Atari 5200 Keypad - Atari 2600 Star Raiders Keypad (Compare)

[PhilExile]

Hello,

I'm working on an odd project involving the 5200 controller. I was curious if anyone out there has both a 5200 controller and an Atari 2600 Star Raiders keypad handy for size comparison? I'm hoping the two have identical or near identical keys and arrangement. Here are picts of each.







My guess is the Atari 2600 Star Raiders controller is using a non-matrix keypad. The 5200 uses the matrix kind, so it functions independent of a common ground, thus making it impossible for this to work for me or, at least, impossible for me to figure out.

If any of you are interested in the history, here is a thread from the Ben Heck forum. (FYI, the solution I thought I had in the last post totally did not work.)

http://benheck.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=326917

Please give a shout if you can help.

Thanks!

[Hatta]

I can measure them when I get home, but IIRC they are pretty different. The 2600 keypad is a little bigger.

But if you have a 5200 controller that works, you might as well pick up a 5200 to use it on. Working 5200 controllers are harder to come by than the unit itself. I got a 5200 in a lot of stuff that came with 3 pairs of controllers. Not one of them worked. I really need to get some circuit boards with gold contacts for them.

[PhilExile]

Awesome, thanks! However, I'm sure you're right and they are just different enough to make it impossible...

I have the controller specific project in mind. I want all the old consoles on the one machine, the Xbox, but with their original controllers. I've had really great success so far.

If I end up doing a real hack job on this and end up not using my circuit boards, you can have mine. They are all gold. I may end up having to set up the buttons with 3rd party push buttons. Pfft, what a waste, if I end up going that route, I could have bought a busted up 5200 controller and accomplished the same thing...

Anyway, let me know what you find and thanks again!

[Hatta]

I took some pictures with a tape measure for scale. You can see, the 5200 controller is smaller, the buttons are closer together, and they're rectangular. I don't think you'll be able to use anything from the 2600 keypad with the 5200 controller.

http://i41.tinypic.com/20lh5d.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/2ltk0w5.jpg

[PhilExile]

Thank you for the photos! Your right, those buttons are definitely spaced differently.

I did come up with 2 possible solutions. I ordered a keypad with a "common ground." I believe it is the same dimensions of the 5200 keypad, at least according to the spec sheet.

If it doesn't match up exactly, I found supper small and flat momentary buttons that I can place anywhere a button is. I plan to use these for the start, pause, reset, and red side buttons, but if I have to I can use it for the keypad too. I'll have to make a platform to hold them since the plastic holding the 5200 flex circuit behind the keypad pushes the buttons up slightly too high.