Another Plug & Play Joystick Hack

[+wongojack]

I decided I was jealous of all you folks out there with your custom built 7800 controllers, so I built one myself. I used this Plug & Play game to do it:

 

 

The games on this are OK, but I've got so many ways to play them that I decided to gut it and turn it into a 7800 stick. FYI - It was remarkably easy to disassemble, and I could easily put it back together or use the guts for another project.

 

 

I took a 9 pin serial cable for PC and trimmed down the end to let it plug into my 7800. (cord trimming thread: http://atariage.com/...cable-trimming/) I then cut off the male end and stripped the cable about 8 inches. I was able to use the same spot as the manufacturer for some stress relief on the cable. I wound the wires through a large washer and then used the same screw in fastener to lock it in place. You can kinda see what I'm talking about in the pic above in the lower left where there is a close jumble of green, yellow, white wires on the manufacturer's unit. What I did was about the same size and shape so I could just use what they had to lock it down.

 

Anyway, the buttons are what is tricky on the 7800, so here is a closeup of the button switches on this unit before my modification:

 

 

In most case I was able to use the wires right from the cable to attach to the microswitches. I chose to leave two of "their" wires attached because the solder points were hard to get to. I used the pinout guide from the 2600 FAQ here on Atariage to know which wires went where. Also, thanks to user Prodos8 for this very easy to read schematic of the wiring configuration:

 

CX_24_Schematic_bw.bmp

 

A closeup view of my button circuits when I thought I was done. I used some resistors I had that added up to 620ohm and a small board for the mounting. I'd made a mistake in this picture where I attached wires 9 and 5 to the NC (normally closed) side of the button switches which is not correct. If that doesn't mean anything to you then just keep reading as those wires are in the right place in the next photo. The wiring to my board is correct here with a ground wire from each switch and the joysticks attached to opposite ends of the resistors.

 

 

Below I really am done, and you can see the other side of my board. I've wrapped some electrical tape around it to avoid shorting the buttons out on the exposed metal of the resistors. In this photo, the grey wire is the ground from the cable that goes back to the 7800. It touches the "outbound" ends of both resistors and the joystick ground. On the other side you see wires 5 and 9 which connect to the button ground wires on the "inbound" end of the resistors.

 

 

After using it for a few games, I think its more responsive than it was for the original games it came with. The diagonals are very sensitive which is good and bad. Good for Xevious - bad for Dig Dug. Its small enough that you can just hold it like a modern controller working the buttons with your thumb, but you can also set it down in front and work it like an arcade stick. Tap tap tappy tap . . . .

 

Guys - this is really easy. You should try this. I have another one of these that I think I'm going to hack too. Now that I know what I'm doing, I think I could probably do a 2nd one in less than 3 hours. These are all over Ebay and going for cheap. You can get the resistors at Radio Shack, and I think you just need to be in the 500 to 700ohm range with whatever you get. You may not even need to be that close.

[iesposta]

Great idea to make a 7800 controller!

Now I want to do another hardware project, but cash poor at the moment.

I have that Bandi PAC Man plug and play with the great games and terrible joystick. Aren't these also hacked to control that?

[mimo]

Looks nice.

I hacked a pac man plug n play, single button and 4 direction stick make it ideal for pac man (obviously) dig dug, froggie etc etc.

Really simple to do with the cord from an old 2600 stick,no need for resistors

Edited June 27, 2013 by mimo

[+wongojack]

Great idea to make a 7800 controller!

Now I want to do another hardware project, but cash poor at the moment.

I have that Bandi PAC Man plug and play with the great games and terrible joystick. Aren't these also hacked to control that?

 

The good thing about this unit is that it just exposes basic micro switches. As long as you know what to connect them to then it can control anything.

 

Looks nice.

I hacked a pac man plug n play, single button and 4 direction stick make it ideal for pac man (obviously) dig dug, froggie etc etc.

Really simple to do with the cord from an old 2600 stick,no need for resistors

 

You need the resistors specifically for the 7800. Doing it this way means it works for both 2600 and 7800 which makes it worth the effort to wire the resistors into the button circuit - at least for me.

[mimo]

 

 

The good thing about this unit is that it just exposes basic micro switches. As long as you know what to connect them to then it can control anything.

 

 

 

You need the resistors specifically for the 7800. Doing it this way means it works for both 2600 and 7800 which makes it worth the effort to wire the resistors into the button circuit - at least for me.

I know. But I am talking about a single button so no resistors required for 7800 compatibility

[Lynxpro]

So... are you offering to sell these types of conversions?

 

 

And similarly, where's the link to the member who was modding NES Advantage sticks to work with the 7800? There seems to be a lot of them going cheap in my area...

[+wongojack]

So... are you offering to sell these types of conversions?

 

I wasn't planning on it, but I would consider some interesting trades. I've stockpiled few of these and the RSI stick for hack projects. I PM'd you with some options.

[+wongojack]

Any interest in these? I know Ax is out of the game for a while and another member suggested I poll for interest again. I'd prefer to help you do the mod yourself as it really is very easy, but I could be persuaded to build one of these to order.

[Lynxpro]

Just think, if you have one of these Namco 4 direction joysticks modded for the 2600/7800 and have an "Atari/Sega" Redemption adapter, you can use it for Pac-Man on the 5200 too!

