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Does anybody want XY-Pads?


SLP

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I think the Kaoss Pad Technology is totally different from the XY-Pads from Spectrasymbol. SpecSym use a resistance based technology with two layers, one of which is conductive carbon. By pressing down, the circuit is closed and a value is submitted. This technique requires some pressure, whereas the Clickwheel in the iPod for example is capacity based (AFAIK), because it just needs the skin of a finger to work...

I always thought the KP might also use something tricky with pressure pads on each of the four corners, because when you remove the printed sticker, it looks like a normal glass or plexi pad ???

Has anybody yet opened a Kaoss Pad?  ;D

Cheers,

Michael

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i opened my KP-1 and took some measurements, unfortunately I couldn't figure it out. There are 4 conductors, the lights are housed beneath the glass and so the 4 conductors are all related to the pad functionality. I have not yet reconnected the pad, if anyone has any tips on how to properly figure it out, I would be happy to do it this weekend.

- b

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you could connect your multimeter to the conductors and try to measure:

- the voltage (0-5 V range I'd guess, max 12 V); if you disconnected the pad, I would not connect any voltage to it if you don't exactly know how much volts it can take...

- the resistance (I'd try 10k at first, but could be anything)

obviously you could try touching and/or pressing the pad while measuring.

Of course I think you know what you're doing and you can identify the ground and the poles. Be careful, don't shortcircuit anything esp. not yourself! One never knows which parts hold high voltages...

If you don't want to touch anything inside with your multimeter, maybe you could take some pics and post them somewhere?

Cheers,

Michael

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i should have explained what i DID try, and maybe this will also explain what I do and do not know about what i am doing....

i popped open the case and desoldered the connector (the pad of course uses an ffc and connector). Secured the pad and connector, measured resistance values between most of the conductors with and without pressure on the pad. I was expecting results like you mentioned (10k +/- just about anything), but was a bit confused by what i found. I couldn't really figure out which pole was which even. I'll test again this weekend and post my results, and take some pics too.

I love the KP technology and have been trying to use one of these XY's for a while, I actually prefer the on/off function when you do and don't touch the pad. I don't use it so much for long term parameter control. I mostly like to use it as a trigger with XY expression, like a 2 dimensional turntable.

- b

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for what it's worth: replacement touchscreens are available for the iPaq series of PDA. they run to about £40, and are resistance based (well, the one for the 3760 is, as that's the one i have). you can get them here:

http://www.ipaqrepair.co.uk/view_product.php?product=57

37xxglasstop.jpg

hope this helps someone

edit: these do not stay on the value last set, ie they drop to zero (i think, i can't recall correctly) when you remove your finger. they are ~90x~70mm

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wow, that ebay seller really does have some great stuff. definitely gonna be spending some money today. BUT, because i said i would take pics this weekend, i did. So here are some pics of my Kaoss Pad 1 on the bench, in case anyone was waiting to see them. Based on the possibilty of getting cheap resistor based parts i don't think i'll pursure the KP XY hack any further. Especially bc it's a fully functional toy (once i put it back together).

the images are big, and this is slightly off-topic, so i hosted them elsewhere....

http://13rian.com/KP1

CN3 is where the connector was for the FFC to the pad. The gnarly looking scrapes on the underside of the PCB are from me cleaning out some solder that got messy when i removed the connector. Don't worry the connections are intact, i tested them.

- b

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So what's the deal with the KP sensor?? Is it possible to replace it with one from say an old laptop??

I'm looking to re-house the one in mine so that I can have the KP innards in a stompox friendly format (ie, in a metal box with footswitches), so it's a little more rugged.

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  • 2 weeks later...

ok...

after having sent a second mail, the Spectrasymbol-guy wrote back.

He wrote that those sweet thingies (intern: mousepads) aren't ready until now.

(in august he wrote that they will be ready in three weeks  >:( )

As spectrasymbol is only responsible for the resistor-elements, he told me to write a mail to "Malzahn Innovations" which are developping this stuff.

And this will be the first thing I'll do after I've managed to remove the Trojan horse from my PC wich makes me nearly impossible to surf in the internet  >:(

regards

matthias  ;)

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  • 7 months later...

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