual joystick is the prongs can also be seen and there is where they touch when the joystick is pushed.

What does the ground do?  Could the joystick not use a ground?  If it does need a ground will I short anything out or hurt anything if I plug the IPAC in?

Unfortunately I don't have a multimeter.  I'm going to take a digital camera when I get my camera back in a couple hours but I'm get anxious to test this out.

[tmasman]

You definately need a ground on the joystick connections...
Ah!!!

I think I've just figured this out... (hehe)

You've got a leaf-switch joystick!!! LOL...
Yeah...
Just wire the ground to the other prong...
Do your switches look more like the attachment?

[djll]

Exactly like that.... Which prong is the ground?  I hope I didn't do it backwards... Oh god...

[djll]

Just wanna make sure about this:

I already grounded all the buttons and connected the wire to the IPAQ... Can I just attach a wire from the joystick to the ground on one of the buttons?  It doesn't matter if I have another wire going into that part of the circuit, does it?

Thanks again!

[tmasman]

 
Your ground wire can actually connect to EVERY single button & joystick switch.
It doesn't matter which tab you connect which wire to, as long as you connect both wires (ground & input) to the 2 tabs.

& no you won't mess anything up (IPAC or computer) if you've hooked them up wrong.
If you did mess up it just won't work properly until you re-wire it correctly.

[djll]

Thanks for all the help and your promptness.  I'm gonna hook up the last grounds on the joysticks and I'll let ya know how it goes.