Controller or Port issue?

[Maxwell Zorin]

I was recently playing Choplifter on a native rebuilt best electronics controller and noticed the bottom fire buttons did not work. I tried my second controller and same story- could not turn the helicopter around with the bottom button. Then i plugged in my Maker Matrix Dpad and lo and behold no problem, the button mapped to the bottom button worked fine.

 

My current theory is that the issue is with the port and not the controllers. However i struggle to understand why the bottom button would work with a one controller (i beleive it is digital) but not the analog controller. Does any one more technical than me understand why?

 

Another thing- i wanted to try to test another game but i am having a hard time finding a game in my collection that uses the bottom button if anyone knows of one off the top of their head.

 

Thanks in advance

Edited December 8, 2020 by Maxwell Zorin

[+DrVenkman]

“Bottom button” - do you mean the fire buttons? Or a button on the keypad? 

 

If you mean the fire buttons, and if your modern-made controller works, then the issue is clearly your vintage controllers. It’s common for the contacts on the Mylar to get dirty and start to have problems.

(And for the record, the Maker-Matrix game pads, using Scott Baker’s PCBs, are analog controllers - they just use some clever circuitry and code to allow use of a modern short-throw thumbstick instead of the old fashioned sticks used on original controllers).

[Maxwell Zorin]

Correct i did mean the Bottom fire button (not the keypad). The vintage controller contacts were replaced a few years ago with gold contacts and a new mylar, so that is kind of a suprise. The Maker-matrix is probably going to be my default from now on anyway.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

I believe Star Wars:TAG will fire lasers with all four buttons? Moon Patrol uses one to shoot and the other to jump.

 

Although Bests controllers are outfitted with gold contacts, I believe the mylar inside is still the same alum trace with just a gold plating applied to the contact points? But I could be wrong on that. Eitherway, the mylar still flexes and the reason for totally loss of button functions is due to a trace getting broken internally inside the mylar over time.

 

[Maxwell Zorin]

Ok tested with the track ball, and with moon patrol. yes its definetly the analog controller- nothing new for the 5200!

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Time to start tracing out the flex to see if any of those traces are cracked. Usually in the case of the fire buttons it is a common ground trace that gets severed between them.