Apple ][ Joystick Adapter

I have an Apple ][ somewhere in my storage room, I don't play on the thing much. Part of the reason might be the lack of a joystick, so I've been attempting to remedy that by soldering something together - the hard, and quite possibly the only real classic way, by reading about them in an old book and attempt to actually build the thing (Computer Controller Cookbook).

The adapter allows you to connect up to two Atari-style joysticks up to the Apple ][, if you like that sort of thing. I'm told most Apple fans prefer their joysticks to be analog because that was all the rage was all about at the end of the 70s, but as already mentioned I don't have one - I on the other hand have a ton of Atari-style joysticks so those are the ones I'd like to use. Keep reading, click links below to skip to a specific section.

• 1> Building the adapter
  • 1.2> IDC-cables
• 2> BOM
  • 2.1> Miscellaneous components

1> Building the adapter

Building the adapter, as with most things that deals with electronic projects, starts with going through the BOM and ordering whatever you don't already have. Compare with the gallery pictures if you're wondering what something looks like, unfortunately ebay is not a good place to shop for well-described components - I usually just order one of each if they're cheap (it'll get used sometime, if only to irritate someone attempting to build more than one of my projects).

Next up is soldering the resistors, these are have the lowest profile of the components and move on up in size from that point. Please use sockets though, everything that looks like ICs from ebay should be considered highly suspicious - you will want the ability to quickly change one of them out (usually they are B-grade or pulls; they may work or they might not).

The last component to get soldered into place are the machined pin headers that go into the area labelled A1, these go into the Game I/O socket on the Apple ][ motherboard - the regular kind will probably break your socket, so don't use those (even if they cost a bit more). They are soldered on the reverse side compared to the other components, to ensure that they are soldered into place at a reasonable angle, I recommend using a 16 pin machined pin socket as a template below the pins.

Onto the next step, because everyone loves making cables.

1.2> IDC-cables

While I would have liked to just use something that could be ordered straight from AliExpress without going so far as creating a custom cable, all of the ones I've found were mostly IDC to RS232 adapters - those have a rather randomized pin layout so I chose not to use them as a basis. The method I used instead was order said cables, cut off the DB9 part and then just add a new male DB9 IDC connector that lines up pin 1 with pin 1.

Getting a length of cable that you'll be happy with, well - that usually means building the whole cable by yourself. Since soldering connectors suck, I've listed IDC connectors that are assembled by placing the cable in the correct place and pushing very hard. Note that the 2x5pin IDC side will have a spot for a tenth wire, this is left empty (DB9 naturally only require 9 wires).

2> BOM

This is the list of parts that you'd need in order to construct Apple ][ Joystick Adapter, most could quite possibly be sourced from your friendly neighbourhood electronics store - if you should happen to have one available (using a passport on the way doesn't count). I don't, so I order most of the components on ebay and similar sources - parts may be cheap, but at least you'll need extras in order to assure at least one of them works.

Reference	Item	Count
Adapter (PCB)	Fabricate using Gerber files (order)	1
A1 *	8 pin machined pin header	2
C1,C2	100nF ceramic capacitor (5mm)	2
C3	4.7uF electrolytic capacitor (2mm)	1
IC1	74HCT04 (DIP-14)	1
IC2	CD4066 (DIP-14)	1
J1,J2	2x5 pin straight IDC socket	2
R1-R6	1k Ohm resistor	6
R7-R10	68k Ohm resistor	4
R11-R14	100k Ohm resistor	4

*) These are soldered on the reverse side compared to the other components, these pins go into the Game I/O socket on the Apple ][ motherboard. These are usually sold as 40 pin breakable strips, it is recommended to use the machined pin headers as they won't destroy the mother board socket like regular pin header would.

2.1> Miscellaneous components

This is a suggested list of components used to screw together each of the PCBs, most of these you can find as part of a set on ebay (just search for "M3 nylon assorted standoff kit"). Cable components are also listed here.

Reference	Item	Count
	M3x6mm nylon screw	1
	M3x10mm Nylon Hex standoff	1
	IDC Flat Ribbon DB9 Male Connector	2
	2x5 Flat Riboon IDC Connector	2
	9 core flat ribbon cable	2