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MiniVex CV for Colecovision--joystick and driving controller in one compact unit


classicgamesnut

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     Hi, Colecovision fans.  

     I've been making compact controllers for Vectrex for a while now, as well as a few for Atari.  Always liked the Colecovision, so I decided to make a compact multi-function unit for this classic system.

     Initially my intent was to make a batch of these for sale, but that's not likely at this point.  The parts cost is too high, and it's way too labor intensive.  The average MiniVex for Vectrex takes 8-10 hours from start to finish.  THIS beast easily took more than twice that, and I don't see the time coming down much.  Just too much going on internally.

     Months of development involved here, and my plan is not coming to fruition, but that's the way it goes sometimes.  At least I got a fully-working prototype out of all that work.

     Of course I wanted to show off my cool toy here, but that's not all.  I ran into countless frustrating roadblocks and failures while developing this.  The Colecovision uses some very strange--and FINICKY--voltages in the controller circtuiry.  The worst part was the keypad functions.  So if any of you are making your own Colecovision controllers, and have slammed into some brick walls, I'll be happy to share whatever might help.  In case you're wondering (no pun intended) the case is made of 22-gauge steel like all the other MiniVex controllers.

     Many wadded-up pieces of graph paper and aspirin tablets later, this thing works great. It was worth it.

 

     Larry

     

minivex cv1.JPG

minivex cv2.JPG

minivex cv4.JPG

minivex cv3.JPG

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 12/7/2021 at 6:16 AM, NIAD said:

That’s a beauty!

 

Would love to try that out with Kaboom.

 

Here is me playing kaboom with one of my early prototype paddles.  I ended up selling 5 for the intellivision, but none for the colecovision.  I made an easier to build and 3d print version and open sourced it.  
Thingiverse for the paddle shell:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4316115
github for the guts:
https://github.com/evg2000/ATTiny84_Version3.1



video early prototype:

Last prototype:

Arkanoid:

 

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