Tandy Deluxe Joystick help!

[Elizabeth1701]

I have a Tandy 1000 TL/2. So far I have Startrek, Pac-Man and Digdug running on it. DOS/Deskmate. After about 20 years I thought I'd try the joystick out. Well lets just say it wasn't really working. I took it all apart and found two potentiometers inside.

 

The button works fine. So anyways I took both the Potentiometers apart cleaned them all up. the left and right centering adjust seems to be messed up, maybe I can fix that but I can turn it inside to adjust that. After moving them back and forth. I finally got it to move in all four directions. So its semi working again

 

But I can't find any info about it online. Schematic, resistance/voltage readings.

 

I've found if I plug it in, all the way up or down is 0v all the way the other direction is 5v and the same with left and right. So I figure to hit the center on both I should have a certain voltage reading from both when its center. which should also translate into a resistance depending on which terminals your testing.

 

If I were to guess I'd say 2.5v would be the center. So I'll try to hit that on both. But they may also be shot and if find the specs I can replace them both.

[Great Hierophant]

That is correct, Tandy joysticks act as voltage dividers, so you should see 2.5v somewhere in the middle of the axis and 0v and 5v at either end of the axis. There is no problem there.

[Elizabeth1701]

OK I didn't have the one axis close enough to adjust to center, but I have it now. Works on Digdug but not that Pac-man game I found. Might be the game wanting a standard game port?

[Elizabeth1701]

Interesting I got it adjusted so the DIGDUG guy enters the center and won't move until I move the stick up/down/Left/Right. But I get a reading 4.40v from red wire the 5v input and the signal wires. not 2.5v.

 

I'm going to look for a DOS joystick calibrating program and see what I get.

[Great Hierophant]

Try the ones listed at the bottom of this page : http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-tandy-1000-digital-joystick-adapter.html

[Elizabeth1701]

I tried Joycalib one yesterday. It was way off for this type of joystick. May only work with switch based joysticks. Centering in that made it not work at all with the games. But centering in Digdug so the guy stays put works. Work with Digdug and Galaxian. Will test more games before setting the center adjust levers.

 

The center adjust levers move a plate, this plate was factory tacked to a second plate after the potentiometers were factory set to center. Allowing minor adjustments with wear. Looks like they just melted them together in a spot with an iron.

[Great Hierophant]

Joycalib works fine in my experience with true analog sticks like the Tandy Deluxe Joystick, assuming your stick is functional.

[Elizabeth1701]

All I know is, if I center it in Joycalib. Its way off. If I center so the character or game doesn't move until its moved it works fine. Then if I load the calibration program it shows it in the upper left corner. The games with calibration built in, they work fine. Most of which have you move it to top left, Bottom right and center. I do that and it works fine with the game.

 

I wouldn't call it a great Joystick, and maybe can find a broken keyboard wire with AT/din connector and wire up a better one. Though there also maybe adapters for standard game port to Tandy port. Or game port card, but not sure how great that works. Read that some games might see Tandy hardware and ignore the game port card.

 

I'm mostly only looking for the games that require the 3-voice sound or the Tandy Graphics. Was wandering if TRS80 games would run on a 1000?

 

For the most part any DOS games requiring standard hardware an Soundblaster. I have a DX4 100 for those (80 or 120GB hard drive, and a DX 66 server I added an SB16 to

 

I've been using DOS 7 with anything under 120GB for 486's. A simple trick I discovered to bypass the 504MB limit. Install Grub to the MBR and boot with DOS 7 floppy. Seems like I could make Grub boot DOS but been having trouble with that. Maybe a conflict with the BIOS but it allows communication with the entire drive in FAT32

[Great Hierophant]

Though there also maybe adapters for standard game port to Tandy port. Or game port card, but not sure how great that works. Read that some games might see Tandy hardware and ignore the game port card.

 

I'm mostly only looking for the games that require the 3-voice sound or the Tandy Graphics. Was wandering if TRS80 games would run on a 1000?

Because you have a TL/2, you can disable the gameport with a software tool and use standard PC joysticks with a gameport card in DOS. The attached program will do this. It won't help you with games that boot directly off a floppy drive.

 

You can build a PC gameport to Tandy joystick port adapter.

 

TRS-80 or CoCo games do not run on a Tandy 1000, in computing terms they are grapes, oranges and bananas.

nojoy.zip

[Elizabeth1701]

I may try that, I'm sure I have a working game port card here somewhere. Have to test them. I assume your meaning Floppy Games that boot their own OS? As long as I boot the DOS 3.3 off the Hard drive and the autexec/config files load, I can then load a game off a floppy?

 

I think those would be older games which I don't think I have any. Probably made back when most computers didn't come with hard drives.