Tron-ish stick

[dhansen]

Here's a pic of a Tron stick I made from a Raider Pro Blue joystick.  

http://www.doughansen.net/arcade/tronstick.jpg

When I got the stick home an internet search turned up the following link:

http://mamecheats.fateback.com/tutorial.htm

Cool! I made a few modifications and whipped this up in about 2 hours.  Instead of using a super stick, I used a top-fire tulip stick (thanks PCC) which is hollow in the middle to accomodate the wires from the buttons.

The only problem I can see is that it sits very low because the tulip stick is quite a bit shorter than the super. I might have to route out the CP or make some sort of plate for it.

I'll get more documentation up soon.

Doug

[SirPoonga]

Yeah, isn;t that joystick like $10 at best buy:)  I was going to use that for my second control panel for tron and battlezone. since it is left and right hand.  fairly comfortable too.

[dhansen]

Yeah, it was on sale for $8.99!  Pretty sweet deal, I think a bright LED will light it up just fine...

[CthulhuLuke]

Very slick looking tron joystick.  I really like how the threaded shaft allowed for the wires to run through the bottom so you didn't have to do the usual headphone jack coming out of the joystick like those other guys who have done that do, I think MameGtx did that as well... can't remember.
 I think I got my raider blue pro for like 11.99 at best buy, and I tried it out, and by itself with drivers installed it actually works with Mame, but I'm really afraid of breaking the joystick shaft because it's made of plastic, very cheap plastic.  One cool thing about it is that it works in most first person shooters, so if you've got a trackball *I did this for a bit* and a raider blue pro next to each other, and want some The Grid style fps action, joystick/trackball is WAYY fun.
   -Good job on the tron hack, definitely post pictures when you get that led in there and running!
     -CthulhuLuke

[1UP]

Yeah, it was on sale for $8.99!  Pretty sweet deal, I think a bright LED will light it up just fine...

I've tried LEDs.  You'll need at least 2 or 3 of them in each stick.  With all the plastic reinforcements inside the Raider Pro, most of the light gets shadowed or blocked, and you only end up lighting a small section.  Here's what I did:



I got some glow wire from the automotive section at Target.  Works great!  The only thing is you need a 12V adapter to plug into, preferably with a cigarette lighter socket.  I like this look better than the LEDs, but YMMV...  (BTW, it's not quite THAT bright -- the photo really blew out...)

[1UP]

Hey, does the tulip stick have a rotation restictor?  The problem with mounting the Raider on a Super was that I needed to make a restictor to keep it from rotating so the stick can end up turning around backwards.  

BTW, you can use a hollow steel or aluminum tube in place of the regular solid shaft, so you can run the wires out the bottom.  You can easily drill holes in the shaft that allow it to be attached to the grip with the existing plastic anchor posts.  Then you can have the shaft be as long as you need it.

[Tiger-Heli]

Very slick looking tron joystick.  I really like how the threaded shaft allowed for the wires to run through the bottom so you didn't have to do the usual headphone jack coming out of the joystick like those other guys who have done that do, I think MameGtx did that as well... can't remember.

I believe his second link IS MAME GTX, they changed names recently.

[dhansen]

Cool, 1UP!  I thought you used regular wingman sticks on your CP.  Do you have any documentation on how you lit these up?  Does the glow wire give off much heat?

Doug

[1UP]

Cool, 1UP!  I thought you used regular wingman sticks on your CP.  Do you have any documentation on how you lit these up?  Does the glow wire give off much heat?

Doug

No heat.  I think the tecnology is like indiglo.

Documentation is coming...

[Brax]

Do you need one inverter per joystick or are you able to wire them both up to one?

[1UP]

Do you need one inverter per joystick or are you able to wire them both up to one?

Just need one.  I cut off the length I needed for each stick, ran it thru the handle, heatshrinked one end, and soldered the other end to a couple strands of ribbon cable.  Did the same for the other stick.  The driver (inverter?) that came with the wire has a terminal block like the Ipac, so you just plug both sets of wires in and tighten the screws.  The wires on the outside of the electroluminescent material are hair-thin, so they require a bit of care for soldering, and heat shrinking for reinforcement.

[SirPoonga]

Do you need one inverter per joystick or are you able to wire them both up to one?

