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Atari Jaguar64 Rotary Controller

If you have Tempest 2000 for the Jaguar64 and haven't played it with a rotary controller, you don't know what your missing! I built my first rotary controller with the help of the Jaguar FAQ maintained by Robert Jung, and an aricle by Kevin Manne called Taking Control which I found on The Jaguar Sector. I am currently designing a new and improved version, complete with dual controls and arcade quality buttons for no-worry hectic gameplay! I'll post directions, pictures, and links to parts suppliers when it's finished and tested. Now, here is my account of building my first rotary controller...

What I Used:

• (1) Atari 2600 driving controller
• (1) Jaguar controller
• (1) Black experimenter box (RadioShack part# ...)
• (3) Momentary push-button soft-feel switches (RadioShack part# ...)
• (2-4)* Regular momentary buttons (RadioShack part# ...)
• (1) Roll of multicolered wire (RadioShack part# ...)
• (1) Roll of rosin-core solder (RadioShack part# 64-015)
• (1) Package of rubber feet (RadioShack part# ...)
• (?) Packages of female disconnects (RadioShack part# ...)
• (?) (optional) Packages of small wire crimpers (RadioShack part# ...)
• (1) Soldering iron
• (1) Crimping tool

Notes: I stuck pretty close to the article by Kevin Manne. You can substitute just about anything for the experimenter box, just as long as it will house all of the components and allow you to drill holes for the switches and rotary controller shaft. I found my 2600 driving controller at a local swap meet, but have also seen them up for auction at Ebay's Auction Web. Make sure you get the DRIVING controller, and not the TENNIS controller. There are a few easy ways to tell. The driving controller will spin all the way around (a complete 360 degrees), while the tennis controllers will not. Also, the driving controllers have a picture of a car on them, while the tennis controllers have two crossed raquetts. And finally, the tennis controller are usually connected in pairs by the cord, while the driving controllers are each separate.

*In the Jaguar FAQ, Andy Light used two additional buttons (seven instead of five). The two extra buttons were for Up and Down controlls. I left these off because I couldn't figure out why they were needed, and the Kevin Manne article didn't use them. For my next controller, I will definately use Up and Down buttons! It wasn't until I played the game that I realized what they are for...If you get a high score, you need the Up and Down buttons to select the letters!!!

Taking Things Apart:

1) First you must take apart the driving controller (there are two small screws on the bottom of the controller). Once open, you will see the encoder (the base of the rotary shaft) with three wires connected to it. In order to remove the encoder, you must pull the knob off of the rotary shaft, then unscrew the nut that holds it tight against the plastic casing. Now disconnect the three wires from the encoder. Be sure to remember where they were connected. My encoder had several unused spots identical to those that the wires were connected to. Set aside the encoder/shaft, rotary knob, and the nut.

2) Now it's time to take apart the Jaguar controller. The four screws that hold it together are on the bottom of the controller, hidden beneath the little rubber feet. Once open, you will see two circuit boards joined by a grey ribbon cable. The bottom circuit board for the numeric keypad. This is the board we will use. Remove the two screws holding the keypad circuit board in place.

3) Now it's time to make a choice. There are a couple of ways in which to disconnect the ribbon cable from the circuit board. Andy Light CAREFULLY melted the solder that held the ribbon cable to the board. If you are good with a soldering gun, and are VERY CAREFUL, this is the cleanest way to do it. If you use this method, you would now solder 13 of your multi-colored wires where the ribbon connector was. You won't have 13 different colors, so arrange them in a pattern and label them #1 - #13, starting from the left side of the board (the side that says "P2").

Kevin Manne did it another way. He cut the ribbon cable in half, then melted plastic off the ends of the wires with a soldering iron, while leaving the original connections on the board. He then used the wire crimpers to attach the 13 multi-colored wires, labeling them as he went (see above). This eliminates the need for soldering, but makes the overall design a bit more bulky. If you're not confident in your soldering abilities, this is the way to go.

Note: You will need wire #1 (Common) for 5 different connections, so you will need to split it off. The easiest way that I found was to connect 5 wires to the original wire (either from the ribbon cable itself, or the one you soldered to the first position on the circuit board, depending on which method you used) using a wire crimper.

Making Your Connections:

4) Now it's time to connect the wires to the encoder and buttons. I BRIEFLY attempted to solder the connections, but it was messy and didn't work very well. So then I picked up some clip-on connectors (female disconnects). These worked great. Just attach them to the ends of the wires, and you can clip them to the posts on the buttons (you shouldn't need them for the encoder however). Here's where everything goes:

Encoder
Connect wire #1 to the center terminal (where the middle of the three wires used to be).
Connect wire #2 to the right terminal (where the right-most of the three wires used to be).
Connect wire #12 to the left terminal (where the left-most of the three wires used to be).

Buttons

Regular Momentary Buttons		Momentary push-button soft-feel switches
Up	wires #1 and #11	Button A	wires #1 and #5
Down	wires #1 and #13	Button B	wires #6 and #7
Pause	wires #1 and #10	Button C	wires #8 and #9
Option	wires #3 and #4

Putting It All Together:

5) Now, mount your hardware to your box. Where you put everything is up to you. I mounted the rotary knob in the upper right corner of the experimenter box, the Up, Down, Pause, and Option buttons in 2 rows along the top, and Buttons A, B, and C in a staggered fashion along the left side of the box. Keep in mind that Button B is the fire button. If you use a drill to make the holes, lubricate the drill bit and drill slowly, so you don't crack the case. You will need to disconnect the wires to mount everything, so you can either test them first and then reconnect them once everything is mounted, OR you can mount everything first, and THEN connect the wires.

6) Now, this step is optional but HIGHLY recommended. To get a MUCH better feel out of the rotary knob, you will want to weight it down by mounting some lead fishing weights to the underside. The underside of the knob is segmented, so you will need several small weights. Also, lubricate the shaft with WD-40 for a smoooooth spin!

7) Last, but definately not least, you must enable the rotary controller in the game. At the Game Options menu, press and hold the Pause button on both controllers (you must have a controller plugged in to each port). "Excellent" will confirm. You will now have the option of selecting a rotary controller as a controller type.

PS,
I'm currently building my second generation rotary controller. Check out Happ Controls website. They have many great arcade quality parts. You may also want to check out Pete's Joystick Page for some GREAT instructions and pictures for building everything from 2600 controllers, to killer arcade quality Jaguar Pro controllers. I'll post directions, parts list, and PICTURES! of my new and improved controller as soon as I have time to finish it.

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