Need help with PSX controller

[pcdoctor]

I'm having a very hard time soldering a PSX controller to real arcade buttons.
Is there anything other than solder that I can use?
Let me ask this.
I went from the arcade start button to the start location on the psx controller.
I plugged the psx end into the ps2 and when I pressed the arcade start button, nothing happened.
Do you only need to have one arcade button connected to be sure that the controller works?
I may end up buying one of these prewired because I don't have the patience for soldering.
I found out that Red Octane sells this.
http://www.redoctane.com/arcadecasepcb.html

It's just that the digital psx controller cost $5 and the redoctane psx pcb with arcade style case costs $25.
(I noticed on their website that the standalone arcade style case costs $20 so I guess this would make their psx pcb with cable $5)
I wish they sold the psx pcb with cable without the arcade style case.
Is there any company that sells psx generic pcb with the cables to plug into digital joysticks and buttons?
I'm using Interact psx digital controllers by the way.

[TalkingOctopus]

When soldering to a PCB, make sure to use soldering flux.  You can pick it up at Radioshack and it makes everything a whole lot easier.  To make a connection to the PCB, first you apply some flux to the PCB and then you solder the wire.

Check out this site for a gamepad soldering guide.

http://members.cox.net/joysticks/

Good Luck!

[pcdoctor]

Thanks so much for your help!
I'm a girl gamer who loves fighting games.
I just wish DOA2 HC supported digital fighting sticks or Temco would just come out with DOA3 for the PS2.

[Sephroth57]

im interested in that red octane thing for my cab. so basicly i would buy that thing, take off the PCB, connect the wires from it to my buttons and plug it into my PS2 and thats it?

also i was wondering, ill have wires going from my buttons to the jamma connector into my J-pac, so would i splice into those wires and connect the PSX PCB that way so they would both always be connected or would that mess it up?

[pcdoctor]

Went to Radio Shack after work and they didn't have any flux.
The only kind they had was flux with solder in one.
I assumed I needed the paste flux.
This is really ticking me off.
I guess I'll try to locate another Radio Shack for the flux tomorrow.
If I still can't solder after buying the flux I'll definetely buy the Red Octane pcb.

[pcdoctor]

I'm wondering how in the world do you guys have the patience for soldering?
I don't have anything to hold my pcb while I solder but let me ask this.
How in the world do you hold the wire, soldering gun and solder with only two hands?
I saw on another website that mentioned drilling a hole in the pcb where you can pull the wire thru and solder more easily.

[Dave_K.]

heh, good question!  I kind of developed a way to hold the wire and solder with one hand (different fingers holding both).  But then when the PCB starts moving around things just get too frustrating.  At Radio Shack, you can buy one of these claw type things (with a weighted base).  It has two aligator clip arms that can hold your pbc and wire, while you solder.  It was pretty cheap and well worth it.

[TalkingOctopus]

Went to Radio Shack after work and they didn't have any flux.
The only kind they had was flux with solder in one.
I assumed I needed the paste flux.
This is really ticking me off.
I guess I'll try to locate another Radio Shack for the flux tomorrow.
If I still can't solder after buying the flux I'll definetely buy the Red Octane pcb.

Actually the flux with solder would probably work just fine.  Sorry I was not more specific before.

[pcdoctor]

That's ok.
I just think that soldering something like this is too tedious for me.
It would have to be something much bigger.
I just broke down and just ordered the psx joystick kit from Red Octane.
This way I don't have to mess up anymore generic psx controllers.
I'll post pics once my cabinet is done.
My cabinet was originally a VF2 cabinet.

Once I got the cabinet, I emailed Sega tech support and asked them what else could I put in the cabinet.
They said Sonic Championship, Fighting Vipers and some other stuff.
I then purchased Dead or Alive and Sonic Championship pcbs.
I had all three games in one cabinet.
It was frustrating because my cousins would want to play a different game and I would have to go behind the cabinet and unhook the cables.
The Dreamcast came out and I found out that Dead or Alive 2 and Virtua Fighter 3 was coming out.
I then sold the Dead or Alive and VF2 pcbs.
The monitor in my VF2 arcade stopped working.
(I'm a female computer techie but I don't mess with monitors and don't care to know how).
The possibility of instant DEATH scares me.
My Dreamcast eventually stopped working.
(I was going to put my Dreamcast in the arcade cabinet)
I gave another cousin all my Dreamcast games.
I just recently started parting out the VF2 cabinet which was converted to a Sonic Championship.
Everything has been pulled out of the cabinet except the speakers and monitor.
I'm going to use the existing speakers and use a cheap pc amp to power them.
I hope the speakers sound good when using the pc amp.
I assume I will be able to solder the arcade speakers to the pc amp.
I'm going to get a guy friend or an arcade tech to remove the monitor for me.
I plan on putting a 25" tv in the cabinet.
Once I get the psx joystick kit from Red Octane, I'm going to wire the joysticks and buttons myself.
I also assume that the kit from Red Octane includes the quick connects so I can connect them to my existing joysticks and buttons.
Their website states this, "Button and Joystick Wires attached to the PCB".
So, I assume everything will be self explanatory.
I did get a look at this info.
http://www.geocities.com/armad1ll0/images/RedOctanePCB.jpg
I will have to purchase a 1 1/8" drill bit to drill 4 more holes in my VF2 cabinet.
I love fighting games so this project will be perfect.
I currently have VF4, Tekken T, Ready To Rumble, Soul Calibur and Namco Museum.
I will eventually get Marvel vs Capcom 2 when the price drops.
My only wish is that Dead or Alive 2 HC supported digital joysticks on the PS2 or Tecmo would come out with DOA3 for the PS2.
I have nothing against the Xbox but I don't think I'll get one.
Most of the games I like are on the PS2.
Also, right after I purchased my VF2 arcade game, I found out about Mame and being about to put a psx in a real arcade cabinet.
I was really mad after I found that out!
I used to have a Crystal Castles and Tempest but sold those.
I guess to keep my chin up, the money that I got for the CC and Tempest went towards the VF2 cabinet.

