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Modding console controller; getting noise

edgley

Aug 19, 2011
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Howdy,

I am embarking on making a cockpit for the driving game GT3 on the PS3.

I have bought an arcade stick controller that I have removed the standard buttons and have mounted my own to.

Some of the buttons are traditional arcade buttons, but some are more in keeping with the interior of a car; they are all momentary switches.

The new arcade buttons all work fine. The problem is with the fancy ones. I am getting phantom presses of the buttons. For example, the horn keeps going, but only very faintly. I used CAT5 to extend the distance from the button to the PCB, length is about 12", which is about twice as long as the wire I used to extend the distance for the arcade buttons.

I removed the wire and found that just by holding it I could cause the horn to go off.
I am presuming that I need to put a resistor to link the open side of the switch to ground.

My questions is, presuming I am correct, what value resistor do I need to use please?

If anyone is interested, the details of the build can be found here:
http://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=218357

Many thanks,
Simon.
 
Last edited:

Resqueline

Jul 31, 2009
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On the controller board the switches seems to be grounding separate control wires to the chip, and that there are provisions for mounting SMD pull-up resistors.
The wires are probably picking up (mains) noise. I suggest you try soldering 10k/ 3.3k/ or 1k resistors in those places (between +5V? & each switch).
 

davelectronic

Dec 13, 2010
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Game console

Wow i looked at your link, oh by the way i don't have the answer for the controller problem sorry, any way scrolling down i thought its going to be a tardis, Doctor who's time machine.

On looking closer its really very good well done on the build design, iam not a gamer they wind me up and i bung it out the window, nice work though. Dave. PS hope you get it soughted. :)
 

edgley

Aug 19, 2011
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Resqueline,

The switches on the green daughterboard seem to share the same ground, the wire at the end with the white line.

There is no mains involved with this controller, tis all USB powered. Do you mean adding the resistor to link the two sides of the switch together?

Thanks.

Dave,
Cheers for the kind words, if you look closely enough there is a K9 in the background of one of the photos...
 

Resqueline

Jul 31, 2009
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Yes, there's a common ground for all the switches. I count free pads for 21 SMD resistors.
The resistors don't connect to ground, but to +5V (I think the thick trace going around is +5V).
Mains hum is everywhere, even if a unit should happen to be running on batteries, and long wires promotes pickup.
 

edgley

Aug 19, 2011
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I'm trying to not sound dumb, I am just still not too sure what I need to do.

DSC_6681PCB.jpg


I am assuming that the free pads you mention are the brown areas with the small white text next to them; if I have to solder resistors across them I am screwed. No way I am that good.

Now I can figure out what side of the switch has the 5v, as I can measure against the ground wire in the black bunch at the top. Once I have found the 5v side do I then connected that to ground via the resistor value you mentioned?

Hold on, I have just realised that if I do what I have just written all I am doing is wiring a resistor across the two switch poles.

Sorry I don't get it; yet :)
 

Resqueline

Jul 31, 2009
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Hehe, yes, so for the third time; the resistors don't go to ground (that's where the switch goes, and it would defeat the switch action).
They go between the (narrow) switch signal track and the +5V track. If you follow the tracks around you'll see this.
The fine mesh pattern is ground, and as you see all switches are connected to this. Now, forget about the ground.
The brown areas you refer to are bare copper pads. You don't need to solder to these exact pads, just anywhere along that track.
The (wide) +5V track has a jumper wire on the other side of R15 & R16. You should be able to solder a wire to this.
Then you solder resistor(s) between that wire and in together with the switch signal wire(s). There seems to be room.
 

edgley

Aug 19, 2011
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Right, so what I have to do is solder a wire to ground... ;)

So hoping I have this right, don't want to look even more dumb.

DSC_6681PCB2.jpg


From your last two lines I think (Hope / Pray) that I have to solder a wire to either of the red spots, then connect, via a resistor, to the blue spots on the switches.

(fingers crossed)

Thanks again,
simon.
 

Resqueline

Jul 31, 2009
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Hehehe.. :D
Yep, connecting to those dots should do the trick - afaik.. :)
I just noticed and can just about make out that R11 & R14 are installed. Try to read their value.
There should be a 3-digit number on them that tells the resistance they're using for these pull-ups.
 

edgley

Aug 19, 2011
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YES!!!!!
Will have a look at the number tomorrow when I take it all apart again.

Must admit that I am tempted just to shorten the wires on the buttons that are giving problems; well, at least try that first :)
 
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