tzoneman

Thanks for your suggestions. I have not tried port number 2 because I didn't think any 1 player games would work through it. I guess I should try that, then. Thanks. When I first tried the Gem joystick in port 1, it was working fine. Then after a few minutes, the RIGHT direction wouldn't work. I tried other joysticks and they wouldn't work at all - so I assume the port was working but the Gem joystick just died, having sat there for years and then tried years later, only to gasp out it's last breath...? And that the other joysticks just have problems with them (like the brown frayed wire...)... Interestingly enough, when I first inserted the joystick, the pins on the console were all fine looking. When I then tried another joystick, I then noticed the two right pins on the #1 port had suddenly been slightly pushed in. I carefully pulled them back out with needle-nose pliers, but to no avail, the joysticks still wouldn't work in the RIGHT direction. When my pinball/arcade mechanic had the console opened, he couldn't find anything wrong with the pin connectors, and surmised it was likely the joystick cables. But then again, as you've mentioned, the pins can get bent inside, or pushed in (as mine "were"), or broken off. So, you're saying it won't be possible to see if there is actually an inner pin problem if you have the console open? If not, and if it's a pin problem instead of a joystick problem, I could be doomed ;( Any other advice on this would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! Well, I am going down to Best Electronics on Saturday to pick up a couple complete rebuild kits, in hope it's something with the joysticks.

Hello. I'm a Newbie to this site, and this is my first post - but I'm not a newbie to my good old Atari 2600, first Sunnyvale version (I guess you guys call it the Heavy Sixer;) So, recently, I took my Atari out of storage, with the urge/dream of hooking it up to my 52" Samsung HD TV (through the coaxial on my VCR as suggested), and boy does it look bad on there (double imagery). Then I hooked it up to my bedroom 27 JVC, and it looked great. My original joysticks (with Atari logo on connector of cords) don't respond at all, they are dead. But I have an after-market one (forgot the name right now, yellow button...) that seemed to work fine. But after about 3 minutes of playing Berserk, I could no longer move to the right. I was planning on having my pinball/arcade wizard go through everything INSIDE my 2600, just to give it a once-over; you know, for any solder problems and whatnot. Well, he went through it, re-soldered a few things that really were ok, and checked it electrically, to make sure everything was working; the right joystick function works through the cpu board, and all is actually working great inside. But for whatever reason, we couldn't get any of the joysticks to work. I think it's the cords. But I also noticed that one of the brown wires inside, close to the board, had the plastic covering worn through, and there was exposed wiring. I thought, well, I'll just buy some of these new joysticks through Amazon, but then found you cool folks, and read that it is better to fix the original joysticks rather than buy the 'stiff' newer ones. AND THEN I found many links for Best Electronics, of which that seems to be the best route. My question is, even though the insides of the joysticks look fine (besides that one brown wire problem), would you suggest I simple just buy ALL new inside parts, including the cords...?... since the prices at Best Electronics are so very reasonable. Another question is, I guess my original video switch box seems to look goofy, so I went with the simple gold-plated coaxial connector, as has been mentioned here. Is there no way that I can get it to look good on my big 52" flat-screen? My pinball/arcade wizard's advice was, "Well, look, the Atari was basically made to play through a 19" color cathode-ray tv set, and it's not a 360, man. Just settle for leaving it hooked up to your bedroom tv." Anyways, thanks guys for any advice on the joysticks and such. I think I'm going to order all the parts for them, for nostalgia sake. (((As a side-note, 2 of my original Atari joysticks have the deep-screws that hold the case together, but the third joystick is of the shallow-screw design. THIS joystick's cpu board actually has the Atari logo on it, and is screwed onto posts inside, the spring is a much bigger one, and it doesn't say "TOP" on the outside. Just interesting to note the differences.))) Oh another cool thing is, while down at my parents house a couple of weekends ago, I was cleaning out their garage attic space, and low and behold, behind some boxes and such, I found the original box to my Atari 2600, AND, it's like in very near-mint condition. So awesome that it never got thrown out those 34 years ago. Cool memories;) Anyways, look forward to hearing your advice on my just ordering all the parts to rebuild my joysticks.