1UP, tisk tisk, not telling people where to find the info:)
www.glowire.com.  Especially since I think you got the idea from me:)

[Brax]

I'm actually familiar with that stuff from case modding websites. It all over them, that and great cooling solutions. Since I have a cocktail table I'm concerned with cooling as well.

[dhansen]

Hey, here's some pics of my Tron stick using 1UPs cool glow wire trick...




Enjoy!

Doug

[PCC]

Nice pics!  Gives us a better idea what to expect.  Is that the blue or white wire?

[dhansen]

It's blue glow wire from the automotive section at Target like 1UP got.

Digital pics in complete darkness turn out better with a tripod and self timer.  Any movement of the camera and the pics turn out blurry...

Doug

[Lilwolf]

btw, Satans Hollow joysticks would look sweet with the color also (they look like red tron joysticks).

I would love to see a control panel with one of each!

[1UP]

It's blue glow wire from the automotive section at Target like 1UP got.

Digital pics in complete darkness turn out better with a tripod and self timer.  Any movement of the camera and the pics turn out blurry...

Doug

Yeah, the first pic I took was handheld, so I took this with a tripod:


The glow still looks really blown-out and white, it's actually more diffuse and aqua like your pics!  It's a borrowed camera, so I don't know how to adjust the exposure...

[1UP]

It's blue glow wire from the automotive section at Target like 1UP got.

Digital pics in complete darkness turn out better with a tripod and self timer.  Any movement of the camera and the pics turn out blurry...

Doug

BTW, dhansen, I'd like to use your pics for my site, if you don't mind...

[dhansen]

Use away!  I need to update my site too! Wait! Let me put the Arcade Stupidity watermark on them!     Does your transformer give out a high pitched whine?  Mine does, of course it's too late to take it back since I cut it all up.  I cut off the cigarette adapter and wired it to a 12v transformer.

I also thought it was hard to get the wire to look uniform inside the stick.  I'll probably redo that part.  Here's a couple more:






Doug

[1UP]

Use away!  I need to update my site too! Wait! Let me put the Arcade Stupidity watermark on them!     Does your transformer give out a high pitched whine?  Mine does, of course it's too late to take it back since I cut it all up.  I cut off the cigarette adapter and wired it to a 12v transformer.

I also thought it was hard to get the wire to look uniform inside the stick.  I'll probably redo that part.

Thanks.  According to glowire.com, the drivers are supposed to emit a high-pitched sound.  Mine does, but once the cab is closed, you can't hear it at all.

I used an X-acto knife to drill small holes into the plastic dividers in the stick handle to route the wires thru.  This helps hold the wires a bit back from the translucent plastic, so the light gets diffused more.  They aren't perfectly straight, but the effect is good enough for me.  Also, I routed the top loop between the two pivots for the trigger and thumb buttons, which helps hold it in place, and keeps it clear of any pinching.

[1UP]

Use away!  I need to update my site too! Wait! Let me put the Arcade Stupidity watermark on them!     Does your transformer give out a high pitched whine?  Mine does, of course it's too late to take it back since I cut it all up.  I cut off the cigarette adapter and wired it to a 12v transformer.

OK, I just added your photos with a credit and link to your site!  Thanks again.

[elfman12]

I've tried LEDs.  You'll need at least 2 or 3 of them in each stick.  With all the plastic reinforcements inside the Raider Pro, most of the light gets shadowed or blocked, and you only end up lighting a small section.  Here's what I did:

I got some glow wire from the automotive section at Target.  Works great!  The only thing is you need a 12V adapter to plug into, preferably with a cigarette lighter socket.  I like this look better than the LEDs, but YMMV...  (BTW, it's not quite THAT bright -- the photo really blew out...)

Hey, cool, I did the exact same thing!!! I saw the glow wire while looking for something for the car at Target, and thought it would look cool on the cab. Then, last week I got the Raider Pro sticks at Best Buy, and while ripping them up I figured it'd be cool to run the blue glow wire through these sticks. Looks great in the car (have to plug it into the cig lighter).

I haven't gotten to wiring them up yet (obviously... haven't started on the panel!) but I was planning on running them off of the +12v from a PC power supply. If that doesn't work, I'll probably have to use an inverter and cig lighter socket.....

[dhansen]

I just cut the end off of a 12v transformer (wall wart) and wired it to that for testing.  When it's in the cab I'm going to run it off of the switching power supply that came with the original cab.  It's one of these:



If you have one of these left over from your cabinet conversion they work great for powering lights, etc.

Doug