Stuff and Things.

Blogs & guides and tales of woo by forum members.
User avatar
HigashiJun
Posts: 1649
Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2020 7:21 am
Location: Tokyo

Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by HigashiJun »

rubber_jonnie wrote: Mon Jan 20, 2025 2:53 pm Now re-soldered and working just fine :)
Yes, better to stay on the safe side and avoid using re-flow...

;)
User avatar
rubber_jonnie
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 12111
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:40 pm
Location: Essex
Contact:

Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by rubber_jonnie »

HigashiJun wrote: Mon Jan 20, 2025 11:34 pm
rubber_jonnie wrote: Mon Jan 20, 2025 2:53 pm Now re-soldered and working just fine :)
Yes, better to stay on the safe side and avoid using re-flow...

;)
Quite :)
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
User avatar
rubber_jonnie
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 12111
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:40 pm
Location: Essex
Contact:

Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by rubber_jonnie »

These fellows turned up yesterday:

IMG20250121132511.jpg
IMG20250121132511.jpg (267.6 KiB) Viewed 138 times

From what I can tell they are Voltmace sticks, but what they have over the analog BBC sticks I already have is that they have a spring return to centre, rather like an RC controller, which I do find preferable.

The stick with the green buttons wasn't self centering though, it was very sticky in the X axis, however I was able to dismantle it quite easily and found it was a sticky gimbal (Nobody wants that!).

Unfortunately getting the stick out risked damaging the stick due to the way it was all heat welded together, so in the end after removing the pots and self centering mechanisms I was able to get some plastic polish into the gimbal and rotate it every which way, which after flushing has left it smooth as butter.

I just need to hook it up to one of my Beebs or an Electron to see how well they work.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
User avatar
HigashiJun
Posts: 1649
Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2020 7:21 am
Location: Tokyo

Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by HigashiJun »

Wow, they're retro for sure...
User avatar
rubber_jonnie
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 12111
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:40 pm
Location: Essex
Contact:

Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by rubber_jonnie »

HigashiJun wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2025 10:23 pm Wow, they're retro for sure...
That they are, though IIRC Voltmace made a lot of joysticks in this era, mostly analogue. All tested on my Electron, but I may give them a go on my BBC.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
User avatar
HigashiJun
Posts: 1649
Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2020 7:21 am
Location: Tokyo

Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by HigashiJun »

rubber_jonnie wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2025 11:10 pm All tested on my Electron, but I may give them a go on my BBC.
Should also work.

Do these ones have an auto-centre feature ?
User avatar
rubber_jonnie
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 12111
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:40 pm
Location: Essex
Contact:

Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by rubber_jonnie »

HigashiJun wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2025 12:13 am
rubber_jonnie wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2025 11:10 pm All tested on my Electron, but I may give them a go on my BBC.
Should also work.

Do these ones have an auto-centre feature ?
Yes they do, unlike a lot of analogue sticks of the time.

IIRC the ADC in the Plus 1 interface doesn't have as good a resolution as the BBC B, however how much you'd notice in reality I don't know.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
User avatar
rubber_jonnie
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 12111
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:40 pm
Location: Essex
Contact:

Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by rubber_jonnie »

And the sticks work just fine on the BBC too, so very happy :)
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
User avatar
stephen_usher
Site sponsor
Site sponsor
Posts: 6486
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 7:19 pm
Location: Oxford, UK.
Contact:

Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by stephen_usher »

:dualthumbup:
Intro retro computers since before they were retro...
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
User avatar
HigashiJun
Posts: 1649
Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2020 7:21 am
Location: Tokyo

Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by HigashiJun »

:cheer:
Post Reply

Return to “MEMBER BLOGS”