I know some were interested in this so I have some info about its progress. I have finished the prototype shown here. Note that the boards are not final versions they are just hacked up roughly by me to test the concept. Final profesional boards will be much nicer.
The way I did it was to make a "switch sandwich" with 3 PCBs and small light touch switches. There are basic reasons I did this. For one it spaces it out exactly the right distance from the GP2X board. Another it allows the base to be soldered in then the rest of the assembly to be aligned with the hole in the front and joined to the base. This takes care of the misc mis-alignments due to production tolerances.
The result is a simple replacement that just replaces the existing joystick and solders in to the same spot. The hole in the front must be cut/drilled larger to fit the pad.
Credit goes to Radek for his logic board and idea for using the QD pad for the mod. The logic board must be purchased from Radek as I am just providing the switch module.
The module can also be used without the logic board but you may lose diagonals in some apps, Radek's logic board is reccommended for compatibility.
I also plan to make all of my CAD files and notes from this public. This means that you can take my files and make your own if you would like. It also means you can take my files, mass produce the pads, and sell them yourself and get rich, it doesn't matter to me you have my permission. I really am not aiming to be in the d-pad business. I can't code an emulator so this is my community contribution. The PCB design needs a bit of tweaking so I will release the files later.
So how does it work? Well quite well actually. The switches give a nice light tactile feel yet don't make a clicking sound. They are rated at 2 million cycles so they should last a long time. The control is tight with just the right action, not too hard not too soft. The bias is ordinal like any normal D-pad.
The way I did it was to make a "switch sandwich" with 3 PCBs and small light touch switches. There are basic reasons I did this. For one it spaces it out exactly the right distance from the GP2X board. Another it allows the base to be soldered in then the rest of the assembly to be aligned with the hole in the front and joined to the base. This takes care of the misc mis-alignments due to production tolerances.
The result is a simple replacement that just replaces the existing joystick and solders in to the same spot. The hole in the front must be cut/drilled larger to fit the pad.
Credit goes to Radek for his logic board and idea for using the QD pad for the mod. The logic board must be purchased from Radek as I am just providing the switch module.
The module can also be used without the logic board but you may lose diagonals in some apps, Radek's logic board is reccommended for compatibility.
I also plan to make all of my CAD files and notes from this public. This means that you can take my files and make your own if you would like. It also means you can take my files, mass produce the pads, and sell them yourself and get rich, it doesn't matter to me you have my permission. I really am not aiming to be in the d-pad business. I can't code an emulator so this is my community contribution. The PCB design needs a bit of tweaking so I will release the files later.
So how does it work? Well quite well actually. The switches give a nice light tactile feel yet don't make a clicking sound. They are rated at 2 million cycles so they should last a long time. The control is tight with just the right action, not too hard not too soft. The bias is ordinal like any normal D-pad.
