Alternative joystick/keypad solutions for CV?

[Zaxxon]

Everybody claims that you can just put a CV stick in port 2 and a Sega/Atari etc. stick in port 1 and then select the skill level using the CV stick. Whenever I've tried this it doesn't work. The joystick may work but I'm not getting any response from the keypad. Does it only work on some games because whatever game I try it on it won't work. I bought a db-9 Y cable splitter and have tried that as well, plugging 2 sticks into 1 port and it doesn't work either. I think this Y splitter is made for the PC and I don't know for sure if all 9 pins/wires pass through. I know they sold a Y splitter for this purpose way back in the day but I've never been able to find one. If you've been able to get it to work, how and on what games?

[DeV0]

The ideal solution is to put a 7800 pad in the 1st port and the cv one in the second. It works for all of my games and im guessing the 2p port on your cv may be stuffed?

[Ze_ro]

There was a device called the Champ Keypad that was released that was just a keypad with a Y splitter so you could plug an Atari style joystick into it. It's fairly rare though, and you're still stuck with the problem that you'll only have one button (unless you go with a 7800 joystick, or maybe a booster grip).

 

--Zero

[bjk7382]

The ideal solution is to put a 7800 pad in the 1st port and the cv one in the second. It works for all of my games and im guessing the 2p port on your cv may be stuffed?

 

I use my 7800 NES pad on my colecovision and both buttons work with it, and the player 2 keypad chooses the difficulty.

 

You should test it on 2 player and see if the joystick port works or not.

[ApolloBoy]

I use my 7800 NES pad on my colecovision and both buttons work with it, and the player 2 keypad chooses the difficulty.

 

So would this mean Colecovision controllers would work on the 7800 (with both buttons)?

[bjk7382]

I use my 7800 NES pad on my colecovision and both buttons work with it, and the player 2 keypad chooses the difficulty.

 

So would this mean Colecovision controllers would work on the 7800 (with both buttons)?

 

I just tested it and the brakes wouldn't work on 7800 pole position with a coleco controller.

 

Although I don't know why anyone would want to use the coleco stick.

[tyranthraxus]

A Champ keypad was on ebay just last week. Sold for about $35 IIRC.

Champ also had a two button joystick designed to go with the keypad

but its even rarer than the keypad which is saying something!

[MegaManFan]

When I asked about this, somebody found me a computer supply vendor that had a nine pin splitter cable (they actually listed it as a monitor cable) where all the pins go through. I ordered it from them direct, and it works great, but I had one problem - the end of the plug has those screws you use to fasten a monitor cable to the back of a PC (well if it is a "monitor cable" ostensibly that makes sense) so I had to use a 9 pin joystick extension cable to give me distance out of the CV port one - THEN I plugged the splitter into that, and a CV controller and a joystick into each end. Flawless. I use the keypad to select the game and the joystick to play. Unfortunately, for any two button games, you'll still need the old CV stick - sorry Charlie.

[Zaxxon]

Do you remember the name of the computer supply store? I had to use the ext cable on mine too.

[Brad2600]

Heh. I should try this set-up sometime.

 

I never play my CV much anymore.

[GrizzLee]

This is what I use.

 

http://home.earthlink.net/~resqsoft/coleco..._jagpad_mod.htm

 

 

 

-Lee

[Zaxxon]

I'll pass on making one of those. I've worked on the innards of a Jagpad when making a Jag joystick. Not fun.

[Bruce Tomlin]

A few years ago I got a pair of what probably is the Champ Keypad. These have a 9-pin jack in the back for a joystick. Unfortunately they are wired so that you can't use the right button of a Coleco-wired controller through the jack.

 

What I'll probably do in the end is wire up a pair of Wicos in whichever way works for both Coleco and the 7800 (I seem to recall that the Coleco way is the most compatible), then add an extra wire into the keypads for the right button.

[jsoper]

Yeah, that second button is a problem.

For a CV controller, button 1 shorts pin 6 to pin 8, and button 2 shorts pin 6 to pin 5

For a 7800 joystick, button 1 shorts pin 6 to pin 5 and button 2 shorts pin 6 to pin 9

When a CV controller is plugged into a 7800, there is no way it can drive pin 9 high, so button 2 won't work.

 

If you don't want to use a din-9 splitter, you can mount a 9pin joystick connector into CV controller itself, though it might be tricky.

[tyranthraxus]

Interesting break down of how the fire button pins work. I recall in the

mid 80s my friend used his Coleco joystick on his 64. And button one worked as normal but button 2 gave an autofire effect. You'd get burst of

say 3 shots then a pause.

 

I recal reading somewhere that using a 7800 stick in the long term

will cause damage to the CV. Anyone experience this?