translucent and illuminated ball tops

[Cornchip]

   A 'tall order'. That's a good one. And yes...it is about available options. Look at what has already surfaced.

 Cornchip

[SavannahLion]

And yes...it is about available options. Look at what has already surfaced.

Yeah, I see that. I'm not dissing on what was presented here. Without this post, I would've sat there wondering if it would be worth buying SlikStiks to modify them. After this post, I know you can modify SlikStiks (increasing my options), the fact you're looking to do the same with Sanwa's, and U360's are a little more than difficult to mod.

I'm saying that even if the U360's prove difficult or too costly to modify, I have a much better idea of my options now. Nothing to get upset over.

[SodaPopinksi]

Perhaps the only way a stick like the U360 can be lit up is if Seimitsu produces the illuminated LB-39 bubble tops. The picture that Per from Akihabarashop.com posted in the Shoryuken forums shows the bubble tops lit by a small black cylinder base on the bottom of each... going by that picture alone I have no clue how they manage to light them

[SavannahLion]

It's probably beating a dead horse here. But what about cutting then splicing in an insulating gap at the pivoting point of the U360 stick? Then running lines to where the stick pivots. Turn the entire stick itself into a conductor. The top half goes to ground, the bottom half is hot.

That's probably too dangerous though.

[Cornchip]

 I apologize for not getting back to this sooner. I have made a little progress with the JLF that I will use in my future project. First I have to say how impressed I am with the Sanwa stick. The restrictor plates work great and are a step up on accuracy over the Happs products I currently have. A down side over Happs is the physical size of the stick and base. I would really prefer the Sanwa if they could scale it up another 15% to suit people who have larger hands. For my mod I kept the stick length the same as original but increased the ball diameter to 41MM (1 5/8th's) to suit my preferences. Still on my to-do list is etching a PCB board for the handset socket and resistors. Also I need to order some different types of LED's to mess with (RGB etc.)

 Cornchip.

[Kajoq]

In reference to the sanwa needing to be scaled up a bit... You should check out lizard lick.  They have a 45mm balltop for the sanwa sticks, and you can flush top mount the stick to pick up a couple MM of extra length as well

[Cornchip]

   That's where I bought them. No complaint's either. I'd recommend them.

 Cornchip.

[SodaPopinksi]

Wow, looks excellent!

[Kaytrim]

Hey cornchip, did you make a few extra of thoes?  (hint, hint)

TTFN
Kaytrim

[Cornchip]

  There's ups and downs to every solution. I'm not 100% satisfied that  there will be space under the stick for use in 'mini-stick' panels. This design used the 'twist free handset (TFH)' plug. To make it work...the 'twist free end' had to be mounted to a 'fixed surface'. The wire simply passes thru the handle. After passing thru the handle it must remain reasonably straight before connecting to the TFH. I can't tell you what this distance is yet. To close will restrict the centering ability. I believe this won't pose a problem to larger panel usage where depth is not such a problem. I would like to build a mini-stick..so I plan on making this work.

 Cornchip.

[Kaytrim]

The smallest mini-stick I have seen is about 2" in height.  There is just enough room for the stock JLF stick.  Most are a little taller by 1/2" to 1" so there is a little room to play with.  Is the shaft too thin for a right angle mini plug in the bottom?

TTFN
Kaytrim

[Cornchip]

  The solution using the right angle 2.5 would need a good 1.5 inches below the snap ring groove. That's just a guess. The parts are cheap...but are tough to find online without paying a fortune on shipping. Also the mono-stereo jack would limit the design to a single color LED....no RGB like the TFH. I'll look into it further if I can find them locally.

[DrumAnBass]

Wow, nice work Cornchip! Very cool!

[Cornchip]

   Got back to this today seeing that others might be interested (you saw it here first). The second revision uses a Slikstik style audio jack at 90 degrees to save on a little space in restricted panels. I won't say that it saved tons of space....just that it is absolutely as short as it can get. That measurement is 2.875 measured from the top surface of the mounting plate. That is probably more than some here might want to see. I don't believe the Sanwa LED will be much different (when they show that is) as far as overall length. It will be interesting to see how they connect the power thru the shaft. I'm guessing something proprietary that only a large company can pull off. You can't beat OEM setups.

  So this second one is more work as far as assembly time. So much in so little space makes soldering a challenge. I'm not sure it is something a novice might wish to tackle. It would be difficult to guarantee a working product with poor assembly on the users end. Other than that is finished.

 Cornchip.

 

 

[Kaytrim]

For the Mini Stick market these would be a hard sell.  The main goal in these are to make them as short as possible, thus the 2" I mentioned above.  If you are going to have the RGB LEDs then you will need Randy's interface boards and a PC.  Otherwise a driver board would need to be designed  with a voltage input of 3-5v.  This is due to the fact that the pad hacks used for most mini sticks are for gaming consoles, ie Playstation and XBox.  IMHO a single color LED would be ideal for this application.  I like the look of your batltops better than what Sanwa has produced.

TTFN
Kaytrim