Famicom/NES 9pin to 15 pin?

[Ivegottheskill]

I own a Hong Kong/China-built NES clone (bought in the late '80s) that has two 15 pin controller ports.

I bought an identical looking Famicom controller to replace my old controllers from ZTNetStore, but these have 9 pins. Has anyone got a schematic (or know how I can build an adapter for the 9pin controllers)?

Note: The ports are not like a NES but are symmetrical

Thanks

[RedWolf]

I own a Hong Kong/China-built NES clone (bought in the late '80s) that has two 15 pin controller ports.

I bought an identical looking Famicom controller to replace my old controllers from ZTNetStore, but these have 9 pins. Has anyone got a schematic (or know how I can build an adapter for the 9pin controllers)?

Note: The ports are not like a NES but are symmetrical

Thanks

Welcome to the forum.  I'm not familiar with 15-pin control pad ports, although I know that every official Famicom had at least one 15-pin accessory port on the front or side for light guns, etc.  If the pinout for that port is the same as yours, then you should be able to find it on the web.

Check this out, it might help:

http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8490331&publicUserId=5853157


Now, finding the pin-out of your 9-pin controller ports (I'm guessing they're DE-9's) is another story.  If they're standard for Famicom clones with removable controllers, you might be able to find a pin-out online too.  Otherwise you can just hook up a regular American NES pad to the port as described in the link above.

What is the name of your NES clone, by the way?

[Todd]

If the port is a trapezoid shape try a regular game pad or an older one like PC propad 4. If its a 15 pin, it seems like a regular game adapter you'd find on any sound card of the era. Worth a try.

[RedWolf]

If the port is a trapezoid shape try a regular game pad or an older one like PC propad 4. If its a 15 pin, it seems like a regular game adapter you'd find on any sound card of the era. Worth a try.

I'm guessing that he's talking about the DA-15 (check out the diagram on Wikipedia here).

But sadly, a PC gamepad or joystick won't work.  They're guaranteed to be electrically incompatible because the DA-15 PC game port supports only analog signals.  Actually, this Wikipedia entry describes it pretty well:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_port

[Ivegottheskill]

Thanks for the replies.

The controllers I bought have a DE-9 female connector, while the console I want to use them on has DA-15 male pins.

I've been trying to build a converter/adapter from parts bought at my local electronics store, but without a proper pinout I can't get it working.

This is the closest I've found, but my converter failed, which makes me think the pinout is not right for what I want to do: http://davr.org/snes/joystick.txt (see subheading "Pinout for NES clone (db15) gamepads")

Maybe I should be reversing the pin configuration they have (i.e. flipping in x-direction) 

[RedWolf]

Thanks for the replies.

The controllers I bought have a DE-9 female connector, while the console I want to use them on has DA-15 male pins.

I've been trying to build a converter/adapter from parts bought at my local electronics store, but without a proper pinout I can't get it working.

This is the closest I've found, but my converter failed, which makes me think the pinout is not right for what I want to do: http://davr.org/snes/joystick.txt (see subheading "Pinout for NES clone (db15) gamepads")

Maybe I should be reversing the pin configuration they have (i.e. flipping in x-direction) 

The mirror-image (x-flip) issue can be tricky with connectors.  I believe that the pin outs in that text document are numbered as when seen head-on from the pin-side of a female connector.  The male connector, when seen head-on from the pin-side (not the solder side), is numbered from 1-5 on the top row from left to right.  The female DE-9 is backwards. 

http://www.nullmodem.com/DB-9.htm

So you have to keep that in mind when making an adapter.  Here's an example:

(Male 9-pin)    (Female 15 pin)
  ____               ____
1 |  |_  _________  _|  | 1
2 |  |_             _|  | 2
3 |  |_             _|  | 3
4 |  |_             _|  | 4
5 |__|_             _|  | 5
                    _|  | 6
                    _|  | 7
                    _|__| 8

Side with numbers is the pin/hole connector side
Side with _ lines is the solder contact side

In the illustration above, I've connected pin 1 to pin 1 on both connectors with a wire.  That doesn't mean you should connect pin 1 to pin 1, but I'm just showing that to illustrate pin positions.

See what I mean?

[Ivegottheskill]

I'm pretty sure I soldered them correctly, since the connectors I bought were well numbered. But it's something I'll have to recheck. When I tested it the first time around, it didn't register or work at all 

I'm hoping the guide is correct though, because unfortunately it appears to be the only resouce on the internet that covers what I'm trying to do (even mentioning 'Famicom clones', which is what I'm dealing with)