[Jinks]

Just think, if you have one of these Namco 4 direction joysticks modded for the 2600/7800 and have an "Atari/Sega" Redemption adapter, you can use it for Pac-Man on the 5200 too!

Wouldnt it be cheaper to own a 7800??

[Lynxpro]

Wouldnt it be cheaper to own a 7800??

You do know as an Atari fan, you are permitted to own all of the Atari platforms.

 

Plus, in several ways, the 5200 is superior to the 7800. For instance, when your wife gets mad at you and throws your 7800 and it hits the floor, its cheap plastic case shatters. But if said wife throws the 5200 and it hits the floor, the floor shatters!

 

Plus Pokey Audio standard, the controllers are more comfortable [when they work] and have the Pause button on them, the larger standard software library, the Trakball Controller, and the AtariMax SD Cart option. I'd say those are all good reasons to own the unjustly maligned 5200 console.

Edited February 11, 2014 by Lynxpro

[RickR]

This is very cool, thanks for sharing. There has to be a better way to find a working 9-pin wire/connector though. That's really all that's stopping me from this (and other) types of controller hacks.

[Jinks]

I know lynx pro but I have a 600xl I modded 64k ram and will get a side 2 someday. So I am gonna pass on the 5200.

Mayne someday if someone makes self centering anolog joysticks that have buttons on the top that are cheap but the will never happen. Also the 4 port issue with getting connected. There is just way more going on with the super 2600 (7800)

The 5200 looks yawnish to me with the freak looking carts. Besides its a very limited console as what 2 year lifespan in one country so yeah zero interest.

Seems to me its Usa's very own atari!!

Usm or Canada never got them??

[+wongojack]

This thread took a weird turn.

 

This is very cool, thanks for sharing. There has to be a better way to find a working 9-pin wire/connector though. That's really all that's stopping me from this (and other) types of controller hacks.

 

I think most people get the Genesis extension cords and cut the ends off. I went with regular DB9 cords because they work flawlessly with only a little trimming and you can get them in bulk for cheap. I usually keep some around that I just use as extension cords anyway.

[PacManPlus]

Very nice - I had done that with the similar-looking Pac-Man stick a while back.

[+wongojack]

Very nice - I had done that with the similar-looking Pac-Man stick a while back.

 

Bob saying something I did is nice is like being told by one of the Manning brothers that I throw a tight spiral! Sportsball reference!

 

Anyway - thanks PacMan plus. The PacMan version of this stick seems to sell for a much higher price these days. I think they were a bit more rare.

[Dauber]

Just curious....is this easy to do for people who don't know how to read schematics?? I know how to solder, but only in English and pictures.

[+wongojack]

I think it is totally do-able if you can't read schematics. It will require some trial and error though. You can connect the wires using tape and do testing pretty easily with this project, so there are very few "fatal" mistakes you can make. If you destroy a 7800 controller it gets even easier, but the parts you need can be bought at Radio Shack.

 

There are several threads on these boards that explain what to do. I found reading a schematic is actually easier than trying to keep up with wire colors in other descriptions, so I bought a $9 book called "Getting Started with Electronics" (Mims) which did an excellent job of showing me the basics of reading a schematic.

[+Ripdubski]

Hows the durability? I played on a MsPacMan/PP/MT plug and plug and the stick busted after just a little while under very little stress. It was one of the sticks that you could twist and change from 8 way to 4 way. Thats the part that broke.

Edited February 12, 2014 by Ripdubski

[+wongojack]

Hows the durability? I played on a MsPacMan/PP/MT plug and plug and the stick busted after just a little while under very little stress. It was one of the sticks that you could twist and change from 8 way to 4 way. Thats the part that broke.

 

The quality is not particularly good here. There are microswitches in the unit which is the main reason to do this hack AND you can get the entire package on ebay for less than $20 shipped - you can't buy the arcade parts for that and even if you did, you'd still have to build a box which requires tools etc.

 

The quality will also vary depending on how the item was used, where it was stored etc. There could be factory variations as well. For instance - The first one I made has a very sensitive "down" which sometimes kind of misfires (push right and get down+right). I have yet to examine the switch lever directly to see if it can be adjusted because it requires some time consuming dis-assembly of the stick to get at.

 

I wouldn't count on this thing lasting any longer than the original, but by taking the time to build it yourself - you can fix it or use what you learned and invest in higher quality parts.

 

In terms of value, this is a pretty good thing to invest some time in as the stick can be used for 2600/7800 & Coleco. You could even put a pass through DB9 port to connect a Coleco controller (on project list for me somewhere).

[RickR]

I was just thinking of doing this hack on a 2600 Wico "Bat handle" joystick. It has two distinct buttons.

[+wongojack]

I was just thinking of doing this hack on a 2600 Wico "Bat handle" joystick. It has two distinct buttons.

 

It'll be tight work inside the Wico, but not impossible. I have 2 of those and one is my own vintage stick that I used over and over again for c64 stuff BITD. They last and are easy to take apart and put back together.

 

The resistors in my picture are way too big, but there are lots of options available for that including the ones found in the actual 7800 controller which are much smaller.