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Author Topic: Got me a Vectrex.  (Read 56013 times)

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VectrexRoli

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #80 on: October 08, 2017, 04:14:57 am »
Hi, just signed up for this forum, is that controller still for sale?

nexusmtz

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #81 on: October 08, 2017, 04:39:31 pm »
My controller arrived yesterday. Couldn't wait to try it. Worked great out of the box, so I haven't done the calibration or put the feet on yet. The stick is easy to handle and the buttons respond beautifully. Thanks for putting together a professional looking quality product!
 :cheers:


chopperthedog

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #82 on: October 08, 2017, 07:57:25 pm »
I got all the vectrex cool kids coming out of the wood work to this thread....  :afro:

@nexusmtz awesome pic, may your scores be higher and the tendons in your hands thank you.

@Vectrexer, I wasn't expecting a full macro focus porn shoot of the CTDE panel. Great Shots! man....

Columbus Day is gonna add an extra 24hrs to the wait for some other folks.  :badmood:



good day.

WilliamMurphy

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #83 on: October 10, 2017, 12:30:25 pm »
@chopperthedog

Sir it' s beautiful, how can i get one please?  :)

Johnny79

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #84 on: October 21, 2017, 07:41:52 pm »
Hello,

is it possible to order one, please?

Thank you in advance!

aviphysics

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #85 on: December 02, 2017, 01:01:59 am »
Chopper, do you mind indicating how you got those nice curly cables?

Best,
Avi
« Last Edit: December 02, 2017, 01:07:59 am by aviphysics »

solar

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #86 on: January 09, 2018, 08:35:33 pm »
Nice Job.

Think I got lucky with mine, when I stumbled across the vectrex online. It was just before everyone seemed to want one (so before the imo crazy prices)...at that time there was one guy sell his boxed collection (most still have the film on the overlays) and another was selling his vectrex right nearby.

I took that as a sign, not that I needed much convincing. :D

Turbofly

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #87 on: January 19, 2018, 03:50:35 pm »
@chopperthedog

I picked up an ebay Vectrex with display issues just before Christmas.  I've long since tracked the problem down, it was a faulty power switch.  After getting the screen going and making some adjustments I then had a great looking Vectrex that I couldn't play because it didn't come with a controller.  So I made a controller, which it turns out is similar to yours, though your case and logo look way better, (I used a plastic tackle box for my case).  I've been having a problem with my control stick though.  I've only got Minestorm to play so far, (a Sean Kelly Multi-cart should be arriving next week), so the only directions I need are Left and Right.  The Right works great.  The Left works good to about the midway point and then starts turning Right.  In trying to figure out what was wrong I found this thread.  After I read that your sticks are 5k ohm I checked mine and found that I have the same.  I had thought I was ordering a 10K, but that's not what I have.  Anyway, I was wondering if you would post or message me with a diagram of the resistor board you made to overcome this problem?  Thanks in advance for any help you give.  I would have messaged you but, where I am new to the forum I can't.

chopperthedog

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #88 on: January 19, 2018, 11:08:05 pm »
My diagram is the same as the stock vectrex analog circuit, but instead of the "trim pots" used in the original circuit I used a fixed value of resistors. Since the joystick I used has a way of adjusting the X Y centering position. I used 3 resistors in parallel that yielded a value of 1.53KΩ and finalized the trim with on the joystick itself. The sean kelly cart has the Test Rev4 rom so you will be able see what"s off and to tune yours more precisely. If your joystick has no centering abilities I would add maybe 2 - 3kΩ trim pots to your design.



good day.

Turbofly

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #89 on: January 20, 2018, 12:03:30 am »
@chopperthedog

Thanks for replying.  Since making the post, I did some more testing of the joystick with my mulitmeter and found that when I tested it removed from my case and the circuit, both pots showed as being 10K.  While in the circuit both pots are connected in parallel through both the -5v wire and the +5v, which seems to be what gave me the 5K readings.  Once I had that figured out, I checked the original controller circuit in the Vectrex service manual, (which I belatedly read in your reply, great advice for sure), and noticed the two 4.7k resistors and the two 10K variable resistors.  I hadn't had these in my original circuit.  so I added the two 4.7k resistors and in the place of the variable resistors I used two 10k regular resistors.  Left worked great, Right not at all.  I then started thinking those originals were variable for a reason so I took out the 10k resistors and figured I'd start at half of that, the closest resistors I had were more 4.7K, so I put those in, and now in works awesomely.

