Soldering to a keyboard PCB.

[JeSo]

My buttons and stick arrived today (oh so sexy too)  
So now I'm all motivated to finally attempt my keyboard hack. One question though (for now), looking at the keyboard pcb, I see that each trace leads to a little dot of solder where the, umm, black thing connects to it. Is it possible to reheat this solder and just put the wire into it? Or reheat it, put the wire into it and then add more solder? Or something else entirely? Very new to the soldering game.
Thanks.

[Apollo]

You are new to the soldering game and you are doing a keyboard hack?
Sorry dude but you can buy a Keywhiz for about $25. Why would you bother? Are you doing a tiny little control panel with one stick? If so just hack a joypad why don't ya.

[tmasman]

Is it possible to reheat this solder and just put the wire into it?

This is exactly what I did with my second KB hack... It worked pretty well, but you'll bneed to secure the wires with a little hot glue or epoxy so they won't get wiggled loose. (I used a cut up IDE ribbon cable... Then hot glued it down after the soldering).

Have fun & let us know how it goes. (& ask any questions you have!)

~ tmasman

[RandyT]

Very new to the soldering game.

Well, the first thing you'll need to do is practice soldering!  Don't even think about making something you care about the first thing you put a hot iron to.

Do a search and you will find a bunch of info on soldering and keyboard hacking.

But here's a few tips to get started:

Small tip on your iron

Not too hot

Don't hold it in one place for too long.

Use the right type of solder (electronics type, not plumbing)

Always look for the largest points to solder to and make sure the wire you use isn't larger than it needs to be.

If you don't own a multi-meter, buy one.

When you are done and you think everything is right, CHECK IT AGAIN!

Good Luck!

RandyT

[rockhopper]

Those solder fumes are toxic too, so good ventilation is a must!

[JeSo]

Opened the keyboard, looked at the spots I needed to solder to, and their proximity to other things they're not to touch, came to my senses..
Well, I've all but abandoned the keyboard hack idea, I like the do it yourself approach, but not the kill it yourself risks. I had a dig through the cupboard and found one of my old spare psx pads (the pre-dual shock ones), opened it up, and was much happier  
Currently have the action buttons wired up, about to get onto the d-pad and shoulder buttons, no problems so far (after I figured out I had to remove the black substance from the contacts).
One question now though, playing psx/ps2 games with it is all well and good, but I really want to play mame So what kind of psx>pc converters are available? How good are they? I don't need the analog sticks or shock features, as the pad lacks them, just a simple little adapter.
Thanks again for your help all  

[tmasman]

A lot of people like Red Octane and a couple of other sites for their console/controller type stuff... Just Google for the right words... (The link is a decent start)

You could find them for anywhere between $10 to $30.  The only thing to think about is this.
Will you ever want to hook up a dance pad? (Dance Dance Revolution type pad)

If you think you might ever want to, just go ahead & spend a few extra dollars and make sure you get a compatible converter. (Most of the sites that sell the converters will tell you if it's compatible now-a-days.

You can also use the Joy2Key program to make sure it works with almost ALL your games.

[grafixmonkey]

in my opinion, just about every approach involves buying a reasonable amount of extra stuff...  so just getting an encoder might cost the same as your other options.

For the keyboard hack, I recommend either drilling little holes next to a trace, if you can find a place with no other traces beneath it, bending your wire into a U-shape and hooking it around another protruding wire before soldering, or unsoldering and removing the unnecessary connector piece and placing your wires in the existing holes to solder to.  Wires that are just soldered tip-to-surface or side-to-surface without going through a hole pull off easily, so you have to secure them really well.

You've already started the joypad hack though, so may as well try it out.    Besides you'd be able to use the other nice playstation controllers in place of your controls, if say you need an analog stick but didn't buy one for the panel.

[Hellfromabove]

REALLY!!! The solder fumes are toxic?! Damn man, I used to solder on the carpet and even on my BED!!! Damn man, yeah I'm hardcore . Thanx.

-See Ya!!!

[Sasquatch!]

REALLY!!! The solder fumes are toxic?! Damn man, I used to solder on the carpet and even on my BED!!! Damn man, yeah I'm hardcore . Thanx.

Jeez, and I thought that eating crackers in bed was bad!