Author Topic: My new mod - Part 1 & 2 Up!  (Read 342 times)

cjameslv

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My new mod - Part 1 & 2 Up!
« on: January 20, 2015, 07:09:57 AM »
Preview, lol well everyone guessed what is was  :wink::



A quick blurb:
This f*ckin NES Advantage...it's a must have for shmups. What i like...adjustable turbo, the overall look.
What i don't like...everything else. Stick and buttons are soft due to rubber pads instead of micro-switches.
I tried a few different types of switches until i settled on the Sanwa's. I been thinking about doing this forever
but im not ben heck and this mod is not for the feint of heart. As far as i know and searched online, this is
the first microswitch NES Advantage mod. If i'm wrong..f*ck it, here it is anyway.

I don't recommend this mod to anyone who doesn't have a shit ton of experience modding under their belt.
If you ignore this message and wish to push ahead, i'll hold your hand and walk through this hellbent mod with you. Let's go then...

Part 1: The Buttons & Main PCB

Due to huge size constraints, standard arcade buttons are out. This lead me to 30mm Sanwa's. The housing for these is too big as well. Take these apart and you end up with this:


Next we will need to install this into the main pcb which sits under the bezel.
Shit gets real here...
no going back...
i warned you...
k fine well time to drill the pcb and then file it or dremel (i chose dremel for time) it into a rectangle (go slow and enlarge it slowy and try to be as straight on sides as possible, as the switch will snap into the board). You will want to drill a pilot hole first right in the center of the button pad contacts then use a larger drill bit. Then remember the sanwa button you took apart, well center the bottom of the switch holder over the hole and trace the rectangle with a fine point marker or pen etc.

Take your time make sure its centered as this will need to sit centered for the button to press down on, and slide over the neck of the sanwa button (more on that later). You should have something much like this:




Now one of the switches (the one that sits closer to front. button B) will need to be slightly modified to fit and not hit the bottom plate. You will need to cut off the plastic around the pin with out cutting the metal. This will need to be about 1/8" lower than the other side. Done will look like this:


With that cluster f*ck done, we get a small break and get to solder the traces we cut. This is straight forward. Check your continuity with an audible multimeter as this makes life easier. So now we are here:


Now time for the buttons. I recommend a dremel here and no idea how else you can get this part done otherwise. You will need to dremel out a rectangle into the bottom of the red A & B button centers. Take care not to remove too much. Watch your depth. It should slide right over the top and rest on the base of the white button. Once done you will end up with this:





At this point you may hot glue the sides of the switch assy if you want and reassemble the main pcb to the top of the bezel.


Part 2: (The Joystick)

Once you have everything fitted, take everything out of the top bezel. Remove all the joystick mounting posts and sand (i used a small power sander) everything flat and even with the bezel. Sand around the area as well since you will need a good surface to epoxy the switch housing later.


The joystick will need serious modding and i leave it up to you here. I modded mine by removing alot of the housing, screwing the micro-switches into the housing (8x4-40mm screws). I had to change the out parts from a few different arcade joysticks i had laying around. Sand a few plastic pieces to fit, monkey with shit until everything fit and worked smoothly....This took days. I tried a few different ideas (see my pics a few posts down) and finally found one that worked.  I ended up having to sand small areas of 2x switches so the bolts sat flush with switch.


Epoxy the joystick housing to the bezel (i used 5min epoxy and let it sit for a few hours before handling). Then solder it all up.


If all is well you will be able to bolt in the plate. You will need to pull off the small triangle brace before putting it all together (i used a beefy set of pliers and twisted each end off). **Note: The metal plate will slightly recess into the plastic around the edges.



Finally done. Which looks better, the red larger balltop or the original black balltop?




What a huge difference this is! What a huge amount of f*cking work this was. I'm gonna go play lots of Star Soldier tonight and make a video for you guys!
« Last Edit: January 23, 2015, 12:32:13 PM by cjameslv »

esteban

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Re: My new mod (in progress)
« Reply #1 on: January 20, 2015, 07:36:24 AM »
Are you putting TurboStick internals into NES Advantage?
  |    | 

DragonmasterDan

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Re: My new mod (in progress)
« Reply #2 on: January 20, 2015, 07:41:06 AM »
Are you putting TurboStick internals into NES Advantage?

I know tggodfrey was looking into doing a NES advantage mod.
--DragonmasterDan

ProfessorProfessorson

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Re: My new mod (in progress)
« Reply #3 on: January 20, 2015, 07:42:23 AM »
Looks like he is swapping out the shit buttons on the Advantage and replacing them with legit push buttons, amongst other things.

cjameslv

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Re: My new mod - Part 1 Up!
« Reply #4 on: January 20, 2015, 09:18:13 AM »
Updated this Part 1.

cjameslv

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Re: My new mod (in progress)
« Reply #5 on: January 20, 2015, 09:24:00 AM »
NEC Advantage!

Ha, no if it was for our beloved obey i would put it under the turbo mod section :wink:

cjameslv

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Re: My new mod - Part 1 Up!
« Reply #6 on: January 21, 2015, 07:21:21 AM »
Well since tuesday i been working on a joystick idea. I've built a few custom setups to hold & mount the switches. They worked but still ran into clearence issues or didnt move smoothly enough. So instead of making an enclosure i decided to heavily modify an existing frame and shrink it about 30% and modify the shaft. You can see the final product below.


This was one of my 90% successful creations lol but it suffered from not gliding to each position smoothly which i think was due to lack of the 1/2 moon pivot sitting above a normal joystick. Too bad as it was the thinnest of them all allowing a lot of extra room.


I'm currently waiting on the epoxy to dry that is holding the main chassis to the bezel. Once done, with this setup i will still be able to change the micro-switches or joystick shaft etc. Part 2 should be ready with a video by friday if all goes well.
 

Desh

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Re: My new mod - Part 1 Up!
« Reply #7 on: January 21, 2015, 07:25:26 AM »
Nice!  The only controller hack I've done is using a USB keyboard's guts and an NES controller's circuit board as the switch point, when I built a USB NES controller for emulation purposes.  I want to do another one one of these days with a built in flash drive.  That way the emulator and full library can be mobile anywhere you take the controller.

ClodBuster

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Re: My new mod - Part 1 Up!
« Reply #8 on: January 21, 2015, 07:27:38 AM »
You are amazing. Reminds me I've got to dust off that SNES JB King stick I got for birthday last year, investing in an adaptor for PCE and start playing some shooters.

They tried to make me do a recap
I said no, no, no

EvilEvoIX

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Re: My new mod - Part 1 Up!
« Reply #9 on: January 21, 2015, 08:12:26 AM »
Great work always improving ones gaming experience!


Quote from: ProfessorProfessorson
I already dropped him a message on there and he did not reply back, so f*ck him, and his cunt wife.

cjameslv

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Re: My new mod - Part 1 & 2 Up!
« Reply #10 on: January 21, 2015, 12:57:27 PM »
Part 2 is up  :dance:

cr8zykuban0

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Re: My new mod - Part 1 & 2 Up!
« Reply #11 on: January 24, 2015, 06:13:41 PM »
dude, that is f*cking bad ass! you should put nec advantage on the stick. man, you always do some awesome work! hats off to your excellent work sir!