My home built metal DDR pad (Part IV)

Promit · Trick Member Joined: 09 May 2004

Hey, I was thinking of going for 0.060" Lexan instead of DDRHomePad's reommended 0.093" (3/32") thickness. But I don't really know exactly how strong Lexan is, compared to what kind of forces we're subjecting these pads to. Will the thinner Lexan stil be strong enough to cope with the stresses of playing reasonably tough songs? Or is there a chance that the thinner panels will break?

I don't know much about Lexan, myself, so...

Synaesthesia · Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 12:04 pm Post subject:

Lexan is the same material used in airplane windows and bulletpoof bank teller windows, among a slew of other things. Testing the mock arrow out, I highly doubt it will ever break or crack. Also remember that it's not really .093--it's .195, since you use 2 pieces with DDR Home Pad's design.
_________________

im a lasagna whale

G_G

Kratar · Basic Member Joined: 05 Jun 2005 Location: Ontario, Canada

slvrshdw · Trick Member Joined: 05 Jan 2005

stoli · Trick Member Joined: 27 Mar 2005 Location: Southern NH

Aluminum foil conducts and the wires providing my house with power are Aluminum. I assumed the flashing would too

-Stoli
_________________

My Chrome Pad Website

Promit · Trick Member Joined: 09 May 2004

Well, I'll test the aluminum...if it doesn't work it's a couple bucks extra, nothing big. I'll use galvy stuff instead.

Anyway, I have an alternate design for the contacts using flashing, but I'm not sure if I want to go for it or not. We were using pretty expensive heavy gauge sheet metal, and I just found the galvy stuff at home depot thanks to stoli. So I can use that for the contacts, which means $10 instead of $50.

I'm also dispensing with the brackets from ddrhomepad, and making some structural modifications that bring it closer to stoli's design (it's built bottom-up on a sheet of plywood).

This galvy stuff won't work for the non-steps, will it? It seems too flexible to actually adhere to the wood properly after being bent, but I'm not sure. I might just spraypaint it with some nice paint instead.

Lastly, I'm toying with an alternate contact design, but...with the galvy stuff I found, it may not be worth the effort that's required for this alternate form, and I'm a little hesitant about my modifications, since they require a bit more cutting and drilling and gluing.

Synaesthesia · Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 4:44 pm Post subject:

Well, regarding aluminum flashing, it doesn't have to carry much of a current, basically just *any* current. I can't even get the needle to jump on my multimeter's lowest setting of voltage or current when testing a circuit board plugged into the PS2 (though it's possible I'm using it wrong, it shouldn't be--it works to activate buttons). I assume the main reason to use flashing is cheaper price and shinier appearance, right? Then just stick with the flashing for the non-arrow pieces. Cobalt Flux uses 26 guage zinc galvanized stainless steel for their contacts, which is what I used for all metal pieces of the pad. A 2'x3' sheet yields 6 12" square pieces for ~$10, so you probably shouldn't have to spend more than $15 for contacts, if you choose to use the steel for contacts.
_________________

im a lasagna whale

G_G

dsl1 · Basic Member Joined: 24 Apr 2005

Wow the second pad goes a lot faster. Anyone know where I can buy lexan online? An hour and a half drive to get some

Heffenfeffer · Trick Member Joined: 22 Apr 2002 Location: Las Cruces, NM

dsl1 · Basic Member Joined: 24 Apr 2005

stupidbarber · Trick Member Joined: 28 Feb 2005

Well, I tried my best, and built a pad following the instructions from http://www.2legacy.com/ddrpad/. I used a Madkatz pad to get a controller board, and that part seemed to work well, except for one brief strange point at which I felt like I was getting an electric shock when I was standing on one of the metal panels ! (weird, I don't understand how the small bit of current from a controller port could give me a painful shock and not blow out anything. Maybe I was hallucinating...)
The bad news is that the panels did NOT have good enough responsiveness. Either it was too hard to stomp on the panels to get a signal, or else (after tightening the screws more) there was too much spontaneous signals from them, even when not standing on the board.

I'm dumping the whole thing and starting from scratch. My son wants me to just give up and buy a Cobalt flux or Afterburner pad. (There is loyalty, eh?) But I'm not ready to give up yet!

So, I think I want to try Stoli's great looking pad this time. But I want the panels to be quiet (or at least, not obnoxiously loud) when stepped on. Has anyone tried the pad at http://webpages.charter.net/jamjohn/ddrhow.htm and particularly, where he/she describes the panel switches on page http://webpages.charter.net/jamjohn/step16.htm ? It looks like this trick might make quieter panels.

thanks..

