omne Posted September 13, 2003 Share Posted September 13, 2003 Thanks to a great trade with CongoBongo, I've had a 5200 for a few months. I haven't used it much due to the inconsistent response I had from the controllers. Now, the 5200 is notorious for having unreliable controllers, due to it's early analog stick design. I'm very fussy about perfectly functioning hardware. I tried to get all axis of my 5200 controllers to work when I got it (NB-they worked every bit as well as CongoBongo described them ), and failed. I'm a pretty handy guy, and this was hard to swallow. Some posts here, and Mr.RetroGamer pointed me to the Pete's test cart repro at the AA store. With that, he said, I could properly calibrate the potentiometers to baseline, possibly restoring all stick function. He was dead on right! A bit of fiddling, and using the test cart to set pot baseline, and I was in business! A fibreglass brush on button contacts to get better button response, and voila! Perfectly working 5200 controllers. You know, when working properly, these controllers aren't bad at all.... A big Thank You to all of you who routinely share your knowledge and experience with others, to help them keep the old hardware working! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted September 14, 2003 Share Posted September 14, 2003 You know, when working properly, these controllers aren't bad at all.... YES! Welcome to the club. We are the few. The proud. The ones that like 5200 sticks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaggy the Atarian Posted September 16, 2003 Share Posted September 16, 2003 Hopefully I can get mine 1 controller fixed soon. It only partially works, with the analog stick working fine, but my keypad doesn't work at all, nor does the fire buttons. Start, Reset, and Pause work however. I figure that it's a back flex circuit...I ordered one from B&C so hopefully it's the cure to my problem. I have several games that I'd love to play on the 5200 (like River Raid and Space Dungeon) but I have to wait util I can get this controller fixed Other than that I think it's a rather good controller, I was expecting it to be worse from what people usually say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omne Posted September 16, 2003 Author Share Posted September 16, 2003 I used a fiberglass brush on the contacts of my flex circuit (rev.9), and that restored responsiveness to the fire buttons, and to the keypad. It's a very mild abrasive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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