KeyWiz Max & Player 1 Joystick issues

[AngryCanadian]

I set up a custom CP using a KeyWiz Max 1.5.

I have a couple of Happ Perfect 360s for Player 1 and 2.

I also have a Happ Super set up on Player 1 for 4-way games...so I essentially connected the Perfect 360 and the Super to the same ports on the KeyWiz.

The problems I am seeing are these:

1) the Perfect 360s appear to be poorly designed since the plastic case tends to partially block the sensors so they don't read properly. I fixed (or think I fixed) this by widening the openings so the sensors are not blocked. The Player 2 stick now registers in all directions properly.

2) The Perfect 360 and Super set up for Player 1 appear to work in all directions, but if I push either stick to the right one time and then wait a second, the KeyWiz or joystick appear to send a continuous right push.

The right push for Player 1 is set to the keyboard's Right Arrow key, so when you test this in Notepad with several lines of text, it will move one space, pause, then move continually to the right through all lines until it stops at the end of the text.

If I move either Player 1 joystick in another direction it stops this behavior until the next push to the right.

Has anyone ever seen this issue before...or have any idea what I should try to troubleshoot?

[Fozzy The Bear]

Has anyone ever seen this issue before...or have any idea what I should try to troubleshoot?

Meter the signal to ground connections coming out of your sticks..... Disconnect them from the keywiz and stick a meter on them and see what signal you're getting.  If you see a continuous signal after you send that direction then your sticks are at fault. If on the other hand you see the signal vanish when you let go of the stick, then there is a problem with the keywiz.

The reason you see, one push then pause then repeated pushes is because the that's how typematic rate from a keyboard works. You can see the same thing if you increase the delay in the typematic rate in windows then open notepad and hold a letter key down on your keyboard. You'll see one letter followed by a short pause followed by repeated letters.

It looks like a fault with your sticks...... But meter them to find out.  It could just be a faulty microswitch. But it's odd that both sticks are doing it.

Another thing you should check, assuming that you have them connected in parallel is that you don't have one of the microswitch connections on the sticks connected the wrong way. Check to see that your signal wires are connected to the NO (normally open) connections on the switches and NOT to the NC (normally closed) connections.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

[Havok]

I remember seeing a post that you can't hook the joysticks up like that, and it's most likely why you are having the problem. P360's don't play well with other types of joysticks when hooked up to the same inputs - they're not like a standard switch based joystick. Try disconnecting the Super and see if the problem persists.

Just to confirm you may want to contact Randy for technical support:

Groovy Game Gear Support

[AngryCanadian]

Has anyone ever seen this issue before...or have any idea what I should try to troubleshoot?

Another thing you should check, assuming that you have them connected in parallel is that you don't have one of the microswitch connections on the sticks connected the wrong way. Check to see that your signal wires are connected to the NO (normally open) connections on the switches and NOT to the NC (normally closed) connections.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

Well, well...Julian you are the man.

I must have been all hopped up on goof balls when I was soldering the NO leads to the Happ Super...one of them (the push to the right) microswitch was soldiered to the NC lead...DANG!

Made the swap and all is well!

Thanks for the idea. Made me check just to confirm. I swear I could have looked at it over an over and would have never caught it thinking I had done it right the first time.

Now to complete the cabinet and get to playing some Galaga!

[Fozzy The Bear]

Thanks for the idea. Made me check just to confirm. I swear I could have looked at it over an over and would have never caught it thinking I had done it right the first time.

No problemo!! Glad that you found it. Personally I've done that so many times, even at work. Where I've connected something or other up and thought I'd got it all the right way and turned it on and the blue smoke fairy has come to visit to extract the blue smoke from the chips LOL 

Never mind! you got it sorted now, and I bet you never connect one of those the wrong way round again. 

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)