Retro-Con Joystick Converted to Digital
Background
A fair while ago now one of our R&D Team members replicashooter thought up a fantastic mod for the PSP, a two-potentiometer analog stick under the PSP faceplate in the place of the D-Pad. Joesnose jumped strait into it using the joystick from a Madcatz Retro Con. A joystick thinner then the standard ones found in dual-shock controllers etc with the potentiometers inside it so its nice and square rather then the bizarre shape external potentiometers create, he came close but experienced some difficulties which we hope he overcame.
In more recent times F00f00 gave it another crack and succeeded, heres the video.
[youtube=425,350]esjgvKm0fwk[/youtube]
Using it normally in the PSP is all very well as you just need to jumper it in the way Ben Heckerdorn showed here:
But what if you wanted to use it in a digital device??!? This is where the tutorial begins, the goal of this tutorial is to disassemble the retro-con analog stick and mod the potentiometers to make it into a digital stick for use with other devices past the PSP left hand side.
The Tutorial
You Will Require
*A HOT soldering iron
*De-soldering Braid
OR
*De-soldering Pump
*Stanley Trimmer/X-Acto Knife/Scalpel
*Thin Flat headed Screw Driver
1) Open your retro-con as hampchapman outlines here:
https://www.acidmods.com/forum/index.php?topic=12691.msg96063#msg960632) Locate the Joysticks
3) Flip over the PCB and Desolder the following points using a pump or braid
4) Once you have done this stick your flat head screw driver under each corner and GENTLY lever it up and it will pop out
5) Pull it out and you can see the light!!!
6) In each corner you should see two metallic tabs, one that was soldered to the PCB and one that is holding the white bottom down
7) Using your screw driver push the vertical one outward slightly
8) Then get your screwdriver under the securing tab and push it up and outwards using the gap you created in step 7, dont bend it too much as the metal will perish and snap and you'll have to find another way of holding it together.
9) Here it is once all this is done, ensure all pins are facing away from the center
10) Now wedge your screw driver in the gap you have created in each corner and as with the removal gently lever the white bottom DOWN
11a) Heres how the bottom looks inside, the black traces on two of the sides is what we will be modding
11b) And the top, be sure to put the spring somewhere safe, other wise it wont work as a stick very well anymore, as the pic states do not bend the metal bits as they are crucial to the joysticks function as wel, in fact its probably best to avoid them altogether
12) If you wish clean the silicon grease of the 4 black traces in the bottom do so with a cotton tip or similar
13) Now, we have to cut the trace nearest the centre on both of the sides that have traces, you want an incision no wider then the centre pin of the pot but not thinner then the circles in the centre for a comparison, whenever i mod joysticks i mark the cut first by gently applying pressure and drawing a line with my stanley knife ,
14) The traces should look something like this when cut, THATS THE MODDING DONE
15a) To reassemble take the top part of the shell.....
15b) And place the white disc in the space between the bars and the springs SMALL end of the spring on top of that
16) To reassemble simple grab the bottom part and align the circle in the bottom with the LARGE end of the springand push them together.
17) AND THATS IT, YOUR DONE
The Proof Of Concept
It may appear that when i push down it goes left, thats because i hooked it up to the left input of the DS Lite D-Pad
