BigO

What you're describing would be 180 degrees out of phase. You're saying that they would both change states at the same time (and would always be in opposite states). With 90 degrees out of phase, a channel changes states as the other channel is half way through it's current state. In your description the output of the two channels would be 01, 10. In a 90 degree phase difference, the output of the two channels would cycle through these 4 (hence "quad") values 00, 01, 11, 10. (That bit pattern is known as "Gray code") Taking the perspective that one of the channels "leads" the other in phase, by knowing the state of one bit you can tell which direction the quadrature encoder wheel is turning. Here's a diagram I put together when I was trying to wrap my head around how to decode quadrature signals in a microcontroller program I was working on. For more information, look at the "Quadrature Encoding" section of this link: https://www.phidgets.com/docs/Encoder_Primer

Those crazy patterns are typical of bad connections between the cartridge and the slot. The cartridge and/or the slot contacts possibly just need to be cleaned. If the problem is dirty contact surfaces, you may be able to get it to work temporarily by repeatedly removing and inserting the cartridge to scrape away oxidation on the contact surfaces.

I don't have any real or particularly useful answers, but ChildOfCV's comment triggered a thought. I figured I'd throw it out there in case you run into a dead end. The two channels of the sensor don't need to be physically attached together with the original spacing. You could do two separate single channel sensors placed anywhere around the wheel. They just need to be triggered 90 degrees out of phase. The two sensors don't have to be triggered by the same spoke/hole, just the relative timing between the two has to be correct. It would certainly be fiddly to position them appropriately and hold them in place, but in a worst case scenario two separate sensors could be used. Looking at the internals of the controller, there's probably sufficient space to do something like that. Good luck.

I wonder if it may be possible to use the auto switchers. The key thing to find out is what signal drives the auto switching. If it's just, say, 5 volts on one pin, you could feed it that signal with a simple switch...manually switching the autoswitcher. You would also need to know which pins actually switch. It might not switch all of the pins.

I think somebody else was saying this, but the only thing you should need to do to allow the Harmony to detect joystick vs paddle is to disconnect/connect pins 5 and 9 (paddle lines). Other than that you should be able to connect all pins of both controllers to the controller port at the same time. Construction of a Y cable or similar to allow simultaneous connection is not an extremely difficult task. If it's imperative to prevent any input from the "other" controller, a mechanical switch box should do the job. I've picked up 25 pin switch boxes at thrift stores that switch all pins.

I have a partially functional Japanese Space Invaders knockoff called "Super Space Stranger" sitting in my garage waiting for me to fix it. I was never aware of them at the time, but there must have been a bunch of these Space Invaders "inspired" machines back in the day.

No PCB. Just glued some switches to some plastic. I can't find the other pictures at the moment,but it was definitely built as a one-off. I had a stash of surplus carbon dot switches with almost the same throw as the original NES buttons. If you have an inclination to build something similar, I recommend doing it. I use that controller almost exclusively when I play Vectrex. Edit - Here's the picture I was thinking of. It's buried in an old thread about my controllers. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/117809-homebrew-controllers-modernish-5200-and-vectrex-digital/?p=1432642

Hacks and homebrews of mine: Vectrex 5200 5200 5200 -> 2600 (More "mod" than "homebrew", but was fun to build)

I'm kinda thinking of picking up flash cart for the systems I rarely use and getting rid of buckets of carts for Intv, Colecovision, O2, 5200 8-bit Atari (XEGS). I have some PayPal balance to burn. Looking at the LTO flash for INTV, they didn't seem to want PayPal. (For all I could tell in a quick search, they're not even available now.) I'll probably keep looking for a while, give up, then come up with same brilliant idea next Christmas.

Colony 7 Trak-Ball for 2600.

I should find that writeup and do the same with the modded Wico. I wonder if it was the microcontroller sucking all the current or if the LED's in the optical encoders are the culprit. BTW - I like the feel of the Wico better than the CX22. If you happen upon a dead one, I recommend doing the mod. It's fairly simple to do if you're any good at soldering. The worst part is that the original cable has to be replaced as it lacks one conductor.