My joystick does have the adjustments on the potentiometers too, so as you suggested, I will definitely be checking the calibration once I get the multi-cart and have use of the Diagnostics program.  Thanks again, and like all the rest I gotta say that is one great looking controller you made.  It really matches the Vectrex, you'd think it was an OEM pro controller offered GCE back in the day.
« Last Edit: January 20, 2018, 12:06:16 am by Turbofly »

chopperthedog

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #90 on: January 20, 2018, 11:03:44 am »
Glad you were able to get a handle on it. If you're using a similar style stick in yours, check post #78 of this thread for my little instruction sheet.



good day.

stephbmx

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #91 on: January 21, 2018, 02:20:59 pm »
Hello, I'm new here
do you sell those controllers?
I'll be interested if you do!

chopperthedog

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #92 on: August 14, 2018, 09:57:26 pm »


Caught a thread on AA advertising the above cart. I had seen some "spinner hack" roms and also noticed in some homebrews with spinner control options and never tested the games with the driving controller. Well, once I finally tested some of the roms, my mind went to work and ordered up a spin cart.






Spent some time at the bench and came up with this thing, took a way different approach and used 16mm buttons. I had no real plot for the buttons, just kinda laid my fingers down at my playing position and made dots with a sharpee. For those not in the know, you can plug an atari 2600 driving controller into port 2 and use it with the hacked roms and brews. So the thumb joystick and 4 buttons act as full player 1 control panel and the grey encoder from the atari driving control is in port 2.




First objective was to figure out a way to mount a PS style thumb stick on a sloped panel without visible screws from the top. I used some 8/32"x1" flat head nylon screws to act as mounting studs and epoxied them to the interior, which also works well for setting joy to tight clearances.






Second objective was to avoid having the paddle knob floating 3/4" off the panel. I've seen the lazy work of others that just mount encoder in hole and slap the knob with a huge gap between panel and knob. I came up with a small chunk of hdpe to act as a recessed mounting plate, the spinner knob is large enough to hide the 2 screws and the knob is down low.




Also if you own an atari driving controller with the smaller AMP connector, there is no modding needed to the plug end or controller, it will fit in the joy port with no issues.




Pro-Tip: The particular grey encoder I was using was easy to take appart and clean/lube. While cleaning it, I got the idea to just bend down the 5 unused sweeps to reduce the friction. Makes a huge difference!




Overall inside shot. I don't like the buttons, I've got some others on the way to try.




Cosmic Chasm with a spinner just feels right... Also, the edit of Bedlam on the spin-cart is fantastic, the resolution on the spinner is perfect, where the previous spinner hack of the game you can find online is kinda frustrating to play. The over all menu and way the spin-cart acts is great. For the couple bucks that it was, a proper Bedlam spinner edit and CC are well worth it, all other games on cart are a bonus.

I have NO plans to do a run or make anymore of these. I saw the other side before and wasn't really a fan. I enjoy creating stuff for myself in my spare time. I just wanted to share my ideas / methods of what I came up with for an all in one vectrex spinner controller. Someone with more time than I have, copy  it and ca$h in, make 20 of these and retire large on your own private island.  :cheers:


good day.
« Last Edit: August 14, 2018, 10:43:53 pm by chopperthedog »

Vectrexer

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #93 on: August 14, 2018, 10:03:50 pm »
Thanks for sharing your latest build here. 

Mike A

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #94 on: August 15, 2018, 08:37:09 am »
You do nice work Chopper.

opt2not

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #95 on: August 15, 2018, 02:25:10 pm »
That's awesome!  Though I see what you mean about the buttons, they don't look built for gameplay. Are they industrial-type pushbuttons, or are they actual arcade ones?

On a related note (but not to steal chopper's thunder),  I was able to purchase a set of NOS Vectrex boards from a guy on a vector facebook group, who bought a huge stash from a repair tech. 


