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[Tutorial] PS Vita R2/L2 trigger grips

Post here your guides, tips, how-to, etc...
koolkatsmoke
Posts: 11
Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2012 9:56 pm
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[Tutorial] PS Vita R2/L2 trigger grips

Post by koolkatsmoke »

Ok, so this mod is actually more like a triple whammy. It entails The Vita, an accessory and is specifically for Remote Play on the PS4 (will work on games too but i did it for RP)
Since i already have a tut on the PS4 section and this is actually entailing the Vita and a accessory mod. So im actually posting it here for all of you to reference.
The Mod itself:
So every time i played remote play on the vita the back touch is extremely sensitive and is always interfering with game play. It is much better with the OEM grips on, however the R2/L2 position
is really annoying and hard to get to without having to move ur hands around. It really sucks, it throws ur game totally off. Anywhoo because i constantly use my grips i decided to mod them along
with the Vita to make remote play easier and feasible.
Materials needed:
-PS Vita
-(OEM) PDP Trigger grip cradle
-2 tact switches
-30 gauge wire
-26 gauge wire
-solder and flux
-drill and bits

Sooooo let me get this party started already. The pics and description depicted are actually from my first original build and a second requested unit that im currently finishing. The cradle pics are from the new build while the Vita and skin pics are from my original build. just wanted to clarify since it will look kinda confusing with multiple different units instead of just one.

The Mod:
Basically the rear touch pad is triggered by ur body resistance vs applying pressure to the pad. I added buttons on my PDP switch that would allow for the transfer of your body ground and in essence
tricking the Vita to think that you are actually touching the rear pad.

To start off you need to p/up a craddle
[spoiler]Image[/spoiler]

These are the switches that i used, they are tact switches and are 9mm in height so they protrude and stick out above the cradle itself. Any local Radio Shack should carry this in stock.
[spoiler]Image[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Image[/spoiler]

For most of my mods i continue to use 30gauge wire, super small and able to be fitted in just about any space there is.
[spoiler]Image[/spoiler]

For the exposed wire is used 26gauge and stripped it clean. This is the strand that will make contact with your hand in any position that you hole the cradle.
[spoiler]Image[/spoiler]

With this new unit build i saw some dice beads that would match very well with the skin that was chosen for that Vita.
[spoiler]Image[/spoiler]

Drilled and modded to fit the switches as caps and they actually look real nice IMO
[spoiler]Image[spoiler]

Start off by soldering one strand of each 30gauge and 26gauge exposed wire to each terminal of the switch. Make sure you are using the proper terminals for the switch.
[spoiler]Image[/spoiler]

This is what my soldered wire looked like. Flux is the key to good soldering, always have flux.
[spoiler]Image[/spoiler]

Now its time to get the switches in the grips themselves.
[spoiler]Image[/spoiler]

This is the position that i chose, its easily accessible without having to move ur hand positions.
[spoiler]Image[/spoiler]

This was my first drill spot
[spoiler]Image[/spoiler]

Here is my second. These drill spots are meant for the exposed wire, it travels along the side. In a position that you will always have to have in order to keep the grips in ur hands. this way regardless of movement you will always be making a bit of contact in these location.
[spoiler]Image[/spoiler]

I continued by drilling the position of where i want the switches to be located at.
[spoiler]Image[/spoiler]

The gap inside is really tight, but its like if the switches were meant to be in that location.
[spoiler]Image[/spoiler]

This is what it looks like when done.\
[spoiler]Image[/spoiler]

i added extra wiring to the exposed strand because i originally intended to add 2 more switches for the R3/L3 buttons. But with these switches in place the R3/L3 position is no longer an issue. so i will
remain with just the addition of the R2/L2 switches only. At least for now. With the wire tied internally that almost sums it up for the grip.
The remaining wire is routed along the side and over to the inside section of the grip.
[spoiler]Image[/spoiler]

The R2 button with cap
[spoiler]Image[/spoiler]

The L2 button with cap
[spoiler]Image[/spoiler]

I left the 30gauge wire strand for the time being. This purty much sums up the internals of the grips.
Ill leave the wires exposed until the Vita is completed and then properly line em up afterwards. The contact points are for the Vita, they will need to be added to the Vita before being able to line em up together.
[spoiler]Image[/spoiler]

