Mod in progress: Switchable 4-8-way restrictor

Motaur_Guzzi

Hi all, just want to post my attempt at modding the Sente’s joysticks to be switchable between 4-way and 8-way.

Per one of Tyler’s posts on discord, our Sente’s come with Sanwa JLF joysticks. I was considering swapping them out for Ultimarc’s servo stick or mag-stick plus but then found this this add-on to JLF sticks:

https://thunderstickstudio.com/products/tos-grs-4-to-8-way-restrictor-all-in-one-kit

I also got this item to covert the second stick on the double-wide controller: https://thunderstickstudio.com/products/tos-grs-4-to-8-way-restrictor-extension-kit

When I placed the order I wasn’t sure it would work, but the cost was low so was willing to give it a try. I got the parts today and began the modification. Here is my experience:

Disassembly of the controller was easy- 8 screws. (When you lift off, remember the pinball buttons are still wired)

Removing the existing octagonal restrictor plate was easy.

Installing the new servo-powered restrictor plate was easy. That said, it has extremely little room to fit when the controller is reassembled. I don’t think it touches the bottom sheet metal but will double check later.

As a POC, I wired up the controller board and button then used a portable battery pack for power and it worked!

This is where I need help. I want to tap 5v from the neo-arcade board but can’t find a constant supply. There are 2 sets of pins labeled as 5v/GND but they lower their voltage after 30ish seconds. That voltage drop corresponds to a blue led that turns off.

Can anyone at polycade offer a suggestion as to where I can tap a constant 5v?

Motaur_Guzzi

Update on my switchable 4-way to 8-way joystick restrictor: it works and enjoyed a game of Ms Pac-Man the way it was ment to be played. Lemme catch you up on my experience…

In my last post, I was hunting for constant 5v power. After a suggestion from JesseDS, I looked at my Tron controller and decided to tap the green-labeled pins on the neo-arcade board (see pics from my previous post.) I hacked a spare micro usb cable and attached 4 breakout jumper sockets. Wired all 4 pins and ran the cable to the switcher’s controller board. The blue led on the neo-arcade board stayed on and 5v of power

I ‘thought’ everything was great so completed the installation on player 2’s stick. I also replaced the pinball buttons with the switcher’s double buttons to provide physical control of 4-way or 8-way. (I thought this would be temporary until I could control via software, but more on that later)

Anyway, I put it all back together and plugged it back into the Sente. What happened: 4-way to 8-way switcher worked great! Unfortunately, no buttons or joystick input registered. The controller wasn’t functioning at all!

I had a hunch that the data pins I connect to on the neo-arcade board were causing the problem so I disconnected that portion of my hacked usb cable. I could still draw power, just no data could be sent to/from switcher board.

Put it back together and this time all inputs worked!!! Ms Pac-Man felt good. To switch 4/8, I need to pull out controller and expose the pinball buttons (either side control both sticks). Not horrible, but not my first choice. What I really want is software control but can’t do that because my usb connection is power only. Like JesseDS mentioned, if that usb breakout board is made available I will try hooking up the usb data connections again.

I’ll spend multiple hours playing this weekend and provide an update.

Also posted this message on discord with pics.