ataridoctor Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 (edited) Hey guys check out my Starcon Clone. Was quite a job but here it is. Has two fire buttons on each side of the stick, Start, Pause, Reset, Full Keypad and 8 way arcade joystick. Plus it has trim pots just beside the red restart key to fine tune the left-right and up-down. The top is a 1/2" thick Polypropolene cutting board 12 X 16. The base is a 9 X 13 Baking pan(hehe). I used sparkfun electronics stick because it very short and fit in the pan nicely. Beware of their keypads as they are very fragile, soldering on the wires one kepads traces broke loose just flexing the wires so we glued the wiring on the back for the two controllers i built. Also its heavy enough you can set it in your lap and play away. It feels great you dont have to hold on to it and no fatigue for the fire buttons. We played the hell out of pacman and river raid and it works great. although pole position had to be trimmed to it for the car to go straight. But its so much better on pacman its unbelievable. Thanks To John ie Prodos8 for the masterplay circuit we added the trimpots 100K to 220K resistors to replace the 270K collector resistors in his circuit. Thanks for all the help from the atariage people . Thanks Paul Edited September 21, 2009 by ataridoctor 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corby Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 and when does this Bad Boy go into production??????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ataridoctor Posted September 21, 2009 Author Share Posted September 21, 2009 and when does this Bad Boy go into production??????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ataridoctor Posted September 21, 2009 Author Share Posted September 21, 2009 (edited) I dont know the price would have to be $300 as ive got $65 in parts and Too many hours labor. I made two so far 32 hours im sure i can make one in a day as ive made 2 and will make 2 more. so were lookin at $300 I can send instructions to anyone who wants or i have parts for 2 more and am goin to make them. My Comp Pros are obsolete now. Edited September 21, 2009 by ataridoctor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Looks pretty big, but nice work. Something like that would also be great for MAME. Enough buttons for most of the common games, and you could assign rarely used ones to the keypad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bohoki Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 (edited) looks nice kind of huge maybe you could buy a tv tray and attach the clips to the bottom and have it so you can attach it the legs i like my stuff handy but if it works have fun you have inspired me maybe i could make a box for one out of cafeteria trays where did you get the keypad? i like the color Edited September 21, 2009 by bohoki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ataridoctor Posted September 21, 2009 Author Share Posted September 21, 2009 (edited) Thanks for the compliment. you would be surprised the size is perfect. Its not as big as a tv tray or a cafeteria tray. top size 12 X 16. We looked at fryes and the project boxes were small or cost $40 and just didnt cut it. This setup is lessthan 3" tall so its great in your lap. My Girlfriend agrees it fits in your lap just right and your arms resting on the top holds it in place so it doesnt move. The top($9.95) and baking pan(7.95) is from walmart we cut the top down as it had a handle hole and i couldnt bear to leave it there. The baking pan was the heavy duty one(9 X 13) but was just deep enough for the fire buttons. the $4.95 Pan was about a 1/4" short had to go with the $7.95 H D Pan. But the extra weight is good. ALL the electronic parts came from Spark Fun Electronics including the keypad. Joystick $14.95, Keypad $3.95, Fire Buttons $1.95ea. I did a google search and found a better keypad $7.50ea way better connection and you wont have to make a precise bezel ( what a pain that was) its http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/KP-22/12-BUTTON-KEYPAD/-/1.html looks more HD as we had trouble with the sparkfun keypad BEWARE http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/categories.php?c=145 The joystick is great works very well with pacman , river raid, galaxian, space invaders. Needs adjustment for pole position. I set the adjustments for vert and horiz. inside the 5200 with a 5200 diagnostic cart first with the jumper bar that simulates the controller. then i hook up the controller and used the 20 turn adj pots on the controller to 112 which is factory spec. Should be perfect for any game right? Guess again this is ataris spec and the car on pole position goes straight on the straightaway when adjustment for horiz is at 96. left of elec center. Can any one shed some light on that. I dont get it. oh well when playing pole position the stock control is better. some games like missle command want the linear controller(stock or wico) or a trakball. but this guy RULES on pacman. way better than a comp pro. my score doubled over night made it to the 10th frame and i will get way farther now. Plus My girlfriend like to play atari TOO and she loves pacman and river raid so shes happy with the new controller too. The skid for the analog to digital converter is on atariage by prodos8. I subbed the 270Kohm collector resistors with a 220kohm resistor and 100k 20turn trimpot to adjust the centering. Any one needs more help PM me . Glad to help Edited September 21, 2009 by ataridoctor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninermaniac Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Very nice. I love seeing the controller that is just as big as the system. Compliments it in everyway. Heck, you could use the controller in a cabinet specifically made for the 5200 on this pretty puppy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littleman jack Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 It looks great. I also love the fact that it is huge, like the 5200 itself. And to play Pac-Man and River Raid with no adjustments sounds quite fine as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chriswhit Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 