Playstation -> 5200 adapter thread

[hex65000]

Instead of cluttering up the Redemption thread any more, I decided to just start a new one. So to recap:

 

I'm slowly working on this and have started a video development monologue/discussion on Youtube. The three installments to date are:

 

: Background on previous projects mostly and a little bit of what brought on this project.

 

: The best solution of how to connect to the Atari 5200 that I could come up with and how I got there.

 

: Updates, clarifications, a simple demonstration, and a discussion of the top level architecture of the adapter.

 

If you have questions, ask away.

 

Hex.

[ Needs a new plan... ]

[Animan]

Definitely seems like an interesting project. If these are ever to be sold, I might buy one just for the novelty. Good luck!

Edited September 14, 2010 by Animan

[Hitachi]

WOOT! thanks for the snooper mention.

[eightbit]

Thanks for the new thread! Helps with easily keeping up with your progress. I for one am pretty excited about the possibility of an upcoming PSX adapter for the 5200. I will be one of the first on the list to order one from you when it is finalized!

[MrBubble]

Hex,

 

Thanks for your work on this project and I look forward to the final version. Setup a way for people to give you some deposit and I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

 

Bubbles

[littleman jack]

Same here. Looking forward to the finished project. Great idea!

[Arkanoid_376970]

maybe you should ask Toni Westbrook at www.synthdreams.com he made a PSX to DB9 converter which works a dream. he might be able to adapt his one for 5200

[thegamezmaster]

This would be sweet if it comes to be.

 

 

[hex65000]

... thanks for the snooper mention.

You're welcome. I've learned that if one person asks, then it's likely that others were asking the same question and just didn't say anything.

 

... I look forward to the final version. Setup a way for people to give you some deposit and I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

I appreciate your vote of confidence. I really don't have a fixed timetable here and I will not take anyone's money until I have parts and completed units to fulfill the requests I get.

 

Having a deposit is a recipe for problems if something happens along the way. As things get closer, I'll likely make an interest check thread and buy enough parts to meet that demand and we'll work the rest out from there. Short answer: When there are units ready to mail out, I'll ask for money.

 

I'll still need to do some serious work and testing before I'm even comfortable declaring things at Rev. 1.0

Fortunately, I have an AtariMax for testing, so I can try a majority of games here when the time comes.

 

maybe you should ask Toni Westbrook at www.synthdreams.com he made a PSX to DB9 converter which works a dream.

That's some good work there.

 

That said, I can make some educated guesses on what he did based on his schematic. The end result is similar, but he's likely taking the 8bit value off the Playstation analog controller and just piping that value directly into 1MOhm digital pots. Since I've got a bit of variance and the full resistance scale is less than 1MOhm, I can't quite do the same thing.

 

I think I've got the calculation portion worked out. If that's true, my life just got better. Still have to simulate it with everything glued together. Let's just say that 8052.com may have just saved my bacon.

 

Hex.

[ Doesn't actually LIKE bacon... ]

[bohoki]

... thanks for the snooper mention.

You're welcome. I've learned that if one person asks, then it's likely that others were asking the same question and just didn't say anything.

 

... I look forward to the final version. Setup a way for people to give you some deposit and I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

I appreciate your vote of confidence. I really don't have a fixed timetable here and I will not take anyone's money until I have parts and completed units to fulfill the requests I get.

 

Having a deposit is a recipe for problems if something happens along the way. As things get closer, I'll likely make an interest check thread and buy enough parts to meet that demand and we'll work the rest out from there. Short answer: When there are units ready to mail out, I'll ask for money.

 

I'll still need to do some serious work and testing before I'm even comfortable declaring things at Rev. 1.0

Fortunately, I have an AtariMax for testing, so I can try a majority of games here when the time comes.

 

maybe you should ask Toni Westbrook at www.synthdreams.com he made a PSX to DB9 converter which works a dream.

That's some good work there.

 

That said, I can make some educated guesses on what he did based on his schematic. The end result is similar, but he's likely taking the 8bit value off the Playstation analog controller and just piping that value directly into 1MOhm digital pots. Since I've got a bit of variance and the full resistance scale is less than 1MOhm, I can't quite do the same thing.

 

I think I've got the calculation portion worked out. If that's true, my life just got better. Still have to simulate it with everything glued together. Let's just say that 8052.com may have just saved my bacon.

 

Hex.

[ Doesn't actually LIKE bacon... ]

 

this is entertaining seeing you work

 

 

 

if it helps any i once went through a few games and got centers and trigger values for left right every game is different

 

 

 

well last night was really pissing me off with gyruss so i added the 100k supplemental resistor i thought hey i gotta find out if there is any patterns to this madness of 5200 control values

 

so after many a plugging and unplugging of the controller and meter

 

here is my h-value of some games so centered stick is anywhere between max for left and minimum for right all values in k ohm

 

max resistance for left|center|min resistance for right

gyruss 70||484

popeye 71||390

montezumas revenge * 1||427

wizwor 112||351

space invaders 124||365

digdug 128||394

pengo 172||367

choplifter 267||317 this one has a very tight center

kangaroo 186 323

berzerk 176 444

galaxian 152 351

pacman 153 394

ms pacman 183 322

mariobros 140 421

mr do* 1 470

centipede 155 349

pole position 172 298 very tight center

joust* 1 434

buck rogers 118 436

defender 98 453

qix 117 386

 

these are the absolute position games so i just locked down a dead center

super breakout 259k

missile command 260k

kaboom! 233k

 

* games act really weird(left trigger is somewhere between 1k-7k but is just weird sorry that is all i can come up with)

 

 

after all this i see no real pattern all i can figure is that atari didnt have self centering sticks because they couldn't

the little play that the joystick allows around the center is so people can find the dead center on their own

 

 

let me know when you get it working and your adventures with "montezumas revenge"

[+Gemintronic]

This is a little off topic so I apologize. BUT!

