You couldn't ask for a lamer topic!

[Kraezymann]

It's been like 2 or 3 years since I was on here last. How has everyone been doing? WHAT has everyone been doing?

[Spectere]

I've been playing obscene amounts of rhythm games! Uh, ignore the Solid State Squad stuff in my sig; I outgrew home versions of IIDX. :x

I have a few ongoing projects as well. One of them, which happens to be directly related to rhythm games, is building a home Pop'n controller out of an old arcade deck (716677606259568641[/tweet]]heres a couple of pics of the deck!). I have a good PCB, a whole batch of fresh new Omron V-10-1A4 (100gf) microswitches installed, and a nice set of bright LEDs on their way. I had about a dozen white lamps already, but they didn't really have a good light spreader. As a result, you'd get a noticeable bright spot on the diffuser instead of a nice, consistent glow (726571583733522432[/tweet]]light test video here, with the original Omron V-10-1A5 switches still installed). I grabbed one of the LEDs from my IIDX controller and popped it in and it gave a much more consistent result, so I ordered a bunch of those for the final project.

The biggest problem I'm currently having is finding a connector. I don't want to do any snipping and/or soldering, as I want the controller to be easily usable in an arcade machine if need-be (i.e. unplug the harness going the arcin board, put some 12V lamps in, and hook the arcade harness into it), but I'm having a real hard time finding the right connectors. I've looked through Molex's catalog extensively and can't find a match, and I've gone through much of TE Connectivity's as well. No matter, I still need to fashion a wooden case for it.

Wait, where was I again? Oh, right. Other happenings. Got it.

I ended up becoming a career programmer, so things have been going pretty well on my end. :] Currently in the process of getting over my social anxiety and am making some decent headway so far. I've made quite a few new friends these past few months, so I definitely can't complain.

*takes a deep breath* That was some rambling.

Anyway, how have you been and what have you been up to?

[Kraezymann]

That's a big link lmfao. Very cool to be making your own controller though, I am probably going to force myself to learn to modify some of my stuff. I need to make my Precision pad and my IIDX controller last longer.

As for me:

Got married
Got a car
Got a house
Got a halfway decent computer
Gonna get gud at stuff

And here I am

[Spectere]

FAK. That's what happens when I've been up for 23 hours and don't double-check things.

If you need any pointers on modding your IIDX controllers, let me know. I've played on a couple of modded KOCs up through last...July, I think? Currently using two Dao FP7s. Wonderful controllers, if you're in the market for an ASC.

Congrats on the marriage (and the car, and the house, and the computer)!

[Bobbias]

The biggest problem I'm currently having is finding a connector.

Try https://www.phoenixcontact.com, I've got no idea if they have what you're looking for, but it's worth checking.

[Kraezymann]

BOOBIES!

[Spectere]

Try https://www.phoenixcontact.com, I've got no idea if they have what you're looking for, but it's worth checking.

Thanks, but they were one of the ones I went to, and they didn't have them.

The part that I was having difficulty with was actually figuring out which plug housings would mate with the socket on the controller. I ended up getting a tip from one of the arcade operators that I know that pretty much all Japanese games use JST connectors. From there I was able to work out that Pop'n uses the YLR-12V and YLR-15V for the machine harness.

Sourcing those parts proved to be somewhat expensive, since the only place I could find that supplied them was a place in Japan, so yay $40 shipping! Oh well, at least I'll be able to move forward with that project soon.

Edit: Corrected part numbers.

[Bobbias]

BOOBIES!

I fucking told you this place was still up.

Thanks, but they were one of the ones I went to, and they didn't have them.

The part that I was having difficulty with was actually figuring out which plug housings would mate with the socket on the controller. I ended up getting a tip from one of the arcade operators that I know that pretty much all Japanese games use JST connectors. From there I was able to work out that Pop'n uses the JST-12V and JST-15V for the machine harness.

Sourcing those parts proved to be somewhat expensive, since the only place I could find that supplied them was a place in Japan, so yay $40 shipping! Oh well, at least I'll be able to move forward with that project soon.

Figured I'd mention them since I've ordered parts off them before (job related), and they have a pretty huge selection of stuff. At least you get what you were looking for.

[Spectere]

Figured I'd mention them since I've ordered parts off them before (job related), and they have a pretty huge selection of stuff. At least you get what you were looking for.

It's much appreciated, regardless. I've found that I've been playing a ton of orders to Mouser lately, so it'll be nice to have another good electronics site in my bookmarks. It never hurts to check multiple sources to get the best price, after all.

As an aside, I'm actually shocked at how difficult it was to find those plug housings. They weren't even listed on eBay or Amazon! There were a few listings on Amazon.jp, but none of the sellers shipped to the US.

I did find a small San Jose company that sold the YLR-12V (the model is YLR-**V, not JST-**V. Derp. Edited my last post) but not the YLR-15V. So yeah, I don't get it. Maybe JST just hates 'murika.

Regardless, thanks to finding those I can hopefully do some basic controller testing pretty soon. I just dearly hope that I'm able to use the socket pins that I have available (I have a few different crimp-style ones from TE and Molex, so hopefully those will fit in the housing), since I can't seem to find the matching part (JST SYF-01T-P0.5A) in reasonable quantities. The only site that I saw so far (admittedly, I haven't looked too hard for it just yet...I'll cross that bridge when I come to it) that allows me to order it in quantities under 4000 (i.e. an entire package) has a $75 minimum order, which definitely hurts the team. If I don't have any luck with what I have I might order from them and just throw in a decent multimeter. It'll be nice to not have to rely on borrowing my dad's meter all the time, and with that much money to make up I can go overboard and spring for a FLUKE or something fancy like that.

[Bobbias]

Oh yeah, an upgrade to a fluke would be nice. They make some nice equipment.

[Spectere]

Yeah, I've used their network-related gear before and was very impressed.

That being said, I can't help but appreciate my dad's multimeter. He's had it since around 1989, it's built like a tank, sips AA batteries, and it works exceptionally well. I wonder how it would compare to newer ones (like lower- to mid-level meters)...

[Bobbias]

I've used several different multimeters and other electrical gear by them and was pretty impressed with everything I used. That was in college though, haven't touched a fluke in a while :/

[Spectere]

Yeah, I've only gotten to play with the ones that my employers have owned. I'd at least love to get a proper CAT-6 tester for home, since my current method of plugging it in and seeing how quickly the computer can transfer a large file is hardly scientific.

As for multimeters, it doesn't look like I'm going to need to rack up $75 of parts to fulfill a minimum, so...maybe next time. :p

[Kraezymann]

Buying an off lease computer to become my Stepmania computer. Make it start when I turn on the computer, hdmi to TV and then it's time to DDR!

[vladgd]

I seen this at the grocery store and I COULD NOT RESIST




5 liter keg of bells oberon, only $19.00. And after it gets consumed, I'll have this neat keg with cool art on it. To be honest, the art is the majority reason I bought it, but oberon is damn good beer so that's a bonus.

Have a friend probably coming over tomorrow after work, going to help assist me double team that monster while we play vidya.