My Atari paddles are broken! :(

[DarkSyne]

I have a set of Atari paddles that worked about a year ago and now they have stopped working, I dont really know how to fix them either.

[Oldschool80skid]

By OEM refurbished at $18.95 at Atari Best Electronics OR 3rd party new for $19.99 at atgames. These prices do not include shipping.

[chas10e]

by "not working" mean they jitter back & forth on screen?

 

link below is for the section for cleaning paddles ....

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/184296-slowcoders-guide-to-cleaning-up-your-2600/?p=2316794

[BigO]

Yes, can you elaborate on "stopped working"? What steps have you taken to test them? What are the symptoms?

 

It seems unlikely to me that the paddles themselves just spontaneously quit working entirely. It's technically possible that the problem is in the console. If the console had a failure, you wouldn't notice it when using joysticks.

[DarkSyne]

I have tried getting them to work on both controller ports and they were doing absolutely nothing, also I have replaced the joystick ports before when I restored my 2600 and they work fine with my joysticks.

[chas10e]

I wonder if the barrels inside male DB9 at the end of the cables on controllers are not making a good ground contact or something

 

.... not even the button works ?

[BigO]

Yikes, nothing at all.

 

I'm with chas10e on this. Try them with a joystick game. I always use Outlaw for dumb stuff like this.

The buttons act like joystick left and down, according to a quick read of the controller schematics.

[alex_79]

What games are you using to testing the paddles? Do you have an Harmony cart, a supercharger or other means to run a rom in your console?

Edited March 3, 2016 by alex_79

[alex_79]

A couple of things to keep in mind if someone is having similar problems and he/she is not familiar with the 2600:

- Paddles only works with games specifically designed to use them. You can't, for example, expect to use them in "Space Invaders" as that's a joystick game. (list of paddle games)

- While usually player 1 and 2 uses the two paddles connected in the left port, some games might behave differently (Read the manual for the game! they are all available here on AA as well as on many other places). Also, There's not an estabilished standard on which paddle is player 1 and which one is player 2, so check both of them.

- Older games require to depress the RESET switch in order to start playing (this is true also for non-paddle games). Pressing the buttons on the controllers doesn't have any effect until you hit RESET (Again, read the manual! The console switches, despite how they're labeled, are generic inputs for the console and each game can assign them different functions)

Edited March 3, 2016 by alex_79

[DarkSyne]

I was using Indy 500 and Pong Sports to test the paddles.

[chas10e]

I was using Indy 500 and Pong Sports to test the paddles.

Indy 500 uses "driving controllers" (that look like paddles)

 

Pong Sports (same as "Video Olympics ") should work ok ... as alex_79 said ...try starting game with reset button on console

 

also select a game with 4 players & try both controller ports

[zylon]

Is this a 4 switch console by chance?

[DarkSyne]

So you are telling me i need a specific type of paddle to play Indy 500 and new paddles for Pong Sports? S***! Also I have a Heavy Sixer 2600

[Oldschool80skid]

So you are telling me i need a specific type of paddle to play Indy 500 and new paddles for Pong Sports? S***! Also I have a Heavy Sixer 2600

For Indy 500 you will definitely need the driving controller. They can be found fairly cheap on Ebay.

[DarkSyne]

Well after a little bit of troubleshooting, I got them working (Sort of) they are very jittery and the button acts like it is a turbo button.

[BigO]

Well after a little bit of troubleshooting, I got them working (Sort of) they are very jittery and the button acts like it is a turbo button.

Cool. That's progress.

 

Jittery can be fixed if you're handy at all. Search around here and you should find several references. Depending on how you go about it, it can be a little bit technical, but there are easy ways to make significant improvements.

 

A turbo button? Interesting. Can you describe that in a little more detail? What exactly happens when you press the button? I don't know if there are any games where that's supposed to happen or not. Then again, I played Circus Atari for a long time before I figured out that pushing the button makes the teeterboard swap ends.

[chas10e]

by "not working" mean they jitter back & forth on screen?

 

link below is for the section for cleaning paddles ....

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/184296-slowcoders-guide-to-cleaning-up-your-2600/?p=2316794

link I provided in my 3'rd post is great for how to take care of jittery paddles ( which unfortunately is quite normal for 40 year old devices )

 

some game variation on Pong Sports will "whammy" the ball .... others will speed up the ball on paddle hit ( again a link to instructions above )

 

you really need a pair of driving controls & another player to really have fun with Indy 500 ( although there are single player variations) , "tag" is one of my favorites

 

it was the only commercially produced game to use them controllers , .... if you get a Harmony cart, there are some great "driving controller hacks"

 

 

glad your making progress on them paddles

[DarkSyne]

Nothing happens when you press the button, it presses itself. I will try to fix them again tomorrow and read that guide on how to fix jittery paddles.

Edited March 4, 2016 by DarkSyne

[zylon]

The wires for the button inside the paddle are only clipped on. You can remove a wire to determine if the button or the cable is faulty.

[atarifan88]

FYI, Best Electronics is currently out of the refurbished paddles.