Making a U360 into a top fire!

[Tommy Boy]

FWIW, I happen to know the "old timer" Randy is referring to is 1up.  Rob (1up) developed the concept and actually fabricated the prototypes for SS.  

[whammoed]

FWIW, I happen to know the "old timer" Randy is referring to is 1up.  Rob (1up) developed the concept and actually fabricated the prototypes for SS.  

Thanks, I was wondering.

[fjl]

Some great ideas here! This thread is what this forum is all about!
I have kicked around most of these ideas before, and a few others. The most feasible is the jack idea and with the magnet mounted on the end of the jack. The distance of the magnet from the PCB is not critical at all, the firmware compensates for it.
I remember thinking the jack was a neat idea when I first saw a SS illuminated handle. Never realised it was not their invention...

Make it happen, I'd like to be able to make my u360's glow.

[Cornchip]

  The first  technical thing that might be a problem here is the shaft size. If it is 10mm in diameter then it is a possibility. Why 10mm?. That is the size that a Happs Super shaft is that passes through the joy bushings. When you mod a super the 3.5mm female audio jack screws into the bottom of the shaft and then pass through the bushings to be assembled. This problem crept up when I modded my Sanwa JLF's (shaft diameter was only 7mm).  I hope that the U360 doesn't suffer from 'small shaft syndrome'. Can anybody out there give me an idea what the diameter actually is?

 The other thing that I'd like to know is how the magnet attaches to the stick base. Is it removable?

 Cornchip.

[CheffoJeffo]

Hell, the more I think of it, could this also fix the Tron problem by only enabling the far diagonal so as not to accidently hit the 8 way function.   The throw of the Flight stick is short in regualar mode, but with a Ultrastik, this might actually give me the play that I need. 

* CheffoJeffo exits stalker mode

 

May be useful:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,34207.from1052767869.html (apologies if already posted in this thread, but it's Friday and I was up early ...)

* CheffoJeffo resumes stalker mode

 

[Bender]

OK after reading this thread and looking at the stick I think I have come up with a solution
on the U360 there is a plastic collar above the spring, if you put a pin through the shaft there and made a notch in the plastic piece with enough room for the joystick to operate smoothly the stick wouldn't rotate and you could have the wire come out of the pin

I think I'm going to try it
Does anybody have suggestions for the small button that would go on top?

[Franco B]

Im actually turning some hollow U360 shafts for someone this week.

The easiest solution I can see is to have two bullet type connections in the wires going from the base of the stick to the PSU.

Al long as the 'bullet' connections are the weakest link in the chain then the connections will pop out of there sockets which can be easily reconnected.

I don't tend to twist my joysticks and I cant imagine anyone playing on my cab twisting them (to a point where it will break a wire/solder joint) so for me, anything more than the above is over engineering the solution.

[Havok]

Screw audio jack into end of stick.  Use right angle audio cable:

Hey Andy,

How about doing this, but integrating a magnet into the audio jack? That way you could still have the ability to spin the joystick, if even by accident, but still maintain the magnet in the correct position?

[Bender]

I did actually get it to work. I took a bat top U360 I had and drilled the shaft about 3/4 of the way down with a drill press not really ideal but good enough to find out if my design would work, then drilled a hole perpendicular to the shaft  and put a spring pin through just above the spring, I had to cut some groves in the base for the pin to slide into(that's what keeps it from spinning) it works perfectly the joystick doesn't spin and I got the wires through and the button works!

I'm going to try it with a ball top next
and you could use the same technique to do a LED ball top
I'll post a picture soon

one joystick to rule them all!

[Cornchip]

   Havok....the U360 shaft is incompatible with the 8mm thread of an audio jack due to it's small diameter. This is also the problem with the JLF as well. To do a proper job you need to increase the shaft diameter. That just isn't going to happen until you put a larger hole through the ball pivot and use a tension spring with a bigger inside diameter.

 Cornchip.

