¢HARDWARE WAREHOUSE¢¢Nintendo Controls on the Atari 8-bit¢¢by John Powell¢¢ At a recent swapmeet, one of my friends was selling a Nintendo controller that he had rewired for use with the Atari 8-bit. I asked if he could note down the instructions. He obliged and this article is the result.¢¢ You can find the original Nintendo (not the Super!) controllers at any market or secondhand goods store near you. It would probably be a good idea to make sure that the controller actually works before you spend time modifying it.¢¢ You will also need a good Atari CX40 joystick cable.¢¢ Once you have the correct parts you will need a small Philips screwdriver and a small 25 watt soldering iron. Now follow these steps:¢¢1. Remove the screws from the controller and gently separate the two halves without letting anything fall out. Take a look at how the wire is fed into the controller and be sure to install the new wire in the same way.¢¢2. Remove the Nintendo wiring by de-soldering the wires or simply clip them off close to the connectors. None of these will be used.¢¢3. De-solder and remove the large clip in the centre of the circuit board. This chip is about 3/8" x 3/4". The Atari cable wires will go into the holes where the chip was, so after the chip has been removed use the soldering iron and a toothpick to open up the holes to allow each wire to slip through (refer to sketch below). You need to work on this while the circuit board is UP.¢¢4. To prepare the Atari cable, remove about 1 1/2" of the outside wire cover and bare 1/16" of the end of each wire.¢¢5. Be sure to feed the wire from the same side that the original wire came from; the chip side. Insert one wire through the proper hole, flip the board side up and solder the wire in place (see sketch below). Repeat this process for each wire.¢¢6. While you have the controller apart, you may want to clean the contacts and buttons with a cloth and contact cleaner. Reassemble the controller, making sure the wire is fed in properly.¢¢ 7 KEY:¢ . . . . . . . . ¢ \ 1-black¢ . . . . . . . . 2-brown¢ 1 2 3 4 5 6 3-green¢ 4-blue¢ There is a short 5-white¢ jumper wire from 6-orange¢ 6 to 7.¢¢¢ I hope everyone who undertakes this conversion has fun with their new joystick.¢
