Atari 7800 arcade-style joysticks

[bikeguychicago]

Does any here produce or offer an arcade-style joystick for the 7800? I'm looking for something that has better precision than the stock joystick that includes two button support.

 

Thanks!

[bennybingo]

Hard to find at a fair price, but the Battlestation II arcade stick is awesome on the 7800 (for single button games)...it even provides dual stick support to Robotron!

 

http://atariage.com/..._ battlestation

 

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?ff3=4&pub=5574883395&toolid=10001&campid=5336500554&customid=&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2FBattlestation-2-Arcade-Controller-RARE-Brand-New-CIB-%2F271177310170%3Fpt%3DUS_Video_Game_Controllers%26hash%3Ditem3f236d5fda

[Trebor]

The.Golden.Ax http://atariage.com/forums/topic/199849-fs-nintendo-controllers-and-joysticks-modified-to-play-on-7800-or-2600/ does a great job in controller mods. I had 2 NES Advantage joysticks fixed to be 7800 compatible by him and they work great.

 

Yurkie http://atariage.com/...with-ball-knob/ does a very nice mod of the 7800 controller that is a big improvement over the original design. It helps greatly in reducing hand cramping and fatigue.

[Sector7e]

I may be willing to make custom arcade style controllers for the 7800 and other systems if there is enough interest. I will use real arcade joysticks and buttons with a layout similar to my WIP Atari 7800 Arcade cabinet. What do you think?

Edited May 8, 2013 by Sector7e

[YANDMAN]

I have a really nice joystick i use ill put up a picture of it as i cant remember what make it is

[the.golden.ax]

I'm happy to convert ANY joystick for use with 7800. Send me anything you want. Price is currently $15 plus return postage. ($5 for the cord and resistors, $10 for my time).

[bikeguychicago]

Does anyone know if Golden Axe is still active on these boards? I tried sending a message just now and sent one recently that was not answered.

 

If not, is there anyone else on here that could perform the same modification?

 

Thanks!

[bennybingo]

Does anyone know if Golden Axe is still active on these boards? I tried sending a message just now and sent one recently that was not answered.

 

If not, is there anyone else on here that could perform the same modification?

 

Thanks!

He has been laid up with a back injury as of late...hopefully he gets better soon!

[sqoon]

Radica Space invaders PnP makes a nice arcade stick for 7800 with some conversion work.

[bikeguychicago]

The Radica one is the one I'm looking to get modded. I won one on eBay and was hoping to send it to Golden Axe directly instead of having it sent to me first.

Edited June 13, 2013 by bikeguychicago

[mimo]

Rsi stick is great, I have 2 that I converted, but the diagonals are not great.

[gambler172]

i would buy one

[mimo]

But would anyone sell you one.

[mimo]

I'm thinking of hacking a dreamcast arcade stick, they are rather nice, but what would I do with the extra buttons?

[+wongojack]

So to make a stick what is needed. I tested the button pins (5 and 9) with a meter and they show 600ohm resistance. Can you just put a resistor on those lines and connect it to a button?

 

Edit: I found the thread about the RSI which had tons of info.

[+wongojack]

I've got a question about the design of the joystick.

 

Can anyone speculate why they would put the resistance into the line as opposed to leaving it resistance free? I think I need some help thinking through this . . .

 

Pins 5 and 9 are for the paddle normally so they would measure a range of motion from 0 resistance to max resistance for the pot. I thought they were 500ohm pots in the original paddles but the resistors used in the proline are 620 - whatever.

 

The way the button circuit on the 7800 seems to work is that the circuit is open with 620 resistance on the ground. When I measure 5 and 9 on a meter, I get 620 resistance, so its constantly there. If I'm thinking about this correctly, when a button is pressed, the circuit is closed (connected) and a button press is detected with that same resistance on the line. If one connects a button to lines 5 and 9 with 0 resistance on the line - like the ones on the booster grip - the system detects a continuous button press.

 

But isn't every button a 0 resistance button? I understand that these lines are normally for the paddles, but if you have the option of configuring these buttons as 0 resistance buttons or "regular" buttons then why would you choose to add resistance? What am I missing here?

 

If they had been 0 resistance would any button connected to those lines work? Seems like it would and our mod-projects would be a whole lot easier. Plus - the booster grip would work.

