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The Atari 5200 Podcast (New Podcast)


David Alexander

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Don't worry, it will not happen. The 5200 needs two pots for its 360 degrees of controller. The Inty controller has not pots and its mylar is limited to 16 directions.

Nah, I wouldn't do that. Despite my love for Intellivision, I don't hate the 5200 controller. It was an innovative idea that just could've been executed a little bit better - using more robust internal components and a self centering stick. Even so, with a rebuild it works very well. I like it better than the stock Colecovision controller.

 

 

 

Sent from my Keyboard Component using Jack's Conversational Intelli-talk cassette

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For informational purposes, in case anyone is attempting the same...

 

I just did a [best Electronics] "gold upgrade kit" on one of my 5200 controllers. First time working on one of these controllers, believe it or not. It isn't terribly difficult, but I encountered a problem I wasn't anticipating.

 

On reassembly and testing (with Missile Command) - the reticle/cursor wouldn't go all the way to the right edge of the screen. So I figured I didn't align the hole/slot on the underside of the joystick with the plastic pin on the lower POT. But after multiple attempts, a messaging consultation with William Culver, and comparing it to another working controller, I knew it was reassembled correctly, and should have been working correctly, but it wasn't.

 

For those who don't know... when you reassemble the controller, you need to have the stick perfectly centered, and the top POT pin at 9 o'clock, and the bottom POT pin at 6 o'clock. Mine were, but onscreen after reassembly, it still wouldn't go all the way to the right because the pin must have slipped on the POT shaft - most likely before I did anything, because I didn't test the range of movement on this controller before I did the upgrade. I should have.

 

Basically the POT pins were in the correct position visually, but 6 o'clock on the bottom pin - which should be centered onscreen - was not centered onscreen. So by carefully rotating the position of the plastic pin on the metal POT shaft a little, and reassembling, all was well.

 

For reference, in the picture below, I'm talking about the white plastic piece that sits on top of the metal POT shaft, and having to reposition where it sits on the shaft. Hope that makes sense.

 

66993b3590c06891bf027ecfda05f15c.jpg

 

Bottom line - as been said here many times before - the gold upgrade buttons, keypad and flex circuit are a huge improvement! Highly recommended.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my Keyboard Component using Jack's Conversational Intelli-talk cassette

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For informational purposes, in case anyone is attempting the same...

 

I just did a [best Electronics] "gold upgrade kit" on one of my 5200 controllers. First time working on one of these controllers, believe it or not. It isn't terribly difficult, but I encountered a problem I wasn't anticipating.

 

On reassembly and testing (with Missile Command) - the reticle/cursor wouldn't go all the way to the right edge of the screen. So I figured I didn't align the hole/slot on the underside of the joystick with the plastic pin on the lower POT. But after multiple attempts, a messaging consultation with William Culver, and comparing it to another working controller, I knew it was reassembled correctly, and should have been working correctly, but it wasn't.

 

For those who don't know... when you reassemble the controller, you need to have the stick perfectly centered, and the top POT pin at 9 o'clock, and the bottom POT pin at 6 o'clock. Mine were, but onscreen after reassembly, it still wouldn't go all the way to the right because the pin must have slipped on the POT shaft - most likely before I did anything, because I didn't test the range of movement on this controller before I did the upgrade. I should have.

 

Basically the POT pins were in the correct position visually, but 6 o'clock on the bottom pin - which should be centered onscreen - was not centered onscreen. So by carefully rotating the position of the plastic pin on the metal POT shaft a little, and reassembling, all was well.

 

For reference, in the picture below, I'm talking about the white plastic piece that sits on top of the metal POT shaft, and having to reposition where it sits on the shaft. Hope that makes sense.

 

66993b3590c06891bf027ecfda05f15c.jpg

 

Bottom line - as been said here many times before - the gold upgrade buttons, keypad and flex circuit are a huge improvement! Highly recommended.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my Keyboard Component using Jack's Conversational Intelli-talk cassette

 

Thanks for the post Paul.

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For informational purposes, in case anyone is attempting the same...

 

I just did a [best Electronics] "gold upgrade kit" on one of my 5200 controllers. First time working on one of these controllers, believe it or not. It isn't terribly difficult, but I encountered a problem I wasn't anticipating.

 

On reassembly and testing (with Missile Command) - the reticle/cursor wouldn't go all the way to the right edge of the screen. So I figured I didn't align the hole/slot on the underside of the joystick with the plastic pin on the lower POT. But after multiple attempts, a messaging consultation with William Culver, and comparing it to another working controller, I knew it was reassembled correctly, and should have been working correctly, but it wasn't.

 

For those who don't know... when you reassemble the controller, you need to have the stick perfectly centered, and the top POT pin at 9 o'clock, and the bottom POT pin at 6 o'clock. Mine were, but onscreen after reassembly, it still wouldn't go all the way to the right because the pin must have slipped on the POT shaft - most likely before I did anything, because I didn't test the range of movement on this controller before I did the upgrade. I should have.

 

Basically the POT pins were in the correct position visually, but 6 o'clock on the bottom pin - which should be centered onscreen - was not centered onscreen. So by carefully rotating the position of the plastic pin on the metal POT shaft a little, and reassembling, all was well.

 

For reference, in the picture below, I'm talking about the white plastic piece that sits on top of the metal POT shaft, and having to reposition where it sits on the shaft. Hope that makes sense.

 

66993b3590c06891bf027ecfda05f15c.jpg

 

Bottom line - as been said here many times before - the gold upgrade buttons, keypad and flex circuit are a huge improvement! Highly recommended.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my Keyboard Component using Jack's Conversational Intelli-talk cassette

yep, thats what I said at the end, center the pots onscreen then physically move the arms to the correct positions :P

Edited by thevnaguy
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Sebastian M. Kotek is coming out with his own Atari 5200 Flashcart. He says "all 5200 cart bank switch modes, up to 192kB ROM size, USB firmware update feature"

 

He also shared a link to his Atari 5200 Robbo game hoping it will help others port Atari XL/XE games to the 5200 https://github.com/tdididit/a52-robbo

post-38693-0-73800600-1518986434_thumb.jpg

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Found another nugget in the Sept/Oct '82 (Volume 1 No.3) issue of Atari Age magazine. The Sneak Peeks section (page 8 ) mentions an Atari 5200 Voice Synthesizer Module. Wonder if anyone has ever come across an actual prototype or a schematic?

 

post-21941-0-04621900-1520006351.jpg post-21941-0-73265300-1520006370.png

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Found another nugget in the Sept/Oct '82 (Volume 1 No.3) issue of Atari Age magazine. The Sneak Peeks section (page 8 ) mentions an Atari 5200 Voice Synthesizer Module. Wonder if anyone has ever come across an actual prototype or a schematic?

 

attachicon.gifAA V1 No3.jpg attachicon.gif5200 Voice Synth.png

 

Never saw it but there are some games that had speech anyway.

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Never saw it but there are some games that had speech anyway.

 

This is just my curiosity getting the best of me. I was just hoping that someone might have a picture, rendering or schematic of the device. I love the look of the 5200 and would like to see what this device would have looked like. :)

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