 

I can tell hex65000 is a real Technician/Engineering type. He doesn't forget to clip his fingernails. He doesn't bow to fashion. He simply uses his fingernails as built-in small parts picking up instruments!

 

Not making fun. I do this too Much respect!

[the.golden.ax]

Good stuff, I can't wait to see if she is fast enough. Where are you going to get the hose? I've been doing something simular with the 7800 annv. project and like your idea better, would love a source for the Nylon.

 

AX

[classics]

Very clever work on the 5200 connector.

 

Steve

[DensB68]

Has there been anymore progress on this? Really hoping this comes to be, the PS2 controller is one of my Favorites.

[Coleco]

Would be great if you could map a button or two to frequently used keypad buttons for games like Defender.

[Zonie]

Hex, watched your videos... You ever think to make a PCB that has four connectors on one side that connect to all four ports at once, with connectors on the other side, and possibly has an option to screw into the front of the 5200? I'd be willing to drill and tap holes in my console to permanently mount an adapter board to the front to allow the connection of more mainstream DB15's with thumbscrews. I'm talking about a simple pass-through board. You could also possibly mount all the electronics in such a board and put the PS2 or whatever connectors on the other side. This would eliminate the need for a full 15-cond cable for each one.

 

Something like this could be housed in a machined or molded black ABS cover to hide the PCB and connectors. A Two-port model would work as well by just leaving out two connectors if they are spaced the same.

 

You could possibly forget the screws as four connectors would hold better than one.

 

Something to think about.

[tz101]

Please say this will be ready for purchase soon. PSX controller on 5200 will be amazing...

[bohoki]

Please say this will be ready for purchase soon. PSX controller on 5200 will be amazing...

 

 

it will probably cost $100

[DensB68]

Please say this will be ready for purchase soon. PSX controller on 5200 will be amazing...

 

 

it will probably cost $100

 

 

I am willing to pay twice that myself , the 5200 is by far my most played and favorite system and the PS2 controller to me is the most comfortable to use for longer playing times.

[Zonie]

My personal solution is to play on the 400 instead, however not all the games are avail there. I do have a set of Wico's, but they are not my preferred controller. PS2 controllers would be cool, but something new for this old guy to master...

 

Please say this will be ready for purchase soon. PSX controller on 5200 will be amazing...

 

 

it will probably cost $100

 

 

I am willing to pay twice that myself , the 5200 is by far my most played and favorite system and the PS2 controller to me is the most comfortable to use for longer playing times.

[tz101]

Any word? Enquiring minds want to know...

[ATARILUVR]

Yes, thank you for this! This machine sadly never got the controller it deserved. I'm very interested in any news too, and i'll definitely pick one up!

[Lynxpro]

Pardon me here...is the purpose of this to adapt a more "reliable" controller with analog sticks for use with the 5200 or is it just the fact that the PSX controller is favored by some gamers?

 

 

Wouldn't the NES Max controller also be of interest since the DPad does 360 control? Of course, I don't think that controller counts as analog...

[sqoon]

I found this thread and it is interesting, though no progress has been reported in quite some time. Does anyone know what became of this project?

[tripletopper]

I doin't need a PS2 analog stick for analog games, because for the ones that truly need it, (Kaboom,Super Breakout, etc...) it makes more sense to have NON centering controllers. I tried to play paddle games on the Xbox One using analog controllers in "absolute mode" and it's hard to dial and hold a position. Compare Warlord on a true paddle and an analog stick that centers back. The reason why Atari analog games work the way they do IS because they're non-self-centering. You'll fight centering resistance trying to hold a particular position for Warlords. I want it for digital games.

 

I found an Atari 5200 digital joystick. It is good for most games, but has a couple problems. It looks like a 2600 joystick, clicks like a real arcade joystick, and has a Y adapter to plug in a real 5200 stick you have to center manually before you start the game. basically it sends a potentiometer signal at maximum +x, maximum +y, maximum -x and maximum -y.

 

The left button is the main button, which works for right handed 2600 players, but not lefties. Also it doesn't work well for Moon Patrol with its 2-button scheme and bridging your thumb over tot he other side.. I heard a couple games don't work well. Popeye is one of them. I think it might have trouble with diagonals because 100% north + 100% east equals 141% Northeast. there is a physical limiter on the original Atari joystick which makes the maximum radius 100%. Would the solution have a "Dial a Range"- where you set it at 70% for the cardinals and diagonals would be 98%

 

I heard there is a way to turn USB into DB15. Maybe PS2 can be turned into USB, and then go from there with a USB to DB15 adapter for fight sticks that I see in a few places. THen from DB15 Fight, it can be converted to DB15 5200.

 

I'm mainly interested if a PS2 digtial stick input can be converted to a 5200 "functionally digital, electronically analog" signal. I assume the bottom button on the 5200 is the "main rapid fire button" on most games, and the top button is the secondary button. If that's the case, then X=bottom and O=top