[alex_79]

I have this diagram that shows the 7800 joystick ciruit (I don't remember where I downloaded it from):

With the 7800 In single button mode (and on the 2600), pin 6 is read to detect a button press. Normally it is HIGH (because of the 10k pullup inside the console) and it goes LOW when any of the 2 button is pressed because it's connected to ground through the pulldown small resistors in the joystick. The paddle lines are always LOW in this situation. So both buttons on a 7800 controller act like the single 2600 button in this case.

 

When a 7800 game set the 2-button mode, there's a strong pullup active on pin 6 and the 2 buttons are read on paddle lines (pin 5 and 9 ) with inverted logic. Normally those pins are LOW (because of the 2 pulldown resistors), while by pressing a button the corresponding paddle line goes HIGH because it gets connecetd to pin 6. 2-button mode is disabled in a 7800 console if the TIA video out is enabled (that is in 2600 mode) and that part of the circuit is not present in a 2600 console. Without the resitors the paddle lines would always be LOW (and no button could be read) and the output of the transistor Q6 would be shorted to ground when a button is pressed.

 

The reason for this complicated scheme was to have both buttons working also with the old 2600 games. Consider that the prolines (and later the joypads) were packed with the 2600 junior console in Europe and it wouldn't have looked right to have one button non funcional.

[7800]

I just made my own by hacking into a proline. Just buy an arcade joystick and 2 cherry buttons, make or buy a base for them and your ready to rock. You don't even have to dismantle the proline guts, just solder or use inline crimp sleeves onto the existing leads, this way you don't have to fuss with resisters and diodes.

 

[Loktar]

I just made my own by hacking into a proline. Just buy an arcade joystick and 2 cherry buttons, make or buy a base for them and your ready to rock. You don't even have to dismantle the proline guts, just solder or use inline crimp sleeves onto the existing leads, this way you don't have to fuss with resisters and diodes.

 

 

Thats awesome! Hey on an unrelated note, I clicked through your pics, is that Castle Greyskull custom made? Pretty nice looking, the Ram Man, and Hordak look really nice too!

[7800]

Thanks! Yep, Castles are custom.

[+wongojack]

I have this diagram that shows the 7800 joystick ciruit (I don't remember where I downloaded it from):

With the 7800 In single button mode (and on the 2600), pin 6 is read to detect a button press. Normally it is HIGH (because of the 10k pullup inside the console) and it goes LOW when any of the 2 button is pressed because it's connected to ground through the pulldown small resistors in the joystick. The paddle lines are always LOW in this situation. So both buttons on a 7800 controller act like the single 2600 button in this case.

 

When a 7800 game set the 2-button mode, there's a strong pullup active on pin 6 and the 2 buttons are read on paddle lines (pin 5 and 9 ) with inverted logic. Normally those pins are LOW (because of the 2 pulldown resistors), while by pressing a button the corresponding paddle line goes HIGH because it gets connecetd to pin 6. 2-button mode is disabled in a 7800 console if the TIA video out is enabled (that is in 2600 mode) and that part of the circuit is not present in a 2600 console. Without the resitors the paddle lines would always be LOW (and no button could be read) and the output of the transistor Q6 would be shorted to ground when a button is pressed.

 

The reason for this complicated scheme was to have both buttons working also with the old 2600 games. Consider that the prolines (and later the joypads) were packed with the 2600 junior console in Europe and it wouldn't have looked right to have one button non funcional.

 

Thanks man that helps - I think that I get it, but can you explain what you mean by pullup and pulldown? Looking at the schematic seems to explain, but I want to make sure that I'm following you.

[alex_79]

Pullup resistors are placed between power and an IC input line (pulldown are between gnd and the input line). When there isn't anything else active on the line there is not current flow, so there's not voltage drop across the resistors and they keep the logic state at the desidered level (HIGH for pullups and LOW for pulldowns).

 

Keep in mind that I'm absolutely not an expert about these things, so my terminology may be inaccurate (And my english isn't good either which makes things worse..)

[Stun Runner 87]

I may be willing to make custom arcade style controllers for the 7800 and other systems if there is enough interest. I will use real arcade joysticks and buttons with a layout similar to my WIP Atari 7800 Arcade cabinet. What do you think?

 

Wow, that's amazing.........wish I had enough room for an arcade cabinet like that....pretty damned cool.

[Stun Runner 87]

 

 

Thats awesome! Hey on an unrelated note, I clicked through your pics, is that Castle Greyskull custom made? Pretty nice looking, the Ram Man, and Hordak look really nice too!

 

CaN I get one of those?

[Cobra Kai]

I also had thegoldenaxe mod one of my NES Advantage sticks for 7800...very happy with the results.