bakerhillpins
commented
2 years ago Ok, so went downstairs and messed around with this a bunch. Here's what I did:
Validated that I have the following: (which is exactly as a Dedicated should be)
- Conversion Board
- Crystals changed out to Dedicated specs
- R186 is installed,
- Jumper to pull LETA Pin 14 low (slower setting) See here:
- 150 ohm Atari encoder PCB
Under these conditions I still felt like I had wonky response.
- I changed out my 4 pin encoder connector because I was a slob when I punched down the wires and it was a crappy/sloppy set of punches. Replaced with a used 4 pin from an old Centipede CP harness and used my fancy Mascon punch down tool for neat and purty connections.
New connector did not change the results.
- I then compared the new Roller's Encoder wheel to one pulled from a Centipede 2.5" trackball. Interestingly it looked close but slightly different (Can post pics in a bit). So I swapped out the Reproduction encoder wheel for the Centipede wheel.
Um... It appears to have resolved the issue
From a purely technical standpoint, I can see how this does in fact make a difference as the slight variation will change the pulse train for CLK/DIR. Interestingly enough, it seems that the Repro wheel is mostly the same except for a few "windows" which seem to be either offset or bigger. This means that the pulse train that this makes is variable per rotation. I suspect this is making the LETA confused.
It appears to be working right now. At a minimum after half a dozen games it appears MUCH better, and we don't have a lot of time to mess with stuff before CAX. I'll try to post pics of the differences and then I suggest we move on until after CAX.
0.85 PE.
It seems like Rex will not move fast to the left consistently. I can zing the roller and he only occasionally runs "Fast" However, moving to the right it doesn't appear to be a problem. I'm seeing this playing the XX levels in demo mode. I've mostly played the first 2 XX levels. When I play other levels (Level 4 for example) I don't seem to have any issues moving left or right at the same speed (Rex moves "fast" either direction).
The general problem here is this is a difficult issue to point to and clearly say - this is wrong. It certainly makes these upper levels more difficult because movement in each direction is inconsistent.
I'm putting this in just to keep track of it. I'm not really sure how to quantify or test this completely yet. I'll probably end up changing out the old Atari Encoder board I put in there and try another or the one that came with the repro roller. I may also go back to OEM ROMs and see what it feels like there. Can also put an o-scope on the encoder board to check it's signal in either direction