Re: Digital joystick conversion?

[gkomatsu@uhunix.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu (Galen Tatsuo Komatsu)]

In article <1992Nov3.201702.6924@gallant.apple.com> Matt Ackeret <unknown@apple.com> writes:
>In article <viking.720693175@vincent1.iastate.edu> Dan Sorenson,
>viking@iastate.edu writes:
>>	Thus, the question: has anybody seen a box, for lack of
>>a better word, that converts from digital to analog with respect
>>to joysticks?  It's worth a good ten to fifteen bucks, I figure,
>>to just plug in an Atari joystick and have only 0 and 150 ohms
>>being seen by the joystick port on my IIgs.  There should be a
>>market for these things, so has anybody seen one?

	Sirius Joyport?  I have one.  It plugs into the 16 pin game I/O.
Allows you to use two analog or two digitial joystick.  Not exactly
what you're looking for (convert the digitial signal to analog), but
allows you to use those 'ole Atari Sticks.

>These have existed for a long time. I wouldn't be surprised if nobody made
>them anymore, but the one I remember was the Atari Joyport.

>Made the $2 cheap as hell (in more ways than one) joysticks work on IIs.
>Remember Miner 2049er? It asks you if you are using an Apple joystick or
>an Atari Joyport..  WHY? I don't know.. maybe it has to do with tolerances
>in the numbers it reads.

	Why?  because it doesn't translate those (digitial) signals into
something that you could read via PDL(x).  The joystick positions and
button status' were converted into various combinations of the push
button switches & things (been a long time, can't remember too well)
I still have the manual around here somewhere, 'should dig it up.

	I suppose one reason they stopped making it is because of
(ready for this?) the Apple //e.  Before the //e there was no
such thing as Ctrl-OA/CA-Reset, so the Joyport was able to make use
of what was to become the Apple Keys.
	When you have the joyport set to digitial (you could use analog
sticks, or digitial sticks, but not both) and nothing plugged in, it
causes the computer the think the game buttons are being pressed.  So
if the joyport was like so and you reset the computer, it thinks you're
doing a Ctrl-OA-CA-Reset, throwing it into the self-test with the high
pitched screech.  (what caused that anyway? =^)


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