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Any interest in Leaf Switch Joysticks?
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jasonbar:

--- Quote from: armi0024 on April 25, 2011, 03:41:21 pm ---@jasonbar: You can swap the Mag-Stik micros for our upgrade kit, but you will have to trim the metal leafs: http://www.paradisearcadeshop.com/microswitches/239-seimitsu-ls-32-zippyy-joystick-upgrade-kit.html

--- End quote ---

Howdy-

I ordered 4 of the Zippyy Joystick Upgrade Kits, each of which has 4 microswitches, for only $3 a set.  A steal.  They arrived today--fast service from Paradise Arcade!


The bad news first:
I installed them in my 2 Mag-Stik Plus joysticks.  I pulled off an existing switch, used it as a guide to measure where to cut the metal leafs, & went to town w/ the Dremel & an abrasive cut-off disk (after determining that the leafs are made of a steel far too hard to cut w/ tin snips or dikes.  It's a straight & easy swap.  Unfortunately, I'm finding that the joystick is now too diagonal-happy.  That is, it's very difficult to go up, down, left, or right.  My joystick diagonals vs. cardinals test is to pull up Smash TV, go into the switch test mode, then rotate the joystick around in a circle at a constant velocity.  I listen for the audio cue that indicates a switch closing or opening.  I like to hear the noise occur at a regular interval, indicating that the stick is spending as much of its round-the-clock trip in a diagonal direction as it is in a cardinal direction.  The stick spends almost no time in a cardinal direction--it's almost always diagonal.  I tried playing some Truxton II & Gauntlet & confirmed that it was very difficult to go in a cardinal direction.  Perhaps this is a result of the much lighter spring force of the Zippyy switch vs. the stock switch?  Perhaps a smaller actuator will do the trick?  I could put the actuator on a shaft on my power drill, spin it up, & hit it with some sandpaper.  Does that sound like a sound solution?


Edit: Nevermind the misreported bad news above--the Ultimarc Mag-Stik Plus is already diagonal-biased in its stock configuration.  The switches from Paradise Arcade don't make that bias any worse--I *think* that they leave the bias unchanged or that they *may* slightly improve the diagonal/cardinal bias. :Edit


The good news second:
Update the Paradise Arcade website!  These switches are a direct, no-mod-required, drop-in replacement for the switches in a Happ mechanical rotary stick!  I swapped out the switches in both of my Happ mechanical rotary sticks & played some Truxton II & Ikari Warriors with both of them.  Wonderful!  Very quiet, light feel, & the diagonals & cardinals are well-balanced.


Thanks,
-Jason
armi0024:
Jason...Q'bert stick? :)

As silly as this is, Zippy and Zippyy are two different things.  Zippy is actually company that produces a variety of projects, Zippyy is a Chinese joystick, they actually are not related.  We have tested those on the Seimitsu and Zippyy joysticks and the outcomes are very popular, but it sounds like we need to cross "Mag-Stick" off the upgrade list.  My guess is that it has to do with the leaf length and geometry.  It sounds like the angle over the micros is two steep so the corners are more sensitive. 
I would actually try bending them slightly back towards the micro switch, over where the micro plunger is. this will delay the response in the corners.
The next time we restock I will get some of the shorter lever arms as they are fairly popular in many joysticks.  I know you ordered these hoping they would work for the Mag-Stik so just let me know if you want to return them.

On your second comment....WOOHOO, we'll make that update.
bobotech:
This thread makes me wonder what kind of joysticks the Wico atari compatible hand held sticks were?  They have little black switches but they aren't micro-switches, they have 2 leafs that push together when the stick pushes against it. 

These are the handheld bat handle sticks.  At one time I was thinking about mounting a pair of them under a control panel just because I have like 15 of them and figured it would be an easy cheap way to get a control panel.
Gray_Area:

--- Quote from: bobotech on April 30, 2011, 12:30:40 pm ---This thread makes me wonder what kind of joysticks the Wico atari compatible hand held sticks were?...At one time I was thinking about mounting a pair of them under a control panel just because I have like 15 of them and figured it would be an easy cheap way to get a control panel.


--- End quote ---

I bought two USB remakes a while back with this possibility in mind. Haven't done anything with them yet.



--- Quote from: RandyT on April 25, 2011, 12:57:17 pm ---
But a quick comparison of the two will show that it is not, in the most important of ways.  The angle at which the above photo was taken shows neither the "switches" (and I use that term loosely), nor the large and tall plastic collar surrounding the shaft on the unit.

--- End quote ---

I'm not seeing these differences you speak of.
armi0024:
I have not seen the bottom of Randy's sticks, but I'm sure I will soon, however, these are not his leaf switches which he says he installed.  Also there is a color for mounting through wood panels that from his pictures looks like he took off or replaced. I am sure his leaf switches are higher quality than the ones on this stick but then again that is why we are also replacing these leafs if we go ahead with this stick.

Given the current digressions in other threads, I'm trying to just simply answer this question about Randy's items and would prefer if this thread avoided the pattern others have taken.

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