Provide Power supply to Joystick port, enabling Autofire, Joy adapters etc.

Started by ikonsgr, 14:20, 08 December 16

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ikonsgr

  Again, a very nice idea 1024MAK! I will try it tomorrow and if it works ok, i will revise the design (again)....  :D

ikonsgr

I just finished testing the "New" design with 5volt directly to Vcc of 74LS367, and the resistor between supply and pin7 of joystick port.
Now, as i wrote before, besides the enabling of autofire, the main usefullness of this adapter would be the ability to use various joyport adapters, (like the 15pin to 9pin or usb to 9pin adapter i make, and mentioned in the first post). For this reason, and after some more testing,i decided to use a rather small resistor in order to minimize the voltage drop that goes to the circuits of these adapters. On the other hand, the resistor value can't be very small, because it raises the short circuit current (when 2nd fire button is pressed) and thermal dissipation , too much.
So, after some more tesitng, i decided to use a 22 Ohm resistor. Using this, voltage drop is only ~0.7 volt, meaning that pin 7, which supplies adapter's circuits, would be ~4.3Volt.
I've tested all usb joysticks/gamepads i have, and all seem to work ok.
On the other hand, the use of such small resistor, raises the short circuit current to ~220mA, so i decided to use a 0.5Watt resistor, instead of the usual 0.25Watt.
I've tested the short circuit protection by pressing repeatedly 2nd fire button for ~30 seconds which heated up resistor ~40c.I also tried pressing constantly 2nd fire button for ~10seconds, resulting in heating at ~60degrees celsius.


To sum up, the 22 Ohm 0.5Watt resistor, seem to can easily handle any accidental pressing of 2nd fire button, and also supply sufficient voltage to pin7 for adapters to work right.


Btw, the schematics on the first post are also changed according to this last modification.

TotO

Yes, it is now better with those changes.
I repeat, but please link the pin 9 (joystick side) to the pin 7 (cpc side) to support 2 buttons controllers.  :-\
(add a jumper if you think that is better to be able to unlink this signal for your usage)
"You make one mistake in your life and the internet will never let you live it down" (Keith Goodyer)

ikonsgr

Hey Toto, is it my idea, or  you REALLY like SMS controllers?  :D


And yes, since there is one 3state buffer spare, you can use it to connect any spare pin of the 9pin joystick connector (e.g. pin 9 and pin 5) to pin 7 of amstrad's game port. This way it will add 2nd fire button support, not only for SMS controllers, but also for some amiga joysticks who had the undocumented 2nd fire button on pin 9;)


ikonsgr


ikonsgr


Arnaud

Don't remember if this adaptor can be used with Megadrive Pad ?

ikonsgr

It can surely work with SMS controller as they have almost exactly the same pinout: http://pinouts.ru/Game/sega_ms_joy_pinout.shtml
Sega mega drive controllers use a chip inside so most probable they will not work: http://segaretro.org/Control_Pad_(Mega_Drive)

simondo

Is there an option to switch autofire on and off as autofire may not be needed constantly in a game?

ikonsgr

I think you are a bit confused. This is not an autofire circuit, but it  provides the necessary power supply to joystick port in order for any joystick equipped with autofire to work. And obviously any joystick with autofire has it's own on/off switch.
If you are interested to add autofire functionality to a joystick without autofire, then you can try and make this simple circuit i designed some years ago.

simondo


Arnaud

If i understand with this we can use USB -> DB9 converter to play with USB gamepad on CPC ?

You'll sell it on ebay ?

ikonsgr

Quote from: Arnaud on 07:35, 11 March 17
If i understand with this we can use USB -> DB9 converter to play with USB gamepad on CPC ?

You'll sell it on ebay ?


Yeap, with this adapter you can use the usb to db9 adapter, and connect many modern usb joysticks/gamepads (even playstation 2 controllers using a very cheap adapter) to your amstrad! You can check it here . And if you want to get both adapters, we can arrange it from here to save ebay fees too!  ;)

ikonsgr

Finally,i managed to design a proper pcb for the circuit (the soldering of all the small cables from  the two 9pin D connectors to the 74LS367, as easy as it may seems, in reality, it's a real pain the... a#@$! ::)  ) , so if all goes well, in a few weeks i will be able to provide the adapter in a nice,small neat board (~3cmX4cm),and most important, cheaper!  ;)   
Keep,in touch!

ikonsgr

Finally, i made the first new version of the adapter:

[attachimg=1]

In a few days i'm getting the (rather delayed...) new batch of Y power cables, and it will be ready for anyone who want it, at very cheap price too!  ;)


CraigsBar

Interesting. Are these plus/gx4000 compatible too?

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ikonsgr

If 6128 plus doesn't provide 5volt on joy ports (e.g. auto fire doesn't work), then most probable it will, although it might work only on 1st joy port.

ikonsgr

I finally got the Y power cables so if anyone interested can buy the adapter shown on 1st post.

MissionComplete

Unfortunately, this device does not work properly with my superboard QuickShot SV-125, in CPC464 or 6128. I have tried all the functions of the joystick, but it seems that the buttons are crazy (maybe the sprite jumps, shoots or both at the same time). Can you tell me any joystick with autofire that works sure in the CPC?
Thanks

ikonsgr

Well, i've tried it with many joysticks (quickshot models, tomahawk, cms etc), as with all the adapters for joystick port i also make (bluetooth wireless adapter, amiga/atari st mouse adapter, 15pin pc joystick adapter), and all worked fine!
Are you sure that your joystick works ok? Also, did you use the Y power cable, or a separate psu for powering the adapter? Sometimes if the power supply is not proper, there might be problems with adapter's function. Better use the Y power cable, in order to power the adapter from amstrad's psu.

MissionComplete

Thanks for your answer. In fact, I have 2 joysticks SV-125, not possible the both are broken. But this model has a switch for CPC464/Atari and you can control the velocity of autofire too. Perhaps for that it is not compatible with your device, I don't know. I have tried with several PSU and the Y cable too.
I have seen your others adapters. Very interesting!!

ikonsgr

Does the joystick works ok, except autofire? Did yyou test it on other computers like C64 or atari to see if joy+autofire works ok?
Note also that you DONT set it for 'CPC464', this is a special mode where autofire is not supported, as it replaces the 5v supply with the 2nd fire button of amstrad joy port!
You should use the "Atari/C64" position instead, only there autofire is supported as this provides the required 5v supply to joystick in order for the autofire to work right!

So in theory, if you set it for "C64/ATARI" you should have autofire AND 2nd fire button support (adapter redirects pin9 of 2nd fire button from an atari joystick to proper pin7 on amstrad's joy port).

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