Atari 2600 Junior - Sega arcade powersticick issue

[jimblargh]

Hello everyone! I just got a sweet Sega Arcade Powersticick to use on my 2600 Junior. The thing feels great but the B button only works for a few minutes when I power on the Atari and then I it stops working. It will start working when I power cycle but the same story happens again after a few minutes.

Possibly related is that the led for the A button is continuously lit up.

So far I have taken it apart to cleaned the contacts and button pads with no luck. I also plugged it into my Sega to test it on some Golden Axe and it worked perfectly there - no B button issue, no A button light issue. 

Is this normal? If so, can it be fixed to work on my atari 2600 junior? Preferably without soldering since I don't have a soldering iron and I have never soldered anything in my life ?

 

I would also welcome suggestions for affordable arcade stick type controllers that I can just plug in. Preferably ones designed for the genesis, but I am open to suggestions.

 

Any help would be much appreciated!

Edited June 30, 2020 by jimblargh
Additional info added to post

[alex_79]

Sega and Atari controllers use a different pin for power. Standard 3 and 6 buttons Genesis/Mega Drive pads work on an Atari 2600 even if power is applied to the wrong pin, but that just happens "by chance" and you can't assume that any sega controller will work on the Atari.
In fact it's generally a bad idea to connect a controller designed for a different console without first ensuring (by reading a schematic or tracing the board) that it won't damage the console, the controller itself, or both.

The Arcade Powerstick contains extra electronics (leds, autofire, etc) compared to a standard genesis pad, and I guess that's why it doesn't work.

 

Possible solutions:

 

1) add a jumper inside the controller itself to connect the wires going to pins 5 and 7 of the plug together.

PROS:   

• very simple mod, no components required apart from a piece of wire.

CONS:   

• Requires soldering
• The stick cannot be used anymore with a sega console

2) build a pass-through adapter

PROS:    

• You don't need to modify the controller, so it's still compatible with a sega console
• The adapter is simple to build (2 connectors and some wire)

CONS:    

• Requires soldering (but you might find someone here on the forums who can build it and ship it to you).

3) buy a Seagull 78 adapter

PROS:    

• Ready to use, no soldering

CONS:    

• Overkill if you only use it for a 2600 (it's designed for 7800 2 button games)
• Considerably more expensive than the DIY solutions above
• You lose the possibility to play recent homebrews and hacks that make use of the sega "C" button, as the adapter makes the stick behave like a 7800 controller, and the 2600 won't be able to differentiate between the "B" and "C" buttons anymore.

 

 

 

[jimblargh]

Awesome, thank you so much alex_79! Just bought the Seagull 78. It's perfect because I'm new to the Atari but I've been playing the Genesis since the 90's and have a bunch of other controllers I can plug and play with that thing.

 

I'm definitely saving your reply post for future reference. I may try a soldering solution at a future date and this will definitely be helpful when I do.

 

Great suggestions! I really appreciate it

[Skippy B. Coyote]

If it's any help I have a 3 button Sega Arcade Power Stick that I've been using on Light Sixer and Vader model Atari 2600s on a nearly weekly basis for the last half a decade with no issues. The only weird thing I've ever encountered with it is that when using a Harmony Encore cartridge you have to hold down the B button on the controller when powering the system on to get it to recognize the controller, but it's the same way with regular Genesis controllers too.

 

Based on my experiences I'm guessing whatever is going on is a quirk of the 2600 Junior hardware and not anything wrong with the controller, since it works fine on your Genesis and I've never had any issues with my Arcade Power Stick on other Atari 2600 models.

 

 

[jimblargh]

As an update, I got my Seagull 78 adapter a little while back now and it works perfectly. Awesome recommendation! Thanks!

 

Definitely curious that the arcade power stick works on the Vadar and presumably most other 2800's but not the Junior. That's helpful to know for the future and for recommendations formy other retro gamer friends