Joystick switcher for CD32?

[Marchie]

Hey folks,


I find I'm increasingly want to use my Amigas (and CD32) with mouse as well as two joysticks/joypads. The main problem being that most (all?) the joystick switchers out there don't work with CD32 pads.


Given that I want to save my Amigas and joypads from the wear and tear of constant swapping, is there any reason why one can't simply rig-up a 'mechanical' switcher that has a toggle on each line?


Or is there a better solution?

I looked into this as well but gave up eventually as most of the sellers couldnt be bothered replying to mails etc , i just bought an extention cable and pinned it up in a convenient place then use that to swap between my monster joystick 2 button and cd32 controller, not perfect but it saves wear and tear on the Amigas ports.

[Daedalus]

In theory it's not that big a deal to swap over between the two. If the other controller is only ever going to be a mouse or a traditional joystick, an existing switch might even work or might work with only minor modifications.

[Gordon]

Email amigakit to say you want one. They did a small batch in 2013 and they work great with the cd32. Now with so many more CD32 users and potentially more people interested they may do a new run. Maybe ask them to ask for interest here?

Originally Posted by Gordon

Email amigakit to say you want one. They did a small batch in 2013 and they work great with the cd32. Now with so many more CD32 users and potentially more people interested they may do a new run. Maybe ask them to ask for interest here?

I have emailed them to ask about it couple of months ago, they told me to mail back in a month when they have some made, so i did, no reply, mailed again and no reply, mailed again and still no reply , so gave up , they obviously dont want my money lol


3 Emails and zero response.


Shame as i wouldve deff have bought one, but im not gonna keep chasing them if they cannot be bothered to answer enquiries.

[Marchie]

I'm working on a switch and am nearly done now, will update on whether it works hopefully this week...

[Marchie]

Here she be. Crude, but it works!

4 double-switches and one single: on-off-on

[Hewitson]

I'd suggest using logic gates instead of switches.

[Glen M]

In my arcade controller I achieved this with the use of one of these:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-IMPRO...AAAOSwGzlTxXPk

but I had to modify it as in its present form it does not allow for 2 way communication on pin 6 (i think from memory). I cut the traces from pin 6 going through the IC and hard wired it then fitted a single pole double throw switch to switch 5v to the IC to change between mouse and joypad.

This works perfectly for me for switching between joypad and mouse all be it at all times all buttons continue to work on both peripherals. Interesting actually as it means a CD32 pad with say an analogue stick input for a mouse should be very easy to make and I do intend to look into this at some point. The likes of guardian would benefit massively from this sort of control.

During a rather drunken conversion with Daedalus at Amiga Ireland he did say it would be possible to swap out the ICs for an analogue alternative to allow the signal on pin 6 to pass through. I'm afraid I remember little of this conversion though as I was putting most my effort into stay upright!

[Daedalus]

Originally Posted by Glen M

During a rather drunken conversion with Daedalus at Amiga Ireland he did say it would be possible to swap out the ICs for an analogue alternative to allow the signal on pin 6 to pass through. I'm afraid I remember little of this conversion though as I was putting most my effort into stay upright!

Happy times I forgot about that too, but check out the CD4066 chip. It's a CMOS chip but will switch any signal including TTL digital in both directions. It's basically a 4-way on-off switch, so you'd need two of them to switch 4 wires (one for controller A, one for controller B), and 4 of them to switch the 7 wires needed for 100% separation of controllers. They're static sensitive though so some additional ESD protection should be included between them and the controller connector, e.g. diode clamps or resistors & capacitors.

[Marchie]

Originally Posted by Glen M

In my arcade controller I achieved this with the use of one of these:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-IMPRO...AAAOSwGzlTxXPk

but I had to modify it as in its present form it does not allow for 2 way communication on pin 6 (i think from memory). I cut the traces from pin 6 going through the IC and hard wired it then fitted a single pole double throw switch to switch 5v to the IC to change between mouse and joypad.

This works perfectly for me for switching between joypad and mouse all be it at all times all buttons continue to work on both peripherals. Interesting actually as it means a CD32 pad with say an analogue stick input for a mouse should be very easy to make and I do intend to look into this at some point. The likes of guardian would benefit massively from this sort of control.

During a rather drunken conversion with Daedalus at Amiga Ireland he did say it would be possible to swap out the ICs for an analogue alternative to allow the signal on pin 6 to pass through. I'm afraid I remember little of this conversion though as I was putting most my effort into stay upright!

Sounds cool, would love to see it.

[Glen M]

Originally Posted by Marchie

Sounds cool, would love to see it.

This is a picture of the finished controller.



Sorry I don't have a picture handy of the guts but the track ball and player 2 controller are switched via the switcher I noted above.

Shameless plug... I covered the making of this on my youtube channel. Part 3 deals with the switcher from about 10 minutes on. At about 19 minutes I show the final arrangement I came to for the switcher.

[ Show youtube player ]

[Marchie]

That's a seriously cool piece of hardware there Glen M, well done!

Liked your video too!