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TripHammer

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Posts posted by TripHammer

  1. Posted

    I should add that the fix mentioned above is that the (real) paddle movement was jumping all over the screen. Stella still only uses a portion of the available range of movement (just like the original console); a fix for this is hopefully coming in the next major release.

    Do you mean that there will hopefully be a fix (switch/option/etc) for paddles that use the whole range of movement?

  3. Posted

     

    On the original console, only about 10% of the paddle rotation is used (see pic in above post). Stella only uses this small potion of the range to duplicate/preserve the original feel.

     

    With that said, there are people that have never played the original console, or perhaps it's been 30 years and have forgotten what it was like, or otherwise not concerned about original feel, and would like for an option to use the full paddle range.

     

    Tom

    http://2600-daptor.com/

    I'm beginning to understand this a little better. I'll make some closer observations and see if I can adjust the paddle source code and improve how it functions. I'm not an expert but I can tinker and figure things out.

     

    Thanks.

  4. Posted · Edited by TripHammer

     

    Not really a Stella problem. The Retronic does not take into account the original paddle scaling/range of motion.

     

    Tom

    http://2600-daptor.com/

     

    Would you mind enlightening me as to what it is then, please? The Retronic Adapter is re-programmable. :) As far as I can tell The Retronic adapter goes from 0-255. I've verified that by looking in the source code also.

     

    Edit:

     

    Found the information in the Stella Adapter User Manual. It seems that the range of the paddle is from 0-128 but it's double (normalized) to fill out a byte. So I'm not seeing anything different about the Retronic Adapter as it uses the same range???

     

    Thanks.

  5. Posted

    I'm using the Retronic adapter and regular Atari 2600 paddles. I can see in windows, the control panel calibration, with Raw Data checked, that throughout the entire range you can turn the paddle that it does read values from 0 thorough 255 with 128 being the center. The movement is smooth also. But in Stella, it only uses a small portion of that range and it's a bit laggy even with the sensitivity turned down to 1. So it's hard to control and when your at the edge of the screen it feels like it gets stuck there briefly. My mouse works better. I tried the Z26 emulator, which feels a little better but still not good enough.

     

    Hopefully when the Stella authors work on paddle emulation again, they will provide more settings to adjust things and improve control overall.

  6. Posted

    I'm running Stella V4.6.6 and I just bought a Retronic USB adapter and configured it for the Atari 2600 Paddles. I cleaned the pots on them to eliminate jitter. I tested them in windows (10) in the joystick control panel and they respond fine. It could be a little faster but it tracks left and right as quick as I can move it with no noticeable lag. When I try and use them in Stella, only a small range of the paddles cause movement on screen and it lags making it unplayable. Lowering the digital sensitivity doesn't work as it's then slow and lags. It's just not responsive enough to be playable on the few games I tried (Breakout, Circus Atari, and especially Kaboom). Has anyone else tried this combination and got it to work and what setting do you use?

     

    Thanks all.

  7. Posted

    Exactly what I needed also. So double thanks from me too! :D

     

    Hey Fredrik,

     

    The pin out at the ADAM which is the male side is the following,

     

    Pin 1 +12v

    Pin 2 +12v

    Pin 3 +5v

    Pin 4 -5v

    Pin 5 Ground

     

    No need to worry about pins 6-9

     

    So when making you're female db9 plug to go into the ADAM, I'm guessing you know Pin 5 is at the left all the way to Pin 1 at the right.

  9. Posted

    if you use a standard 2 wire cord then it doesn't matter which AC terminal you connect to. I don't suggest this way because your not grounded.

     

    if you use a 3 wire cord then run the green neutral wire to the case or the FG terminal then the black and white to the ac terminals.

    Yes I plan on using a 3 wire. However since the Power supply's terminals are labeled AC 1 And AC 2, it doesn't indicate which one is the Neutral terminal and which one is the Live terminal.

  10. Posted

    Quick question,

     

    I went ahead and bought a Min Dong Switching Arcade power supply off of eBay. The AC terminals are labeled AC 1 and AC 2. I googled it online but can't seem to find an answer. Which one is the Neutral and which one is the live? I know I got a 50% chance of guessing right. :)

     

    Thanks.

  11. Posted

    You will need to find an open frame mini atx supply. As small as you can find it to fit into an enclosure about 8x6x4. Make sure the supply has enough amps to power the ADAM correctly for +12v,+5v,-5v . You will probably not find a supply like this that gives you the -5v so you will need to solder on a L7905 VOLTAGE REGULATOR using the -12v output from the supply. Remove all the unnecessary wiring related to ATX supplies. I have not been able to find a supply with just a atx male port that gives me enough amps on the -12v line so I don't have to deal with getting rid of all the other wires. You will only need the 3 outputs I posted above and 2 lines for ground.

     

    Do not use anything less than 22 AWG for wiring the supply to the ADAM! Get the smallest DB9 hood you can find and it will still need to be modified due to the enclosure of the ADAM. Even with a thicker cable you shouldn't make it too long or you'll run into issues related to current flow.

     

    The enclosure will need to be drilled for ventilation and for a micro fan. I made these templates on the CNC machine I have at work which made this task easier. You'll want to have good ventilation to avoid any problems no matter how long you're running the supply. During testing I ran the supply at times for 24hrs straight and never encountered a problem with heat. There are pictures in this thread where you can see the holes drilled.

     

    You will need to drill the bottom of the enclosure to attach the supply to it but leave a gap in between for air circulation. A ¼ of an inch is good enough.

     

    I will post later on the amps needed for the voltages as I don't remember the exact numbers right now. For the illuminated rocker switch, you'll need to drill a 20mm hole and make sure to place it where it will NOT make contact with the frame of the supply. If you want to make things easier you could purchase a larger enclosure but personally I wanted to make this as small as possible. I would've made it smaller but the smaller supplies I find don't give me enough amps at the -12v line.

     

    Hope this helps.

    Thanks for sharing. :)

    • Like 1

  16. Posted

    I just broke my Combat out again and it's not working to my dismay. The picture isn't working for some reason, when I put it on the channel I just get a rolling black screen. If I fiddle with the reset switch it will occassionally come in for a couple of seconds before fading back to the black rolling screen. The switch seems loose, I took it apart but don't know enough about these things to know if the reset switch in these things would be the problem. Does anyone have any advice for me? Also the board is getting some brown corrosion on it now, what is the best way to clean that off without damaging the board with a sharp object?

     

    Thanks.

     

    I know just enough about electronics to sorta know what I'm talking about..... :)

     

    Anyway, on the board is the big sliver box with two holes on it. They are used to adjust the picture . You need a set of plastic adjusters to put in those holes and turn a little (you may be able to get by with a small screwdriver but they are suppose to be plastic for a reason). There's also a screw adjuster in the upper right corner that you can turn with a small screwdriver. If you fiddle with these, you may get a stable picture. I've adjusted mine so that it's halfway decent, but wish it could be better.

     

    I also replaced a broken leaf spring by fabricating a curde one out of the metal from a puddy knife. I drilled, shaped and bent it to look close to the original and used a very small copper rivet for the connection point. A little fine tuning and it works. It's a little stiffer then the original but it does work. I could probably make a better one if I try again. Hacksaw blades are also suppose to be reasonable material for making leaf springs. I went with a shiny puddy knife that was thicker and more closely looked like the original.

     

    I'm thinking of replacing the capacitors under the silver box (RF shield) to see if the picture improves. But I did get mine working (bought it on eBay listed as non working) and I'm at least happy with that.

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