My home built metal DDR pad (Part IV)

[slvrshdw]

i wish i knew myself..ive tried a few times and it never went on straight.
putting it on a flat surface upside down will probably work..

i just didnt bother to attach the corner brackets to the main 5 panels..

but it works, and i dont care
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[Synaesthesia]

[geckoinc99]

Hey everyone,
I have been away for awhile and was just catching up on posts. I've noticed that there are several new people here. First of all, welcome. I wanted to post some comments for you that may help.

Flashing - There seems to be several questions about this. Basically, flashing is used for covering areas around the outside of houses to take care of water runoff. It tends to be a fairly small gauge. This makes it very easy to work with and is perfect for coverings. Aluminum flashing really helps here for a couple of reasons. One, it won't corrode over like normal sheetmetal can (not the galvanized type). It will have a better shine to it (though not like the mirror stuff stoli uses). Two, it's very easy to work with, cuts very easily. Three, it cleans easily (always a plus). Four, it doesn't build up static electricity as bad since it's not a great conductor of electricity. Five, it's relatively inexpensive. If these don't convince you to use it, then I wish you luck with your choice.

Static electricity - Several have talked about this problem. I have never come across this problem (and my pad sits on carpet and I play with shoes). There are two things that I think stop this problem for me. One is that I used aluminum flashing (see previous for reasons). Two, I added 100 ohm resisters to each power connection and ground connection right at the controller. They are small enough not to interfere with the function, but large enough to limit power spikes. I've heard people using 10,000 ohm resistors before. If you don't think 100 is enough, you would probably be safe with 1,000 ohm. Also, I used the control board from a softpad. Though you may pay more for it, this seems to also help with problems. Well worth the smaller headache.

Contact sensitivity - I can't speak for other designs, but I have a suggestion for anyone doing Riptide's design. I came up with this after having difficulty with sensitivity. I had problems getting the mending strips to sit level, so decided to do some changes electrically. I made all the mending strips Power, then made all the sheetmetal on the arrows Ground. I soldered a wire from one sheet metal strip to another and continued around till all four strips formed one electrical 'ring.' Then I attached a wire from Ground to the sheetmetal 'ring.' This way, you just have to make the sheetmetal contact a mending strip in ONE place (not acrosss two strips). This boosts sensitivity TREMENDOUSLY. It made a world of difference to me.

Plexiglass panel strength - There have been a few that have worried about the strength of a panel. Again, this refers to the Riptide version. I made a 1.5inch square support that was the same height as the mending strips and attached it inside the panel so that it would support the middle. If you make it the same height as the mending strips, it will still have a small gap because there is no sheetmetal over it. You want this. Otherwise, it might stop you from registering. By putting this support in place, it keeps the plexiglass from bending too much which causes it to crack. This simple mod has allowed my pad to handle jumping by someone that is 350+ pounds! I used 0.22 inch plexiglass and a 0.093 inch plexiglass (to sandwich a picture in between) for the panel. Currently my panels are just floating on the pad (no corner brackets or screws to hold them in place). I used bolts and nuts to keep the plexiglass and picture as one piece. This makes it easy to get underneath and repair or adjust since you just lift up the pane. Becomes a problem if you try to pick up the pad though. I may later do something to hold them down.

Scoring - The reason there are people saying that their scores are improving greatly is because their pad is no longer holding them back. On a softpad I can only do Standard comfortably. Heavy will just tear the pad apart quickly unless you mod it. Once you have a solid pad that doesn't bunch up or move, you can concentrate more on getting accurate. Also, because they are louder you can hear how on the beat you are. I've found that the louder sound forces me to be better because you can tell how off you are. It is definetly worth the money and time to build one. Just look at this size of this forum. It's been well worth it for several people.

I wish everyone luck on their designs. Feel free to ask me about any of my suggestions.

David
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Life is very different 3000 feet above the earth with only a wing to hold you up....
Can't wait to be there again. Wanna join me? Visit http://www.hanglide.com

[dsl1]

[slvrshdw]

nice job geckoinc99..well said


im only 15, and ive been building stuff since i was like 13..
it really isnt that hard to do.

it might take a while like he said, and if u have any questions, u can always just ask here first

if u really wanna save a lil money, might as well, right?
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[t3h 3d]

I don't have any type of tools, and I'm a horrible handy man ( boy? ). How did you younger guys go about building it? Did you just decide to go out one day a build one? Did you plan? What toold did you need?

[Aflac]

If you have a good friend who is good with tools or has a parent that is good with tools then that would be extremely helpful. They could help you use table saws / jigsaws that you would have trouble with and you would have someone to ask if something goes wrong. I'm planning on building my pad over the summer, but I don't have *any* of the tools necessary (except a crappy drill...), so i plan to spend most of my time over at my friend's house, using his tools and stuff. He lives down the street.

[Klott]

t3h 3d- These are some tools i used.

Drill (making holes )
Screwdriver (...)
Tablesaw (for cutting the plywood into squares)
Dremel (for touch up)
hobby knife (plexiglass, bending metal)
tin snips (cutting sheetmetal)
Clamps are very important
soldering equipment
other obvious things like marker, rulers, etc

For planning, I looked at dif designs, and after deciding that stoli's is too expensive, built it my own way.

BTW, about what mikieson posted about not caring about the price. If you dont, then it would be hassle-free to get a 300 dollar metal pad that is built professionally that will look and function better than what you build at home. Now thats just MOHO, so yeah

[t3h 3d]

I have a screwdriver , I do have a homemade pad. I was thinking of completely re-doing it because it's all worn out and looks old now. I have the wooden frame , 3/4 pexiglass panels , a controller with all the soldering ready , sensors . I want new panels and sheet metal sensors , and perhaps a bar.

[nataku1]

I've got 2 questions:

1) Has anybody tried installing 2 different controllers to their homemade pad? Say you wanted your pad to work with both a PS2 and an Xbox, you should be able to splice each wire that's soldered onto a button on the ps2 controller onto the same button in the xbox controller, correct?

2) This one's directed to Stoli, or anyone who can answer the question. Why is it that you've used mouse pad material for the corners on your pad? Why not just use the weatherstripping you already have? I've searched but couldn't find an answer to why, is there a specific reason?

[dsl1]

[Synaesthesia]

I used foam core instead of mouse pad. They're both 3/16" thick and more resilient than the weatherstripping. However, I chose the foam core since I had a huge sheet of lying around from some forgotten project of old.

[Heffenfeffer]

[slvrshdw]

ya using the adapter is perfect..i have a ps2->xbox converter and it works great
i can get a pic if u want it

the other option is just to get the ps2/xbox ddr pad to begin with
it has the plug thing sorta like the RO ignition 2.0 i think..

i got one that was like that, it didnt work for ps2, but the xbox worked fine, the pad was faulty ($30 refunded )
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[stoli]

[nataku1]

[nataku1]

[Houou Don't You Want Me]

I'm sorry if this is a repeat (it is absolutely impossible to find any information on this thread, and this is why you people have to say the same things again and again... and I'm sorry for this, I wish I could find the answer myself).

Are there instructions on how to build Patster's design anywhere? Is it strong? Is it harder to build than the 'average' design?

Thanks

[slvrshdw]

hmm..i think i might try that mousepad thing on the corners..ive noticed that it isnt really responding like id like it to..

[peepsluvr]

I haven't posted here in a while. This weekend I finished the blank squares and everything is together now. Tomorrow or later this week I'm gonna put a wooden frame around it so everthing stays in place. I'll post pics for you when I'm done!

And I tested what I have so far; it really feels like an arcade pad! (it's hard to step on the arrows )