Question regarding Tandyvision controllers

[townparkradio]

Hi folks. I recently acquired a Tandyvision 1 but the controllers are just.. in awful shape. Insects in them, contact cleaning does nothing to help; their corpses and feces are everywhere. The controllers are just not salvageable.

 

I am seeing a pair of Inty 1 controllers for sale, can you replace the Tandyvision controllers with Inty 1? I'm not afraid of opening the system to do so, of course, I just want to make sure I'm not setting more money I do not have on fire.

[zylon]

I've never had to open mine, but they should be interchangeable.

[+cmart604]

Hmmmm, I'd wait until jaybird answers this, but I'd say yes, I'm pretty sure the hardware is identical but don't take my word for it. Yah, wait for Jay to answer.

[townparkradio]

I guess it doesn't really matter. It fell into a bidding war and I can't spare more than $25. Argh. Not losing yet but give it three days.

[+thegoldenband]

I have a Tandyvision with a slightly defective chip on the mainboard (which leads to some quirky issues during gameplay), but AFAIK the controllers were fine. I was harboring fantasies of diagnosing the problem and replacing the chip from a dead Intellivision I system I have (since they use identical boards), but that's probably a pipe dream until I get a diagnostic cart and some soldering/desocketing skills. If you're interested, drop me a PM.

 

BTW one of the consequences of the chip issue was that certain games would do VERY interesting things. In Cloudy Mountain, you could actually see where all the monsters were!

[townparkradio]

I have a Tandyvision with a slightly defective chip on the mainboard (which leads to some quirky issues during gameplay), but AFAIK the controllers were fine. I was harboring fantasies of diagnosing the problem and replacing the chip from a dead Intellivision I system I have (since they use identical boards), but that's probably a pipe dream until I get a diagnostic cart and some soldering/desocketing skills. If you're interested, drop me a PM.

 

BTW one of the consequences of the chip issue was that certain games would do VERY interesting things. In Cloudy Mountain, you could actually see where all the monsters were!

 

I'll get back to you on that. If I promise to buy it from you and then win the auction on the controllers, my wife will kill me. She's already pissed enough that I bought one and the controllers don't work.

Edited June 9, 2011 by townparkradio

[jaybird3rd]

Hmmmm, I'd wait until jaybird answers this, but I'd say yes, I'm pretty sure the hardware is identical but don't take my word for it. Yah, wait for Jay to answer.

Heh ... well, I've never actually opened a TandyVision, but I agree that the controllers are very likely interchangeable. The TandyVision was only a cosmetic repackaging of the original Master Component, much like the INTV System III (which I have opened up before), so the internal controller interface should be identical. Judging from the pictures I've seen, the TandyVision controllers don't even look any different on the outside than the original Intellivision controllers.

[townparkradio]

Barring last minute sniping, looks like I'm going to win the bid.

 

I am irrationally excited about this, lol.

[townparkradio]

Woo hoo! I won the controllers... the other person bidding did try to last-second sniper bid the item, but their bid was the same size as my maximum bid so I won. Any advice I should know about opening up a Tandyvision before I do it?

[tz101]

Try your best to swap out the innards from these controllers with the Tandyvision controller shells. Otherwise, the darker color of the Tandyvision console will not match the lighter color of the INTV controller shells. The innards should be a perfect fit into the darker Tandyvision shells.

[townparkradio]

Try your best to swap out the innards from these controllers with the Tandyvision controller shells. Otherwise, the darker color of the Tandyvision console will not match the lighter color of the INTV controller shells. The innards should be a perfect fit into the darker Tandyvision shells.

 

If the stock INTV controllers aren't any different than the Tandyvision ones I don't forsee that being too difficult.

[jaybird3rd]

Before opening the controllers or swapping any parts, I would recommend trying them with your TandyVision console first, just to make sure they're in good working condition. Otherwise, if you run into trouble later, you'll be left wondering whether the controllers were bad to begin with or if something went wrong after you opened them.

 

As for opening the console, it shouldn't be any different than opening a regular Intellivision. The RF shield is soldered to the mainboard, but you won't need to remove it to replace the controllers. The controller ports are in opposite corners of the board. They're both un-keyed nine-pin headers, and since the controllers can be plugged into them backwards, I would recommend taking a permanent marker and making a small mark on the outside edge of the connectors and in a corresponding spot on the RF shield before you unplug them, so you'll know which orientation is correct. You might have to do some untangling to get the old controllers out (the controller wires and the power/switch wires are usually intertwined), but otherwise it's a pretty easy operation.

[townparkradio]

Before opening the controllers or swapping any parts, I would recommend trying them with your TandyVision console first, just to make sure they're in good working condition. Otherwise, if you run into trouble later, you'll be left wondering whether the controllers were bad to begin with or if something went wrong after you opened them.

 

As for opening the console, it shouldn't be any different than opening a regular Intellivision. The RF shield is soldered to the mainboard, but you won't need to remove it to replace the controllers. The controller ports are in opposite corners of the board. They're both un-keyed nine-pin headers, and since the controllers can be plugged into them backwards, I would recommend taking a permanent marker and making a small mark on the outside edge of the connectors and in a corresponding spot on the RF shield before you unplug them, so you'll know which orientation is correct. You might have to do some untangling to get the old controllers out (the controller wires and the power/switch wires are usually intertwined), but otherwise it's a pretty easy operation.

 

I've actually decided not to mess with the "guts" of the controllers at all if they're working, I can deal with some poor color coordination, I'm just so frustrated about the first set not working that I'm not going to risk anything going wrong. This whole exercise began because the Inty 2 we bought had a wonky second controller, and it looked like opening it would break it, so the wife authorized my buying 2 new controllers. I saw the Tandyvision for only a bit more than 2 new controllers, so went for that instead and... lo and behold.. non working controllers. if I screwed up a new set it would eat.. figuratively speaking.. our food budget to buy yet another pair. Solar panels are FRIGHTENINGLY expensive, so it's come down to less than double digit dollar margins in some of the budget areas.

 

Blah blah blah don't you hate it when people insist on babbling about their trials and tribulations? If things get that close we'll sell the frickin' 360. It's not like we ever really play the thing except Red Dead Redemption, or are going to be able to without running a generator anyway. You wouldn't believe what an astounding power hog those things are. And a PS3 draws almost twice as much, heh. Mmm.. and I'm babbling again.

 

That aside... thanks for letting me know they were not keyed. That's important information, and I'm glad to know the replacements won;t be major surgery.