My Vectrex has been out of commission for years now, and I've tried everything to get it to work, including bringing it to a tech to repair as well. Unfortunately the multiple attempts by me exacerbated the problem, beyond being able to repair it. But now I've got these replacement boards for a swap!  Gonna try them out this weekend when I get a chance.  I'm really looking forward to using Chopper's custom joystick I bought from him as well as the Multicart I picked up.


chopperthedog

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #96 on: August 28, 2018, 11:53:21 pm »


Been thinking about a generic set of overlays for some time. Finally made some things happen and this is the new offering from CTDE. All 7 colors are pretty damn cool on the vectrex, purple is the bomb. The material is a little thinner, original overlays are around .50mm and the material I'm using is around .28mm, but is sturdy material. You can also use 2 of these at once to mix up more colors.




Precision cut to match original.




I have 14 sets ready for sale and will be doing more as well.


To order or for more info send an email to:
You can also just click appropriate link below for your location.

***Links removed, placed large order with same supplier and material quality degraded and I'm not happy.***

Please leave "paying for goods" box checked. If paid by "gift" it takes away 2 click shipping option for me. I don't mind the fee.


good day.
« Last Edit: January 19, 2020, 10:36:19 pm by chopperthedog »

chopperthedog

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #97 on: September 06, 2018, 04:47:42 pm »
Thanks to all! Been some great responses. 28 sets shipped so far and 3rd material order placed.

Vectrexer also did a a very sweet photo shoot just like he did with my controller, but featuring the set of overlays he received. https://photos.app.goo.gl/VJb34CpGRXqroynF7   Thanks again sir!

I also lowered the price of international orders to $36usd now that I have a handle on shipping worldwide. I kicked back $4 to all folks that paid the original $40 for an international order.


good day.

chopperthedog

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #98 on: September 29, 2018, 04:01:09 pm »


Some badass sheet right here.  :afro:


good day.

Mike A

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #99 on: September 29, 2018, 06:11:47 pm »
Nice work.

nexusmtz

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #100 on: September 30, 2018, 04:51:05 am »
Very neatly routed USB to VF, or a new CTDE creation? Jealous either way.

opt2not

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #101 on: September 30, 2018, 10:30:41 am »
What is this madness??

chopperthedog

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #102 on: September 30, 2018, 12:25:03 pm »
Wish I was remotely smart enough to conceive such madness. But, yes USB uart pcb added to VecFever. Mame vector games displayed on a Vectrex. Cart also transmits controller information through USB to mame for game play control.



good day.

nexusmtz

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #103 on: October 01, 2018, 12:09:33 am »
Excellent implementation. You do a great job of taking things to the next level. I appreciate that 'functional' seems to be more of a starting point for your projects instead of the ending point.

opt2not

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #104 on: April 21, 2019, 01:11:39 pm »
After years of being in a non-working state, failed 2 service attempts by me, and 1 by a TV repair guy. I finally got this working (through an ebay Vectrex repair guy)!





I'm running the VecMulti cart, Chopperthedog's custom controller  and his solid coloured overlays. The overlay set consists of Blue, Orange, Red, Pink, Purple, Yellow, and Green...but I found that Blue and Purple look the best.

Been playing a lot of Moon Lander, which is a clone of Lunar Lander with some QoL additions that make the replay value much better than the original LL.

Shouts out to Chopper for all the help and guidance.  :cheers:

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #105 on: April 21, 2019, 03:34:26 pm »
After years of being in a non-working state, failed 2 service attempts by me, and 1 by a TV repair guy. I finally got this working (through an ebay Vectrex repair guy)!





I'm running the VecMulti cart, Chopperthedog's custom controller  and his solid coloured overlays. The overlay set consists of Blue, Orange, Red, Pink, Purple, Yellow, and Green...but I found that Blue and Purple look the best.

Been playing a lot of Moon Lander, which is a clone of Lunar Lander with some QoL additions that make the replay value much better than the original LL.

Shouts out to Chopper for all the help and guidance.  :cheers:

Bring that bad boy to ZC!!! :D
***Build what you dig, bro. Build what you dig.***

chopperthedog

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #106 on: April 21, 2019, 04:43:18 pm »
After years of being in a non-working state, failed 2 service attempts by me, and 1 by a TV repair guy. I finally got this working (through an ebay Vectrex repair guy)!

Shouts out to Chopper for all the help and guidance.  :cheers:
Way cool man!  :applaud: :applaud:  Glad everything finally worked out. Must've sucked buying a badass controller and a cool multi cart and only being able to look at them for over a year.  :laugh2:

Still enjoying the hell out of mine. Been some cool additions to the mix recently and it might be time for a thread update.

Vectrex dorks unite!!!!!


good day.

