+SabertoothRetro #1 Posted December 8, 2013 It's raining this weekend so I've decided to camp in the garage and build a pair of arcade sticks for the 7800. I have a Happ Competition and some arcade buttons that I've wanted to do something with for a while. I've used a terminal block and cable from a broken Proline to test wire before I build the box. The directional works fine but the fire buttons are wonky. I put 560 ohm resistors inline to each button from pins 9 (yellow) and 5 (red). Pin 6 (orange) is run direct to each button. 2600 mode seems fine but in 7800 mode the buttons engage automatically - almost like auto fire. For example, when I start up Xevious it goes through the player select screen and immediately starts firing until I hit my buttons. I know that a lot of folks here have built sticks. Any suggestions? TIA! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CPUWIZ #2 Posted December 8, 2013 Hmm, could be the resistors, or you have something wired wrong. Did you follow this diagram? 2600/7800 pinouts: _________________ \ o5 o4 o3 o2 o1/ \ o9 o8 o7 o6 / \___________/ pin # 2600 control 7800 control 1 WHT- Up WHT- Up 2 BLU- Down BLU- Down 3 GRN- Left GRN- Left 4 BRN- Right BRN- Right 5 unused RED- Button (R)ight (-) 6 ORG- Button ORG- Both buttons (+) 7 unused (+5v) unused (+5v) 8 BLK- Ground(-) BLK- Ground(-) 9 unused YLW- Button (L)eft (-) 2600 control (button) pin 6 ORG(+) --------------()------------BLK(-) pin 8 Button 7800 control (buttons) /----------YLW(-) pin 9 Button L / /---------()---| YLW splits / \----///-----\ pin 6 ORG(+) -------| ORG splits 620 ohm |---BLK(-) pin 8 \ /----///-----/ \---------()---| 620 ohm Button R \RED splits \----------RED(-) pin 5 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+SabertoothRetro #3 Posted December 8, 2013 Yeah, that's the diagram that I used. I read on the forum before I got my parts that resistors in the 500-600 range should work. They didn't have 620 ohms at Fry's so I went with 560. The ground for the buttons are daisy chained to the joystick. Perhaps I need to splice a separate line for the resistor to the ground instead of placing the resistor inline. Also, what about polarity? Maybe I need to add a diode too. I'll try that and see what happens. Thanks!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+SabertoothRetro #4 Posted December 8, 2013 I added diodes inline and that took care of the weird auto-engage behavior. Now the the buttons are acting like buttons in a 2600 controller. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+SabertoothRetro #5 Posted December 9, 2013 (edited) I added wires from 5 and 9 to just above the resistors on each button ground. The buttons work fine now. I'll post pics when I have it all together. Edited December 9, 2013 by atariLBC Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+SabertoothRetro #6 Posted December 29, 2013 I finally got back to this and finished the first joystick over the long weekend. The whole case is wood and I went with a "Home Pong" inspired motif for the layout. I works as it should and is a lot of fun to use. 7 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
griz #7 Posted December 30, 2013 Very cool. Looks great. Thanks for sharing. I've wanted to build something like this for a long time. Are you still using the diodes? 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bakasama #8 Posted December 30, 2013 (edited) I was wondering, couldn't you add a third button for those 2600 games that have the two button hacks? Edited December 30, 2013 by Bakasama Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+SabertoothRetro #9 Posted December 30, 2013 Very cool. Looks great. Thanks for sharing. I've wanted to build something like this for a long time. Are you still using the diodes? Thanks! I left the diodes in from 5 and 9 to their respective microswitches. I know others here haven't needed them but it seemed to cure the weird behavior I was getting. I also ran separate ground wires (w/ resistors) from each button to pin 8 instead of including them in the daisy chain with the joystick ground. I'm a total novice so there was a lot of trial and error but I had fun with it. Good luck with your project if you build your own! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+GoldenWheels #10 Posted December 30, 2013 I finally got back to this and finished the first joystick over the long weekend. The whole case is wood and I went with a "Home Pong" inspired motif for the layout. I works as it should and is a lot of fun to use.image.jpg Love it man, really nice look. Wish I had one! 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PacManPlus #11 Posted January 1, 2014 Very Nice! 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+SabertoothRetro #12 Posted January 1, 2014 Thanks everyone! When I put together the second player controller I'll post detailed photos of the button wiring for reference. I looked at a few "instructable" type posts on other homemade controllers when I got started and think something like that for the 7800 could be useful to folks. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+SabertoothRetro #13 Posted January 11, 2014 I finished the Player 2 "Super Pong" stick this week. I hope the the picture of the rat's nest helps someone with their project. Note: The first joystick is a Happ Competition. The second stick is an IL Competition ("Eurostick"). I definitely recommend the IL over the Happ. It's much more responsive and way better on diagonals. I'm going to switch the Player 1 stick to the IL version when I get a chance. 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bikeguychicago #14 Posted January 21, 2015 A couple of questions: - Did you use a project box for the enclosure or is it home built? - Are you using an extension cable to connect the joystick to the console? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+SabertoothRetro #15 Posted January 21, 2015 A couple of questions: - Did you use a project box for the enclosure or is it home built? - Are you using an extension cable to connect the joystick to the console? A: 1) I built the boxes. 2) Yes, I'm using extension cables to connect to my console. It makes it easier for me to store/display the sticks and I didn't have to scrap a proline. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wyluli Wolf #16 Posted December 26, 2015 These look great! Can you tell me the dimensions of your box enclosure? Did you use white wood and if so what size? Love the design. It looks very retro Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bikeguychicago #17 Posted December 31, 2015 Did you create the artwork yourself? If so, would you be willing to share it with the rest of us? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andromeda Stardust #18 Posted December 31, 2015 I never understood the purpose of the diodes. My custom 7800 controllers worked fine without them. And yes, I used 560 ohm resistors in all my 7800 projects. I also came up with a schematic (not tested) that adds an extra button for SMS and 2600 homebrew that access the third button. It uses a diode to pull pins 7 and 9 high in SMS mode. A DPDT switch is needed to swap modes. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/241814-universal-joystick-schematic-for-2600-7800-sms-untested/ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites