Atari VCS joystick teardown

[Andromeda Stardust]

So I opened the ataribox joystick. I contributed $30 to the indiegogo campaign way back. Kinda glad I didn't pay full retail for it. The stick itself is fairly lightweight and very comfortable to use, but it is not an "analog" control as the advertisements suggest.

 

It's a very basic design, joypad style. The leds light up when I actuate the directions. The rotary stick has a grey code ribbon cable connecting it to the main board, and there is a rumble motor and a battery.

 

The pcb is multilayer. I was hoping for some way to tap into the joystick directions and somehow wire it to an authentic vintage atari system, but no dice. There is no wire harness connected to the joystick so tapping into it without damaging the pcb seems impossible.

 

Aside from pc emulation, I don't see much of a use for it currently. If someone crafted a usb adapter for it that plugs into a 5v atari system, that would be amazing.

Edited February 16, 2021 by Andromeda Stardust

[Andromeda Stardust]

Okay so I tried three different micro-SD cables and none of them fit. Apparently Atari created a notch-and-key system to make an otherwise generic cable proprietary.

 

Why??? ??‍♀️

[justclaws]

Interesting, but of course, people will also want you to dismantle the shaft somehow and
show the inside of that, as well how the joystick spinner function is created on the stick.

The full Atari article showing the stick is here.
https://atarivcs.medium.com/the-atari-wireless-classic-joystick-and-atari-vcs-vault-677945d3d8d2

The controller LEDS are not just activated by the joystick position - they are programmable.
On some games they light up to indicate direction, sometimes they show rotation, and first
of course, at power-up, they show the batter charge remaining, of the classic joystick itself.

As the controller already works with a PC, and can switch between Atari mode and Xbox mode,
it should work with most systems, but for a 2600/7800, I don't even see why you'd try it there.
There are nice adapters for 9-pin to USB, but the other way doesn't seem at all useful to me.

The notch in the cable is an innovation created by PowerA, and it's there to help insert the cable,
and to hold the cable so that the micro-USB plug does not get broken. (It's not unique to Atari.)
https://www.powera.com/

[mr_me]

The spinner is the "analog" control.  While grey code is digital, this controller converts it to an analog axis and outputs that.  It would probably work with more emulators if it were to output a mouse axis but I don't think it has that option.  Of course the intention of this thing is to be used with modern devices and software including emulators.

[MrBeefy]

Thanks for the breakdown. This was probably the most interesting thing to me about the new VCS. I still have two great working USB joysticks made by Curt. So the big draw of this is paddle function. Has anyone put the paddle feature through its paces on Stella?

[Andromeda Stardust]

8 hours ago, justclaws said:

Interesting, but of course, people will also want you to dismantle the shaft somehow and
show the inside of that, as well how the joystick spinner function is created on the stick.

The full Atari article showing the stick is here.
https://atarivcs.medium.com/the-atari-wireless-classic-joystick-and-atari-vcs-vault-677945d3d8d2

The controller LEDS are not just activated by the joystick position - they are programmable.
On some games they light up to indicate direction, sometimes they show rotation, and first
of course, at power-up, they show the batter charge remaining, of the classic joystick itself.

As the controller already works with a PC, and can switch between Atari mode and Xbox mode,
it should work with most systems, but for a 2600/7800, I don't even see why you'd try it there.
There are nice adapters for 9-pin to USB, but the other way doesn't seem at all useful to me.

The notch in the cable is an innovation created by PowerA, and it's there to help insert the cable,
and to hold the cable so that the micro-USB plug does not get broken. (It's not unique to Atari.)
https://www.powera.com/

The stick, I didn't see a safe way to dismantle the handle without breakage so I left it alone. It is very clearly a grey code connector. And yeah, probably me and like 2 other people would buy the adapter of available. The leds are badass too. 

 

While the notched plugs seem like a cool innovation, it can be a pita to find a cable that fits. The mini usb is more robust than the micro, though the old fashioned usb-b plug that printers use is bulletproof. I generally think the miniaturization of connectors is part of planned obsolescence.

 

By creating a weakened port, you create a failure point for tech devices. Cue how many times I've seen someone with an ipad or android with a busted power cable trying in vain to back up their device (which needs the charge port to do this) before the battery expired.

