CV Pin Layout.

[CV Gus]

Does anyone here know where to find the tech specs for a CV controller- that is, what the pins at the jack on the console itself are for (there are 9).

 

I'm especially interested in the ones involved if you want to build a standard paddle controller- with resistance/current detection.

 

 

Thanks.

Edited October 14, 2008 by CV Gus

[BigO]

Good ol' DanB has a schematic with the pinout: http://www.atarihq.com/danb/files/ColecoController.pdf

(Seems like I end up at his site a lot. I think I must owe him a Coke or something by now for all the work he put in and I get benefit of.)

 

You may have to do some tracing, experimenting and testing to get to the exact "what the pins at the jack on the console itself are for" answer. I've done some initial analysis, but haven't tested anything so the best I could do is help you come up with a guess and maybe a test setup to confirm the suspected functionality of the controller.

 

If there's not a BIOS style handler that obscures the direct controller input, a CV homebrew programmer might be able to help.

 

I wasn't aware that Colecovision supported a standard, resistance based paddle controller. Do you have more information on that?

Edited October 14, 2008 by BigO

[DanBoris]

Good ol' DanB has a schematic with the pinout: http://www.atarihq.com/danb/files/ColecoController.pdf

(Seems like I end up at his site a lot. I think I must owe him a Coke or something by now for all the work he put in and I get benefit of.)

 

Thanks!

 

You may have to do some tracing, experimenting and testing to get to the exact "what the pins at the jack on the console itself are for" answer. I've done some initial analysis, but haven't tested anything so the best I could do is help you come up with a guess and maybe a test setup to confirm the suspected functionality of the controller.

 

If there's not a BIOS style handler that obscures the direct controller input, a CV homebrew programmer might be able to help.

 

I wasn't aware that Colecovision supported a standard, resistance based paddle controller. Do you have more information on that?

 

The Colecovision controller ports are completely digital so the only way to interface a resistive paddle would be to do some sort of analog to digital conversion. I haven't dug into the Colecovision driving controller yet, but I am assuming this is some sort of digital encoder like the driving controllers on the 2600.

 

Dan

[CV Gus]

Digital only...I was afraid of that.

 

I've taken apart controllers (all 3 kinds) before, and noticed that the driving, roller, and spinner controllers are based on a "pulse" format- when they spin, they send "pulses," be it from the powered wheels or magnets/reed switches. The 5200, C-64, and 2600 all read resistances and currents from a potentiometer, directly.

 

I found info on controllers from an ADAM website, but yours is good for an overview. Thanks.

 

Unfortunately, for that 5200 secret project to work on a CV, I'm going to have to redesign certain aspects. It may even require an external power source, even with the original modification with the two main transistors- enough for a 5200, 2600, or Commodore-64, but not a CV.

 

Oh, well. I'll think of something. Hopefully.

Edited October 15, 2008 by CV Gus

[BigO]

Dan, next time I'm in Joisey or you're in Phoenix I'll buy.

 

 

 

If the CV controller port inputs aren't pulled up or down strongly, I guess you might stand a chance of emulating the simplistic Atari 2600 paddle pot/cap scheme with the cap external to the console.

 

In my cursory glance at the controller interface, I didn't see any obvious dedicated ground pin. I'm guessing that they're all I/O pins. In that case it would require 2 of the I/O pins to be configured: one as ground (logic zero) and one as a reset/paddle input. I also don't know if those ports are directly accesible in code or if you have go through BIOS routines to read the controller.)

 

Then again, I also don't have a clue what Gus is working on so I might be way off track.

 

So, on a different track: I have written some crude PIC code that takes digital joystick input and produces gray code output. (In case you're wondering, it's not all that fun to play Atari 2600 Indy 500 with a Joystick). Theoretically, one could read a pot with a microcontroller and output a digital signal with an encoded rate/direction corresponding to the pot position.

[CV Gus]

Last night, while trying to solve the problem I'd have building a CV version of my (still secret) 5200 project, I also wondered about a CV trak-ball.

 

After studying the controller (a SAC), it suddenly occurred to me that both a C-64 and a CV have 9-pin connectors, and that a joystick that works on one will usually work on the other.

 

Enter the Programmer's Reference Guide.

 

Sure enough, the pin scheme is very similar, apparently excluding the part that handles paddle controllers. Even so, something occurred to me: I plugged in a SAC controller for Slither. As expected, the ship moved horizontally. No big surprise- this is the basis of my no-battery/adapter driving module.

 

However, if you plug it into the second control port, the ship moves vertically. This may well mean that, unlike the Atari systems, the CV cannot really have the equivalent of two paddles in one port. This may be why the Roller Controller needs to be plugged into both jacks.

 

It does make it a hell of a lot easier to design one's own trak-ball controller, at least. It explains a lot, and may provide a clue to why my controller isn't working properly- since the problem is with the horizontal, it pertains to the player one jack. The only problem is getting a fast enough "pulse;" this would take some detailed construction. If you look at the circuitry of a SAC spinner, that of the steering module or the roller controller, and then that of an Atari 2600 Indy 500 paddle controller, you'd notice how it works, and how similar the 2600 controller is in basic design to that of a SAC spinner.

 

Unfortunately, I'm no closer to figuring out a CV version of my project.

 

I still need a 5200 programmer to make a simple test cartridge. I'd describe it here, but then anyone could figure out what I'm trying to do.

 

Thanks.

Edited October 17, 2008 by CV Gus