Would you be interested in buying a professionally-made chopsado? (Updated!)

[turbokon]

I mods system including doing region mods. Doing the region mods is pretty labor intensive I think. That being said, it's easy to use for the end user. The chopsado is a cheaper alternate to the region mod but it's little hassle to use. You have to line it up perfectly and use clear tape to secure it in place. However it works great, thanks chop for that;) If you can make it easy and cheap, I'm sure you'll get some interest. I would like to see a demo.


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[ishiyakazuo]

Just curious would you be getting a one time run or making/having these made for a while (if proven successful)?

Right now, I'm mainly curious if I could sell enough to make ordering ~150 of them reasonable.  It seems like it is, based on the feedback I'm getting here, though.  If there's enough interest, I wouldn't be disagreeable to more runs.

Right now, my plan is to take whatever extra I end up getting from this and putting it toward development of other PCE/TG16 projects.  For example, I have some plans to make an Avenue Pad 6 clone kit so you can take whatever 6 button controller you want from other consoles (or arcade parts) and solder this chip/PCB to it, rather than trying to wire up the four logic ICs and other bits found in a real Avenue Pad 6.  (In fact, that design is also basically ready to go -- it's been simulated, but I just need an excuse to pull the trigger and order parts, etc.)  It might be a little pricey too... trying to keep the cost around $10 for that, but I don't know that it's gonna happen, especially because sourcing the 8-pin DIN cables for TG16 for a reasonable price is difficult (I've found a source for the mini-DINs used on PCE though).

I also plan on making a full-blown Kisado clone with some added functionality, which I'm not sure I should really discuss yet (partly because I don't want to get hopes up, and partly because I don't want to spoil any surprise)   The biggest obstacle on that right now is designing it so that it has the feel of a professional product.  That HuCard connector is really a pain in terms of finding a suitable connector that looks clean in the design, but also doesn't scratch the hell out of the contacts.  I've already gone through a number of iterations, and my poor Susa-no-oh and Ballistix HuCards probably can't take too much more punishment   So I'm guessing it'll involve cutting up PCI connectors in the end...

[esteban]

I would buy 1-2 simply to support the cause.

Lots of new forum members ask questions about hardware...it gets complicated quickly. Chopsado has always been a very affordable option for folks with TG-16/DUO...


HOMEWORK: what is the minimum amount of $$$ you'd need to generate (from existing forum members) to make it financially feasible for you? A bunch of us would like to see this project move forward...assuming the product is of at least the same quality and reliability as original Le Chop.

 

[ishiyakazuo]

I think we're pretty close to there, based on the feedback I'm getting.  I have high confidence that if the people who positively answered the poll, plus a few others here and there buy a few each, that I'd at least break even.  Plus I'd like a few for myself, so it should work out.

I hope to order them by the end this week (want to do a few tweaks to the layout), and they quote a 4 week lead time, so I'm thinking that they'll be here by mid-January at the latest.  Trying to get a bunch of PCBs ordered before board houses shut down at the end of the year...

On another note, Chop5 has asked me to come up with my own name for them, and I am going to go with TurboPoser for now, for a few reasons:
1) It's kinda funny
2) It's an interposer board between the HuCard and the unit that only works for TurboGrafx consoles.
3) I didn't really want to refer to the Kisado if I didn't have to.
But it's not final... I'm totally open to other names.

[ishiyakazuo]

Small update: I've shipped off the design (and my money) to the board house.  Assuming they don't tell me that I did something stupid and/or can't make the design, they should be here some time in January.  I should hear back in a few days if there's a problem... let's hope it all goes smoothly!

[MotherGunner]

I don't need one.  I want one.  Good luck man!  Hopefully you can share some pics?

[ishiyakazuo]

I don't need one.  I want one.  Good luck man!  Hopefully you can share some pics?

The intent was that I would indeed post photos of them, as well as some how-to video showing it working, but it looks like that's not likely to happen now...

So, I've got some bad news.  Got a reply back from the board house saying that, while the design could be made, they don't allow panelized designs for prototype runs.  As I was asking for 10 "panels" with 16 on a panel, to keep pricing low, I think this is dead in the water.  No one is going to want to spend over $10 per on these things, so I have gone back to them and said that either it gets made this way, or I'm canceling the order.  Hopefully they aren't stupid and prefer money over no money, as I tried to make it clear to them that those were the alternatives.  I'm already looking for other board houses that'll do FPC.

