Homemade Pop'n Questions

Camerone · 07-21-2006, 11:27 PM

I couldn't find a thread that answered my questions, but please redirect me if there is one. I've been thinking about making an arcade sized controller, but I don't wanna make my final decision before I have most of the details ironed out.

1. I have a nice little graph of IIDX arcade measurements, is there a counterpart for a Pop'n controller?

2. I assume the buttons can be bought (with LED's, perhaps?), could someone recommend an online retailer with whom they've gotten good results?

FrozenHalo · 07-24-2006, 01:35 AM

Well, heres some info.

For LEDs I'd say superbrightleds.com

As for your buttons...

CoinOpExpress
or
WICO

Are your best choices.

I prefer the feel of Coinop.

Hortence:The Muleface Mod · 07-24-2006, 09:59 AM

When ordering LEDs, make sure to get a set of both Amber and White for your yellow buttons. The Amber lights are a bit too orange, but the White are a little washed out, so it's best to have both so you can decide which extreme you prefer.

seiya256 · 07-24-2006, 12:50 PM

Wico is out of business from what I understand. The web page has just never been removed. Happ also sells the buttons, but from what I understand, their newer lampholders are crap and buttons don't feel as good as the CoinOp Express ones. The problem with the CoinOp Express buttons is the ginormous minimum order quantity they require. LEDs do not come standard with the buttons, but the lamholders do come attached. SuperBrightLEDs.com is a good source for LEDs, but I haven't really looked around for other sources so there may be better.

DumpsterKeeper · 07-24-2006, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seiya256

The problem with the CoinOp Express buttons is the ginormous minimum order quantity they require. LEDs do not come standard with the buttons, but the lamholders do come attached. SuperBrightLEDs.com is a good source for LEDs, but I haven't really looked around for other sources so there may be better.

If someone contacts me, I do sell Pop'n button sets (and I can sell you LEDs also if I have enough in stock for my current orders and to fill a parts request). If anyone is interested, send me an email with something along the lines of "Pop'n Buttons".

Camerone · 07-26-2006, 09:06 PM

What about some arcade size measurements?

Also, about the board, is my best bet simply gutting a mini-size controller?

Hortence:The Muleface Mod · 07-26-2006, 10:32 PM

Not at all. There's a simple chart as to what button contacts to use from a PS1 controller board (which I uh don't have on me at the moment), and the measurements are pretty simple.

Buttons horizontally spaced 5.5" apart from center to center, top row is 5.5" away from the bottom row center to center, and the top row's buttons are horizontally spaced in between each button on the bottom row. Very easy to map out on your own, and my wording sucks but if you know what it generally looks like you can figure it out.

FoxFireX · 07-26-2006, 10:35 PM

It's not really necessary to sacrifice a mini for your board. Any vanilla PSX (non-analog) controller will do nicely. The fewer features, the better; you'll have less trouble if there's no turbo or such. Now, you certainly could use a mini, but it seems like a waste to me. To make the controller register automatically as a Pop'n controller, you'll need to solder the left, down, and right direction buttons to be permanently shorted, then connect the buttons as in this diagram:

(Image stolen from http://www.shapermc.com/popn/popnasc.html)

wzardd · 07-29-2006, 03:06 PM

does anyone have any experience about happ pop'n buttons? because it seems like the only place for me to order those.

FoxFireX · 07-29-2006, 07:27 PM

I used Happs in my controller. Bear in mind that I'm not good enough to judge the quality of the buttons, or how hard you have to press them, or such. I did hear, though, that recent Happs have to be pressed down too far to complete top tier songs. So, I did a two part modification. One, I added a bit of felt inside the button to cut down noise. Two, I glued tiny squares of posterboard to the part of the plunger that strikes the microswitch. It's now a lot more sensitive than it was. Good enough for the really tough stuff? No idea. Good enough to make me blame myself for my failures instead of the controller? Yeah.

By the way, if you do get them, be very careful when removing the microswitch. It may use Happs new "Posilock", I think it's called. For that, instead of rocking the switch you, you actually twist it, then pull it out. Be gentle, and you should be able to tell what kind it is without breaking it. Like I did.

Shito · 08-02-2006, 03:46 PM

anyone have the color reference for the arcade style? i want to make this:

edit:is there any website that i can buy the pushbuttons using brazilian real?

pretty2tuff · 08-03-2006, 10:32 AM

hey shito.. that pop'n asc is awesome! i wanted to do the graphic like that... but i wouldn't know where to get the graphic from or i'd thought it was too complicated. but yeah, i'm probably going to make mines just plain black, with a big pop'n logo over it lols...

by the way.. does anyone know how to paint their asc like really good so it doesn't look like it was actually painted (like ransai's.. by looking at their pics, i can tell its painted really good lol) ok thanks

we should get an official homemade topic again

Shito · 08-03-2006, 01:35 PM

i'm only need buy the buttons, it's hard to find those things here

(i'm making a mini controller so i will use tiny buttons)

FoxFireX · 08-03-2006, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pretty2tuff

we should get an official homemade topic again

We sort of had one, but then this thread started up instead of bumping it...

Camerone · 08-03-2006, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Camerone

I couldn't find a thread that answered my questions, but please redirect me if there is one...

My bad, I did at least look for one before I started a new thread ;p