Interest in Atari 2600 Pause Kit

[Albert]

CPUWIZ and I are working on making available an Atari 2600 board that allows you to pause any game at any time. The board is based on this design:

 

http://www.victortrucco.com/Atari/AtariPausa/atariPausa_en.asp

 

And previously discussed on AtariAge here:

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/158589-breaking-news-a-working-pause-button-for-atari-2600

 

What we'd like to do is offer a kit that includes the board, the parts necessary to assemble it, and instructions. Probably we'd solder the components to the board, and then you'd need to solder the wires to the appropriate places on the 2600 and the Pause board, and then mount a switch somewhere on your 2600. Not a complex mod, but it would require soldering.

 

Here's a picture of the mod:

 

 

..Al

[BDW]

I'd definitely be up for one if you made a batch. I dont know when I would find the time to install one, though..

[Cebus Capucinis]

I clicked 'no' just to be a jackass but I would def. be interested!

 

Looks very nice!

[Albert]

I've added a picture of the modification to my first post.

 

..Al

[EricDeLee]

Great idea.

Here's the perfect portable solution...

 

FB2+ (or the Unity thing that LonghornEng... is working on.

Harmony Cart

Pause Kit

 

All in a nice and tidy shell!

This would be an AMAZING thing!

[Rick Weis]

voted no to a kit, if it was all installed in the 2600 my vote would be different.

 

Rick

[Wickeycolumbus]

Cool!

 

Great idea.

Here's the perfect portable solution...

 

FB2+ (or the Unity thing that LonghornEng... is working on.

Harmony Cart

Pause Kit

 

All in a nice and tidy shell!

This would be an AMAZING thing!

 

I don't believe this will work on a Flashback 2

[CPUWIZ]

I don't believe this will work on a Flashback 2

 

Nope, it won't, since there are no separate TIA & 6507 processors. But I am betting that the FB2 processor has a HALT line of some sort, never looked at one before. Curt?

[shadow460]

Seems like a good idea. I might purchase one, but I can't bring myself to modify the shell on my heavy sixer. That's the only 2600 units I have.

 

Would this cause a 7800 to pause 2600 games, though? I've modded the sense out of my 7800 so I don't mind adding something else to it as long as I can make it look good.

[Wickeycolumbus]

I don't believe this will work on a Flashback 2

 

Nope, it won't, since there are no separate TIA & 6507 processors. But I am betting that the FB2 processor has a HALT line of some sort, never looked at one before. Curt?

 

He posted a pinout a while back

[Emehr]

I would most likely be interested in one. $10 feels like a good price to me, even if I had to solder the components to the board myself.

[Zoyx]

I'm in.

[+Propane13]

How reliable is it?

I imagine that halting the processors mid-calculation could potentially cause issues.

I'm also wondering what happens at pause time. Does the screen roll?

Or does a "blackscreen ROM" execute?

 

-John

[Emehr]

How reliable is it?

I imagine that halting the processors mid-calculation could potentially cause issues.

I'm also wondering what happens at pause time. Does the screen roll?

Or does a "blackscreen ROM" execute?

 

-John

 

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I believe this started from this thread. And I believe the answer is "colorful patterns".

[Albert]

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I believe this started from this thread. And I believe the answer is "colorful patterns".

Yes, I linked to that thread in my first post.

 

..Al

[Emehr]

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I believe this started from this thread. And I believe the answer is "colorful patterns".

Yes, I linked to that thread in my first post.

 

..Al

I guess it'd help if I fully read the first post too!

[crunchysuperman]

I'd do it. $20 sounds reasonable.

[RevEng]

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I believe this started from this thread. And I believe the answer is "colorful patterns".

With the (unconfirmed) option of blanking audio and video with a couple of diodes connected to your switch, per this post.

[keilbaca]

I'm definitely buying 2 as soon as this is available. ^_^

[Ethaniel]

count me in! although i have already made one that looks like poo, yours looks so professional

not sure mine will work

[TrekMD]

It would be cool to have the ability to pause 2600 games. I'd be interested. Will the board fit in a 2600Jr as well?

[DickNixonArisen]

My only concern would be the safety of the unit... I mean, a 2600 is a tough piece of machinery. No chance it could damage anything?

 

but I am pretty interested: to quote my own song...

 

"Tired, full of piss and spiteful, another megacycle, i don't wanna go"

[CPUWIZ]

It would be cool to have the ability to pause 2600 games. I'd be interested. Will the board fit in a 2600Jr as well?

 

The Jr. is pictured in the install picture I created, it is in fact the first model I did, I still need to create similar pics for the other models.

[TrekMD]

It would be cool to have the ability to pause 2600 games. I'd be interested. Will the board fit in a 2600Jr as well?

 

The Jr. is pictured in the install picture I created, it is in fact the first model I did, I still need to create similar pics for the other models.

 

Excellent!

[128bytes]

That price gives me pause. Literally.

 

 

 

 

 

Serious question - could the pause board be soldered to 7800 to allow pausing of 2600 games? (it's not necessary that it does)