Closer To The Final Replacement Of Stick

[iignotus]

a 7500 mAh battery pack

eh? Pictures!

 

[PSyMastR]

a 7500 mAh battery pack

eh? Pictures!

​

pictureWantCount++;

 

[Series-8]

while (!GotPics(Batt_Pack))
{
println("GIMME PICS!");
}

Can it fit in a pocket? is it really 3.3 Volts? does it need a special plug?
How do you charge it? Where can it be found/bought? How much does it cost?
How long does it last? How much does it weigh? Do you use it lots?
Do you like it?

 

[iignotus]

Can it fit in a pocket? is it really 3.3 Volts? does it need a special plug?
How do you charge it? Where can it be found/bought? How much does it cost?
How long does it last? How much does it weigh? Do you use it lots?
Do you like it?

​

Yeah, that!

 

[Epicenter]

You could just take any 3.3v lithium-ion battery pack that'd fit in the AA compartment and solder a small 2 pin connector (+3.3vdc, GND) to the contacts in the compartment, stick the pack inside and plug it in to use .. then when done, remove it and plug it into a charger via an adapter to that same kind of connector. I did something similar to add a rechargable battery pack to my old Game boy color.

 

[sweetlilmre]

a 7500 mAh battery pack

eh? Pictures!

​

Hi at sorry at been out of it a bit.

First battery pack was a modded Thunder Power PSP pack (3600 mAh)

http://www.divineo.cn/cgi-bin/div-cn/psp-tpp

You can get 'em on ebay fairly cheaply as well.
*WARNING* This pack outputs 5V, you need to open it up and solder a connector onto the PCB attached to the battery (NOT directly to the battery) to get 3.3V out.
Maybe I'll do some pics when I get the gap.

Also you could get 2 of these (there is space and even a molding for a 2nd bat in the case) and wire them in parallel for 7200 mAh (my next project when I can order some more).

Ebay also has a 5000mAh PSP pack that you could probably do the same thing to.

(search: PSP NDS battery)

Then I picked up this baby:
http://www.pjbox.co.uk/Power-Runner.htm

(okay, sorry its 7200 mAh, not 7500mAh) but it comes with the correct plug for the gp2x, with a nice long cable, charger, carry case, and a bloody ridiculous price tag...

Yes, you can put it in your pocket, but that may cause strange stares from the ladies...

-(e)

[edit for more info] ahh yeah, on the Power Runner II:

1. I like it, it lasts for bloody ages (don't even know the total running time, but its amazing), I use it lots (its my gp2x power supply)

2. It has variable output voltages: 3.3V - 12V so its usefull for _all_ of my gadgets

3. It has various adapters for cameras, cellphones etc (gp2x...)

4. It cost me about 60 pounds off ebay

5. its pretty heavy...

 

[nickspoon]

Yes, you can put it in your pocket, but that may cause strange stares from the ladies...

I get that already. Ever since I glued my hand to my face in a freak modding accident.

 

[FluffyPanda]

Yes, you can put it in your pocket, but that may cause strange stares from the ladies...

I get that already. Ever since I glued my hand to my face in a freak modding accident.

​

I get that already. Ever since puberty.

 

[Turambar]

@Radek

Since my stick seems to be on its way out (i can just about navigate to start an mp3 or movie but games aren't possible) i volunteer myself as a beta tester for your setup should you require one

 

[second exodous]

@Radek

Since my stick seems to be on its way out (i can just about navigate to start an mp3 or movie but games aren't possible) i volunteer myself as a beta tester for your setup should you require one

​

So your stick is wearing out? Mine seems to get harder and harder to press left, I thought it was just me. Maybe if the stick wears out too fast GPH will put something else on future models. It would suck for them to need to fix all the units they already made.

Thanx,
Stan

 

[Radek]

@Radek

Since my stick seems to be on its way out (i can just about navigate to start an mp3 or movie but games aren't possible) i volunteer myself as a beta tester for your setup should you require one

​

So your stick is wearing out? Mine seems to get harder and harder to press left, I thought it was just me. Maybe if the stick wears out too fast GPH will put something else on future models. It would suck for them to need to fix all the units they already made.

​

There is some kind of lubricant inside GP2x's stock stick. Once after assembling it again (after hacking it) it started to need much stronger push to register movement. There wasn't any mechanical difference only lack of that lubricant then. Perhaps this is issue here?

