I ordered a RetroPie Control Block, which is on back order. Apparently, they had some mix up with the batch that was recently delivered. That board attaches to the GPIO header and will control the power to the Pi as well as break-out two arcade controllers.
I needed to find a high-density and robust connector to interface the external arcade controllers to the Control Block. The CB provides 2 channels of 16 switches - requiring 17 pins (16 switches and a ground). The best compromise I found was to use a 15 pin D-SUB connector, familiar to most of us as the standard VGA connector. That provides 14 switches for each controller (14 switch and 1 ground pin). Theoretically, I could use the shield of the connector as a 15th connector, but that's not good practice.
The nice thing here is that the connectors will fit perfectly in the holes for the 2 Atari joystick ports. Those are 9 pin D-SUB connectors, the same physical size as the 15 pin ones. It will also allow some continuity with the original Atari 600XL usage - that the controllers are properly labeled (unlike the situation on the backside).
I found a nice bundle of connector wires in the form of an old PATA cable. I believe there are 40 discrete wires in this bundle. Now on to solder 30 connections!
I needed to find a high-density and robust connector to interface the external arcade controllers to the Control Block. The CB provides 2 channels of 16 switches - requiring 17 pins (16 switches and a ground). The best compromise I found was to use a 15 pin D-SUB connector, familiar to most of us as the standard VGA connector. That provides 14 switches for each controller (14 switch and 1 ground pin). Theoretically, I could use the shield of the connector as a 15th connector, but that's not good practice.
The nice thing here is that the connectors will fit perfectly in the holes for the 2 Atari joystick ports. Those are 9 pin D-SUB connectors, the same physical size as the 15 pin ones. It will also allow some continuity with the original Atari 600XL usage - that the controllers are properly labeled (unlike the situation on the backside).
I found a nice bundle of connector wires in the form of an old PATA cable. I believe there are 40 discrete wires in this bundle. Now on to solder 30 connections!
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