"Flaw" with SadGirlsRecords.com 2600 joystick -> Bally Console adapter

[tripletopper]

First I'd like to say that all that Sad lGirlsRecords advertised was that a 2600 joystick controller would work with the Bally Sstrocade using their connection.  (They also have a similar one made for the Odyssey 2.) 

 

And plugging in a real 2600 controller into that did work.  

 

However play plugging a Sega Genesis controller doesn't work there.

 

Plugging in Atari 7800 controller doesn't work in there.

 

Plugging in a Colecovision standard controller doesn't work in there.

 

I assume if the Colecovision standard doesn't work then the super action controller also shouldn't work.

 

I also tried the Genesis through an Edladdin Seagull 78 and that didn't work 

 

Does anyone know how the Sad Girls Records adapter work and why it doesn't work with the more advanced forms of 2600 joysticks?

 

Is there anything special about the Atari 2600 controller that will work with a sad girl records Bally Astrocade adapter, but a 7800 (as well as Genesis and ColecoVision) won't? 

[ballyalley]

9 hours ago, tripletopper said:

Is there anything special about the Atari 2600 controller that will work with a sad girl records Bally Astrocade adapter, but a 7800 (as well as Genesis and ColecoVision) won't? 

 

I have the Astro-dapter, but I've never tried later controllers than the Atari 2600.  I wonder if this one has similar issues to the "Sad Girl" adapter; this one:

 

https://sadgirlsrecords.com/products/atari-2600-to-bally-astrocade-controller-adapter

 

Why not just email the creator of these "Sad Girl" adapters, who will forward you the schematic so you can make your own.  Or you can just ask why this happens.  Contact info is simply: sadgirlsrecords@kittymail.com

 

Good luck!

 

Adam

[doubledown]

As one who has built several custom controllers for the Astrocade, I can't imagine why something other than a simple 2600 controller wouldn't work with this adapter...unless it has unnecessary pin connections that are causing issues due to diodes and/or resistors in the other controllers (7800 has resistors, ColecoVision has diodes) that you are trying.  

 

The 2600 pinout is:

 

1 - Up

2 - Down

3 - Left

4 - Right

5

6 - Button

7

8 - GND

9

 

and the Astrocade pinout is:

 

1

2 - Down

3 - Left

4 - Right

5 - Button

6 - Up

7

8 - GND

9

 

...with the only differences being the Up and Button lines.  Of course there are other additional lines, for paddles and 5V and what not...but for what you need for a joystick, and one button...these are the pertinent lines.  If this adapter has connections at some of the unnecessary pins (5/7/9 on the Atari side, and 1/7/9 on the Astrocade side), maybe that's the issue.  I made a simple cable adapter, DE-9 Male (Astrocade controller side) to DE-9 Female (Atari console side), that lets me use any of my Astrocade controllers on any Atari-compatible console (again, using only the joystick/button lines), and haven't had a problem with it.  I never tried one going the other way, but if only using the 6 necessary lines, I can't imagine why it wouldn't work, but I would have to build one the other way to test.  

[tripletopper]

I did write to SadGirlsRecords.  They haven't wrote me back yet. 

 

So what you're saying is the unnecessary plugs are what's causing issues with the sad girl adapter when hooking up 7800, Coleco and Genesis Controllers.

 

I know how to pull out plugs on an adapter I did that with the VGA  M/F adapters in early attempts to sync up a left eye and right eye in VGA Virtual Boy.

 

Maybe the sad girl adapter was an attempt to try to add paddles that failed, and when it worked with the joystick, they said just advertise it for the 2600 joystick and be dobe with it.  Then never bothered "cleaning it up". They say it only works for Joysticks, so why not?

 

I guess I could buy DB9 F to DB9 M adapters to temporarily test it. And yank the pins off the adapter.

[doubledown]

57 minutes ago, tripletopper said:

So what you're saying is the unnecessary plugs are what's causing issues with the sad girl adapter when hooking up 7800, Coleco and Genesis Controllers.

Its a possibility...depending on how their adapter is wired...would need to see the schematic, and/or do some further testing.

[tripletopper]

All right. When I get some money next month, I'll buy some DB9 F-DB9 M adapters, pull out the pins on the adapter,  and report the results.  Why damage the original adapter when you don't have to?

[tripletopper]

First part of the results I tried Genesis to 7800 via Edladdin seagull 78, and then to Bally astrocade with the sad girl that didn't work.

 

Then I use the real 7800 controller to the Bally with the pins removed appropriately on the dongle and that worked.

 

And boy did it work I rolled over the score on Space Fortress with  one player, three ships. And  intensity level one.

 

Right now I'm going to try a couple more joysticks but not play as deeply in Space Fortress

[ballyalley]

16 hours ago, tripletopper said:

Then I use the real 7800 controller to the Bally with the pins removed appropriately on the dongle and that worked. And boy did it work I rolled over the score on Space Fortress with  one player, three ships. And  intensity level one.

 

Thanks for sharing your Astrocade joystick adapter update with us.  I notice also that you're the first person in the world to enjoy using the Atari 7800 joystick.  I can only presume that you fell and bumped your head.  I hope that you get better soon.

 

It's always great to see and read when people are not only playing on real hardware, but also using their classic game consoles and computers to actually, you know, play and use them at all. 

 

Adam

[tripletopper]

If you saw the video I was frequently changing hand positions as I had a camera on my hands from two different angles. 

 

My joke about most of these second generation controllers is :

 

The good news is that these controllers are ambidextrous.

 

The bad news is these controllers are so bad in every other way compared to modern controllers that if you want get a high enough score you're going to learn to become ambidextrous.