Digital Joystick Adapter for Vectrex

This one was much easier than the 5200 adapter. In fact, it's got me rethinking the 5200 adapter (again).

Thanks go to #rgvc's resident tech wizard, Kevin Horton, for some preliminary guidance. It's not a terribly complicated device, but he saved me a bit of wear and tear on my own noodle.

Materials needed

• [2] 4052 (8-to-2 analog switch)
• [2] 4.7 kohm resistor
• [6] 10 kohm resistor
• [1] 9-pin male Dsub connector (for 2600 joystick connection)
• [1] 9-pin female Dsub connector (for Vectrex port connection)

Cutting up a Sega controller extension cable can give you both the connectors, and a lot more breathing room than you had with the coiled cord on the standard Vectrex controller. The Vectrex controller port is deeply recessed, and it's shaped so that the extension cable may not fit properly. I had to trim a bit of material off the lower corners cable's plug so it would fit. Works great!

Pinouts

The Vectrex controller port

9-pin male D-sub connector on the console.

1. /Button 1
2. /Button 2
3. /Button 3
4. /Button 4
5. Horizontal potentiometer
6. Vertical potentiometer
7. +5VDC
8. GND
9. -5VDC

Digital controller plug

9-pin female D-sub connector on the joystick.

1. /North
2. /South
3. /West
4. /East
5. +5V (Sega)
6. /Button 1
7. +5V (Atari)
8. GND
9. /Button 2

4052 (8-to-2 analog switch)

     ________

1X0 |1  \/  16| VCC

1X2 |2      15| 2X2

 1Y |3      14| 2X1

1X3 |4      13| 2Y

1X1 |5 4052 12| 2X0

/EN |6      11| 2X3

VEE |7      10| S0

GND |8_______9| S1

Schematics

Connect the +5V and GND pins of the port and controller directly together.

Voltage Divider

This provides the proper voltages to the direction DAC's

[redraw this]

Horizontal Direction DAC

[redraw this]

Vertical Direction DAC

[redraw this]

What about the buttons?

The standard stick has provision for two buttons. The Vectrex has four. What do you do about this? So far I don't have much of an answer.

• Glue some extra buttons on your favorite stick.
• Make do with mapping the two buttons you have to the Vectrex's #3 and #4
• For games that only use the west and east directions of the stick, map the north and south directions to work as buttons. You can play Minestorm just like you used to play 2600 Asteroids, where north is thrust and south is hyperspace.
• Monkey up something with a Genesis pad.

Jay Tilton
06/28/98