J-stik shaft diameter

[ddoyle1996]

Can anybody with a J-stik tell me what the diameter of the shaft is?  I'm thinking about using one of those to make a removable flight stick (using the standard Raider pro hack), and I need to know if I can use it with the Raider pro stick.

 

[RoadhawK]

ANDEEEEEEEEEEEE! :p

[RetroBorg]

I also would like to know if I can do a standard Raider Pro hack with a J-Stick or T-Stick as I would like to make my Tron stick change from 8-way for Discs of Tron to 4-way for Tron.

[ddoyle1996]

This is what I'm planning.  Hobby Lobby sells aluminum tubes up to 9/32" diameters.  The tubes are soft and can easily bend, but the 1/4" tube fits inside the 9/32" tube very tightly.  This gives me a pretty strong tube.  It may be strong enough, but just to be safe I also plan on putting at least one more tube (a 7/32" tube) inside the 1/4" tube.  Two tubes placed inside a third should be plenty strong.

The reason I am doing this is because no one else around here sells aluminum tubes.  I like the 9/32" tube because the small plastic piece that comes out the bottom of the Raider Pro flight stick looks like it has a 9/32" hole in it.  This means I can simply epoxy the tube into that hole.  I also like the fact that the tube is hollow so you can run wires through it.

The only downside is the remaining parts of the e-stik that normally go on the shaft have bigger holes in them than the 9/32" shaft.  I'm sure this could be fixed by placing tape around the 9/32" tube where those parts normally would be.  

[radiator]

j-stick shaft diam. approx 0.9cm (or just under 3/8 of an inch)

*m

[RetroBorg]

I will definately be trying the raider pro hack with an E-stick.
8-way Discs of Tron, 4-way Tron, way to go!

[Wienerdog]

The Tron stick has been talked about before.  Isn't it an 8 way stick?  I seem to remember one of the big dogs on this board taking apart his Tron stick to explain how it was build.  

[RetroBorg]

Perhaps that might be right but I thought you needed a 4-way joystick for Tron especially during the light-cycles. Can anyone else shed some light on this?

[kspiff]

I think it was an 8-way trigger stick with a diamond shaped actuator.. that way the primary directions are defined and the corners are available but less reliable and with a smaller 'sweet spot.'

I would just use the J-stick anyways.. short of buying real Tron sticks you'll find yourself out of luck, otherwise (and, hey, why not set up dual Js in 4-way for some Assault action? ).

[RetroBorg]

You most certainly love your Assualt kspiff, I played it the other day for the first time, not a bad game at all, but I need to try it with 2 x 4-ways.

[kspiff]

Yes, Assault is one of my favs.. Namco just has a way with their games (I would say they can do no wrong, except for that whole Hometek division ).

I'm making some Raider Pro dual sticks, myself.. too bad I'll likely need to waste a set of Competitions to do it..

I remember when I first got my HotRod and was so excited to try my hand at some arcade authentic Assault..
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I'll just give you a minute for that to sink in..
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Let's just say my keyboard smells like feet now.

[OSCAR]

Perhaps that might be right but I thought you needed a 4-way joystick for Tron especially during the light-cycles. Can anyone else shed some light on this?

See this thread:  http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=44;start=0

I took apart a Tron joystick and measured the bottom actuator & restrictor.  In a later thread, someone else posted that there is an upper restrictor, too, but on the joystick I had the upper one was so beat up the joystick didn't even contact it.

[ddoyle1996]

It's done.  I used 4 aluminum tubes (3/16", 7/32", 1/4", 9/32") and put them one inside the other.  I used 4 because I have kids and knew it'd get beat up.  I tried bending this myself and couldn't do it.  I'm pretty sure the flight stick would break before the shaft bends.

The tutorial at mamecheats.fateback.com/tutorial.htm shows how to cut the plastic piece coming out the bottom of the Raider Pro so you can insert a new shaft into it, but I did not do that.  The 9/32" tube fit perfectly in the part of the plastic piece that this tutorial shows you cutting off.  Instead, I just used some epoxy to cement the tube in that piece.  I used the dremel to cut the tube to length.  

The mamecheats tutorial uses a plastic stopper to control how high the flight stick sits on the control panel.  I used a rubber grommet instead.  The rubber grommet works just as well, and it actually does a pretty good job at keeping the joystick from rotating.  I used the epoxy to cement it at the right position on the tube.

After that, I used the dremel to create a grove in the tube where the e-clip needed to be.  I put the remaining pieces of the e-stik (spring and 2 plastic pieces) on the shaft and clipped the e-clip on and OH YEAH!  I've got a Raider Pro flight stick on an e-stik base.  I can switch from 4-way to 8-way easily, and the wires for the flight stick come out the bottom of the tube since it's hollow.  Now I just have to finish the rest of my cab so I can use it.

[RetroBorg]

Thanks Oscar, super helpful as always.
Good work ddoyle1996 you will have to let us know what your joystick plays like once you have finished your cab.