Atari 2600 RF Joysticks

[phuzzed]

Hello all,

 

I am trying to help a friend out.

 

He found his Atari 2600 and along with it were the Atari 2600 RF joysticks. He said he remembered them working when it was stored in the attic. Of course, that was many many years ago. It was stored without batteries in the controllers. Now, when he hooks it up, he can't get them to work. He's tried a fresh set of batteries in each controller and get's nothing. This makes me think there is something in the receiver box that is busted. I have never been inside one of these, and was curious to know if anyone else out there has. Is there a common failure part on the receiver? I've tried to look for the schematics on these controllers and have come up empty handed.

 

Thanks in advance.