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Rolo

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Everything posted by Rolo

  1. I built and testet another two controller boards: Look, original controller compared to the new one. That's probably what a kit will look like: joystick cable strain relief two potentiometers with knobs two switches four buttons polyamide stick with central screw fully populated controller board printout of the board design (paper template) to make drilling of your front panel easier My next steps: make a calculation to find out the production costs of a kit build and test all the boards, one by one contact (via PM) the people, who showed interest in the project, since my first announcement here on Atari Age (first come, first serve) If this "batch" (well, only nine) of controller kits should be sold out and you didn't make it to the top of the "queue", there might be a second chance. If all kits should be gone, I will go on in the queue and PM the next in row. If there should be a realistic demand for a second batch, I'll start round #2. This time hopefully quicker, since most of the problems are solved now.
  2. Building a prototype All parts are here, time to make a prototype. Let's see... I've already got the panel (my old mockup) with buttons, switches and potentiometers attached. Next thing: I need wires to all of those components, nicely colored, a little bit too long maybe (depending on how much space the housing will provide): Connecting the potentiometers to the board. Yes, three wires are nonsense, two would have been enough . Doesn't do any harm. I leave it this way. Now the switches. This time three wires are needed. And the marvelous SEIMITSU buttons. The joystick cable to the Vectrex is already there. That's all the wiring required. Easy! Next steps: pushing the controller stick onto the analog controller optional: screw in a M2 screw into the central drilling of the stick with minimum torque moment. Maybe put some superglue into the hole of the analog controller's axis, before mounting the pcb onto the panel with six M3-screws onto the distance rollers of the board. Last thing would be, to put the panel into a housing (I have none at the moment). That's basically all there is to do. Speeds up the whole process, doesn't it? The prototype works great on my Vectrex. The central, neutral position of the stick can be adjusted with a screwdriver and the two potentiometers, behind the two drillings in the panel. Auto-fire shows immediate response and can be adjusted from some 4 to 18 shots a second. Playing MINESTORM with auto-fire really makes a difference!
  3. Project update: The piggyback pcbs have been delivered. Tests were successful. ✓ I started soldering in the components until I ran out of stock. I've already ordered the lacking components. The board is mounted back to back on the solderside of the controller board.
  4. Ohh, interesting, indeed! I have had plans in my mind to built such an experimental device for quite some time. But have no time to really do it. I wanted to start with a prototype made of "Fischertechnik" construction set parts, just to learn, what to do. If that would work out, I could: a) find the effect boring and dismantle the device b) try to built a more compact device out of standard parts, which still is hard enough. Simple things get complicated, if mechanics come into play, except you have a professional shop with all those machines, that are needed to make parts. 3D printing might help. I am not sure, how to make the color-wheels at all: the material must be stable - "thick" piece of plastic or glass. Laminating transparencies would just bring in bubbles, a layer of glue and blurry sight, I think it must be really transparent and clear, without diffusing effects the coloring must be homogenous, without shades or spots Do you have a good idea or some printer's knowledge, how that could be done? How much would people pay? If the product is good and you can explain, why it is not cheap to make, I think, you will have customers. Collectors and hobbyists spend a lot of money on this and that. I think, they just do not want to have the feeling that somebody is filling his pockets. I'd like to suggest you to come out with a rough price, as soon as you have an idea about process and your own estimated expenses. Then I would ask for readers interest or some kind of preordering. I'm interested in one of both wheels each. -Rolo
  5. Do not forget: 2015 Look at: http://vectrex.wikia.com/wiki/International_Play_Your_Vectrex_Day - Rolo
  6. The polyamide sticks are here. Looking good. The thin central shaft needs some manual drilling. The piggyback-patch boards currently are in production in China. -Rolo
  7. Recent progress: I ordered a batch of polyamide controller levers last week. Should be here end of this week. I hope they will be fitting fine. Not especially cheap to print those parts. All in all about 4.50 euros per lever. Despite of this, I decided to order the levers, since they are a somewhat central part in a controller and I could not see any sense to save money on that part. As mentioned somewhere above, the circuitry had to be changed, to get better responsiveness in auto-fire mode. I made an experimental prototype now. Measurements are looking fine. I figured out a clean way to bring in the additional components and to get the needed signals of the main-pcb. There will be a small, crowded piggyback-board on the solder side of the pcb for that reason, which will be irrelevant for the user. I'll probably order the small boards tomorrow, after some double checking of my drawings. Then I can finally do the modifications. Adapted my mock-up to a standard housing (cheap plastic housing) size, just to see, what it could look like and so on. This time I really announced far to early.I thought most of the work would have been done - so wrong! Next time I'll do that a different way. Regards, Rolo
  8. Project is still alive! Just have not much time for it. Finally got a new prototype. This time it looks good! Bigger now, right size and robust. I'm gonna sent the file to a 3D-manufacturer and ask about the price for a small batch (polyamide probably). Look at the history - a standard thumb-stick as comparison: I figured out a good way to mount the controller-pcb onto a front panel. Geometry is fine now. I must order some mounting material for all the kits. -Rolo
  9. It's an analog integrator based system, not digitally exact. There's always an influence of number, position and kind of objects on the screen on the quality of the display. Back in the day it would have been great great great to have your own display, instead of using father's family tv. If you only could have afforded it. Quality did not matter - it was 1981!