[fjl]

I did actually get it to work. I took a bat top U360 I had and drilled the shaft about 3/4 of the way down with a drill press not really ideal but good enough to find out if my design would work, then drilled a hole perpendicular to the shaft  and put a spring pin through just above the spring, I had to cut some groves in the base for the pin to slide into(that's what keeps it from spinning) it works perfectly the joystick doesn't spin and I got the wires through and the button works!

I'm going to try it with a ball top next
and you could use the same technique to do a LED ball top
I'll post a picture soon

one joystick to rule them all!

That sounds cool. Please share some pics!

[Bender]

Hey Franco B,

I sent you PM

just let me know if you got

No pressure

Thanks!

[Havok]

   Havok....the U360 shaft is incompatible with the 8mm thread of an audio jack due to it's small diameter. This is also the problem with the JLF as well. To do a proper job you need to increase the shaft diameter. That just isn't going to happen until you put a larger hole through the ball pivot and use a tension spring with a bigger inside diameter.

 Cornchip.

ok, so 1/8" is out, how about a 3/32" audio jack?

Bender - how about some pictures of what you did?

[AndyWarne]

I did actually get it to work. I took a bat top U360 I had and drilled the shaft about 3/4 of the way down with a drill press not really ideal but good enough to find out if my design would work, then drilled a hole perpendicular to the shaft  and put a spring pin through just above the spring, I had to cut some groves in the base for the pin to slide into(that's what keeps it from spinning) it works perfectly the joystick doesn't spin and I got the wires through and the button works!

When I tried something like this I found it interfered with gameplay. If the stick ends up being rotated so its limiting against the pin, the movement of the stick in one specific direction is interrupted because the motion tends to want to push against the pin. Not sure if you are finding this.

Andy

[Cornchip]

 3/32 and 1/8 (2.5mm and 3.5mm to be correct) use the same thread. You would think you could save a little room with a smaller jack, it just isn't so. The thread that the jacks use is a fairly uncommon thread ( 5/16-32 UNEF ). On a Happs stick (the Slikstik mod and the picture you guys keep reposting of mine....please stop) the shaft diameter is .394 (10mm). The snap ring groove is cut to a depth of .350 thousands of an inch. If you drill and tap the 5/16-32 through the shaft where the snap ring groove you'll notice that there is little material left keeping the stick together at that spot. Naturally if you tried this with a U360 it would not be possible.

 I'd personally avoid limiting the sticks rotation using a pin,flat or what have you. It will show up with the feel of the stick (especially one that has no restrictor). Just my 2 cents.

 Cornchip.

 

[fjl]

I did actually get it to work. I took a bat top U360 I had and drilled the shaft about 3/4 of the way down with a drill press not really ideal but good enough to find out if my design would work, then drilled a hole perpendicular to the shaft  and put a spring pin through just above the spring, I had to cut some groves in the base for the pin to slide into(that's what keeps it from spinning) it works perfectly the joystick doesn't spin and I got the wires through and the button works!

When I tried something like this I found it interfered with gameplay. If the stick ends up being rotated so its limiting against the pin, the movement of the stick in one specific direction is interrupted because the motion tends to want to push against the pin. Not sure if you are finding this.

Andy

Do you have any other suggestions then? Cause making the joystick have an LED on the top is one step to making my CP complete. After that I just need a lighted spinner and perhaps lighted Lightguns. That'd be awesome.

[Bender]

I did actually get it to work. I took a bat top U360 I had and drilled the shaft about 3/4 of the way down with a drill press not really ideal but good enough to find out if my design would work, then drilled a hole perpendicular to the shaft and put a spring pin through just above the spring, I had to cut some groves in the base for the pin to slide into(that's what keeps it from spinning) it works perfectly the joystick doesn't spin and I got the wires through and the button works!

When I tried something like this I found it interfered with gameplay. If the stick ends up being rotated so its limiting against the pin, the movement of the stick in one specific direction is interrupted because the motion tends to want to push against the pin. Not sure if you are finding this.

Andy

I Had to remove a bit of material from the plastic base but it doesn't seem to interfere withe the gameplay at all
Pics soon I promise!

although my second Idea I think is better, I'll have a post of that soon here:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=78652.0

[RayB]

Hello.