I just rebuilt 2 5200 joysticks using Best parts. Before bed I started thinking about what you've built and a bit of googling this morning brought me to your page. I never knew there was such a thing as a digital potentiometer. Now it's making me think of building a wireless adapter out of a pair of ESP32's.
Very cool! I've been a 5200 fan since the 80's, and alternative controllers are (and have been) very nice to have. I'll look on your website to see what you have documented about this very nice project. 🙂
per the Atari field service document for the 5200, the controller pot readings for controller 1 should be 112 +/- 1 for both horizontal and vertical when centered
Thank you. Ben Heck never demonstrated an analog game. Also, I saw where someone else was being told that a digipot wouldn’t work properly for a C64 analog project, though they also suggested the capacitor trick. I’ve been considering doing something like this for years, ever since I found that replacement pots weren’t available for NES Vaus controllers.
If the Atari doesn't really measure the resistance but the timing a capacitor is charged, couldn't you get rid pf the digi-pot by sending timed digital siganals? You would sense the voltage that should go through the 500k Pot, wait some ms according to the 10K Pots position, and switch an output high, instantly giving a full charge to the measuring cap in the Atari.
Ok Scott... I need help... I just ordered my PCB boards and the buttons.... I have a parts list then I will look on eBay and see what I can find... unless you know somewhere else that is better. However... I need STEP by STEP instructions.. .like what goes where... I can solder reasonably well but I can't read schematics... can you PLEASE help me? Do you have anything written up or another video? Any help would be great!!!
Hello again. I just realized that the capacitor trick may be useful for repairing 5200 controllers with pots that have too low a resistance. Late production units with US-made “CTS” brand pots top out at around 350k ohms. That’s obviously a lot closer to 500k than a 100k PC joystick, but it’s still bad enough that you can’t control Pac-Man or defend the right-most city/base in Missile Command. I was wondering: how do you calculate the capacitor value required to make a 350k pot behave the same as a 500k pot? I am aware that I will probably need to take ESL into account and if the resistance of the pot continues to drop I will need to adjust the capacitance, which is why I’d rather know the fundamentals rather than just the value. Even so, if you have a capacitor value/type to suggest, I’m all ears. :)
It could be really interesting to see something like a solid standard way of building high-quality analog 5200 joysticks, and make a way of producing them in larger quanta. Must be thousands of retro-gamers or just people having grown up with an Atari 5200 wanting to buy a quality selfcentering analog controller. Perhaps even those with the technical expertise could assemble people to just produce them én masse, or something. If it costs 40$ to produce each and sells for 75$ each, selling 400 would give 14000$ . ... and keep Atari 5200 gamers happy... Could the same controller be made to work with more consoles than the A5200 if it came with 2 or 3 cable-types?
Hi, this is David from the Atari 5200 Podcast. Is there anyway you will be selling the boards as I need at least 4 of these. Also thank you for designing this.
I just rebuilt 2 5200 joysticks using Best parts. Before bed I started thinking about what you've built and a bit of googling this morning brought me to your page. I never knew there was such a thing as a digital potentiometer. Now it's making me think of building a wireless adapter out of a pair of ESP32's.
Very cool! I've been a 5200 fan since the 80's, and alternative controllers are (and have been) very nice to have. I'll look on your website to see what you have documented about this very nice project. 🙂
per the Atari field service document for the 5200, the controller pot readings for controller 1 should be 112 +/- 1 for both horizontal and vertical when centered
Nice job! Interesting to think that your controller has more impressive specs computing-wise than the Atari itself.
Thank you. Ben Heck never demonstrated an analog game. Also, I saw where someone else was being told that a digipot wouldn’t work properly for a C64 analog project, though they also suggested the capacitor trick. I’ve been considering doing something like this for years, ever since I found that replacement pots weren’t available for NES Vaus controllers.
Please, please, please kickstart this! I would definitely invest in a kit that could be put together. Awesome job on the controller!
Good well made video and description of your design , it may well make a nice kit at least as PCB only or hard to source parts
If the Atari doesn't really measure the resistance but the timing a capacitor is charged, couldn't you get rid pf the digi-pot by sending timed digital siganals? You would sense the voltage that should go through the 500k Pot, wait some ms according to the 10K Pots position, and switch an output high, instantly giving a full charge to the measuring cap in the Atari.
Are you able to play games that require analogue control?
Ok Scott... I need help... I just ordered my PCB boards and the buttons.... I have a parts list then I will look on eBay and see what I can find... unless you know somewhere else that is better. However... I need STEP by STEP instructions.. .like what goes where... I can solder reasonably well but I can't read schematics... can you PLEASE help me? Do you have anything written up or another video? Any help would be great!!!
Hello again. I just realized that the capacitor trick may be useful for repairing 5200 controllers with pots that have too low a resistance. Late production units with US-made “CTS” brand pots top out at around 350k ohms. That’s obviously a lot closer to 500k than a 100k PC joystick, but it’s still bad enough that you can’t control Pac-Man or defend the right-most city/base in Missile Command. I was wondering: how do you calculate the capacitor value required to make a 350k pot behave the same as a 500k pot? I am aware that I will probably need to take ESL into account and if the resistance of the pot continues to drop I will need to adjust the capacitance, which is why I’d rather know the fundamentals rather than just the value. Even so, if you have a capacitor value/type to suggest, I’m all ears. :)
how do i learn to do this stuff? im so desperate to make these things lol
Will u sell them??? I would love one, two if not TOO expensive.
It could be really interesting to see something like a solid standard way of building high-quality analog 5200 joysticks, and make a way of producing them in larger quanta.
Must be thousands of retro-gamers or just people having grown up with an Atari 5200 wanting to buy a quality selfcentering analog controller.
Perhaps even those with the technical expertise could assemble people to just produce them én masse, or something.
If it costs 40$ to produce each and sells for 75$ each, selling 400 would give 14000$ .
... and keep Atari 5200 gamers happy...
Could the same controller be made to work with more consoles than the A5200 if it came with 2 or 3 cable-types?
Hi, this is David from the Atari 5200 Podcast. Is there anyway you will be selling the boards as I need at least 4 of these. Also thank you for designing this.
I'm gonna be the one to say it.. Send one to AVGN :P
I bet that's a product which will sell. I would buy it :)
I would buy it
Nice, controller sir. I think people would bye it as a kit.