Atari 2600 Joystick: Teardown, Contact Mod, and Cable Replacement

In this video, I discuss the operation of the original Atari 2600 joystick and why it fails so often. I also show a common replacement of the contacts with tactile switches, demonstrate how to check your cable for faults, and how to build a replacement cable with strain relief.

I've bookmarked the relevant sections here:

0:00 -- Intro
1:05 -- Overview of construction and problems
6:13 -- Tactile switch modification
11:59 -- Cable diagnostics and replacement options
21:50 -- Reassembly

Products and tools I use in this video:

Kaiweets Digital Multimeter
https://amzn.to/32mJxvy

DB9 Atari/Sega/Commodore Extension Cable
https://amzn.to/33H4DWe
https://ebay.us/pkXT2o

Spade Connectors
https://amzn.to/39dga0D
https://ebay.us/xUJTbg

DB9 Female Module with Screw-Down Terminals
https://amzn.to/2Jc0a4t
https://ebay.us/alfYRd

Drop-in Replacement Joystick Board by KAZZ
https://ebay.us/QU7Ils

Two-pin Tactile Switches
https://ebay.us/t9wm1v

SMD Tactile Switch
https://www.digikey.com/short/zjpp74
https://ebay.us/9Hg4HE

Видео Atari 2600 Joystick: Teardown, Contact Mod, and Cable Replacement канала Steve Guidi