Allen Schweitzer Posted January 12, 2020 Share Posted January 12, 2020 Can anybody tell me if it's possible to refurbish a driving controller, and what I need to do to make that happen? I opened one up today that I got recently because it has jitter, and I assumed it had a pot like a paddle controller. When I opened it up, I saw this, and I'm not sure what to do with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edladdin Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 Driving controllers use rotary encoders instead of potentiometers. So instead of creating varying electrical resistances around the dial with a pot, the rotary encoder has a little part like a fan in there and a light detector. The light is blocked and unblocked as the fan rotates as you turn the knob, which the 2600 notes. The faster the 2600 sees those rotations, the faster it turns the car onscreen. Trak-Balls work the same way, but with 2 rotary encoders; one for each axis of movement. As for the replacement part, have you tried Best Electronics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chopperthedog Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 Driving controllers on atari vcs are not optical, the use a gray encoders. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_code That's the nicer encoder to have (doesn't feel as "ropey" as the more common pcb stack encoders). Comes apart real easy for cleaning with lightly prying the corner tabs. You can also reduce the friction by bending down the unused sweeps (see attached pic). After cleaning a spritz of deoxit on the pcb for lubrication is recomended. good day. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edladdin Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 5 hours ago, chopperthedog said: Driving controllers on atari vcs are not optical, the use a gray encoders. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_code That's the nicer encoder to have (doesn't feel as "ropey" as the more common pcb stack encoders). Comes apart real easy for cleaning with lightly prying the corner tabs. You can also reduce the friction by bending down the unused sweeps (see attached pic). After cleaning a spritz of deoxit on the pcb for lubrication is recomended. good day. Oh wow, TIL! Thanks chopperthedog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allen Schweitzer Posted January 14, 2020 Author Share Posted January 14, 2020 Thank you both! I hope to get a chance to dig into it this weekend! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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