Joypads/sticks source?

[JonSick]

Hiya

Anyone have a good source for new decent quailty Amiga compatible joysticks or pads? The last couple I bought off ebay either don't work or are terrible quality.

Ideally any zipstick/competition pros styles would be great.

[moijk]

You've just been unlucky then. I got dozens of joysticks and all works perfectly fine. very few shows sign of hard use.

Individual computers / speedlink did make a batch of comp. pro sticks, but beside that i haven't seen much new sticks around. not that i ever would want one, given i like the old stuff.

[s2325]

You can buy cheap Amiga joysticks here http://matt.com.pl/show.php?poz_kl=2...&keep=1&show=1 but quality may be poor.

[JonSick]

As a mad idea, if I picked up a standard USB controller, would it be a big job to add the appropriate connector/cable and rewire it?

[leathered]

Originally Posted by JonSick

As a mad idea, if I picked up a standard USB controller, would it be a big job to add the appropriate connector/cable and rewire it?

As I recall, there was quite a lot to this discussion either here or at amiga.org, it's not as straightforward as 'joining the wires'.
At Amigakit there are converters for old pc soundcard type gameports giving you a few options. You can get them on ebay but be really careful! I managed to get hold of a nes stick once
One reputable guy I know deals mainly in amiga stuff. His shop on ebay is called amiga retro experience and his name is airey36. I got a couple of cd32 pads from him

[freon]

Are the Competition pros running out of stock also? Amigakit has none in stock. Vesalia also has none. If it ever even did? ASB still has some left.

I'm hoping someone would make new patch of TAC 2 joysticks. Competition pro's stick movement is too large for my taste.



Back in the days TAC 2 could really take the beating when one died in the game. Desk was full of dents, but the TAC 2 didn't even got a scratch Buttons were the only weak link that required cleaning every now and then.

I have also wondered if it would be easy to make joystick out of this Arcade joystick?


http://dx.com/p/repair-parts-replace...assorted-41227

[tribe]

Originally Posted by freon

Are the Competition pros running out of stock also? Amigakit has none in stock. Vesalia also has none. If it ever even did? ASB still has some left.

I'm hoping someone would make new patch of TAC 2 joysticks. Competition pro's stick movement is too large for my taste.



Back in the days TAC 2 could really take the beating when one died in the game. Desk was full of dents, but the TAC 2 didn't even got a scratch Buttons were the only weak link that required cleaning every now and then.

I have also wondered if it would be easy to make joystick out of this Arcade joystick?


http://dx.com/p/repair-parts-replace...assorted-41227

Yes you can use an arcade joystick. Read how to wire the connector here: http://old.pinouts.ru/Inputs/Joystic...0_pinout.shtml

But while it may look similar to TAC-2 it will function very differently. It will be a "clicky" micro switch joystick, more like the Competition Pro.

Instead of that Chinese stick I would get a Japanese one made by Sanwa or Seimitsu instead, if you are after quality. Since you mention that Competition Pro's movement is "too large" you'll probably want a model with a short throw like the Seimitsu LS-56.

You most probably want at least one button too. The buttons Sanwa and Seimitsu make, while awesome, are very different from the buttons used in most "Atari" joysticks because of their light tension. Because of that Happ or similar buttons may be preferable.

Great tutorial on arcade joysticks: http://www.slagcoin.com/joystick/introduction.html

P.S. What is ASB?

[Cammy]

ASB = http://www.asb-computer.com/

[johnim]

hi i just got two of these and rewired cheap too

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Logic3-Fig...item231c6c6fd9

but work great for 1 button but wired for all

[tribe]

Originally Posted by Cammy

ASB = http://www.asb-computer.com/

Thank you Cammy. Gotta get me one of those Competition Pros. Great stick when brand new, vintage ones often not so great...

[tribe]

Originally Posted by freon

I'm hoping someone would make new patch of TAC 2 joysticks. Competition pro's stick movement is too large for my taste.

This has been really bothering me... It might be that I'm just misunderstanding what freon means by movement, or he is referring to a different Comp. Pro model than the "definitive" 5000, like the 300X?

So anyway I did some measurements regarding their throw, very imprecise as I was just using a protractor and the ball tops make it even more difficult... But the throw that the Competition Pro has is about 4 degrees until the micro switch clicks, and then it has some leeway up until about 8 degrees. The TAC-2 on the other hand has a throw of about 6 degrees. So regarding that they are very similar! It's an unusually short throw. Some other joysticks I had around like the Quickshot II Turbo, Konix Speedking, and Seimitsu LS-33 all have a throw of about 20 degrees.

The TAC-2 and Competition Pro are also very similar in size, both are "handheld" sticks, have the same button layout... Really similar sticks.

The main difference is in durability. Like freon says TAC-2 is very durable, you can see the design here: http://ilesj.wordpress.com/2012/02/0...of-simplicity/

The Comp Pro has a couple of points that fail. Here's a picture of one of my sticks:

If you look at the "receiver" for the left button (circled in blue) you can see that it has completely broken off! I need to come up with a good fix for that, good thing there's another button on the right. While maybe not visible in the picture, the micro switches for left and right have also stopped working. Luckily they should be replaceable with standard parts. You don't get this kind of problem with the TAC-2... But the other side of the coin is that the Comp Pro's micro switches provide audible feedback (they click..) which a lot of people feel improves their accuracy.

So umm yeah really similar sticks... One more durable the other maybe slightly more accurate. Also both seem to be out of stock as ASB is sold out of the Comp Pro now too. Get whichever you can...

[freon]

^Yes they are very similar, but i like TAC2 more. it fits in my hands much better and i like it better in the sports games etc. where you must shake the stick like crazy.

Buttons on tac2 could have been better.