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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Since I don’t have a reef controller that has output voltage control I decided to build this Joystick controller to adjust my member modified LED to let me directly dial in the blue/white balance that I wanted. I ended up building it from the joystick from an Xbox controller, which uses two 10K potentiometers, which you can readily find on Ebay (search for xbox joystick potentiometer) or remove from one you pick up at a yard sale, a 10k trim pot to adjust the maximum output voltage to 10v, and a 12v DC wall adaptor. For the case I used a Radio </span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Shack box (Catalog #: 270-1801 http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062279"><span style="color: #0000ff;">Project Enclosure (3x2x1")</span></a>[/B]). I can provide more info if needed, but I thought I’d show a few pics here. Other things you’ll need include a 1" hole saw and a fine tip soldering iron. I didn't end up using the zener diodes or the capacitors, which simplified the wiring. Here is a photo of the parts.</span></span>
Edit: <span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">You’ll need to start by removing the spring in the joystick so that it holds your setting; otherwise it will go back to center, which will be 5v for both controls. To do this you just have to bend up the four tabs shown in the photo and carefully pull the plastic back off. The one I took apart had a single spring and a pressure plate. After removing you may want to fill the cavity with some kind of viscous grease or Vaseline to provide a little more resistance to the joystick to help hold the setting. Remember to keep the switch on the side when you put the back piece back on because it keeps the shaft for the joystick in place. I then drilled out four holes to use the existing mounting tabs to hold the joystick to the pc board. Radio Shack also has a PC board that almost fits into the case. You need to do a little filing. I ended up wiring the two outermost terminals of the Joystick potentiometers in parallel and then putting the voltage adjust potentiometer in series with the two joystick pots. The center taps then become your output voltages for your two banks of LEDs.</span></span>
Edit: <span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Getting the height of the board in the case was a little tricky and I ended if with about 5/16” of washers. Here is the board attached to the bottom part of the case. I also ended up drilling a hole in the side of the case to allow the max output voltage to be adjusted once the light fixture was hooked up.</span></span>
Edit: <span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Here is the finished controller with the output voltage shown for several positions.</span></span>
Edit: Finished view
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Shack box (Catalog #: 270-1801 http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062279"><span style="color: #0000ff;">Project Enclosure (3x2x1")</span></a>[/B]). I can provide more info if needed, but I thought I’d show a few pics here. Other things you’ll need include a 1" hole saw and a fine tip soldering iron. I didn't end up using the zener diodes or the capacitors, which simplified the wiring. Here is a photo of the parts.</span></span>
Edit: <span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">You’ll need to start by removing the spring in the joystick so that it holds your setting; otherwise it will go back to center, which will be 5v for both controls. To do this you just have to bend up the four tabs shown in the photo and carefully pull the plastic back off. The one I took apart had a single spring and a pressure plate. After removing you may want to fill the cavity with some kind of viscous grease or Vaseline to provide a little more resistance to the joystick to help hold the setting. Remember to keep the switch on the side when you put the back piece back on because it keeps the shaft for the joystick in place. I then drilled out four holes to use the existing mounting tabs to hold the joystick to the pc board. Radio Shack also has a PC board that almost fits into the case. You need to do a little filing. I ended up wiring the two outermost terminals of the Joystick potentiometers in parallel and then putting the voltage adjust potentiometer in series with the two joystick pots. The center taps then become your output voltages for your two banks of LEDs.</span></span>
Edit: <span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Getting the height of the board in the case was a little tricky and I ended if with about 5/16” of washers. Here is the board attached to the bottom part of the case. I also ended up drilling a hole in the side of the case to allow the max output voltage to be adjusted once the light fixture was hooked up.</span></span>
Edit: <span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Here is the finished controller with the output voltage shown for several positions.</span></span>
Edit: Finished view
