danny_galaga Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 I rolled my own too. I imaginatively call mine the Universal DB9 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted September 1, 2015 Author Share Posted September 1, 2015 I like it! Where did you source the case from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 I rolled my own too. I imaginatively call mine the Universal DB9 Wow, that's a really shallow enclosure. How did you fit the joystick? Most of mine have a clearance of 3 inches. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted September 1, 2015 Author Share Posted September 1, 2015 Wow, that's a really shallow enclosure. How did you fit the joystick? Most of mine have a clearance of 3 inches. I noticed that too... and the lack of screws on the top. I'm wondering if it's an 'interference fit' with screws in the bottom holding it place. I'd love to see photos of the back and bottom as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danny_galaga Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 Thanks guys. It's a damn tight fit! In fact, I miscalculated by about 5mm, so I had to make a hole in the bottom as well . With the rubber feet on, it still sit flat on a table though and the hole doesn't affect gameplay. The enclosure is from an Australian supplier called Jaycar, and they say it's exclusive to them. Here's my build: http://dannygalaga.com/db9.html 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 (edited) Joystick upgrade.2012 v1: Controller box assembled and painted. Initial build with MagStik Plus Joystick + parallel wired fire buttons for ambidextrous gameplay.2013 v2: Added paddle pots and control switches.2015 v3: I tossed out the rubbish MagStik Plus and replaced them with an Omni Stick 2 4 way / 8 way switchable joystick. Moves like butter. The Omni Stick 2 can only switch modes from underneath the panel so I had to modify it a bit to work with a pull string. I also added support for discrete 7800 buttons with support left and right fire when the paddle select switch is disabled. Edited September 17, 2015 by stardust4ever 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 (edited) More pics of the V3: Edited September 24, 2015 by stardust4ever 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkdrummer Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 I don't think you could call this joystick a homebrew (even though I've made them.) I bought this device about a month after I bought my first TI-99/4A computer from K-MART ($50.00) when TI had the bail out and gave the remaining supply of consoles to certain merchandisers for "dumping". I bought this thing from an electronics surplus house. Modified it with a 9 pin dsub with atari configuration and added the fire button. I use it on my main TI system - It sits to the left of my keyboard (I'm left handed) and is comfortable beyond belief. It contains quality micro switchs and works awesome. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 Well... I have never seen THAT one before... You will ship it to me for testing... No return address required. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0078265317 Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 I tried making a 5200 paddle once. Ugly as hell. But speaking of home brew these look so cool. Not mine. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/243337-nes-advantage-modded-to-work-with-comodore-64/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted October 2, 2015 Author Share Posted October 2, 2015 I don't think you could call this joystick a homebrew (even though I've made them.) DSC00444.JPG Oooooooh yeaaaah! I LIKE IT! Something like this would be fun to make and use. Would it be possible to get some internal photos? I'm thinking this might be a project I'd like to start (if I can source the materials). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 (edited) I recently ordered a Porta Pi Lite v3 wood kit for my "ultimate" all-in-one retro stick: http://www.retrobuiltgames.com/diy-kits-shop/fight-stick-porta-pi-lite-v3/ Will post pics when I'm done. I plan on attaching a 25-pin Parallel port to the back with cables for Genesis/SMS/Atari, NES, SNES, and possibly TurboGrafx coming out the wire harness. This will use Genesis and SNES Yobo brand PCBs and cables. Since SNES controllers are compatible with NES systems and Genesis controllers are compatible with SMS and Atari systems, the Yobo PCBs will have dual function. The Genesis will have a diode wired between pins 5 and 7 to ensure that the VCC plane never drops below 4.4V when running off an Atari system, and a select cutoff switch for those few SMS games which misbehave with a Genesis controller. If I decide to do TG-16, it will use a custom breadboard schematic because I'm not going to sacrifice rare vintage controller stock. I'll also be adding a 555 timer and switches for Turbo function. It will also have a USB board wired as HID for PC/emu usage and as a second player controller for my Raspberry Pi Arcade. Every controller board will run 5V and share a common VCC and GND so hopefully they should all play nice together. I don't really care about PSX so I'll probably plug the rightmost holes since none of the retro systems use more than six action buttons plus Select & Start. If there's room to fit them in, I'll install the six turbo switches into the two rightmost button hole plugs. Otherwise, I'll have to drill into the front panel. Edited October 3, 2015 by stardust4ever 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted October 3, 2015 Author Share Posted October 3, 2015 I recently ordered the Porta Pi Lite v3 kit for my "ultimate" retro