Korg NanoKontrol Arcade button mod

DJ Gear & Hardware Hardware: Controllers, Mods and Gear
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Korg NanoKontrol Arcade button mod

So hopefully this is going to become a worklog :slight_smile:

So when the midifighter was posted on the blog I looked at it and thought “That’s nice but it needs some knobs and maybe a fader to be really cool” I then looked at my Korg NanoKontrol and thought “You have basically all the controls I need it’s a pity your buttons suck” I then realised I’ve never pulled it apart to see how it works (something I love doing) and so I did. Here’s what I discovered:
Sorry about the poor pictures I have shaky hands and a cheap camera.

So all the buttons are just contact point on the PCB. Damh. I was hoping for something I could solder off. After looking at it for 20 minutes disappointedly I had a brainwave, those little contact points must just be shorting from the button and all the buttons are layed out so:
[Bare metal zig-zag] [Bare metal zig-zag]
After a bit of testing with a paperclip (go-go high tech equipment) I figured out that each side of metal has a zig-zag of + and a zig-zag of -.
SO the solution is cut opposite sides!
[Bare metal zig-zag with the - side cut] [Bare metal zig-zag with the + side cut]
Then solder onto the PCB and blam! Arcade button action! Now I’ve run into a problem… I can’t cut the traces, I have “essential tremor” which means my hands shake all the time so I don’t have enough fine motor control to cut the little traces :disappointed:

But that won’t stop me! I’m sure I can find a scalpel and a friend who can help me.

TECHNICAL QUESTION
So the basic design I have right now needs more button and less faders…
Can I convert a fader to a button? I know I can set traktor to treat the fader as a button but how do I wire a button up to where a fader was?
The fader has 4 pins, with the fader still connected I’ve sent ages shorting the pins in different combinations but I can’t get a consistent ON/OFF from them… Google says there should be a VCA-, VCA1+, VCA2+ and Ground pin but I don’t know what to do with them after that to get an ON/OFF state.

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Hey remote! i did the same thing today :stuck_out_tongue: opened up my nanokontrol and realized how it works..easy stuff. problem is where to find the right buttons for such a small controller..arcade buttons are way to big..
i found those and i believe that they could fit: http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8720
what do u think? what do u have in mind? think co-op the best way to find a solution :smiley:
greets nick

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howd it go?

hi,

did you ever get any where with this?

just wanted some thoughts, because was considering remounting a nanokontrol ive got to rearrange the controls and put some nicer buttons, endless rotaries etc in,

but not sure if its going to be succesul with the button replacements or not?!

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Apparently endless rotaries are not an option ..i asked about this before on the forums

changing most of the rotaries for faders might be nice though :smiley: 16 faders, 2 rotaries + 25 buttons would rock as a traktor FX / juggle box without the need for endless encoders.

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ah thats annoying, yea now thinking arduino as the brain is the way forwards

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The Leo Bodnar controllers allows encoders. 32 buttons - or 16 encoders - and 8 analogues. Hat switch as well.