custom neo geo joystick help

[arcwyvern]

so, right out of the gate, my only experience thus far in joystick modding has been customizing a hrap3 with sanwa buttons and plexi-art...  i'm green as grass.

anyway, i recently bought an AES (truly a nerd life goal accomplished) and i want to make a custom joystick. Based on the research i've done, there is no step-by-step guide anywhere on the internet that i've found to do this but i have deduced a few things.  please correct me and/or provide any help as i think this is going to be pretty easy.

1. the neo controller is basically a d-sub 15pin cable, buttons, and a joystick. since there is no encoder needed does that mean no donor pcb needed?

2. according to the neo pinout, pins 9 and 4 both go to to the D button but only pin 4 is necessary?

3. for grounding, (assuming no donor pcb is needed) a connection is daisy chained throughout the controller at ground points?

I am planning on using a sanwa jlf stick and sanwa buttons and would like to use quickconnects to minimize soldering, if possible.
sorry for the totally noob nature of this post and i will be extremely appreciative of any help i get.

[albino_vulpix]

1. the neo controller is basically a d-sub 15pin cable, buttons, and a joystick. since there is no encoder needed does that mean no donor pcb needed?

Correct, no donor needed.

2. according to the neo pinout, pins 9 and 4 both go to to the D button but only pin 4 is necessary?

Yes. In the controller (the originals at least), pins 9 and 4 are both wired to the D button. The console only reads the input from pin 4.

3. for grounding, (assuming no donor pcb is needed) a connection is daisy chained throughout the controller at ground points?

Yes, the buttons all share a common ground. That is to say, one side of each button is connected to the same ground point.

From a modding point of view, the NeoGeo joystick interface is excellent because of this simplicity. You'll only need wires and buttons to have a working controller!

[Frank_fjs]

1. the neo controller is basically a d-sub 15pin cable, buttons, and a joystick. since there is no encoder needed does that mean no donor pcb needed?

That's correct. It's an arcade style joystick, just microswitches, some wiring and quick connects involved here. Wiring the DB15 Female Connector is probably the hardest part, and if you can't solder simply get a crimp connector.

2. according to the neo pinout, pins 9 and 4 both go to to the D button but only pin 4 is necessary?

Also correct. Only 1 game is known to use pin 9, and it's some rare crappy mahjong game that you will never play.

3. for grounding, (assuming no donor pcb is needed) a connection is daisy chained throughout the controller at ground points?

Spot on.  You can buy pre-wired ground harnesses to make life easier if you want:



You can also buy single wire with .187 quick connectors attached.



I'd like to direct you to a site that you will find invaluable if you're planning on making home-made joysticks:

http://slagcoin.com/joystick.html

Trust me, take the time to read through it.

Good luck!

[arcwyvern]

Wow. It just seemed to easy to be true. I am ordering all the parts today and will get some wood cut. Thanks for the help guys!

[Hamburglar]

1. the neo controller is basically a d-sub 15pin cable, buttons, and a joystick. since there is no encoder needed does that mean no donor pcb needed?

That's correct. It's an arcade style joystick, just microswitches, some wiring and quick connects involved here. Wiring the DB15 Female Connector is probably the hardest part, and if you can't solder simply get a crimp connector.

The thing about the Neo-geo controller port is that you need deep DB-15 connectors, the regular DB-15 connectors will not work, too short.