Aflac · Trick Member Joined: 28 Mar 2005

slvrshdw · Trick Member Joined: 05 Jan 2005

mine was really loud with just the low density weather stripping (i think, the easily compressed stuff...riptides stuff)
that was loud, then i put some more other high density stuff (with the other still in) so it was harder to press down, and that helped the noise alot, its still pretty loud tho...but thats metal for ya

i turn the music up loud too (i have surround sound tho

)

ya..about my pad tho

,

i went to a part with like 5 ppl who play ddr on heavy, one person bround a RO ignition 2.0, and i had my pad...FAR superior to his

people saw it and were saying stuff like, "now thats an obcession,"
"did u make that?!"
"thats awesome!!"
after playing on it, "thats really nice, i like the feel of it"

so basically everyone liked it, and now im gonna have to bring to like anywhere i go when i/we play ddr

well, hope everyone else who finish their pads have the same output as me

oh ya..

geckoinc99 · Trick Member Joined: 11 Feb 2005 Location: Chattanooga, TN

Hey everyone,
Guess no one read my previous post. Aluminum doesn't conduct electricity very well. Yes, they use to use it for home wiring, but after causing several fires, they realized they needed something that carried it better (which made the switch to copper). Aluminum flashing won't conduct much because it's aluminum and because I believe they clear coat it. For something that you need to respond quickly, this is not the material. It's also pretty thin, so I don't think it would withstand the abuse.
As a thought, some cheap sheet metal already in strips (if you do the strip contact method) is buy some of these galvanized stud brackets. Look in the lumber section where they have fasteners for all sorts of joints. There are some flat straight piece that are 8 or 12 inches long, are already the right size, and only cost around a $1.00 each. All you would have to do is glue them on. That should save you time and money. Just a thought.

David
_________________

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

stoli · Trick Member Joined: 27 Mar 2005 Location: Southern NH

Alright,

I realize that this post is irrelevant and I should consider getting a life, but I couldn't sit back and let this one go. I just want to set things straight on the conductivity of Aluminum. For the record, Aluminum is a BETTER conductor than steel. Yes, that's right, we are all using steel for our switch contacts, and from a pure resistivity standpoint, aluminum would be a better choice. However, there are some issues with the Aluminum flashing - 1) You can't easily solder to it, making the wire connection difficult and 2) It may have some type of coating that interferes with the contact between the 2 plates. For these reasons, Aluminum flashing is a lousy choice for the switch contacts in this application.

All modern houses use copper for internal wiring, mainly because it is a better electrical conductor than Aluminum and a worse heat conductor, making it more efficient and less of a fire hazard. However, the power companies use Aluminum extensively to bring power to residential homes because of its lower cost and lighter weight. If service to your home comes in from above ground (i.e. a telephone pole) and you have a newer home, I guarantee the wires going into your electrical panel are aluminum.

Reference:

Resisitivity Chart for different metals (the lower the resistivity, the higher the conductivity)

In conclusion:

1. This post is a waste of DDR Freak forum space.
2. Use pure silver plating for your switch pad contacts.
3. If you can't afford to use silver plating, substitute galvanized steel sheet metal instead.
4. Yeah, I know, "Get a life Stoli"

-Stoli
_________________

My Chrome Pad Website

slvrshdw · Trick Member Joined: 05 Jan 2005

ya stoli..
aluminum IS a better conductor, but the flashing must have some kind of coat, so just get the galv flashing or the sheet metal (i got the galv flashing)

Synaesthesia · Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2005 4:40 am Post subject:

OK, I just bought a new PS1 controller (although the store clerk incorrectly factored a "buy-2-get-3rd-free" discount, so it was free, saving a whopping $2). It looks much simpler than my original controller, which I've decided isn't going to work for any number of reasons. My question is, rather than drill holes through the circuit board (probably one of the first things that went wrong at first), should I not be able to solder the wire on top of the contact, without having to come up from the bottom? Or is it just better to come from the bottom (forcing me to use what looks like a thin and very fragile drill bit)?
_________________

im a lasagna whale

G_G

Rockclmbr6 · Basic Member Joined: 13 Jun 2005

Hi, I'm new here. So I was thinking about building my own metal dance pad, but for Xbox. I was wondering, could I use a Playstation controller and then use an PS2 ----> Xbox converter? It would be a lot easier for me because then I could follow the instructions off the site (because I am not good with building stuff AT ALL).

Also, if it could work, which buttons would I put on the corners? The Xbox ones or the Playstation?

Thanks in advance for the help, as you can see I'm really not good with electronics and building stuff.

Oh P.S. I have an Xbox DDR mat (the official Konami softpad that came with Ultramix 2), should I just use the insides of that or something?
_________________

What does DDR stand for?

Synaesthesia · Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2005 7:34 am Post subject:

I don't see why a converter wouldn't work, though the basic contstruction of the circuit boards is likely to be the same. (Xbox may be more complex by the fact that it's newer; when dealing with the circuit soldering, simpler is better, especially if you're not very skilled (like me).) The organs of your softpad would work, but remember that if you mess up, now you don't have a pad at all. So, I'd only gut it if you 1) know you won't mess up at all, 2) have a spare, and don't care, 3) the pad's sensors are already bad, and you're at least putting the circuit board to good use from an otherwise useless pad.
_________________

im a lasagna whale

G_G

slvrshdw · Trick Member Joined: 05 Jan 2005