bcprs1 Posted February 8, 2002 Share Posted February 8, 2002 I recently bought a 3rd party 7800 light gun on ebay. I can't remember what company makes them, but the gun is great. It is very accurate. Last week I went to a local computer store and found the Atari ST light gun. I thought it would be cool to have the gun with the Atari logo, therefore I bought it for $10. I got home and tested it using Barnyard Blaster and the gun absolutely sucked. The thing was so inaccurate I could not believe it. I would hold the gun right up to the screen and still miss all of my shots. Is this just me or is every Atari ST light gun this bad? [ 02-08-2002: Message edited by: Secret Quest ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsoper Posted February 8, 2002 Share Posted February 8, 2002 Yeah, other people had said that also, but the BEST and SMS light-phaser work well. Instructions to build an SMS gun adapter are in the 2600 faq. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted February 9, 2002 Share Posted February 9, 2002 I agree with all of the other comments about the poor accuracy of the grey Atari XE (not ST) lightgun. The Best lightgun is definitely more accurate. The SMS lightgun is also quite good and not too dificult to mod, for that matter, a standard Saturn, Playstation 1 or Arcade lightgun should work fine as well. By the way, if anyone has a red Atari lightgun for trade, let me know. I've been looking for one for years. Mitch http://atari7800.atari.org [ 02-08-2002: Message edited by: Mitch ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubersaurus Posted February 9, 2002 Share Posted February 9, 2002 It ain't that great, I'll admit, but I adapted somehow. Enough to where I could play the Shooting Gallery proto without too much trouble. That thing makes for good practice with the aiming on that thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemmi Posted February 9, 2002 Share Posted February 9, 2002 I've only seen the Atari ST light gun one time in my life and never got to use it, but the one i got from Best Electronic's works really well, did they make these or are these 3rd party light guns? all it says on the gun is Video Light Gun, Made in Taiwan R.O.C. no other writting of any kind is on the gun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liveinabin Posted February 9, 2002 Share Posted February 9, 2002 hehe, sounds like the old ZX Spectrum light gun. You could hold that sucker right up to the screen and your shot would still hit an inch to the right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted February 9, 2002 Share Posted February 9, 2002 The grey Atari lightgun is from the XE, not ST, like said above. I use a Sega Mastere System gun my self, it has to be modified slightly, but instructions for doing this are in the 7800 faq. It is very accurate. I picked up two over the years myself from swap meets and/or thrift stores...payed about a $1 for each. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted February 9, 2002 Share Posted February 9, 2002 The problem with the XE gun is, like the Hubble telescope, it got equipped with a warped lens... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayhem Posted February 11, 2002 Share Posted February 11, 2002 Secret Quest... care to point me in the appropriate direction as I'm looking for a decent gun for the 7800... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markimus of K. Posted February 12, 2002 Share Posted February 12, 2002 Hey Guys, same thing, I've got an XE gun that doesn't work very well with the 7800, so I was excited to see links about modifying my SMS gun (and controller) in the 7800 FAQ, however when I went to the FAQ, it would give me a short parts list and when I clicked on 'schematic' I just got an error and was linked back to Atariage? Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted February 12, 2002 Share Posted February 12, 2002 MayhemUK, check at Best Electronics for an alternate lightgun. Markimus of K., the info about the Sega lightgun rewiring is still in the 2600 FAQ. Mitch http://atari7800.atari.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemmi Posted February 12, 2002 Share Posted February 12, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Mitch: MayhemUK, check at Best Electronics for an alternate lightgun. Mitch http://atari7800.atari.org I agree check out Bests light guns, i just got one and it works really well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted February 12, 2002 Share Posted February 12, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Mitch: MayhemUK, check at Best Electronics for an alternate lightgun. Markimus of K., the info about the Sega lightgun rewiring is still in the 2600 FAQ. Mitch http://atari7800.atari.org Yeah, the directions in the 2600 faq are the same thing. That's an important thing to remember when wanting info on mods for systems that use Atari's 9-pin ports, with minor or even no modification, they are compatible. Even the XE lightgun COULD be refered to as an ST lightgun mistakenly and if someone bought it as such, if used with an ST lightgun game, chances are it would work. Working well is another matter... So Any of the early stuff from Atari, Commodore, Coleco, Mattel, Sincliar, Sega and others with the 9-pin ports or easily modifiable. Apple was an exception to the rule. It's usually just a matter of "crossing a few wires," with proper resistances first ensured. [ 02-12-2002: Message edited by: Gunstar ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markimus of K. Posted February 13, 2002 Share Posted February 13, 2002 Mitch: Thanks, the scematics were in the 2600 faq like you said, now I just have to get up the guts to haul this stuff out and start hacking it. One question, it says you have to hack off the 9 pin connector, now without looking at them yet, I was under the impression both the Sega and Atari had the same 9 pin connector. Am I confused? MayhemUK: Art thou the very same MayhemUK on Lemon? If so, the size if the world doth scare me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted February 13, 2002 Share Posted February 13, 2002 Yeah, it's the same connector, but SEGA used a different pinout for their lightgun. When I did the mod, I removed a cable from an extra Genesis controller and replaced the entire lightgun cable. It looks much cleaner that way. Mitch http://atari7800.atari.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayhem Posted February 13, 2002 Share Posted February 13, 2002 Mitch - cheers for that. Bit pricey (or is that in Canadian $?) but I might get one and a couple of NTSC 7800 carts I'm missing at the same time. Markimus - yes, I'm the same guy from Lemon 64 now. 7800 is my secondary collecting hobby after the C64 now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markimus of K. Posted February 14, 2002 Share Posted February 14, 2002 Mitch: just wanted to be clear, you replaced the whole cable and rewired it in the light gun? At least I think thats what you mean, thanks. MayhemUK: Many cheers! I'm not sure what my primary, secondary, tertiary collecting status would be, suffice to say it would include Atari, Sega, C=64, probably in that order. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted February 14, 2002 Share Posted February 14, 2002 quoteBit pricey (or is that in Canadian $?) MayhemUK: Nope, US dollars. Sorry. quoteMitch: just wanted to be clear, you replaced the whole cable and rewired it in the light gun? Markimus of K.: Yeah, I opened up the gun, figured out which wires went where, unsoldered the old cable and soldered in the former Genesis cable. You can't tell it was ever even modded. I did the same thing with a SEGA Saturn lightgun too. Mitch http://atari7800.atari.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsoper Posted February 15, 2002 Share Posted February 15, 2002 You can make a separate adapter box too, all you need is connectors and an inverter plus case and wiring. This way you can still use a standard SMS gun without modifying Jay Tilton's Deathskull Labs site has some details on the SMS gun pinout: http://users.erols.com/tiltonj/games/tech/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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