 

[Jarska333]

Damn, 2X is leaking!

 

[Turambar]

@Radek

Since my stick seems to be on its way out (i can just about navigate to start an mp3 or movie but games aren't possible) i volunteer myself as a beta tester for your setup should you require one

​

So your stick is wearing out? Mine seems to get harder and harder to press left, I thought it was just me. Maybe if the stick wears out too fast GPH will put something else on future models. It would suck for them to need to fix all the units they already made.

Thanx,
Stan

​

I think i probably just broke it pulling it in and out of my pocket.....

 

[The_Consumer]

a 7500 mAh battery pack

eh? Pictures!

​

Hi at sorry at been out of it a bit.

First battery pack was a modded Thunder Power PSP pack (3600 mAh)

http://www.divineo.cn/cgi-bin/div-cn/psp-tpp

You can get 'em on ebay fairly cheaply as well.opp
*WARNING* This pack outputs 5V, you need to open it up and solder a connector onto the PCB attached to the battery (NOT directly to the battery) to get 3.3V out.
Maybe I'll do some pics when I get the gap.

Also you could get 2 of these (there is space and even a molding for a 2nd bat in the case) and wire them in parallel for 7200 mAh (my next project when I can order some more).

​

i checked the site and those seem to be rather cheap in bulk prices (Buy 50 or more : $ 7.50/piece).
this seems to be an opportunity for an enterprising modder who wants to make some quick cash...
I'd buy a modded one for 10-20 dollars.

 

[Jarska333]

I was thinking... :unsure:

You basic nintendo-pad has four rubbery membranes, corresponding to the NESW directions. Diagonals are achieved by pressing down two basic directions at the same time, which are then combined in a chip on the controller. Now, I've allways liked the n-pad, so jury-rigging it to my 2X would be fabuloustic. I could wire apropriate microswitches directly to the 2X-PCB, however, I'd be missing the proper diagonals, and some progs might not work properly.

So I got this idea, while on the loo...

This is you basic (ascii) d-pads PCB. +-signs are the microswitches. This would be simple to wire to 2X, but it would be missing the diagonals.

.......+.......
......[ ]......
+||||||||+
......[ ]......
.......+.......

This is what thought up. EDIT: WYSIWYG? Blah, right.

.......+.......
.......+.......
......[ ]......
++||||||++
......[ ]......
.......+.......
.......+.......

Four more switches, I believe small enough ones are made nowadays. My hypothesis is, that when I press up, both switches are pressed, but the bottom, (or top, whichever would work best,) is connected to the left outmost switch, and does not get a closed circuit, unless the left switch is also pressed, => circuit is closed, and diagonal is registered. Same for any other direction.

Now, software would also register UP and LEFT at the same time as the diagonal UP-LEFT, don't know how that would foul up things. :huh:

My knowledge on the matter is very limited, I just wire things up and see if smoke rises. B)

Would this work?

 

[Radek]

I was thinking... :unsure:

You basic nintendo-pad has four rubbery membranes, corresponding to the NESW directions. Diagonals are achieved by pressing down two basic directions at the same time, which are then combined in a chip on the controller. Now, I've allways liked the n-pad, so jury-rigging it to my 2X would be fabuloustic. I could wire apropriate microswitches directly to the 2X-PCB, however, I'd be missing the proper diagonals, and some progs might not work properly.

So I got this idea, while on the loo...

This is you basic (ascii) d-pads PCB. +-signs are the microswitches. This would be simple to wire to 2X, but it would be missing the diagonals.

.......+.......
......[ ]......
+||||||||+
......[ ]......
.......+.......

This is what thought up. EDIT: WYSIWYG? Blah, right.

.......+.......
.......+.......
......[ ]......
++||||||++
......[ ]......
.......+.......
.......+.......

Four more switches, I believe small enough ones are made nowadays. My hypothesis is, that when I press up, both switches are pressed, but the bottom, (or top, whichever would work best,) is connected to the left outmost switch, and does not get a closed circuit, unless the left switch is also pressed, => circuit is closed, and diagonal is registered. Same for any other direction.

Now, software would also register UP and LEFT at the same time as the diagonal UP-LEFT, don't know how that would foul up things. :huh:

My knowledge on the matter is very limited, I just wire things up and see if smoke rises. B)

Would this work?