  10. Is anybody is interested in an eprom based multi-cartridge for Dragon 32/64 or CoCo2? I do not want to double all the information that's already out there, so if you want to know more, please visit: Dragon multi-cartridge is back! Version 1.6 for sale and New Dragon multi-cartridge version 1.5 for sale on "The Dragon Archive" - Forum - For Sale There are a few cartridges left. Additional information can be found in the corresponding threads of the "Hints and Tips" section. Best regards, -Rolo
  11. New lever prototype : - not robust, round cover falls off - cover radius still not wide enough Must wait for the guy, who made the design-files, to come back ... I have been distracted by another retro project for the last couple of days.
  12. short update: Lever prototype 2 failed miserably. Some problems during production process. Tomorrow, I'll get another one. Today I got a parcel from Japan. Yeah, the buttons are here. All nicely packed and protected in a SEIMITSU box. Fantastic! Thanks, guys from Japan! Modification of circuit not done yet. Made some -not working- tests, learnt a few lessons, but have new ideas. I have to wait for the lever-3D-printing anyway. I still have no really cheap and easy "mass production" option. As soon as I have an approved design, I'll contact some people/companies. I'll keep on working... It's a long way
  13. Good news #1: I've got the prototype of the 3D-printed lever ! It's almost good: the radius of the round cover on the base of the lever must be increased a tiny little bit since it's scratching along the edges of the potentiometers. The dimensions of the lever itself are more or less identical to the Vectrex original part. After modification I'll try to get a few items printed. Good news #2: I've got the tracking number of the ordered buttons right from Japan. They are coming... Bad news #1: I discovered a weakness in the electronic design of my board, which is bad for the response of auto fire. For most games like "Minestorm", that's not a problem, where the finger presses the fire button more or less constantly. But there might be other games. I will modify the circuitry a bit, which is a lot of work and which doesn't make the boards look more beautiful. But I think functionality comes first.
  14. Just a few raw thoughts: Problems with the timer would affect the H.V. Is that the case? Is the intensity test of the test cartridge displaying as expected? How about focus? If deflection would not work as supposed, I would expect the game to continue in the background: sound should go on and eventually the title screen should come back sometime, since that displays without problems at game start. Why would the logic board stop, if deflection was not right? It did not see any kind of feedback involved. Probably I have to study the schematics more thoroughly. There is a beam cut-off test on the test cartridge. Is that working? How about a bad ram chip with faulty memory cells, crashing the system under certain conditions? I had this before. A partly defective rom chip? Is it a masked type?
  15. Not yet. Ahm, I'm wondering, what is really happening: Is the beam turning off, because of a malfunction in the deflection circuitry or is the machine hanging, due to one of many possible reasons and therefore the deflection detection correctly switches off the beam? Does this always happen under reconstructible circumstances, right at the same moment or randomly?
  16. Making some progress: In the meantime, I've ordered a big box full of red 24mm-buttons directly from Japan. They are supposed to arrive within three weeks. This proved to be easier, cheaper and probably quicker, than buying them in my country. Futhermore I ordered another ten joystick extension cables. I've modded five connectors until now. The dimensions of the upper part of the connectors have to be reduced to make them fit into the Vectrex's outlet. I will connect the auto-fire switches with short cables, in a way, that you can rearrange the positions within a certain range. I think, I will not solder in the two potentiometers, the four buttons, and the controller cables, since I do not know your plans and designs. It's not too much work to do - and remember, it's a kit! For all the guys in the waiting list: date of delivery is coming nearer, give me a few more weeks, please...
  17. Thanks for all the info! The mechanical component could be interesting, since you can mount any potentiometer value into it (for other systems), but they only have 4 in stock. I don't think that those components are produced anymore. Concerning the levers, I'll get a prototype of my own design printed shortly. If that's working, I can get a limited number of those. If I need more, I would try to find another source nearby. There must be some local place, where I can get 3D-prints. The shaft of the ALPS controller stick I'm using is quite special. Not sure if the red ebay-parts would be fitting. I found some aluminum thumbsticks on ebay which are working quite nicely.
