My homemade 5200 controller

[David Alexander]

 

Just get the hacked version of frogger so you don' t have to press fire to move. Makes it much more enjoyable to play.

 

Shawn, where can I find that hacked version? thanks

[amiman99]

 

Will this case & the 3D printed buttons work with my current controller without having to do any soldering and leaving all the switches as stock?

Meaning that the 3D printed buttons just sit on top of all the stock buttons as in the picture below? Thanks.

It looks like the buttons and the analog stick are perfectly mirrored, so it should fit fine when the buttons are flipped.

 

Some of you made the fire buttons straight down, not at an angle, that is a problem.

[amiman99]

@smbaker

I tested the controller on bunch of games, and it works well.

I noticed in the Missile Command that the crosshair is not in the middle, is it possible to calibrate this somehow?

I also noticed in the Pacman, that sometimes when you start a level and go right then down, the controller becomes unresponsive. It's not always.

 

Thanks

[Shawn]

@smbaker

I tested the controller on bunch of games, and it works well.

I noticed in the Missile Command that the crosshair is not in the middle, is it possible to calibrate this somehow?

I also noticed in the Pacman, that sometimes when you start a level and go right then down, the controller becomes unresponsive. It's not always.

 

Thanks

 

Adjust your Pokey chip inside your console.

[Shawn]

 

Shawn, where can I find that hacked version? thanks

Frogger (no button hack).zip

[David Alexander]

Frogger (no button hack).zip

 

Thanks Buddy

[amiman99]

 

Adjust your Pokey chip inside your console.

Thanks, that fixed it!

[Shawn]

So nobody with a first run board can tell me if SJ2 and SJ3 are to be closed or not

with a left handed setup?

 

 

 

 

 

[john_q_atari]

I have them closed on mine. I seem to recall needing to do that to have them function for me. Not sure that left or right handedness has anything to do with whether or not you should close the jumpers. Even if you needed to open them again that shouldn't be difficult.

[Shawn]

I have them closed on mine. I seem to recall needing to do that to have them function for me. Not sure that left or right handedness has anything to do with whether or not you should close the jumpers. Even if you needed to open them again that shouldn't be difficult.

 

Ya difficulty isn't a thing, I was more worried about protecting the digital pot on the controller and the pokey inside my machine.

Thanks so much for your reply. Sometimes, even when I know better, I find a way to doubt myself for no reason.

[smbaker]

So nobody with a first run board can tell me if SJ2 and SJ3 are to be closed or not

with a left handed setup?

 

thumbnail_20181106_190834.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

Left or right handed, these should be closed. They are to put the digital pot in "rheostat" mode (I'm not sure to what extent it really matters, but that's how we're using the pots). On the second revision of the board, I eliminated the solder jumpers and closed them.

 

Scott

[Shawn]

 

Left or right handed, these should be closed. They are to put the digital pot in "rheostat" mode (I'm not sure to what extent it really matters, but that's how we're using the pots). On the second revision of the board, I eliminated the solder jumpers and closed them.

 

Scott

 

Ya I recall you removed them on the new version. Thanks.

[amiman99]

Hi, Here is my case design,

Let's call it "Version 1", with square buttons. The zip file includes the case for left and right analog joystick positions, plus all the needed buttons.

The case can be printed w/o supports, if your printer can handle it. For best results print with supports around the edges. Print the case face down.

Slow down the 1st layer print to 20mm/s, so it stick nice to the plate and gives you nice face.

Print buttons with a BRIM around it.

 

For the screws, use #4x3/8in Pan Philips 490192 Hillman or equvalent.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Hillman-4-x-3-8-in-Phillips-Drive-Sheet-Metal-Screws-24-Count/3034789

The picture is wrong, the screws are 3/8in long

 

I only have and printed the left side design.

 

To assemble it, drop your buttons in the top case, them PCB on top. Insert screws to the bottom case so they can stick out for 1-2mm, and then close.

Atari 5200 smbaker joystick case.zip

Edited November 10, 2018 by amiman99

[+DrVenkman]

Hi, Here is my case design,

Let's call it "Version 1", with square buttons. The zip file includes the case for left and right analog joystick positions, plus all the needed buttons.

The case can be printed w/o supports, if your printer can handle it. For best results print with supports around the edges. Print the case face down.

Slow down the 1st layer print to 20mm/s, so it stick nice to the plate and gives you nice face.

Print buttons with a BRIM around it.

 

For the screws, use #4x3/8in Pan Philips 490192 Hillman or equvalent.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Hillman-4-x-3-8-in-Phillips-Drive-Sheet-Metal-Screws-24-Count/3034789

The picture is wrong, the screws are 3/8in long

 

I only have and printed the left side design.

 

To assemble it, drop your buttons in the top case, them PCB on top. Insert screws to the bottom case so they can stick out for 1-2mm, and then close.

 

Excellent and thank you!

