PCFX controller hacked to work on PCE.

[grahf]

I saw a fairly new (but yellowed) PCFX pad a few weeks ago for 900 yen (~$10),  and wanted to see what it looked like inside. I've heard rumors that it's the same as a Duo-RX pad minus the turbo switches. Well, it turns out the two pads are nothing alike internally. The PCFX pad uses a single custom IC for controller data, whereas the PCE 6 button pads use a few off-the-shelf ICs. I didn't want to waste it since it was still fresh, so I hacked it 

It's a plain controller, no turbo. The I and VI buttons act as button I. The II and V buttons act as button II. The III button duplicates Select, and IV button duplicates Run. It's sorta like an Avenue 3, except you just choose which row of buttons will suit your game. The bottom row works good with Dracula X (Select = Item Crash). The top row works good with Bloody Wolf (Run = grenade). 

Top row        Run-II-I
Bottom row  Select-II-I





Here is the finished item. You can see the horrible looking piss stain on the top. I think I'll try bleaching it or something 





I used the original location for the cable socket, as well as the cable socket from the donor controller. If I ever need to change the cable in the future, it can be unplugged like normal.




I drilled 16 little holes and fit the IC in the neatest place I could find. (I added a tiny wire post-picture)

[caidek]

Looks good.  I've wondered about the internals on them for awhile too.  Personally I prefer the rx pad.  Just need to locate a few more now:)

[grahf]

Thanks.
I've decided that turbo or six button support are out of the question since I don't want to cram the extra ICs in there. Not to mention I'd rather not sacrifice any more controllers. I DO want to do something with those switches though. They are two position switches, so I'm thinking of two possibilities:
To simply turn the duplicate run and select buttons on or off. This would be pretty easy, and would prevent accidental game resets. Yeah, I've done that.
Or, I could make the switches switch between run or select for buttons III and IV. This wouldn't be hard, but would require a few wires running around.

[esteban]

So, the question now is:

Do you like the PC-FX pad for PCE games?

Also, feel free to send me the FX->PCE pad when you get bored with it

[grahf]

Yeah, it's great. It's comfortable for me and the dpad is perfectly fine. That's why I was wondering if the FX and RX pads use different rubber contact pads.

[esteban]

Yeah, it's great. It's comfortable for me and the dpad is perfectly fine. That's why I was wondering if the FX and RX pads use different rubber contact pads.

Awesome.

I won't say I'm jealous, but I will admit that it is intriguing to use the FX pad on older hardware.

[grahf]

It's become my main controller.  I went ahead and hacked up the switches so that they do something. They select either Run/Select for buttons III and IV. I found that using buttons III, IV, V, VI is a pretty comfortable setup, and lets you get to all the buttons comfortably with one thumb.

I tried bleaching the thing twice with no luck. Once for 12 hours, and again for 24 hours. Nothing! My spare PCE got a damn sight whiter, but the PC-FX pad didn't change a bit. So.... I took sandpaper to it. I sanded off the PC-FX logo (and silkscreening unfortunately)  and the top layer of plastic. Most of the yellow is gone, but not all.

[esteban]

It's become my main controller.  I went ahead and hacked up the switches so that they do something. They select either Run/Select for buttons III and IV. I found that using buttons III, IV, V, VI is a pretty comfortable setup, and lets you get to all the buttons comfortably with one thumb.

I tried bleaching the thing twice with no luck. Once for 12 hours, and again for 24 hours. Nothing! My spare PCE got a damn sight whiter, but the PC-FX pad didn't change a bit. So.... I took sandpaper to it. I sanded off the PC-FX logo (and silkscreening unfortunately)  and the top layer of plastic. Most of the yellow is gone, but not all.

I suspected that you were going to tinker with the controller some more. Sounds like a great pad.

As for the bleaching...I'm surprised it didn't get rid of the nasty. BUT, would I have sanded the poor thing? Heck no!

Well, let me clarify: I would have only sanded if the silkscreening itself was already severely compromised already. Otherwise, I would have left the yellow nasty on pad.

In the world of antiques, grahf, you've committed a major crime by sanding (bleaching) away the "patina" of a well-worn controller.

At this point, you should sand off the raised PC-FX logo. Then, etch a PCE (or TG-16) logo in its place.

Chemical or mechanical etching will do, as far as I am concerned .

I'm not joking.

PC-Frankenpad, here we come...

[Vecanti]

I tried bleaching the thing twice with no luck. Once for 12 hours, and again for 24 hours. Nothing! My spare PCE got a damn sight whiter, but the PC-FX pad didn't change a bit. So.... I took sandpaper to it. I sanded off the PC-FX logo (and silkscreening unfortunately)  and the top layer of plastic. Most of the yellow is gone, but not all.

“Retr0bright”
http://retr0bright.wikispaces.com/