The Atari Technical Data Page
Atari owners will appreciate the handy hints and tips on keeping
their machines in top working order (after all, there are no
more 'local authorized Atari Service Centers').
Atari 2600 Game Controller Schematic
From 'The Computer Controller Cookbook' by Tom and Kelda Riley
How to fix 'Skippy' or 'Shaky' Paddles.
Go buy some spray tuner cleaner. Take apart the paddle and spray the
inside of each pot while turning the pot shaft back and forth.
You will remove much of the dust and residue which has
accumulated on the wires. Let it dry and the paddle should
work as good as new.
Those darn finicky Activision carts!
Many classic collectors have trouble getting Activision (or many other 3rd party carts) to
work properly. The main reason is not the cart itself, but the exposure to the elements over
a period of time. The contacts, not protected by the cover like their Atari counterparts,
become coated with oxidation and/or dirt. Most of the time, cleaning them will restore the
cart to working order. Here are a couple of cleaning tips from the R.G.V.C newsgroup...
"...take a Q-tip dipped in rubbing (Isopropyl) alcohol and rub it firmly across the contacts
on both sides of the PC board. The first time through it should come out either brown or black.
If brown, then it's dirt, if black, then it's oxidation. Keep doing this with new ends of q-tips
until it comes back clean. Now try the cartridge. Unless your cartridge slot is similarily
oxidized, this should make life A LOT easier playing those Activision games. (To clean your
slot, you'll need to get something like a NES cart cleaner and trim the fiber-board to fit into
the slot (or use it on it's end). You'll want to saturate it with rubbing (Isopropyl) alcohol
and of course, hold open the slot with a small screwdriver while doing this since it latches
like an Atari-manufactured cart does.)" --Bill Frandsen - from rec.games.video.classic)
Bill was kind enough to send me a detailed article on
cart cleaning , with lots more
information.
"I fashioned a little cart-cleaner tool: slice a thin piece of pencil eraser off with a
razor blade, Super Glue it to a Popsicle stick, and then clean the contacts using the eraser
like a Q-Tip. It worked for every one of my faulty Activision carts (I had about 6 that I
was never able to play before). (You might want to add that my pencil-eraser tool should
probably only be used if cleaning with alcohol and cotton swabs
fails... erasers might rub away the gold plating on the contacts
if used too often. This shouldn't be much of a problem; I know
employees of GTE and they tell me that they use erasers to clean
contacts all the time. They work because they're more abrasive.)"
--William Cassidy - from rec.games.video.classic)
Keeping 5200 Controllers Working.
The stuff I use is called QUICK GRID REPAIR RESIN by Loctite
Corp. Just put a few thin coats on each disk and let it dry over
night. I've also used this stuff to easily repair broken traces
in the flex ribbon. It beats the hell out of trying to solder it.
I've never had to take apart any of my controllers again after
using it.
(George Torch - from rec.games.video.classic)
Reassembling the 5200 Controller.
After you open the controller and the strip comes out, you can
pop out the frame that holds the 3 buttons in. When you re-
assemble it, put them in last, after you screw the unit
back together.
(Pioneer4x4- from rec.games.video.classic)
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