CD32 Joypad Find

Some time ago you may remember I posted about using an old PC controller as a CD32 controller with the help of a clever board and some slightly dodgy soldering skills. Imagine my surprise when I received a text from Child 1 saying he'd found a CD32 controller going cheap and would it be useful?

Yes. Yes. YES. YES.

So, after texting him, telling him to buy it immediately, I also asked if he could send a photo so I could see the general condition of it.

This is what he sent.

O. M. G.

Oh. My. Goodness.

This is not an original Commodore CD32 controller. This is a Competition Pro CD32 controller. You might remember I mentioned my previous blog post about controllers. In that blog I talked briefly about the Competition Pro controller and I referred to it thus:

"There are other options such as the Competition Pro CD32 controller but these are even more expensive on evilBay than the originals by an order of magnitude."

Things haven't really changed on this front with several of these controllers selling for anywhere from £50 to £80, hence my original post. And my son had just bought me one. :)  When I told him it wasn't an original he was a bit crestfallen until I told him it was way better than that. I feel I have succeeded at parenthood. :)

Anyway, I had to wait a little while to get my hands on this as Child 1 is at university at an undisclosed location. Finally, we met up with him this weekend where he handed over the controller and I (or actually Mrs Crashed) handed over the cash spent. Result.

First things first. Does it work? A simple run through the usual test disk (from the excellent Keir on the Amiga Facebook group) shows that it does. The Dpad is a bit spongy but, other than that, everything else is fine. The worlds most boring youtube video shows me in action....

CD32 Joypad Testing

So, in terms of restoration, the only things needed are some way to unspongify the Dpad and give it a bloody good clean. It is, to put it mildly, a little grubby. To clean it properly, I need to take it apart and get the case and d-pad in the sink with soapy water and an old toothbrush.

 After taking out the screws, the back case comes off easily, revealing the main board and a small daughter-board which has the contacts for the Dpad.

Back off - Daughterboard on the Right of Picture

Next, off came the shoulder buttons, the Dpad and the rubber Dpad underlay. This looks like it's seen some action and is slightly worn. This would explain the sloppiness in the Dpad but I have a solution in mind...

De-construction continues...

There are two screws holding the main board to the front case. Removing these let me take out the main board and see the switches and buttons. Interestingly, the buttons have individual rubber cups with carbon contacts which I haven't seen before. The switches are fairly standard and their contacts operate directly on the main board. 

Main Board Removed

And there are a lot of 'bits' that need to be kept safe while the major components take a quick bath..

Nobody sneeze!

After a good clean I put all of those pieces back together, but not until I found a small, perfectly sized spring, to try and solve the spongy Dpad issue. It probably came from an Amiga keyboard - there's a nice symmetry about that - and it fits perfectly underneath the plastic Dpad and just gives it enough of a lift to improve the feel.

And here's the final result, with no pieces left over:

Nice.