stick: Is the lid reversible? I can't use a lefty stick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 (edited) Is the lid reversible? I can't use a lefty stick. On first glance it appears to be symmetrical but I don't have mine yet so I cannot say for sure. The top lid has long screws that connect to standoffs which are connected to the base. These screw holes would either need to be re-drilled on the opposite side of the control panel or the bottom panel could possibly be reversed as well. When I do my mock assembly prior to staining/gluing, I will keep this in mind. The box is made from 1/4" laser cut plywood, so in theory you could assemble it mirror to the PDF instruction manual (download link at bottom of the page). Please note there's a wooden mounting plate for a Raspberry Pi that likely won't fit if installed backwards. If you don't plan on using the Pi then it won't matter. Drilling mirrored holes in the control panel would be the preferable option since the top panel could still be reversed again after the bottom and side assemblies are glued together. According to the PDF manual, the control panel consists of two boards, the control panel and a slightly smaller board which is to be glued underneath the CP. If you decided not to glue the two boards together, they could still be held in place by the buttons and joystick assembly. You could then remove all of the parts from the control panel and flip the boards if you wanted. There is also an optional acrylic plate to go over the control panel. This could be flipped as well, but you would still need to drill mirror screw holes into it, being extremely careful not to crack the acrylic, which is easy to do if using wood bits. One thing worth mentioning if you decide to flip the control panel or build the kit as a mirror image, is the plywood has a nice side and a rough side to it. Based on my experiences with the Porta Pi bartop arcade, the woodkit is fabricated such that the nice sides always face outside the box. If you assemble it with a flipped control panel, there may be knots, burl, or other defect in the wood surface facing the outside that you will just have to live with. When I recieve my kit, I will let you know if the control panel will fit flipped. You also might try to email the guy building the kits to ask if he will do a custom kit for right hand joystick or offer modding advice. Edited October 3, 2015 by stardust4ever Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 (edited) I discovered this online: Toodles Cthulhu multi console pcb. I thought it might be useful for anyone planning to homebrew a multiconsole joystick for 16-bit era up to modern systems. http://www.focusattack.com/toodles-cthulhu-multi-console-pcb/ Site is down right now but basically it enables a single board which has USB for PC/PS3 and uses some sort of smart algorithm to detect a variety of modern and legacy consoles including SNES, PCe/TG-16, Saturn, Dreamcast, PSX, Xbox (original) and GameCube. The author chose to use LAN connectors for his universal connector, which has 8 wires including GND and VCC. Unfortunately this leaves out Genesis and by extension Atari, which uses the 9-pin standard. Unfortunately given the fact the Cthulhu uses heuristics to detect the signal type of the console, direct-wired standards such as Atari would be difficult or impossible to detect. It definitely seems smarter than my original idea of using a separate PCB/schematic for every console. I could simply wire up the Yobo Genesis PCB with the diode mod and get literally almost every console under the sun. Maybe fabricate a female 9-pin Dsub for the Genesis/Atari and a male 9-pin Dsub for everything else, plus USB port to the side. That would be neater than a DB-25 with multiple consoles individually wired in. Dsubs are also super easy to install into a wood case. No breadboards, yay! Gives me something to think about regardless... Edited October 3, 2015 by stardust4ever Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 (edited) After studying the layouts closely, it appears the Cthulhu uses the Street Fighter layout for SNES: [Y][X][L1] [A][R1] which is a bit awkward for most platformers amd SHMUPS which use 3 buttons [Y][A] or NES b/c. Those style games should use [L][X][R] [Y][A] sp that the action buttons are spread out in a row instead of crammed into a triangle. I could use a triple-ganged DPDT switch to alternate between layouts but the platform setting would mess up other devices and I'm unsure if it's possible to remap using software... Regardless, I've got a while to mull over the wiring aspect of things. I may do a 15-pin Dsub with the top 8 pins mirroring the Cthulhu interface and the bottom 7 for the 9-pin Genny pinout (minus GND & VCC which are shared with the Cthulhu). Use a Famcom/5200/NeoGeo extension cable from Tototek to a breakout box with bundled connectors for NES, SNES, TG-16, Sega/Atari, and whatever else I decide to add to it. On the fence regarding PSX but I'll probably keep it limited to 8-16 bit six button layout with the two rightmost buttons plugged. I'm not a huge Sony fan although they're controllers are great for emulation... Sorry if I'm thread crapping. Edited October 4, 2015 by stardust4ever Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkdrummer Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 Here's the "guts" to the joystick shown in post #58 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted October 4, 2015 Author Share Posted October 4, 2015 Wow, that sucker is packed TIGHT! Nice design around the micro-switches... are they what is keeping the stick centered, or is there something else? Thanks for posting the internals! