Atari Flashback 9 Gold Wireless Joystick disassembly

[boggis the cat]

Hi all.

 

I took apart one of the wireless joysticks that comes with the Flashback 9 Gold to see how difficult they would be to modify. This is the 'P2' one.

 

This is the bottom of the PCBs when you remove the joystick base.

The contacts used are 'joypad' style, which I find make these joysticks quite imprecise to use.

The 'P2' joystick has all of the contacts present in the front PCB, and can be modified into a 'P1' joystick if required (see the note on the last photo below).

This shows the thickness of the rubber contact pad. Plenty of height for putting in a better contact, such as micro-switches, if desired – you would be best to solder new switches directly to the PCB, which is what I will look at doing.

You can see the notes for how to convert this 'P2' joystick into a 'P1'. Several diodes need to be added to the labelled positions (the right way around), and the 10K resistor needs to be removed. If you have a damaged 'P1' joystick then this means you can convert a 'P2' into a 'P1' fairly easily.

 

Hopefully this will be of some use to others. Someone with a bit more electronics skill could probably clone this board and add it to a custom joystick or controller set.

 

(I hope to get hold of some of the 'special' paddles when they become available and see if they can be modified or the changes can be incorporated into the old standard paddles.)

[atarifan88]

I've had no issues with the cordless joysticks. In fact, I think these are the best ones they have come up with. I don't see the need to modify them for now.

[boggis the cat]

I don't see the need to modify them for now.

It is useful that you can convert a ‘P2’ joystick into a ‘P1’ (or vice versa) fairly easily. In particular, if the ‘P1’ breaks then you can turn the ‘P2’ into a ‘P1’.

 

I find these joysticks imprecise due to no tactile feedback (no ‘click’), so I will look at modifying one with micro-switches. They do appear to be reasonably well made and robust — I just find the spongey feel off-putting. (I’m not a big fan of Nintendo style joypads, either.)