Update 2025-01-04-blue-boss.md

_posts/2025-01-04-blue-boss.md

@@ -8,32 +8,31 @@ tags:
   - Entertainment
 ---
 
-Basically looking to bluetooth enable my favorite old school Wico Boss joystick from my mid-80's Amiga childhood days.
+Basically looking to bluetooth enable my favorite old school Wico Boss joystick from mid-80's Amiga childhood days =)
 
 ## Points of interest:
 1. speaking of Amiga games, [Future Tank](https://amiga.abime.net/games/view/future-tank) gets the most reps =)
      - tip: make sure you find the version that doesn't have the water graphics bug
    - sure is nice to have LaunchBox + RetroArch + puae emulating amiga games so smoothly on Android, besides being mobile, old school computer resolutions are tailor made for small form factor screens
 1. I chose 8BitDo Zero 2 due to it's obvious good intersection of size, price ($20), features & availability
    - sure would be nice if they threw all of us hackers a bone and broke out some real soldering points though! getting leads soldered to the little traces is by far the most challenging aspect of this approach.
-1. this was the main 8BitDo Zero 2 soldering reference i found to lead the way: https://www.reddit.com/r/8bitdo/comments/ighlet/8bitdo_zero_and_zero_2_pcb/
+1. this was the [best reference i found](https://www.reddit.com/r/8bitdo/comments/ighlet/8bitdo_zero_and_zero_2_pcb/) to lead the way on soldering to this controller
    - sure wish that reddit wasn't closed so i could post some clarifications...
    - main one being, i found no need to have two commons... i was readily able to combine ground from the left side area joy pad with fire button mapped to 'B' on the right side control pad
 1. i chose to mount the Zero 2 to the outside housing of the joystick so i could use all the other Zero 2 buttons without having to extend any more leads to new buttons on the Boss... 
    - i could easily see people motivated for a more self contained aesthetic, this was a practical bee line for me to get something working with the least effort =)
    - therefore i only needed solder 6 connections: joystick left,right,up,down, fire and ground
 1. but boy oh boy, getting those little leads to hold solder sure is a challenge!!!
-   - this is where fiberglass scratch pen is absolutely crucial
+   - this is where [fiberglass scratch pen](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002RMCFZM) is absolutely crucial
    - on amazon there's not many choices, definitely make sure to get the finest tip you can find for this kind of work
-   - here's a link to the one i used: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002RMCFZM
    - hopefully anyone looking here for reference gets a good enough sense of where i chose to tap into leads... 
      - when you zoom in it's pretty obvious one side of each control button pad with the big black intersecting "U" shapes has one U connecting to ground and then MOST of the opposing U's connect to an obvious "[via](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Via_(electronics))" which seem like the optimal place to scratch and solder ... but but not all of them go to an obvious via so you just have to scratch into somewhere along a fine lead... 
      - WARNING - once you have connected magnet wire to a trace lead, be very careful you don't tug the whole thing off... if you look at my joystick right pad you can see i ran into that kind of trouble
-1. **WIRE** - i also used 30 AWG enameled magnet wire like the reddit post and found that to be a good fit: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CK83CR2B
+1. **WIRE** - i also used [30 AWG enameled magnet wire](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CK83CR2B) like the reddit post and found that to be a good fit
 1. PHONE = soldering microscope - i think it's a good cheap hack here to use one's phone as a "soldering microscope"
    - i found i didn't need to go any more than 8-10x magnification to work on these small traces very effectively
-   - i wound up getting a cheapo articulating magsafe stand to position the phone above the soldering area... i'm not sure this is the optimal choice but it worked well enough: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CP29VTPY
-   - little "coin" microscopes are amazingly cheap as well and this seems worth trying: https://www.amazon.com/Elikliv-Microscope-Endoscope-Magnification-Adjustable/dp/B07QB79SN6
+   - i wound up getting a [$20 articulating magsafe stand](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CP29VTPY) to position the phone above the soldering area... i'm not sure this is the optimal choice but it worked well enough
+   - little ["coin" microscopes](https://www.amazon.com/Elikliv-Microscope-Endoscope-Magnification-Adjustable/dp/B07QB79SN6) are amazingly cheap as well and this seems worth trying
 1. see [this post](/Gen2-GuliKit-TMR-PS4-joystick-drift-fix) for more soldering tips if you're as rusty as i was =)
 
 ### final build