A totally new Remote Control mod!
 

Hiya!

I just want to post a picture of our new RC mod! A friend came up with the idea for this mod and he did all the soldering as well (Thanks Alex!!!).

http://www.got-skillz.com/Content/Images/RCMod01.jpg

Basically 5 cables of a 9-pin-Joystick port (remember the old Commodore C64, Amiga or Atari ST?) are soldered to the microswitches of the RC.

http://www.got-skillz.com/Content/Images/RCMod04.jpg

It works extremely well! You´ve got far more control! Shorter steering or braking impulses are possible now!!

Here´s a closeup of the RC with the soldering points highlighted:
http://www.got-skillz.com/Content/Images/RCMod05.jpg

Again, thanks to Alex, the soldering genius!

For more about us, our track, our mods and our cars, visit our website - http://www.got-skillz.com

Greetings from Germany!
Doctor Drift & Initial T.

You can also use the fire button for boost!!!

can anyone creat a soft-ware for this controller ?

that is freaking amazing. due to my complete lack of soldering experience, i'll never do the great mods like the solid antenna - but to go to the joystick port, that's insane!

Absolutely Brilliant! Big props to you and your friend Doc. :)

jeez maan thats sweet
u are blowin me away with your mods, first was the track, now new controllers...

but hows the range on that?

OMFG!!! I have to say that is one of the coolest things i have ever seen.

WOW
 

hey thats one of the best controller mods ive ever seen dude you need to send that to qfm well time to get out an atari controller

Hiya! :)

@d7onr8:
Oh, I hadn´s seen this site or the mod before! If I´d seen it before, at least I´d chosen a different title for this thread.

@Qralius:
No, it´s digital. Basically, the circuits of the RC-board are closed by the microswitches of the Joystick instead of the microswitches of the RC. You can use all digital 9-pin-Joysticks, like Competition Pro (the one I´ve connected to the RC), old Atari Joysticks or C64 Joysticks. You might try eBay, if you don´t have a old Joystick laying around somewhere.

@blacksabbath:
Well, like d7onr8 said, someone has done it before. I don´t want to take credit for something, that isn´t new.

@all repliers:
Thanks for all your compliments! I´ll forward them to my friend!! He´ll appreciate them for sure!!!

Greetings from Germany!
Doctor Drift & Initial T. (and Alex)

thats pretty cool doc, but instead of wiring the port into the existing controller, wouldn't it be easier to take the joystick apart and put the circuit board from the controller directly in the bottom of the joystick, and wire it directly, and then just add an antenna out one side?

I smell a move to bit science- ifyouexplain the mod in detail-awesome again.

Hey, I guess it was Bit Science you smelled! :D

Instructions
 

Hiya!

Thanks for moving this thread into the Bit Science section!

For the modification, you need a soldering iron, a screwdriver to open the RC, and a cable with a DB9 male connector.
For my RC mod, we took the cable with the connector from an old DB9 extension cable.

Well, to display how the connector is soldered to the microswitches of the RC, I took apart my RC again, as well as the port-connector and took a picture: I colored the used pins of the connector to match them with color of the cables:
http://www.derstevie.de/BitChar-G_RC-Mod_05.jpg (220 kb)

The colors of other DB9 cables may vary, so make sure to solder the right cables to the RC-microswitches!

I don´t have a Booster car (yet), but If the boost button of the RC uses a microswitch as well, you can solder it to the appropriate pin of the connector and use the fire button of the joystick.

Greetings from Germany!
Doctor Drift & Initial T.

Gasping for air! That's mint! Got me in the mood to go find my Com 64 that's in storage.

Hiya!

@ken60y:
Yes, you can still use the RC. You don´t even have to unplug the Joystick.
I used an 9-pin extension cable for the mod, so of course all 9-pins are extended by the cable, whether they are needed or not. The Joystick uses 6 pins: 4 pins for the directions, 1 for the fire button and 1 ground. Because I don´t have a booster car, I don´t need the fire button.

Greetings from Germany!
Doctor Drift

koo controller....i have a custom remote as well..i have PS2 joysticks instead of bottuns on my bit controller

Definatly nice!!! :) Im going to have to dig the atari out of the closet and give this mod a shot! :D

Very nice, but on my BitChar-G I did it my way. I used two screw pins from a serial cable. Works also!

I was pondering using a joystick to see if I could try and control 2 cars at once ;) one in each hand hehe, should be quite a challenge...

any way, some joysticks are big enough, that you could probly get away with puting the bit TX circut inside the joystic casing.. and just stick the antenna out of the joystick... would need tomove the buttons around and stuff though...

Is there A way to use a usb port instead?

RE: USB
No, not without some crazy hardware to go between the car and controller... Even then I think it would require more power...

great mod...question for thinkers
 

This is a great mod...thanks.

Just a question...there was mention of analog/digital before...anyone think of taking an analog joystick, placing a 555 IC between it and the controller contact, to see if you could pulse the current to control speed/steering?

Also...would I be able to cannabalize let's say, a Nintendo or Playstation game controller, and use those joysticks, since they are smaller?

:D whered u get that blue body it niiccee

that is probably the sweetest controller mod i think i have ever seen!!!:eek: :eek:

pretty cool. I would probably do it, but i dont like the look of the cord hanging out of the top of the remote, it kind of make it look taky, and it'll also be hard to hide it from the teacher! :D

Other Video Game Controllers ?
 

Hey wht about tear'n out the joystick from an N64 or sumthing ? or anyother controllers ? would the n64 work ?

closer pics ?
 

Could ya takes sum pics a lil closer so i kow where to solder ? Thanx

Hiya!

@MadMicroDoc:
You can find a link to a closeup of the soldering points in my starting post.

Doctor Drift

cool mod. it inspored me to try it with an original nintendo controler. im having trouble with this mod though. as soon as i plug in the nes controler the bit starts to move and turn even when i push teh buttons it wont stop it.. just wondering if anyone else has tried this and had the same trouble im having ??

This is a very cool mod. I had pondered the idea when I first opened up my controller. But, I don't have any spare controllers to use so I will hold off till I find one.

PS2 and Nintendo64 controllers use potentiometers in the sticks. You could use them with a littel circuit building, but the cars would not be proportional. There is another thread that gives a schematic on how to Emulate proportional steering.

USB would be hard to do because it needs around 5 volts i think, so there you need a separate power source. Then, the signal is all digital and would probably need some microcontroller or BASIC chip to decode the signal and send the on/off inputs to the remote.

~Mike

oh yeah i did it. i made my original nes controller into my bit controller similiar to what has been done here. i'll post pics as soon as i can get my hand on my bros digi cam. woot woot


bg825 :bs: b26 bbskyb b49m

the blue car
 

I have the same body, he must of custom painted it becuz my body is ugly. it came of a clone called super racing 777, good for parts not much else.

__________________________________________________ _
Hey wht about tear'n out the joystick from an N64 or sumthing ? or anyother controllers ? would the n64 work ?
__________________________________________________ _

You could rebuild an original PS controller with a crystal diode, re-wiring, internal battery, charger, etc., but that would take way too much time for me to really want to turn a game controller for a radio control.