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 (edited) Preliminary test on the Porta Pi Lite v3 enclosure. Everything fits! Still waiting for most of the parts to arrive. Hopefully they get here by Friday so I can start building. I will be staining the wood panels Ebony black to show off the grain. The ball shaft shown is a versa ball shaft compatible with Happ Competition joysticks. Unfortunately the Happ style joysticks need about 3 inches of clearance beneath them and won't fit in the case, so I'm going to be using a Zippy joystick instead. Also the white ball top has incorrect threads so I ordered a new "8-ball" balltop from Paradise Arcade to go with my black/white scheme. http://www.paradisearcadeshop.com/paradise-limited/557-8-ball-delight-38mm-ball-top.html Is the lid reversible? I can't use a lefty stick. Yes, all of the panels have symmetrical key grooves in them. The top panel is reversible with minor modification as indicated in the attached image, but the top panel will stick out further on the right hand side. If you reverse the bottom panel as well, the mounting brackets should fit without the need to drill new holes. However, if you reverse the bottom panel, the Raspberry Pi board won't fit without further modification. If you don't plan on installing a Raspberry Pi, you won't need to worry about it. You can even build the entire case as an exact mirror image to the instruction manual if you want to. Edited October 8, 2015 by stardust4ever 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted October 8, 2015 Author Share Posted October 8, 2015 The top panel is reversible with minor modification as indicated in the attached image, but the top panel will stick out further on the right hand side. If you reverse the bottom panel as well, the mounting brackets should fit without the need to drill new holes. However, if you reverse the bottom panel, the Raspberry Pi board won't fit without further modification. If you don't plan on installing a Raspberry Pi, you won't need to worry about it. You can even build the entire case as an exact mirror image to the instruction manual if you want to. Cool! Thanks for that information! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 (edited) ^^Yeah, just redrill the bolt holes on the opposite side (red circles) for a reversible lid, or build the entire box inside out for a permanent right-handed setup. There is a backer plate that you glue underneath the control panel to add rigidity, but you don't really need to glue this part as the buttons and joystick mounts will hold them together. If you want to install the control panel backwards, you can secure the backer plate to the control panel with the two symmetrical side bolt holes, but flipped. Then use the holes in the flipped backer plate as a guide to drill the three missing bolt holes into the control panel and visa versa. Don't glue the backer plate during assembly and the finished joystick kit will have a fully reversible control panel. Word of advice if you plan to assemble the box contrary to the instructions, the side and bottom bolt holes may interfere with the buttons if flipped around. Also if you flip the front panel so that start + select are on the same side of the panel as the auxiliary side button, there will not be enough clearance to install the side button. Lastly, the corner bracket on the rear left where the Raspberry Pi installs is raised higher than the others. Test everything mechanically before gluing!!! Scroll to the bottom of the order page for the assembly manual: http://www.retrobuiltgames.com/diy-kits-shop/fight-stick-porta-pi-lite-v3/ Edited October 8, 2015 by stardust4ever Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIO2 Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Where did I put that booster grip? Oh well. HACK! Wala. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0078265317 Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 Where did I put that booster grip? Oh well. HACK! Wala. IMG_20151008_115549.jpg Nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkdrummer Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 This device started life as the controller for a FORTRESS power chair (motorized wheel chair). I had been looking for another joystick I could use for my secondary TI-99/4A system. I saw an auction for a lot of 3 of these gizmos on eBay. Looking at them I figured it's gotta have 4 micro switches, right? wrong. When I got the package and disassembled one I found that the control was through 5 coils - one attached to the stick on the gimbal and 4 below it to react to however the damn thing was wired. shit. Ok - I like micro switched joysticks - I had an old EPYX 500XJ joystick that had an intermittent in the cable. I'll take the switch assembly from it and hang it on the FORTRESS somehow. Well, long story short - after much fabrication you see what I ended up with. Always liked the EPYX sticks - short throw and audible feedback. You just barely touch this stick and it responds. It's not done quite yet - but it works like butter. I'm calling this definitely one I built. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+adamchevy Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 (edited) I wouldn't say use, seeing as my 7800 is off getting svideo modded by Joe. Very happy to have it though. Not really homebrew, but it was brewed in somebody's home/building. I am working on making one at the moment out of a solid chunk of aluminum. This is a great topic, very inspiring! Edited October 28, 2015 by adamchevy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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