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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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.