Mike A

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #107 on: April 21, 2019, 04:44:21 pm »
I am still pissed at myself for selling my vectrex years ago.

opt2not

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #108 on: April 21, 2019, 06:21:45 pm »
Bring that bad boy to ZC!!! :D

I'm going to try to make this work.  The vectrex is too good, and totally relative to arcade gaming not to bring it.  I think I have a carry-on bag that I can stuff this thing into.  Ain't no way I'm checking this.

You guys gotta try out chopperthedog's controller. It's like butter!
« Last Edit: April 26, 2019, 09:34:55 pm by opt2not »

chopperthedog

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #109 on: December 22, 2019, 07:14:12 pm »
Long time since last real update, been some neat vectrex things in the last year. Still enjoy gaming on mine in some fashion at least a couple times a week.




CTDE overlays are still being produced and sold, around the 50 sold mark I found a material set that was the same quality as the 7 but had 2 more colors (tint and teal). So I transferred over to the 9 color set without raising price or updating sale thread. :p




The tint one is nice, gives the unit a clean look.










There's a guy on the twittergrambooks named Laurence that does some cool UV overlays, nabbed a couple from him and I came up with a small light hood to use them vertical or horizontal. Added some thin metal strips to the inside of the vectrex case where the light hood snaps into place with the magnets.








Last winter stumbled upon this neat project http://www.razmasynth.com/io/VectrexControl.html, reminded me of the old Heathkits I watched dad build as a young lad. Has some cool features and works well as a pass through auto fire unit. Great as a bench remote to get through test cart screens while setting up unit.




Funny thing, original plan was for #1 and #15 to be my 2 controllers, but once #14 was built I never did #15 but all the finished the parts were in a box and I finally assembled #15 for myself late this July. :p Sometimes I can get real lazy with things, nice to get something off the todo pile.




There's a 3D print file for a vectrex in horizontal mode, had PL1 print me one, his print was great, the stand design was... ummmm, borderline pathetic. Came up with this mdf and 1x2 stand last winter with some specs in mind. When playing in vert or horiz the center of the screen is at same height, pitched back nicely and unit was secure. 3D design offered non of these considerations.






Kept thinking about a design that would be fold-able, minimal, have a small footprint and be safe. With some aluminum angle and threaded rod I came up with something pretty cool. Place stand on side of unit, hold in place with one hand, lift unit with 2 hands and set unit on its side. When tube is aligned in front of you you see no skewed lines from stand, slope compensation is handled on back legs, also all legs are a different length so that tube is perfectly level when playing.


.







During the summer I nabbed a filthy working unit off CL locally for $200, already had the controller overlay on hand. Full tear down, cleaning, full recap/ integrator caps/ voltage regs/ calibration to service manual specs and LM386 sound amp board as the much cheaper "obtanium buzzoff" option.




Cleaned and ready for many years of action.






For those that know the vecmulti, it only offers one level of menu sorting. Came up with an idea to use a microSD extension cable and a dual microSD switcher so that's there's some separation of game types that can be switched on fly. Was able to lend backup unit with modded vecmulti to a coworker and there was no confusion of what they were playing vs. a super long list of stuff in alphabetical order.










Upcoming vecfever update will include the entire CCPU (pretty f'ing amazing) game collection in static binary translation glory. Been testing it for Thomas almost all summer pretty much and wanted some custom overlays for the games that had them. Used mah little cutter and pieced them together on backside with some good trans tape. Battlezone was one that I came up with using the same method last winter, so it was easy to figure out the CCPU stuff for myself.




GCE overlay collection is complete and the number of "other" overlays has grown to a total of 48 and they all needed a larger and more appropriate home.

Always fun stuff....  :applaud:



good day.

HaRuMaN

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #110 on: December 24, 2019, 05:24:51 pm »
 :applaud: :applaud: :applaud:

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #111 on: January 10, 2020, 05:30:24 pm »
I've had this incredible thread bookmarked for months hoping one day I would own a Vectrex myself. I'm late to the party but I was lucky enough to snag a Vectrex from my local OfferUp for a really great price.

Wish I had been keeping an eye on this thread more often because I already installed The Buzz-off kit. When I could have used Chopper's awesome and WAY less expensive LM386 sound amp solution.

Man...there is just so many awesome Chopper stuff going on in this thread. (below is the pictures of the one I picked up)

Chopper - Do you still have some of your multi-colored overlays for sale?

