Paddle (& joystick) timing questions

[Viso]

Here is a good technical question for those programming these Atari consoles.

 

For 2600 games, what is the maximum time between when the game quits grounding the paddle input line until the game quits waiting for the paddle input to change back to a logic one? Also, what is the inverval for the same events when using the 5200's POKEY?

 

If anyone happens to know, what is the voltage at which the TIA and POKEY chips decide the input has changed from a zero to a one?

 

Thanks for the help!

[Thomas Jentzsch]

For 2600 games, what is the maximum time between when the game quits grounding the paddle input line until the game quits waiting for the paddle input to change back to a  logic one?

Let me see if I understand you right:

 

Do you want to know how long the capacitors will need to recharge without any paddle input (e.g. no paddle attached)?

 

This seems to depend on the console. AFAIK many consoles never recharge while some others only need a few seconds.

 

I had a problem with this in an earlier version of Thrust when I tried to support the Omege Booster Grip. I forgot to ground the line and very few customers reported errors due to that.

[Viso]

I'm not so much interested in how long the capacitors take to charge as I am in how long games excpect them to take to charge. I'm looking for how long that would be with a paddle controller connected and turned for maximum resistance. It would help to know the same time figure for minimum resistance. I'm doing some planning for a gizmo that hopefully will emulate paddle controller input, and 5200 joystick input.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

I'm looking for how long that would be with a paddle controller connected and turned for maximum resistance.

Hm, I don't know, but I guess that will be about or a little bit longer than one frame (1/60 sec). If it would be shorter, then some paddles (hardware tolerances!) wouldn't allow you to reach both corners.