My new joystick (custom-made) and Let's Plays

[Swevicus]

Dear EAB,

About 3, almost 4 years ago, some of you may remember that I was considering building an arcade-quality-Atari-controller-on-a-budget with the intention of mass producing it (not sure how that's going to work out, though). That day has finally come (after years of redesigns and buying arcade machine parts).



The enclosure is by Takachi and measures 150mm * 125mm * 50mm (part number KC5-13-15BB ) and the joystick is a Sanwa JLF with a flat mounting plate and shaft cover (JLF-TP-8Y-SK), while the buttons are Sanwa OBSC-30 CW (30mm Clear White, named after their transparent surrounds/rims/outlines) with rubber washers fitted to the edges to fill in the space for the mounting holes, since the CW variants are slightly thinner than their opaque (OBSF) counterparts. There is no autofire since the circuit was too problematic to implement (the switch would take over from the buttons and act as if the buttons were held down instead of being pressed repeatedly, so ultimately, I removed the circuit but might reinstate it in the future). I also ordered a larger ball top handle (40mm - the standard size is 35mm) and a shaft extender (increasing the length of the shaft by 1.25cm) for those of you with gargantuan hands which could grip a Beretta 92FS/M9 with ease. This is my personal prototype and I'm not sure if it will make it to mass-production, but I just wanted to let you guys know that I (eventually) kept my word.

I use this joystick to do Let's Plays here (Episode 14 onwards and for any game which uses an Atari/Commodore-style controller):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...SomBU3mx5-jWsz

Yours sincerely,

S.

[Predseda]

Ideal joystick for me needs:
-two independent buttons
-permanent autofire toggle
-turbofire (autofire working only when an extra button is held, like Quckshot QS-200)
-in case of design above: strong suction cups

That would be an ideal joystick for playing Turrican II in my opinion.

[Swevicus]

Blimey, that was quick!

Two independent buttons? I can do that with the PCB of a Sega Master System controller, no problem. Autofire and turbo fire? Sure, if I can find a QS-200 (or an Amiga pad with both two buttons and turbo fire/autofire and use its PCB). Suction cups? I'm going to buy some within the next few days. This is my first go at such a controller (with some help from my father).

[Predseda]

It will be a very good controller then

Although I prefer one-hand design

[Daedalus]

Good work! It's a nice feeling when you end up with a working item after working on it for a while. How does it feel to use?

The independent fire buttons option doesn't need any new PCB - it just needs enough wires going to the connector and to modify the wiring to the switches slightly. Very easy

As for autofire, if you can solder, you can easily copy a design for autofire or turbofire without resorting to scavenged parts (although if you have the parts already then fair enough). You could even have both modes with a 3-position switch...

[Swevicus]

This controller is freaking awesome (although the joystick is a little too short and soft for my tastes, which is why I bought a shaft extender and a larger ball top handle - the latter is for gargantuan hands who can grip a Beretta 92 pistol easily, like my dad). It's the Competition Pro for the 21st Century - microswitched joystick and buttons (even though the buttons actually feel like leaf switches like on the Competition Pro 5000, they use soft, tactile microswitches).

[Daedalus]

Glad to hear it How many of the wires in the cable are connected? Do you have the +5V line (pin 7) and the second fire wire (pin 9)?

[Signman]

why I bought a shaft extender and a larger ball top handle -

Let's keep it clean here,ok?

[EugeneNine]

No need to pull an rapid fire circuit from something else, a 555 timer will do it. I made one many years ago, put in a pot to make the speed variable.

[Juz400]

Great Idea,
I posted on the hardware section about modding competion pro for 2 firebuttons.

On there , mentioned that I and many people I have seen using them (kickoff competion rawmarsh leisure centre )
hold it in your left hand with your thumb over the firebutton, its a bit of a distraction trying to hit that second fire button.

as just a thought, not critisizm

I know this would increase the BOM and complicate the build significatly but

Instead of the DB9 captive lead
looking at your picture fit a DB9 connector on both left and right sides and add a switch.
In operation you orientate the fire buttons to which left or right side as is comfortable (for right and left handed people) the connector fits in the top either way round.
The switch would flip Fire1 and Fire2 locations and also Up, Down, Left and Right

Sorry, my artistics skills are limited but

[Swevicus]

Hmm... intriguing.

[Swevicus]

Good news is... I figured out the Sanwa JLF isn't that good a joystick for most retro games (I find the Seimitsu LS-32 a better fit), so I successfully modified the case to fit an LS-32-01-SC (with PCB mounted microswitches and black shaft cover).

Bad news? My Sanwa OBSC-30 buttons broke (the tabs snapped) and the mounting holes are a little too large for the Seimitsu PS-14-G buttons (they need a rubber washer to hold them in place or they wobble, and the washers for the Sanwa buttons prevent the snap-in tabs on the Seimitsu buttons from extending fully so they don't seat in correctly)... and the wire for the fire button snapped (last night it was the ground wire, tonight is the fire button wire... I am starting to detest this project, not to mention all the solder burns I took to the thumb and forefinger... and the tooth).

[idrougge]

You can use crimp shoes instead of soldering. Like many classic joysticks did.

[Swevicus]

I use crimp shoes for the buttons and a 5-pin wiring harness for the joystick. I'll keep that in mind for future reference.

[Swevicus]

The Sanwa parts have been fully replaced with Seimitsu parts (LS-32-01-SC joystick with PCB mounted microswitches and black shaft cover and PS-14-G snap-in buttons). I was able to get the buttons to stay in place by mounting the rubber washers underneath (from within the casing) as opposed to above from the outside. Games feel much more playable now with this TAC 2-style of gameplay. I can't believe I went 2 full seasons with a slow and sloppy JLF (the only good things are its compact size - the LS-32 is a little bit bigger - and the leverless microswitches - the LS series use levered microswitches).

[Juz400]

Originally Posted by Swevicus

I use crimp shoes for the buttons and a 5-pin wiring harness for the joystick. I'll keep that in mind for future reference.

Crimp shoes are very handy until you are using wire as thin as you get in this sort of project.
I use uninsulated (bare metal crimp connectors) for my projects.
Invest in some heat shrink tubing with glue in a few different sizes(ebay)

slip a few cm of the smallest over the cable to be crimped, crimp connector, slide up and over the metal that was squashed with 10mm or so covering the cable, heat it till it shrinks and makes nice contact with the metal and protuding cable.
Then get a longer larger diameter to fit over the whole crimp and the heatshrink you just did and heat that too.
This should make the connection alot stronger and also give you something to grip when trying to remove the connection from the tab.

[Swevicus]

Thank you for the helpful advice. I'll keep it in mind when I'm designing the 2-button version (which is what I'm working on now - the design).

[Swevicus]

I think I've cracked the design for the 2-button version - I can simply modify the existing casing for the 1-button model (I'm not going to use the same enclosure, I'm likely going to order another one and a new set of buttons - I already have the joystick I want, the Seimitsu LS-32-01-SC - I'll be getting the Seimitsu PS-14-G buttons in various colours). By drilling a new hole in between and below the two existing fire buttons, I can make an ambidextrous second fire button easily - the question is whether to make it a 30mm hole or 24mm hole (circular) - see the image below.

[Swevicus]

Swapped out the LS-32-01-SC for the LS-56-01. More compact and more manageable in my opinion.