I need some help w/ a dc pad hack

[zuggzugg]

I'm currently staring at the guts of one of my dc controllers. I need to know where the ground connections are and where the L/R ANALOG trigger buttons (i read that this might be trouble) solder to. I have heard that people fry their ports using these pads. I can get a different one if it is recommended. I was thinking about going w/ a psx pad and just buying the psx-dc converter. If i do go that route, i will need to know where the grounds for those are located (dont know if they are marked)

I'm looking for detailed responses please.

1) where do i solder the ground and L/R buttons for the standard dc pad.

2) same question but for psx, minus the obviously non-analog trigger buttons.

ps. I already know about this site.
http://home.cfl.rr.com/expression/joystick-dc.html

I would buy the controller that he recommends but i can't find them anywhere and the few places i did find them, they are selling for over 20 bucks!

Thanks in advance.

[CD_Vision]

I'm afraid that I don't have good news for you here. It's really difficult to wire the Sega brand pads because of the small connections. I've got some info about hacking the MadKatz DreamPad on my page, and you can find links there with pix of PSX pads as well, and the info is pretty universal for all pad types. Once you know what is hot and ground, you'll be able to do any pad out there:

http://www.darkravenwind.com/cdvision/madcatz.htm

[Dave_K.]

I also recommend the MadCatz pads as they have easier points to solder to (like CD_Vison's site points out).  

If you are using the original Sega pads, here is a site which points to the proper solder locationis for the analog L/R buttons.

http://www.mameworld.net/pc2jamma/arc_dc4.html
http://www.mameworld.net/pc2jamma/images/dcjoy.gif

-Dave

[zuggzugg]

Thanks for the help guys. CD_Vision, the link you posted in your reply isn't working for me. Is it correct?

Also, for the psx pads, is ground clearly marked? (since i can't see the link)

[zuggzugg]

ok, i picked up a dream pad and i'm looking at your site.
I have some questions about where the ground is.

On page four of your site you have: "The Purple square would be an excellent place to wire a ground connection."

On page five you show the ground on the other side where you have it outlined in red. Do I need to solder there on the turquoise point too? Does that mean that there are two grounds for this pad?

"If you are using the DreamPad in this project, you'll be happy to know that there is only one ground that you need to wire to the pad, then you can just daisy chain the ground from switch to switch on the common prongs."

These quotes are what is confusing me a bit.

I'm not sure what the pic w/ the red outlines is supposed to mean if you say that i can ground the pad on page four w/ the purple point.

If you could please clear this up for me I'd appreciate it. I'm dying to get this working.

[zuggzugg]

I was also wondering if 30 gauge wire is too small to use on the pad. The 22 gauge wire i have doesn't fit into the small solder holes, that's why i ask.

[CthulhuLuke]

Well this kinda doesn't belong here, but I guess it's good for anyone who's starting to learn how to solder like me.  Quick question for CD_Vision or anyone else who knows.  In your FAQ CD_Vision about soldering, you say that if your soldering turns a dull grey, then it's a bad connection, and if it's a shiny bubble, then it's a good connection.  Well only once on a new PSX pad hack I was doing was I able to get it into a shiny bubble, but the solder leaked into the common side (that bastard) so I had to redo it and it turned the same dull grey color.  The soldering gun I use is pretty old and is in need of cleaning, which I can do pretty easily.  I tin all my wires before soldering them, and I'm gettin a bit better at soldering seeing how this is my third controller hack (3rd time ever soldering too)  well I was wondering if there is just a technique to getting it shiny and bubble like?  and if it's bad for it to be dull and grey, even though it works?
  thanx,
   -CthulhuLuke

[zuggzugg]

I went ahead and just used the purple connection only. I wired it all up, made a face as i powered up the dc, and wooohooo! it's all good!



CthulhuLuke, different solder has different amounts of tin in it already, or no tin at all. I read that this is what produces the differen't "greys" you are talking about.
As long as you have clean, modest amount of solder on the connection, you should be fine.

What i do is get a small ball of solder on the tip of the iron and then just quickly touch the connection. It usually it just enough to make a perfect seal over it.

Then I get a small amount of solder onto the wire. You can see the solder stick to the all the wires.  Then i put a bit of pressure with the wire on the small blob (for lack of a better term) that i made. I heat up the blob and the wire goes right into it w/ the pressure i'm using.

I slowly slide the iron up the wire w/ the solder sticking to it. This makes a very small teardrop shape and it looks very clean.