If you can read this, it means Photobucket's money grab ruined my signature photos.

opt2not

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #112 on: January 10, 2020, 05:58:36 pm »
One thing I'd love to see made for this thing is a right-angle cart connector.  Having the cart stick out of the side is a PITA, especially with the extra long flashcart shells.

chopperthedog

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #113 on: January 12, 2020, 03:15:13 pm »
Congrats vwalbridge!! Still doing overlays. See my last post for a pic of the set of 9. Waiting on larger material order coming in tuesday and lowered price to reflect better order price. See post #96 for purchase links.













Sean Kelly has released some new items. The tour de france package is very impressive. The overlays are fantastic, great print quality. He's doing cube quest and test cart next, also planning to repro the entire GCE overlay set. Not that I need those, but it will be great to kill the secondary market and have some good quality repros at a fair price.

Check out his store here:   http://www.vectrexmulti.com/order2.html


good day.

opt2not

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #114 on: January 12, 2020, 03:37:52 pm »
I’ll probably grab that multicart overlay.
But I wish there was a good one for Moon Lander. That’s really the only game I play on this console these days.

chopperthedog

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #115 on: January 12, 2020, 03:49:52 pm »
The multicart one is cool, the colored edges are a nice touch.

and opt2not there's a vecmulti version you can try here:  http://vide.malban.de/5th-of-january-2020-berzerk-again

Some impressive flicker free programming going on there.


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chopperthedog

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #116 on: January 12, 2020, 04:29:09 pm »


Some really cool vecfever porn. Thomas added an option to rotate menu text, fantastic for the horizontal coin-op game list, no more taco neck.   :cheers:



For those curious of what star wars looks and sounds like running on a vectrex. The static binary translations are really impressive, you'll notice the lack of x-wing and shield graphics. He includes different graphic settings that omit thing to save on the needed draw cycles. Game play and vector drawing comes direct from vecfever while receiving controls and sending sounds to vectrex. For the limited 3 channel yamaha sound chip on the vec, Thomas did a fantastic job of translating some of the sounds over, even R2 chirping towards the end as I was about to die.

I wish every vectrex owner could have one of these carts.


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vwalbridge

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #117 on: January 13, 2020, 10:24:49 am »
He's doing cube quest and test cart next, also planning to repro the entire GCE overlay set. Not that I need those, but it will be great to kill the secondary market and have some good quality repros at a fair price.

Check out his store here:   http://www.vectrexmulti.com/order2.html


good day.

Wow! Thanks for this update. That's great news. I'm going to need to pick up a few so this is good timing. And yes, people are asking stupid money for original overlays so I'm excited to have some options. I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for these reproductions on his site.
If you can read this, it means Photobucket's money grab ruined my signature photos.

opt2not

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #118 on: January 13, 2020, 02:16:55 pm »
So how does one get a vecfever cart?

Troff

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Re: Got me a Vectrex.
« Reply #119 on: December 24, 2020, 04:21:14 pm »
Hi Chopper,

I am just now looking at the old post. Looks great!

I am building a Vectrex controller with an analog joystick mine has 5K pots not 10K. Would you mind sharing with me how you wired the resistors?

Thank you for any help!

Brandon





I stopped at microcenter today to pick up some microSD cards and wandered off to the always trashed and sad project/component area. Stumbled upon 4 yellow "mini arcade buttons", no other colors, couldn't find anymore stock, there was just 4 of these. Brain instantly went into overload and I raced over to Fry's to obtain a robotics joystick and a slanted project box.




Was able to whip up this nifty little thing. The joystick is sooo nice and the buttons are pretty damn good as well. Perfect controller to have out when I have friends over, won't have to hover making sure they're not abusing my sh!t.




After some trial and error I came up with the absolute perfect combo of resistors to compensate for the 5k pots in the robotics joy, an original stick has 10k. Using the test rom I was able to have the original and mine side by side and get the sweep matched up on the new one. Played 2 minutes of hyperchase, yup feels the same....  :cheers:






Thing came out great. I had to go with the strain relief on the side because of the way the back of the box is molded, the bottom ridge is too tick to slot and work with the relief.




And a pic for size comparison to original. After about 20 minutes of play after building it, I'm pretty impressed. Will report back after some more gaming sessions.



good day.