5200/Wico cable problem

[Elvis8Atari]

Ok..I have the atari trackball controller. That works fine. I enjoy that. Then i got myself one of those wico controllers hoping it would work. The thing is it plugs into the 5200 through another cable. And I think the cable it plugs in through is dead or something. because i plugged the trackball to the cable and then to the 5200 and i got no response. But just reguarly plugged in the trackball works. Can someone shed some light on this subject for me and tell me what the deal with the other cable is.. its like a black cable that you can plug 2600style cables into i don't know what it's called. I just really want to play my 5200 games but the damn wico controller won't work and that was supposedly great for the 5200 ERRRR

[Charlie_]

The extra cable is a Y-adaptor. They are not a standard type, you need one made just for the WICO sticks.

When the Trakball is in the Y-adaptor does it work at all? Does START and RESET work but the directions dont? When using the Y-adaptor all the buttons will work but the directionals will not.

These Y-adaptor pop up on e-bay every now and then. Keep an eye out for one. The ones I have I got with the wico sticks. I do have one extra I paid $25 for alone. What happened was an auction I won for a wico stick didnt say it included a Y-adaptor but when it showed up it was included.

The best solution is of course the Keypad made by WICO. :-)

 

Charlie

[MrRetroGamer]

Elvis, Can you describe exactly what this cable is that you are trying to use? It's either the wrong cable or it could have a short circuit in it. I've noticed that these WICO Y cables are pretty fragile and I've come across a few that worked "intermittently". Maybe the WICO controller is dead or not working too? Give as much detail as possible so we can figure out what is going on.

[Elvis8Atari]

it is a black cord. it has three ends. one plugs into the 5200 and the other ends plug into either a 2600 type plug or into the end of the trackball plug. Nothing workis at all when i have it plugged in. But if I just have the trackball controller plugged directly into the 5200 it works. So there must be something wrong with the cord I guess. I just tried the wico in my 2600 and that won't work either. Do wico controllers work with the 2600? Someone please help! how can i get a good 5200 controller!

[ToddUGA]

If I'm not mistaken, the Wico Y-cable is for hooking up an analog Wico 5200 joystick only, and not for hooking up digital joysticks, such as ones designed for the 2600. I could be wrong, though, since it's been almost 20 years since I've actually used the Wico 5200 stuff.

[keithbro]

I have a Wico Trak Ball and a Wico Keypad and unfortunately the Trak Ball will not work on 5200 games. I tried plugging the track ball into the keypad and had not luck. It would be great to use the Wico trak ball rather than the crappy Atari 5200 trak ball controller.

 

Keith

[MrRetroGamer]

quote:

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Originally posted by Pac Head:

I have a Wico Trak Ball and a Wico Keypad and unfortunately the Trak Ball will not work on 5200 games. I tried plugging the track ball into the keypad and had not luck. It would be great to use the Wico trak ball rather than the crappy Atari 5200 trak ball controller.

 

Keith

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The WICO Trak-Ball was not designed for the 5200, this is for the 2600 and compatable systems. I'd have to dispute your definition of the genuine Atari 5200 Trak-Ball controller as "crappy". This is arguably one of the best controllers made for any vintage system. What is it you don't like about it???

[RangerG]

The Atari 5200 track-ball is crappy???? I completely understand calling the controllers crappy, but maybe you need to clean your track-ball.

[Adrian M]

I agree. The genuine Atari 5200 trackball is awesome. Thanks to its perfect size and weight, this is the closest thing to an arcade quality trackball you're likely to find.