Now To the Vita:
The contact points are nothing more than a little bit of wire and solder. I added a ball of solder to the end of the wire and then flatten them down as thin as possible and as close to the wire gauge size as i can get them.
[spoiler]Image[/spoiler]

Because the wire is to thin too actually cover enough area on the rear pad. The Vita does not recognize any actions with just the wire alone. So i add a small strip of aluminum foil (resistive material) Copper
tape would work great as well. this allows for the signal to cover a little more area and thus fully tricking the Vita.
[spoiler]Image[/spoiler]

Next i positioned them on vita externally to verify the function and the position of the contact points.
[spoiler]Image[/spoiler]

In my case i previously had a skin, and when i pulled it back. The amount of time that i have sported this skin along with cold weather (when i did the mod) kinda stretched the skin. If you choose to do this and have a skin already in place, id suggest to heat it up a little which will make it easier to remove.
Position the contact points properly and slightly cut off the skin areas where the contact points will be exposed.
[spoiler]Image[/spoiler]

As you can see, when it was all put back together i was left with some fugly ripples that i didn't like. They were not as obvious with the triggers in place, however i knew it was there and wanted a clean look
on my unit. So i order another skin and did a new makeover to my Vita. This is kinda why the mixed pics as well.
[spoiler]Image[/spoiler]

So yeah, as you can see a much cleaner look with the skin completed.
[spoiler]Image[/spoiler]

The contact points are less obvious as well.
[spoiler]Image[/spoiler]

Much cleaner when in the grips as well.
[spoiler]Image[/spoiler]

This is what my final make over actually looks like.
[spoiler]Image[/spoiler]

The dice caps originally shown above are from the new build i am currently completing. On my cradle i actually went with skull caps as they match the whole unit theme as well as my BT speaker.
[spoiler]Image[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Image[/spoiler]

And here is a quick vid when i originally completed the mod.

And soooo there ya have it. This is my tutorial for making your own R2/L2 addition to the PDP Trigger grips for the purpose of remote play. Of course this will also work on any other game
that would use the rear pad R2/L2 position.

So there ya have it, hope you guys enjoyed and somebody makes some good use of it.
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Last edited by koolkatsmoke on Wed Jun 11, 2014 3:17 pm, edited 2 times in total.
chefdetective
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Feb 26, 2014 1:44 am

Re: [Tutorial] PS Vita R2/L2 trigger grips

Post by chefdetective »

this is impressive. I had never even considered the ability to modify a case to incorporate additional buttons! Cheers to you friend.
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J3LACK.EAGLE
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Re: [Tutorial] PS Vita R2/L2 trigger grips

Post by J3LACK.EAGLE »

I know this may sound weird, but what camera did you use? It has really good quality, for taking pictures. And so that means it's opposite? Like where L1 is supposed to be that's where L2 is? Could you make it to where you just make a new L1 button like that and just make the regular button that's already on the trigger grips, the L2 button? You get what im sayin'? But anyway's I like it. What made you think of doing this?
koolkatsmoke
Posts: 11
Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2012 9:56 pm
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Re: [Tutorial] PS Vita R2/L2 trigger grips

Post by koolkatsmoke »

chefdetective wrote:this is impressive. I had never even considered the ability to modify a case to incorporate additional buttons! Cheers to you friend.
Thx dude much appreciated.


=====

J3LACK.EAGLE wrote:I know this may sound weird, but what camera did you use? It has really good quality, for taking pictures. And so that means it's opposite? Like where L1 is supposed to be that's where L2 is? Could you make it to where you just make a new L1 button like that and just make the regular button that's already on the trigger grips, the L2 button? You get what im sayin'? But anyway's I like it. What made you think of doing this?
The camera itself is just a Sony cyber-shot DSC-w530, its decent and very portable. wish i had something better, but it works and gets the job done nonetheless.
And yes, this mod does put the R2/L2 above the R1/L1 triggers. It is confusing at first but doesn't really take long to get used to the configuration. I also would have preferred to have the switches below the triggers to make it less confusing. But honestly there is only a small area that would have worked, and i choose not to go that route cause then to push on them the hand position would have to move to trigger them. That kinda defeated the purpose for me, thats what i didnt like about the rear touch with the grips. There just wasn't a real easy way of triggering them without having to move ur hands and get one out of the groove when in the heat of the battle.
Unlike dmaskell92 that thinks they are other tuts like this, the only others i have actually seen, consist of adding a bulk assembly to the grips that they choose to use and it doesn't really keep the vita portable anymore, they are tied to grips and not using contact points like mine does.
I went this route cause i wanted the mod to work without having to reposition my hands during game play and more importantly i wanted to keep the vita as portable as possible still. I am still able to remove them from the cradle and put in my pocket should i choose to.
I like your idea and if it would have been possible that would for sure have been the ideal way to go. However the way the grips are originally developed that would really be difficult to accomplish, the triggers from the PDP grip actually push into the Vita`s R1/L2 buttons physically. To make the tact switches trigger the R1/L2 would required a hard mod on the Vita internally and to make the triggers R2/L2 would be challenging as well.
U got me pondering the concept now, and in reality it would not be impossible to make this happen, but it would entail a lot of work to make it all happen and work together. Especially if one would try to keep the vita in a portable way as well. Not really sure nor convinced that it would worth the effort.