I love your controller. I think it would be cool to have some kind of contest for the best home built 5200 controller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prodos8 Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 I love that you used arcade parts to build this thing, but the kitchen stuff is just icing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ataridoctor Posted September 25, 2009 Author Share Posted September 25, 2009 (edited) I love that you used arcade parts to build this thing, but the kitchen stuff is just icing. Thanks John, Thanks for all the help with the control circuits they work great on almost every game! after searching every electronics store and online for a enclosure. I was getting bummed and just happened to go shoppin at walmart with my girlfriend. I saw the cutting boards and the baking pans were on the other side of the same isle and the light bulb went on. We went back home and got the fire buttons and joystick and hightailed back to check the fit and we were in. It really works good. Thanks for your help with the schematic John and happy gaming. Also im in second on the zaxxon contest and still tryin to get a higher score. Now i dont like my comp pros anymore they feel horrible after using an arcade quality controller. I paid a kings ransom for them so now they will get sold on ebay maybe i should keep them for my collection. Thanks Edited September 25, 2009 by ataridoctor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic George 2K3 Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 How does "interesting" sound? Not good, not bad, and certainly not ugly -- just interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Looks awesome man! Nice clean work + arcade parts = Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Helmet Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 I've been looking for a new enclosure to do an arcade stick with. I'd have NEVER thought of using kitchen supplies. What a great idea. I hope you don't mind if I copy it a bit... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ataridoctor Posted September 29, 2009 Author Share Posted September 29, 2009 Hey its great if my project inspires others COOL. Im goin to make a drawing and schematic if anyones interested in making their own. Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toraborakid Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 Thanks for the compliment. you would be surprised the size is perfect. Its not as big as a tv tray or a cafeteria tray. top size 12 X 16. We looked at fryes and the project boxes were small or cost $40 and just didnt cut it. This setup is lessthan 3" tall so its great in your lap. My Girlfriend agrees it fits in your lap just right and your arms resting on the top holds it in place so it doesnt move. The top($9.95) and baking pan(7.95) is from walmart we cut the top down as it had a handle hole and i couldnt bear to leave it there. The baking pan was the heavy duty one(9 X 13) but was just deep enough for the fire buttons. the $4.95 Pan was about a 1/4" short had to go with the $7.95 H D Pan. But the extra weight is good. ALL the electronic parts came from Spark Fun Electronics including the keypad. Joystick $14.95, Keypad $3.95, Fire Buttons $1.95ea. I did a google search and found a better keypad $7.50ea way better connection and you wont have to make a precise bezel ( what a pain that was) its http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/KP-22/12-BUTTON-KEYPAD/-/1.html looks more HD as we had trouble with the sparkfun keypad BEWARE http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/categories.php?c=145 The joystick is great works very well with pacman , river raid, galaxian, space invaders. Needs adjustment for pole position. I set the adjustments for vert and horiz. inside the 5200 with a 5200 diagnostic cart first with the jumper bar that simulates the controller. then i hook up the controller and used the 20 turn adj pots on the controller to 112 which is factory spec. Should be perfect for any game right? Guess again this is ataris spec and the car on pole position goes straight on the straightaway when adjustment for horiz is at 96. left of elec center. Can any one shed some light on that. I dont get it. oh well when playing pole position the stock control is better. some games like missle command want the linear controller(stock or wico) or a trakball. but this guy RULES on pacman. way better than a comp pro. my score doubled over night made it to the 10th frame and i will get way farther now. Plus My girlfriend like to play atari TOO and she loves pacman and river raid so shes happy with the new controller too. The skid for the analog to digital converter is on atariage by prodos8. I subbed the 270Kohm collector resistors with a 220kohm resistor and 100k 20turn trimpot to adjust the centering. Any one needs more help PM me . Glad to help Question: did you ever try robotron with tis or even star raiders and if so how well does it work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ataridoctor Posted September 29, 2009 Author Share Posted September 29, 2009 Havent tried those games .Dont you need two controllers for robotron? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyberfluxor Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 Havent tried those games .Dont you need two controllers for robotron? Robotron 2084 and Space Dungeon. It looks solid and different, which is good. I'd expect it can hold up well under most seating conditions. I generally play laid back in a bucket chair so some larger control sticks aren't as enjoyable. It's neat you have a few others so it would appear you could demonstrate the 5200 with several others using these custom sticks. Congrats dude. I've been lazy and slow making a stick out of an old arcade control panel that doesn't fit any of my machines. I like it because I plan to utilize the P1/2 sticks for dual-stick action on enabled games. There's also plenty of surface area to mount a numeric pad and drill 3 more holes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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