[abrannan]

Forgive me if I'm asking an insutling question, but from your original posting it's not clear.  Did you also connect the ground to your button or is there only one wire at this point?  


Also for drilling holes in the PCBs, go to a hobby store (Model railroads an RC cars and miniature wargaming type place, not a Michael's type place) and pick up a "pin vise", it's a small drill that will allow you to make holes just large enough for 22ga. wire to poke through.  You'll see little silver circles on the leads of your pad, and that's where you want to drill.  One piece of advice for the pin vise, put the drill bit as far into the handle as you can, leaving only about 1/4" sticking out or else those bits break very easily.  

Soldering is an acquired skill, and it really doesn't take that much practice to get good at it.  I'd recommend getting one of those pre-drilled prototype boards at Radio Shack, strip a bunch of small sections of wire, and practice soldering them into the holes on the proto board.  After 25 or so, you really start to get the hang of it.  I learned the hard way, going through 5 cheap PSx controllers to get two good ones for my cab.  

Just my opinions, and they're worth exactly what you paid for them.

[Sephroth57]

i never saw or heard of sonic championship and im a big sonic fan, do you have any screen shots of it in action on your cab? cool marquee btw

[pcdoctor]

I wasn't sure what part of the board to use for a ground.
I did think of that but got frustrated.

My monitor stopped working in my Sonic Champsionship.
I'm trying to sell my Sonic Championship if you are interested.
You will need a medium resolution or multisync arcade monitor that support 25khz.
I'll try to find a website with pictures.
I also just figured instead of hiring an arcade tech to fix the monitor, that I'd just convert it to a PS2 cabinet.

Here are some Sonic Championship pictures.
(It's a Sonic fighting game by the way.)
Known as Sonic Championship in the U.S. and Sonic The Fighters in Japan.

http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=S&game_id=9624

http://www.sonichq.org/games/index/championship/

Forgive me if I'm asking an insutling question, but from your original posting it's not clear.  Did you also connect the ground to your button or is there only one wire at this point?  


Also for drilling holes in the PCBs, go to a hobby store (Model railroads an RC cars and miniature wargaming type place, not a Michael's type place) and pick up a "pin vise", it's a small drill that will allow you to make holes just large enough for 22ga. wire to poke through.  You'll see little silver circles on the leads of your pad, and that's where you want to drill.  One piece of advice for the pin vise, put the drill bit as far into the handle as you can, leaving only about 1/4" sticking out or else those bits break very easily.  

Soldering is an acquired skill, and it really doesn't take that much practice to get good at it.  I'd recommend getting one of those pre-drilled prototype boards at Radio Shack, strip a bunch of small sections of wire, and practice soldering them into the holes on the proto board.  After 25 or so, you really start to get the hang of it.  I learned the hard way, going through 5 cheap PSx controllers to get two good ones for my cab.  

Just my opinions, and they're worth exactly what you paid for them.

[Dave_K.]

Have you tried putting your monitor into 15khz mode (and using a dreamcast or ps2)?   You should try this before dumping the monitor and replacing with a TV.  Also you should not connect a PC sound/amp to arcade speakers because of the impedence mismatch (will probably sound like crap too).  I recommended  a cheap/small home stereo amp (on ebay), it will sound great with the cab's original 8ohm speakers.

Check out the "Game Consoles" section on this site for more info on interfacing DC PS2 and speakers.

http://www.arcadecontrols.com/arcade_consoles.shtml

[pcdoctor]

This is a medium resolution only monitor.
It's made by ?
Can't remember the company name or model no.
It's not a Neotec or Wells Gardner monitor.
I know the name of the manufacturer if I hear it.
Believe me, I did all the research on the model number after I got the machine.
Most of the model 2 games used medium resolution stuff only.
I think my speakers at 4 ohms so I should be ok.
My speakers have the following written on them.
40 13W-26W.
I assume the 40 means 4 Ohms.
It doens't have the funny ohm symbol.
I saw the info about the Radio Shack amp.
I printed it out this morning for future reference.
Do you think my speakers are 4ohms or is the 40 just a concidence.
I couldn't find anything about the speaker rating in my VF2 manual.
I started to use real speakers and have them mounted on the side and get a 200 watt receiver.

Have you tried putting your monitor into 15khz mode (and using a dreamcast or ps2)?   You should try this before dumping the monitor and replacing with a TV.  Also you should not connect a PC sound/amp to arcade speakers because of the impedence mismatch (will probably sound like crap too).  I recommended  a cheap/small home stereo amp (on ebay), it will sound great with the cab's original 8ohm speakers.

Check out the "Game Consoles" section on this site for more info on interfacing DC PS2 and speakers.

http://www.arcadecontrols.com/arcade_consoles.shtml

[Dave_K.]

I forgot this is a VF2 cab, yeah those monitors are med res only.  Oh well.  As for the speakers, its probably 4 ohms (I bet the O is supposed to be ohms...maybe cheaper than getting an ohm symbol to silk screen  ).  Should be ok to use with a cheap pc amp then.