Edited February 17, 2021 by Andromeda Stardust

[CPUWIZ]

1 hour ago, Andromeda Stardust said:

it can be a pita to find a cable that fits

 

Come on now, you dremeled the pins off of a Concerto cart, you can heat up an Exacto blade and make a little notch.

[justclaws]

4 hours ago, Andromeda Stardust said:

While the notched plugs seem like a cool innovation, it can be a pita to find a cable that fits. The mini usb is more robust than the micro, though the old fashioned usb-b plug that printers use is bulletproof. I generally think the miniaturization of connectors is part of planned obsolescence.

There are other brands which have the same thing, so that may open up your choice of cables later.
PowerA and other brands of Xbox controller also have these. (Maybe all licensed, made by PowerA?)
Obviously this is a design decision with mixed reactions, but there are upsides as well as downsides...

[Atari Nut]

17 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

Thanks for the breakdown. This was probably the most interesting thing to me about the new VCS. I still have two great working USB joysticks made by Curt. So the big draw of this is paddle function. Has anyone put the paddle feature through its paces on Stella?

Yes...and it doesn't cut it.  It works but twisting that narrow stick is too difficult for precise control.  The original Atari Paddles were great.  I'll always use a set of real Atari paddles unless/until we get a new paddle with the same specs as the originals.

[MrBeefy]

8 minutes ago, Atari Nut said:

Yes...and it doesn't cut it.  It works but twisting that narrow stick is too difficult for precise control.  The original Atari Paddles were great.  I'll always use a set of real Atari paddles unless/until we get a new paddle with the same specs as the originals.

Too sensitive or not sensitive enough?

[MrBeefy]

8 hours ago, CPUWIZ said:

 

Come on now, you dremeled the pins off of a Concerto cart, you can heat up an Exacto blade and make a little notch.

That poor Concerto didn't do anything to deserve that.

[Atari Nut]

3 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

Too sensitive or not sensitive enough?

For me, it's not a matter of sensitivity.  The stick is a much smaller diameter than a paddle knob.  It just doesn't provide a good "feel" for control.

[Andromeda Stardust]

11 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

That poor Concerto didn't do anything to deserve that.

I don't know what you are talking about. The guy who did that...

 

...no longer exists! ??‍♀️

[CPUWIZ]

1 hour ago, Andromeda Stardust said:

I don't know what you are talking about. The guy who did that...

 

...no longer exists! ??‍♀️

 

Yeah, no girl, that is not how it works.  You can't rob a bank and then say "He did it!".

[MrBeefy]

Then she's in luck because it wasn't a bank.

 

I think I almost screamed at the video as I watched that all happen.

[justclaws]

I cannot find a reference to this video, by MockDuck, so I add it here, to the same topic.
Good work, MockDuck!
 

 

[Mockduck]

Thanks! I didn't see this thread back in the day. I too was not able to figure out how to disassemble the actual stick; you can take the + looking plastic thing off the bottom, and pry the top lid off, but after that I couldn't see any way to get the stick apart. As seen in the video, I wrecked my joystick by accidentally/stupidly ripping the cable out from the harness keeping it in place. It's the white square towards the top of this pic, just be warned I couldn't figure out how to take it off then get it back on again. 

 

[M-S]

I think there's a way to use this controller in an original system,  8Bitdo sells Bluetooth adapters for the Sega Genesis, you can try plugging that into an Atari since both use the same connector, if that doesn't work you can try using a Genesis to Atari controller adapter.

[M-S]

I just found a video exactly about that, the only difference is that you would need the Bluetooth adapter, not the 2.4 GHz one

 

[tripled79]

Why am I just seeing this thread now? I've thought about taking my backers controller apart for a while since it sometimes sticks to the right or makes a clicking noise when I use it. It also feels a little loose. Not sure if there is anything I can do to tighten it up...

[Atari_JaguarVCS]

My Classic Joystick from my backers edition literally feels like it’s going to break apart any day now. I’m just glad I’ve got a few other Classic Joysticks sitting in box waiting to replace it. If there’s a way to tighten it up and get rid of the clicking etc I’d definitely open it up and do some refurb on it, it’s served me well so far so would be great to fix it up.