I'd just like to say that while I am really disappointed by this, I am more disappointed that I may have gotten the hopes up for many of you that this can be made a reality.  I'm now far less sure of that than I was when I started.  I really was excited to make something really special, but I am thinking that's going to be far less likely from a board house I don't know.  I hope that, if this doesn't happen, that you will all accept my apology for failing to get it over the finish line.

[ishiyakazuo]

I've attached a picture of the board layout, as it seemed that a number of people were interested in what this looks like.  I was going to wait until physical flex boards were in hand, but I'm not sure when that will be now, so I might as well show you this instead...

Just know that I haven't given up on this yet.  I am looking at other PCB fabs out there, but I fear:
(a) they won't give me as good of a price and
(b) they won't be as high of a quality (but then again, I haven't had FPCs done at the original outfit either, just PCBs, so maybe that's not issue for them too).

Regardless, I am looking for places that will allow me to honor my original pricing ($4 each, 10 for $30).  I'm willing to spend a little more on my end and not pass that on to you guys, if it means this gets done.

However, there are various issues I have to deal with regarding timing of this:
(a) I need to get my money back from the original fab first, as they have a pre-pay policy...
(b) I need to find a suitable fab
(c) I haven't mentioned this before -- it was supposed to be a surprise... I was going to get them in black so that they'd be less conspicuous over the HuCard's PCB area, but very few places I've found do them in black
(d) I might need to settle for a very small run that works.

So, the moral of the story (for me, anyway) is that I'm not gonna spill any more details about projects I'm working on until I have the things in hand and at least mostly working.  It's frustrating for me to make a commitment I find out that I can't keep, and so I'd rather not say more about things I'm doing until there are pics/vids of me using the thing.

[ishiyakazuo]

Update #3: I've been back and forth with the original board house about my options, and they've agreed to make the design for an extra fee.  The fee is not cheap, but it's probably better than finding another place to do it with all of the requirements I have for them.
Even with the new fees tacked on, I am sure that I can still sell them for the price I was asking before -- I just need to sell more of them to break even, so this new fee they're sticking me with doesn't really affect things other than there being a delay, and that I will likely have to be a little less flexible on coming down on price, etc., at least until I am close to breaking even.  I am still haggling on the price a bit -- I told them that this may be the first run of multiple, so if I do get enough requests to make a second batch, we can do that, but as it stands (i.e. at this price), a second batch is looking less likely.
In any case, I am thrilled that it now looks like this WILL be happening, even if it costs more than I originally expected.  I'll try to get all of that stuff settled before I start posting my personal drama next time...

[esteban]

It is an XMAS miracle. 

As I said, I'll support this simply to make it happen (I.e. for you to hopefully recoup costs).

[roflmao]

Huzzah!  While I may not pick any up initially (finances are pretty much nil at the moment) I will pick up one, or more, in the future.

[ishiyakazuo]

Well, the order is final now (finally), so now it's time to play The Waiting Game(TM).
In my experience, it's usually about 3 weeks for standard turn-around time, but with flex boards, I'm not really sure how long it'll take.  They quote an extra week for them, so I'm hoping by Jan. 15 I'll see them.
Thanks to all of you for the kind words -- it's been interesting making this happen.

Now, on a related note, I'm announcing a raffle!
See the original post for details!

[TheClash603]

Glad everything worked out for you.

This seems like the kind of thing that will fly off the shelf, considering the cost of alternatives right now!

Raffle is a cool idea too!

[esteban]

Glad everything worked out for you.

This seems like the kind of thing that will fly off the shelf, considering the cost of alternatives right now!

Raffle is a cool idea too!

I concur.

Pretty awesome, I hope this is the beginning, with more projects to come.

 

[ishiyakazuo]

Oh, they will, regardless of how this goes, I think
I'm already working on my "one-chip" Avenue Pad 6 clone (design is basically done, just needs to be made and tested), and I have a few more in the pipeline.  My most ambitious ones will require a lot of effort on my part, but I think I have them moving along well, so I'm hopeful to have a couple more available to people by end of Q1 2014.