​

I don't know about it mechanically if such configuration would be viable or not... but you can get the same results with just 4-switches and one cmos 4011 chip (4x2xNAND gates). Paradoxically filtering out ordinals from diagonals is taking much more work than just computing diagonals from ordinals....
(and adding support for center push needs full 4-bits decoder unfortunatelly)

For smoking your GP2x the signals pins works by being grounded directly to the minus of batteries as they have some postive pull (via resistors) to not left input lines floating. So you shouldn't smoke anything as long you will be using minus from battery or common GND stick pins (there 3 of them) to make connections.

I just figured how to fit the damn 4067 demultiplexer inside GP2x as it's has some advantages over my previous circuit (adds support for center push and reduces greatly needed wires)

The dpad design has been finalized too... really simple but effective.

Hope to make bigger update soon...

 

[Series-8]

Sounds good!

I also assume you have used the 4067 chip to simplify the circuit, and reduce it size and (hopefully) cost as well?

Whats the overal concept for getting the actual joystick mods out there?

Plans, Kits, or Total modification of units?

I'm shure many people would appreciate some expert doing the modifications for them, as they lack the appropriate skills, (and or experience/tools/time/confidence).

 

[Radek]

Sounds good!

I also assume you have used the 4067 chip to simplify the circuit, and reduce it size and (hopefully) cost as well?

Not exactly as you said but to improve things for sure. Before (the first 3 chip DIP14 design) there wasn't support for center push. It wasn't really proper 4 bit transcoder but some logical hack but it worked. And I'd be satisified with it if not that I couldn't trace it with connector for GP2x stick's pins on the same PCB. In meantime I got working dpad with center push support (the one from N-Gage QD) so you see that the first converter wasn't sufficient. And because of its hackish efficiency (it has only 10 two input logic gater for transcoding eight 4 bit numbers!) it couldn't be improved or changed at all. So I had to look for something different because adding another DIP14 chip (or even two), then tracing the PCB for it stopped being funny.

The best way to comprehend my goals is to see, just look:

It works very well with center push and is integrated into just one PCB with stick's pins. It's not perfect thought and main issue (and only one so far) is size - just now I got it (almost) right. Should got it alright in next run or one after that.

I can say I have some other options but from overall standpoint the 4067 is the best. That's including latency, cost, powerconsumption and reliability (it will work at very wide voltage range, it works asynchronously so it's basically idling when reacting to human input, no fear of software/hardware bugs like in the µC).
So imho it's worth the effort especially that I wouldn't be sure if using the µC (for an example) wouldn't have its problems.

And you are concerned about the price as well - the 4067 is much cheaper that any suitable µC or PLD chip.

I must admit that when I was starting this project I wasn't expecting it to go that close to finish. I had almost no knowledge about cmos chips then and wasn't sure if I wouldn't fry something by conecting some other circuit. It was a new territory for me. I had dumb problems with floating cmos inputs for an example. Really beginner's stuff and had only small glimpse what chips are available. So I was playing it safe and gone with plain logic gates of the 40xx series.

Now I'd start with 4067 from beginning but now I know, then I didn't.

Whats the overal concept for getting the actual joystick mods out there?

Plans, Kits, or Total modification of units?

I'm shure many people would appreciate some expert doing the modifications for them, as they lack the appropriate skills, (and or experience/tools/time/confidence).

Well... you can do with built in stick only as much. We have already two existing mods (one with the cap, other more sophisticated) however even with the DaveC proposal of rotating stick by 45 degree would need soldering and making proper PCB adapter. Then it migh have problems with fitting - my point is there is very little "middle ground" in modding of GP2x's stick.

 

[grahf]

Very nice work radek. I actually just finished putting a gamecube dpad and pcb in my gp2x. It works excellent, but of course diagonals only work on most programs, but not all. Im interested in your logic circuit. Its nice to see youve progressed so far with it.

 

[saboteur]

Once again RADEK - excellent work. That's a nice tidy looking board you've put together.

Any Idea on a project completion date ?? This stock stick is just ruining my GP2X which is mainly reduced to playing music and video

I'm a 'thick fingered bodger' myself so am unable to help with this unless u need financial support, in which case I can help.

cheers.