  18. Ooops, didn't see you . Sure, you're on the list. I think there are a few items left... But it's still going to take some time. I'm not completely ready, yet. I'm trying different types of levers at the moment: standard plastic or aluminum thumbsticks, aluminum rollers and 3D-printed plastic Vertex-like sticks. I'm not sure, which one's going to work best. Maybe I can offer variations. And I am waiting for a box full of buttons... I will post any major progress in this thread. -Rolo
  19. What's going on with the Controller? A lot of logistics involved, even with such a small project. At the moment I'm looking for parts, I'm comparing, emailing, ordering, doing some preparations and tests. I still don't have the buttons. I ordered them two weeks ago, but it takes some time until they arrive from Japan. Nobody seems to have sufficient supply in this part of the world. But there are so many thing stop do, like adapting the plugs, testing various knobs, thinking about improvements, soldering ... I'm not getting bored . It's going to take some time until I'll finally will be able to deliver. I've got the names of interessted people on my list and will keep them informed, unless they write me, they have changed their minds and don't want that anymore. Regards, Rolo
  20. No. No Z-axis, just X and Y. Do we have any paddle-style games on the Vectrex, where we need that? X and Y are both analog, so KABOOM-like games are working fine. Hmmm, additional rotary potentiometers for both axis could easily be built in. And switches to toggle between controls. Could be a somewhat crowded controller in the end. Well, what do other people think? Is this something, which should be pursued?
  21. This topic is of "general interest". I suggest, before you start doing this, we better get in contact. Maybe I'll do a version 2, if all PCBs are gone. We could discuss some future requirements, like mechanical things, mounting, dimensions... Maybe I'm going to split the PCB into two parts, which means extra soldering and extra cost, but on the other hand, more flexibility arranging those within a case. @Richard H.: Do want to make it a plastic case? Do you think, it will be solid and stable enough? We know it all, during gameplay we are pushing and pulling the thing like mad. I once accidentally broke a transparent Competition Pro in my hand. The transparent plastic was not as solid as the black plastic. What are the estimated costs involved for a printed housing? Would be cool to have more options: mounting it into some cheap standard case make one's own case (plastic, metal, wood, marble:) take a specially designed 3D-printed case Why not? I'll be offline a couple of days now. I'll be back...
  22. I've been trying to figure out the best way, to attach the PCB to a panel or top of a housing. I still don't have the buttons. The holes for the buttons will be 4 mm wider, than shown on the picture. And, of course, the dimensions of the panel can be reduced. It's just a mock-up. What do you think of positioning the buttons like that: 1 & 2 upper row, 3 & 4 (auto firing) lower row? My fingers often lose orientation with four buttons in one row. I think,I'm going to use longer distance rollers to gain some space for the thumb stick cap. I have to find the right size for the hole in the panel. For the very tight joystick inlet of the Vectrex, the DB9-connector must be modified a bit. I simple reduced the dimension at the front of the connector with a file:
  23. Thanks ! You're on "the list". Please have some patience. Not all components have already been delivered. The whole process is not already well established. I'm climbing up the learning curve - I try.
  24. VECTREX Joystick Kit Another photo of the PCB:
  25. No, I don't think so. I have shipped things like that around the world for something like 8 Euros. Maybe leaving out four bulky buttons would be interesting in that respect. On the other hand, ordering them separately in your own country will cost extra money, too. Maybe it would be easiest, if you just told me, what you need and what you don't need. I could adjust the total price to your order anytime. Yes, € means "Euro" . I had the same feeling, back in the day, they introduced it. Well, you know, I'm not sure how many people really will be interested. It's not a finished product, which will scare off a lot of people, I suppose. We'll see. Maybe it's going to be just a couple of orders. The most expensive components really are the buttons, the knobs and the analog controller. It's not easy to reduce costs there, without changing to cheap crappy parts (which you get easily on the web). Dimensions are 8 cm x 10 cm (= 80 mm x 100 mm). Yeah, again those funny metric things . You see the gridded paper on the photo? That's a 5 mm grid. You'll need quite a large housing for all those buttons and knobs, I'm afraid. The dimensions of the PCB shouldn't be a real problem. It's a good idea to reduce the size/length of the lever or the thumb-stick to limit physical forces on the controller. The controller itself is attached via four "massive" soldered pins at the corners. The PCB provides four mounting-holes at the corners. I think that should withstand occurring forces - hopefully. I believe, industrial manufactured controllers work the same(?).
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