 

Couple questions:

 

1. When you say, "left side design," do you mean thumbstick on the left and fire buttons on the right?

2. Does this use the standard "short" buttons as specified in Scott's BOM, or different buttons of any sort?

3, Any caveats or tips for printing the buttons?

[amiman99]

 

Excellent and thank you!

 

Couple questions:

 

1. When you say, "left side design," do you mean thumbstick on the left and fire buttons on the right?

2. Does this use the standard "short" buttons as specified in Scott's BOM, or different buttons of any sort?

3, Any caveats or tips for printing the buttons?

1. Left / Right: is where the analog stick is. When in doubt, you open the files in CURA you will see how they look.

2. Short buttons design, for now.

3. Use 6mm BRIM to hold the buttons to the plate. You need 3x spr buttons, 2xFire buttons

[bcullen]

Hi. I'm a beginner as far as it goes with tinkering. I've been teaching myself things from reading posts like this and watching videos on YouTube. I just have a couple questions on this build.

 

1) What is the symbol on the schematic for U$3, U$4, and U$29? I've been learning how to read schematics and how to make my own by replicating ones i know work. But I don't recognize that symbol and I couldn't find anything on it.

 

2) What is the tac swtich labeled U$5 or U$28 for?

 

3) What are the momentary switches (S1-2 and S5- for?

 

4) How is the header (SV2) wired? And what does it do?

 

 

I understand pretty much the rest of it. I wanted to try and get a board from the OP but I wanted to make sure I understood how to put it together before I ordered one. Thanks for any help you guys can provide.

[smbaker]

U3, U4, and U29 are all "test points". In the case of U3 and U4 these are to accommodate larger transistor packages. U29 is to break out an unused pin, which isn't really needed. I tend to break out interesting unused pins when I have room.

 

U5 and U28 are tactile switch footprints in the center of each thumbstick footprint. I tended to add lots of extra tactile switch footprints, just in case someone wanted to put a trigger button in some weird place.

 

Those bigger "momentary" switches are large size tactile switches that you can buy from sparkfun. They're like normal tactile switches, but bigger. Advantage of the sparkfun big tactile switches is that they come with plastic button tops already.

 

Header SV2 is an ICSP programming header, for use with USBASP programmers and similar, using the 6-pin programming cable. It lets you program the microcontroller in circuit, without having to remove it.

 

Scott

[bcullen]

Thank you for the explanation. Do you have any boards available?

[smbaker]

Thank you for the explanation. Do you have any boards available?

 

Yeah, I have plenty on hand now, $10 each plus shipping.

 

Scott

[Swami]

 

Yeah, I have plenty on hand now, $10 each plus shipping.

 

Scott

I'll take two, please.

[+DrVenkman]

 

Yeah, I have plenty on hand now, $10 each plus shipping.

 

Scott

 

BTW, I received my most recent (3rd!) board, Scott. Thank you! I'll probably order parts for this one in a few weeks after we get most of the spendy holiday shopping done. The first two continue to work great.

Edited November 17, 2018 by DrVenkman

[+chicgamer]

Anyone want to help me troubleshoot the issues I'm having with this?

 

Tonight, I programmed the ATTiny85 using an Arduino Uno, I put it in my controller, hooked it up to my 5200, and ... the analog stick isn't working.

 

The buttons appear to be working fine, but I'm getting nothing from the analog stick. I tried it with both Centipede and Pac-Man.

 

Could it be that I don't have the jumpers set correctly, or is it more likely I screwed something up with the programming?

[amiman99]

Anyone want to help me troubleshoot the issues I'm having with this?

 

Tonight, I programmed the ATTiny85 using an Arduino Uno, I put it in my controller, hooked it up to my 5200, and ... the analog stick isn't working.

 

The buttons appear to be working fine, but I'm getting nothing from the analog stick. I tried it with both Centipede and Pac-Man.

 

Could it be that I don't have the jumpers set correctly, or is it more likely I screwed something up with the programming?

Check if you soldered all the pins on the analog stick.

[+chicgamer]

Check if you soldered all the pins on the analog stick.

 

I just went over all the solder points again, adding a bit more solder to each to ensure a good connection, but I'm getting the same issue. I guess it's possible that there is an issue with the stick I'm using (it came off an old PS2 controller that was working the last time I used it).

 

By the way, thanks so much for sharing your case design! I printed a shell and will put my controller in it after I get it working.

[smbaker]

@chicgamer: Also, check and make sure that you have installed the jumper at JP2, as this is the chip select for the digital pot. Somewhere around here I did make a test firmware that cycles the pots back and forth, ignoring the thumbsticks entirely, and that could be one way to diagnose whether your issue resides with the digital pots, or with the thumbstick. If you're interested, I can dig that up.

 

@animan99: I just got a 3D printer and printed your case design yesterday, in PETG. A little bit of an issue with nastiness around the supports on the beveled edge (I'm trying a PLA print to see if it looks nicer), but nothing some sanding couldn't clear up. Great design, and thanks for sharing it!

 

Scott