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Revising the Jaguar controller d-pad


Bratwurst

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I've spent months fussing over this as an alternative to the complicated thumbstick mechanism I came up with a while ago. The problem (with the 6 button controllers at least) seems to be an issue of pivot and clearance. I have come up with new designs that fit both the 6-button controllers and the 3-button controllers with gray keypad, which makes pressing directions easier:

 

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Original d-pad design for comparison, new d-pad and new thumbstick pieces.

 

qvGKD62.jpg

 

hBawsDX.jpg

 

Installation is easy provided you're comfortable with a screwdriver. Take the old d-pad out and put the new part in.

 

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To fit in the 3-button gray keypad controller you have to unscrew a red plastic pivot post from the upper PCB.

 

What do you gentlemen think of a price of $8 for either the new d-pad or the thumbstick plus shipping? I could provide them in red or black, either style. The only concern I have is I had to remove the center pivot post (screwed into the 3-button PCB, molded into the 6-button d-pad) in order for this design to work, so you can press all four directions at once if you mash it down hard like a big button. I haven't encountered any issues with this in testing yet.

 

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25 minutes ago, grips03 said:

Is the red one in the center shorter than the one on the right?

 

The stock d-pad on the black keypad button controller is the worse.  Any d-pad option for that controller?

I took a profile picture of the mechanical thumbstick I came up with a few years ago, and then the newly designed pieces for comparison. The new thumbstick piece is set lower than the thumbstick mechanism that came before it, and the d-pad is even lower than that, protruding from the top shell of the controller by maybe a quarter of an inch. If you are familiar with the Sega Saturn controller's d-pad it behaves a bit like that.

 

I would like to try designing something for the black keypad controller but the ones I got were altered. Someone had shoved a knife or something inside and gouged out plastic presumably to make the directionals 'easier' to press but it didn't improve anything. I wound up returning those. I do not know if this was a 'fix' that someone at Atari resorted to or if it was Best Electronics. If someone can source me a black keypad controller that hasn't been modified in this way I'll buy it from them and look further into it.

 

Lt2luHp.jpg

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12 minutes ago, WilcoL said:

How does the one-piece thumb stick compare to the mechanical one? I’m very interested in getting the new thumb stick as a replacement in case my mechanical one would break. 

They are two different styles. The mechanical stick is smoother and offers less restriction to the thumb for rapid shifting of direction, circular motions are easier, potentially less fatigue over time. Some of the internal parts are actually lubricated with a stable non-migrating industrial grade silicone grease. If yours ever breaks and I'm still alive, you could send it to me and I'd fix it for the cost of materials and postage. :P

 

The one-piece is a simple drop-in improvement to the original d-pad. A controller modified with the mechanical stick is no longer compatible with this one-piece, but an unmodified 6-button would be. The same properties of a conductive membrane application are at play, but they are easier to execute. I have found the conductive pads themselves sometimes require a mild cleaning with a swab of isopropyl alcohol to register reliably but this alone doesn't resolve the original d-pad's stiffness.

 

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Thank you for the response and the lifetime warranty! 
 

I wasn’t planning on replacing the mechanical thumb stick with the one-piece stick if it would ever break, but I do have another pro controller with a bit of a wonky d-pad, so I’d just replace that one. I’m still very interested as I’d like to fix that controller. 

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On 5/1/2021 at 9:01 AM, Bratwurst said:

....

The only concern I have is I had to remove the center pivot post (screwed into the 3-button PCB, molded into the 6-button d-pad) in order for this design to work, so you can press all four directions at once if you mash it down hard like a big button. I haven't encountered any issues with this in testing yet.

 

Does it mean in the 6 btn ctrl we have to "sand it down" aka permanent mod ?

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