7 replies to this topic

[wt808]

About 6 years ago, I converted a 5200 to use arcade controls using a multi-input adapter that I designed. I built an enclosure and top for the system, positioned and mounted the controls, and then built a small upright cabinet to support it and an extra VGA monitor I had laying around.

The 5200 system sits in the white-colored box under the controls and over the coin door. Part of the reason for designing the compact 5200 mainboard was to eliminate the noisy cooling fan and for more room inside the enclosure for 4-/8-way switchable digital joysticks (a 4-way is needed for Pac-Man).

The box is about the size of the original console shell. The lower area of the cabinet behind the coin door is storage for cartridges, controllers, speakers, Svideo-to-VGA adapter. I made an A/V adapter to output Svideo and line-level audio, and made a low profile 16-in-1 flash cartridge to fit in the enclosure.

The left knob on the front selects the active control for both players: digital joystick, paddle, trackball, and analog PC joystick. A small LED above the active control lights up when it is selected.

The right black button on the front is the relocated 5200 power switch, now a Happ momentary pushbutton switch.

The lower fire buttons have switchable Turbo fire via a rocker switch for each player. There are 2 upper fire buttons for each player to accomodate right- and left-handed players.

The keypads are surplus 3x4 matrix for a pay phone. I can't use the overlays.

The central rocker switch above the trackball assigns the trackball to player 1 or player 2 (which isn't used since the trackball is expected to be connected to port 1 as I later found out). The trackball connects to an adapter which converts the signal to both connectors on the input adapter for the original 5200 controllers.

Shortly after, I designed V2 of the input adapter but never finished the firmware. Here's V2 connected to the compact 5200 mainboard. In addition to all of the controls supported by V1, it also takes 2600 joysticks and has the Happ trackball adapter built in (tall white connector in the middle). This allows me to keep the 5200 controllers connected without having to disconnect the trackball.

The compact 5200 mainboard uses the same port spacing as the original mainboard, so the multi-input adapters plug right in. For a 4-port, I can install 2 adapters to build a 4 player system.

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[bohoki]

neat although i find a 5200 in any other condition than as atari intended slightly repugnant

but hey its your stuff
far out man

[Jr. Pac]

I love it! As if the 5200 and the trackball weren't big enough?

[toptenmaterial]

You are very talented!!

[BassGuitari]

You, sir, are the MAN. Incredible work!

+1

[wt808]

bohoki, on Mon Jul 25, 2011 11:25 PM, said:

neat although i find a 5200 in any other condition than as atari intended slightly repugnant

Yes but I find a 5200 sent to the e-waste grinders even more repugnant!

No modifications were made to the 5200 mainboard except for the relocated power switch in which the original switch was broken. Everything is socketed, plug-in, and J-hooks and can be easily returned to the original configuration. The big tangle of wires in the photo goes to the adapter, not the mainboard, and the adapter simply slides onto both controller ports.

The donor mainboard for the compact 5200 was something that I rescued off of eBay. Looked like it had been in a flood, no one bid on it, and it probably would've been sent to e-waste recycling. I have another 4-port console that I picked up cheap because the RF adapter was broken, controllers missing, and the owner had no other way to test and sold it "as-is". The motherboard is delaminating and has bubbly traces, RF connectors corroded, but I bet the chips are fine.

[Goochman]

Ok how much for one - Ill sacrifice owning a modified 5200

[Vic George 2K3]

Not bad, even without the arcade machine bling.