thx checking it out.
Last edited by SMOKE on Fri May 02, 2014 12:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Merged posts
J3LACK.EAGLE
Posts: 268
Joined: Sun May 22, 2011 4:08 am
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Re: [Tutorial] PS Vita R2/L2 trigger grips

Post by J3LACK.EAGLE »

koolkatsmoke wrote: Not really sure nor convinced that it would worth the effort.

thx checking it out.
No problem and yea, i dont think its worth the effort because the touchpad do come in handy and you can only use the r2 and l2 buttons for a certain amount of games. but since you were making a r2 and l2 mod then why not a l3 r3 mod and wowwww you have alot of trophies. imma add u on psn, i just have a ps3 and vita
koolkatsmoke
Posts: 11
Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2012 9:56 pm
Contact:

Re: [Tutorial] PS Vita R2/L2 trigger grips

Post by koolkatsmoke »

J3LACK.EAGLE wrote:
koolkatsmoke wrote: Not really sure nor convinced that it would worth the effort.

thx checking it out.
No problem and yea, i dont think its worth the effort because the touchpad do come in handy and you can only use the r2 and l2 buttons for a certain amount of games. but since you were making a r2 and l2 mod then why not a l3 r3 mod and wowwww you have alot of trophies. imma add u on psn, i just have a ps3 and vita
I had considered adding two more switches and position them in the lower section of the grips. But once this was completed, the R3/L3 arent soo much of an issue as was the R2/L2. Its seems to be working well without, at least for now.
I got sum trophies but not as much as id like, im sooooo behind in sooo many games. With the playoffs in full swing and soo many kickass new ones about to come out, dont think id be able to eva catch up ;)
Send ur invite, ill accept. Now knowing where its coming from (i don't typically accept unknown request).
Wsalz042
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon May 26, 2014 9:28 am

Re: [Tutorial] PS Vita R2/L2 trigger grips

Post by Wsalz042 »

I just completed this with the PS Vita slim and the new PDP grip for the vita 2000. The directions work exactly the same for the newer models, it works great for anyone wondering.
GuitaristMatt
Posts: 98
Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2012 4:47 am

Re: [Tutorial] PS Vita R2/L2 trigger grips

Post by GuitaristMatt »

I was able to do this with straight up conductive tape, suction cups and conductive rubber (<$10)
The only problem was that I could only use one piece of tape or there would be too small of a signal for the Vita.

Any advice?
Vita w/henkaku + PSP-2000 6.60 Pro-C2
[spoiler]Image[/spoiler]
Operation Doomtrain translator (Final Fantasy Type-0)
reprep
Posts: 1074
Joined: Tue Dec 17, 2013 4:38 pm

Re: [Tutorial] PS Vita R2/L2 trigger grips

Post by reprep »

i would really like to buy this if someone has extra. i really need it for remote play and all my DIY projects become KIY (kill-it-yourself)
raymond2_nl
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Dec 12, 2014 11:20 am

Re: [Tutorial] PS Vita R2/L2 trigger grips

Post by raymond2_nl »

Great mod!

I'm trying to make it myself atm, but I'm struggling with the following:
Situation: the switch soldered, the stripped wire in place and the other wire connected via aluminum strip to back touchpad
Result: I get a touch registered all the time, no matter whether the button is pressed or not! Any idea what might cause this?
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