Modding 101
Modding 101 Posted on: 01.09.2009 by Monet Yucel Alright guys as promised I'm starting this thread which is gonna be a walkthrough of my mod/tutorial page for basic electronics assembly, so stay tuned for the progression.First I'm going to mod two of theese into two controllers for traktor to sit between my mixer and decks. So first off I'm gonna start with a few of my basic tools, these make life a lot easier and they are cheap as I'm a bit of a cheap bastard. First up my Soldering Iron, Ideally I would like to have a Hakko 936 temp controlled station but I don't have the spare funds, although you kids in the states can usually find deals on them regularly for around $99 usd which is cheap for an iron of this quality. Any way this is my Iron This Iron cost me about $50 NZD which is about $35 USD, so was cheap, but it has a nice grip, weighs stuff all, has a heat resistant cord (a must for an iron, don't buy one without), as well as interchangeable tips. Now it is only 13 watts which is low but all that means is that it will take longer to reach temp, not that it makes much difference, turn it on and watch some porn or something when its heating up, DON'T try and solder with a cold Iron. Next is my tip for my Iron This type of tip is my favourite, it holds it heat because of its size but you can use it for things as small as SMD devices, one common mistake is to use an extremely fine tip to solder with but the don't hold the heat at their tip, use one of these and you will thank me for it. Next is solder wick use this to remove solder, pumps suck ass wick is inexpensive and works like a charm And last but not least is solder, I use fine resin cored solder, fine solder is key to me as you never run the risk of adding to much to the join, it also seems to melt a lot quicker as well. And I almost forgot, the good old Flux Pen oh what a treat to have. So stay tuned as my next update will be the disassembly of the controller with a few helpfull hints. Stay tuned kids. | |
| Brunilda Kora 09.09.2009 | How does that translate to buttons and knobs? How many buttons could you have on a controller built from one of these things? |
| Latia Pfleider 08.09.2009 | Word |
| Shelby Blancaflor 08.09.2009 | CHEEEAAAP ME LIKEYYYYYY!!!! Ok 6 analogue and 14 digital inputs sound sweet, actually perfect for adding a third deck to my total control. I'll follow your thread closely . Do you have to do any coding to make it work with the usb connection? |
| Monet Yucel 07.09.2009 | Cheers for the feedback guys now to answer a few Q's First I use XBox controllers because they are cheap, you can get second hand ones that have broken cords from people wrapping the cord around the controller for storage, but when modding we don't need the cord so we win, I got these two for $15 NZD for both so pretty darn cheap, also they have 6 analog and 14 digital inputs. And for what type of controllers I'm making, they are going to be a pair of controllers to sit between the mixer and decks to control FX and Cue Points with Traktor Scratch, pretty much to control the basic controls not covered by the other hardware. I'm also going to mod a couple of old hard drives to use as jog wheels that I can plug into the controllers when I'm not around the decks. |
| Brunilda Kora 07.09.2009 | Great work - look forward to the next installment. |
| Shelby Blancaflor 07.09.2009 | Awesome, I really waited for someone to make a step by step tutorial on gamepads. What kind of controller do you have in mind?? And is there any advantage by using the X-Box controller instead of any other unit that works with USB out of the box? keep on the good work! |
| Zana Crognale 07.09.2009 | crazy |
| Monet Yucel 06.09.2009 | Next removal of the triggers First desolder the three pins of the pots the same way as above, the trigger can't be removed without the pot being desoldered. Now just clip the lower tab off with some clippers not necessary but makes life easier. And unclip the upper clip and lift off all in one piece. Thats all for today, next post will be removing the thumb sticks and cleaning the pads so stay tuned but here's a little teaser |
| Monet Yucel 06.09.2009 | Allright 160 views time for an update, now bare with me as I ran into some technical difficulties when taking pics, I thought the camera had taken pics but it hadn't so there will be a few in progress pics missing, anyway lets roll. First the bits. Case two of theese at $28 NZD Arcade buttons these were cheap and are cheap but at $0.50 NZD they will do the job nicely. And the pots and knobs cost me $2.50 NZD per set, I love wholesale prices. Now the whole idea is to strip down an XBox controller and jack onto the pads to resemble something like this: So first off disassembly. 1:Remove the casing by removing the screws on the underside of the controller, don't forget the one under the sticker in the center of the controller. 2:Remove the board and cut the cord as close to the rubber grommet as possible as you will be soldering a USB cable to this, also unplug the two vibration devices as well. 3: Now I missed the photo for this but there will be a black metallic sheet covering the contacts for the main buttons on the RHS of the board, just peel this away and discard it as it is not needed. 4:Remove the expansion port surround by unclipping it or cutting it away its easily done and now you should be left with a relatively bare board. Now removing the expansion ports, first unscrew the two small screws and then using solder wick desolder the 5 pins of the expansion port on the side of the board with the analog sticks, to use solder wick make sure your iron is nice and hot, lay the wick over the solder to be removed and press it down with the Iron, the iron will heat the wick which will then melt and absorb the solder from the pins, IF YOUR IRON ISN'T HOT WAIT TILL IT IS, you risk damaging the board with a cold iron. Remove all the solder from the board before trying to remove the component, a little trick if it is being a bit of a bitch is to melt a little solder on the end of your iron first, this helps with conduction of heat if things aren't doing what they're told. Now pry off with a screw driver, it should just unclip. And repeat for the other side. ] All off |
| Shelby Blancaflor 06.09.2009 | any progress yet???? |
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