Atari Joystick Adapter Build. Baby Step by Baby Step.

Hardware Hacking, Programming and Game Solutions/Cheats
sixxie
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Re: Atari Joystick Adapter Build. Baby Step by Baby Step.

Post by sixxie »

It's the DIN plugs I hate.

I've done most of the rest!

(Though it seems you can get better ones with bucket terminals that would be a lot easier...)
Commodore
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Re: Atari Joystick Adapter Build. Baby Step by Baby Step.

Post by Commodore »

Yes, that DIN plug was very fiddly, especially the first connection, that always seems to be the worst.
Commodore
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Re: Atari Joystick Adapter Build. Baby Step by Baby Step.

Post by Commodore »

Well I finally managed to finish it today.

Guess what?

It didn't work!

When it was plugged in the front port it disabled the keyboard and in game it just went berserk. In the back port, it did nothing.
It looked a right lash up, so I'm not surprised it didn't work.
Ah well, at least I tried.
Alastair
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Re: Atari Joystick Adapter Build. Baby Step by Baby Step.

Post by Alastair »

Commodore, take your time checking your work against the diagrams, not only to make sure that your work matches the diagrams but also to make sure that there are no shorts or anything else of that nature. In particular pay attention to which pins of the plug, socket, and IC you have connected (remembering that the pinout diagram shows the plug and socket from the rear), if you have connected a plug or socket incorrectly it will probably be easier to de-solder the wires from the board than from the plug or socket.
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robcfg
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Re: Atari Joystick Adapter Build. Baby Step by Baby Step.

Post by robcfg »

Also, please post some pictures.

We may be able to spot what's the problem.

And don't get discouraged. It's difficult at the beginning but once you get a little practice it becomes amazing!
Commodore
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Re: Atari Joystick Adapter Build. Baby Step by Baby Step.

Post by Commodore »

Thanks for the encouragement guys. I know exactly what the problem is; my crappy soldering!

Honestly it is a total mess,looks like a chimpanzee on acid soldered it. Half the problem was that I couldn't really see what I was doing, especially with the IC.

I'm 99% sure I got the Socket and plug wired correctly, I would say it is the board that went badly wrong.

I will certainly post some pictures over the next few days. On a slightly more positive note, I did find I was getting a bit better the more that I did.

It is, of course, entirely possible that my wiring does not agree with the diagram as well as it being soldered very badly.
I may try one for my BBC computer soon. I think that uses transistors and may be a bit easier.
sixxie
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Re: Atari Joystick Adapter Build. Baby Step by Baby Step.

Post by sixxie »

I actually finished soldering mine up today. It's similarly shonky soldering-wise - mostly because after sitting part-assembled for so long I couldn't be bothered to re-clean the stripboard, so it didn't make terribly great joints...

However... it works! And Dunjunz really is much better with a gamepad :)

Edit: I still hate soldering DIN plugs, though most of my problems were due to using too heavy a gauge of wire...
megadrive-controller.jpg
megadrive-controller.jpg (116.01 KiB) Viewed 16994 times
Commodore
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Re: Atari Joystick Adapter Build. Baby Step by Baby Step.

Post by Commodore »

Belated congratulations on completing it Sixxie. I gave up on mine in the end. Not even sure where the parts are now.
Otherwise, I could have used your picture to have another go, but I doubt my soldering would be up to it!
sixxie
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Re: Atari Joystick Adapter Build. Baby Step by Baby Step.

Post by sixxie »

I did mess with Fritzing a while ago and get a PCB made - it works, so if it's useful: https://aisler.net/p/FRUJQVTV (German company, so I guess you'd have to be pretty quick...). PCBs are much easier to solder :)

But this weekend I actually tried learning a bit of KiCad, which was fun. As the simplest circuit to hand that was actually useful and involved a few different parts, this adaptor was what I used to mess about. The end result looks much nicer!
dgn-md.jpg
dgn-md.jpg (62.29 KiB) Viewed 13288 times
Absolutely love the 3D view in KiCad - makes you believe it could be real ;)

All through-hole, totally untested, didn't even bother to make sure the footprints made sense (as this was just a learning exercise), but again, if it's useful...
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sorchard
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Re: Atari Joystick Adapter Build. Baby Step by Baby Step.

Post by sorchard »

sixxie wrote: Wed Nov 18, 2020 10:39 am Absolutely love the 3D view in KiCad - makes you believe it could be real ;)
Looks good to me!

The 3d visualisation in Kicad is better than what we get with the £1000 software we use at work. Especially with the raytrace view:

dgn-md.png
dgn-md.png (640.38 KiB) Viewed 13284 times
Stew
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