I would also like to increase my pre-order from 1 to 2. Never hurts to have a spare.

If you're up for it, connecting together pins 4 and 7 of the controller port is the same as pressing the start button.

I've heard that the LCD controllers are susceptible to damage from static, but I always got the impression that they failed completely.

(Very) Heavy 4'er?

CLAIMED TI-99/4A black keyboard (only the keyboard) for parts. Many keys are sticking. The square tubes that the keycaps press into appear to be splitting at a corner. All keycaps are present. I pulled it out of a non-working unit back in the early 90's to use as input to a scratch-built Z80 system I built for a college project. It all worked last time I had it hooked up to the computer, which would have been in '92. Recipient pays shipping. Shipping to US only Keyboard: Keyboard PCB to show Part Number:

CLAIMED Disk drives: Claimer pays shipping Shipping from 85022. Shipping to US only. 3.5" Floppy drive: IBM part number P/N:90X6766 (weight: 1.3 lbs, probably 3-4 lbs. shipped). Untestedasispartsonly. External SCSI Hard Drive: Brand=NuDesign. According to the label it has a Conner 340MB drive. (weight 6.3 lbs, probably 8-9ish lbs. shipped) Untestedasispartsonly.

That'll do the job. But, a beeping continuity test is extremely convenient and helpful for tedious jobs like this. The Harbor Freight sub-six-dollar multimeter does the job just fine for work at this level of precision, so don't think you have to spend a lot on a meter. Good luck with your project.

If I understand the need correctly, this schematic of the 5200 controller could be used to eventually answer the question, though it sounds like you really don't want to go down that path. http://atariage.com/5200/archives/schematics/Schematic_5200_Accessories_Low.html Tracing everything out is not as daunting a task as it may seem. A multimeter (continuity tester or resistance function) would be extremely helpful in such a mapping expedition through the blackness to trace each wire back to it's origin/function. Relying on the color scheme in another unit may not be fruitful as the wire colors used in production may not have remained consistent over time.

I haven't studied that final stage of the CX53 output enough to completely understand what it's doing, but it's just a handful of passive components on that end. Having thinkering with this a few times here and there myself, I figured I'd just leave that final stage of resistors and cap as-is, at least for a first pass. Considering the RC network at the end of the X axis, essentially the digital circuitry is supplying pulses to one half of the RC network when the ball is spinning one direction and is supplying an inverted version of that same pulse train to the other half of the network when the ball is spinning the opposite direction. The pulse train itself is pulses of a minimum width (as controlled by the 4538B One Shot - retriggerable configuration). Eventually, at higher and higher ball spin rates, the pulses of minimum width merge into an eventual steady state voltage. It shouldn't be too difficult to output comparable signals from a microcontroller.

I see. I wasn't sure, but thought you wanted to adapt the CX53. It's really just a few bucks worth of parts, not counting a custom circuit board if you go that way. I wouldn't be concerned about amplitude too much if the signal is coming from digital circuitry. You likely would be able to skip the 339, but may still need pull-up or pull-down resistors. As for circuit design from scratch, I'd be really tempted to try using a microcontroller to replace the active circuitry. Not sure if interrupts support detection of both positive and negative edges, but that would be convenient for decoding the quadrature inputs. Probably doesn't work quite that way. Direction can be determined by looking at the state of one bit when the other bit changes state.

Cool. Much simpler than an idea I had for implementing a spinner with a CX52. I also appreciate the completely reversible aspect. I spent a fair amount of time to do the same in a CX52 mod I developed awhile back.

I assume you are going to interrupt the circuitry prior to your signal injection point. Myself, I'd probably inject at the inputs of the 339 just to be sure that there's no issue with signal levels, floating inputs, etc. Note, however, that the 339 inputs that accept the encoder signals are pulled up. That might not be needed or may be in conflict with the signals from your device.

"Shoot your opponent and avoid being shot." --Atari 2600 Combat "Shoot your opponent and avoid being shot." --Atari 2600 Outlaw [edit: *one* sentence]