ColecoVision Roller Controller
| ColecoVision Roller Controller | |
|---|---|
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|
| Coleco's drawing of the Roller Controller from its owner's manual: roller ball, mode switch, action buttons and the two hand controller wells. No freely licensed photograph has been found. | |
| Manufacturer | Coleco Industries |
| Type | Trackball controller |
| Release date | 1983[1] |
| Interface | WYE cable to both ColecoVision controller sockets; power adapter plug in the console's power socket[1] |
| Compatible | ColecoVision; Coleco Adam with the ADAM adapter[1] |
| Model | 2492[1] |
| Power | +5 V from the ColecoVision supply[2] |
The ColecoVision Roller Controller (model 2492) is Coleco's trackball for the ColecoVision, sold in 1983 with the Slither cartridge.[1][3] It is a console-shaped base with a ball in the middle, four action buttons and two wells into which the ColecoVision's own hand controllers clip. A mode switch sets it for cartridges written for the roller or for joystick games.[1] Unlike the ColecoVision Super Action Controller, it contains active electronics: two photo-interrupters read the ball's rollers, and ten CMOS logic chips turn their pulses into the signals the console's spinner interface and joystick inputs expect. It takes +5 V from the console's power supply through a plug-through adapter.[2][4]
Care is on ColecoVision Roller Controller General Maintenance, fault-finding on ColecoVision Roller Controller Troubleshooting Guide and its capacitors on ColecoVision Roller Controller Capacitor Replacement Guide.
History
[edit | edit source]Coleco packed the Roller Controller with Slither, and Victory was also written for it. Its mode switch lets it play cartridges written for the joystick.[3] ColecoVision.dk lists Omega Race, Mindwalls, WarGames, Centipede, Arkanoid and Armageddon among the games it can be used with, and shows a CBS-branded box for the same hardware.[5]
The Roller Controller draws its power through the console's power socket, which on the Adam is taken by the printer cable. Coleco's answer was the ADAM adapter, which plugs into the memory console's power socket and has separate outlets for the printer cable and the Roller Controller.[1] Wikipedia records that Coleco mailed the adapter to owners of both units who complained.[3]
Hardware
[edit | edit source]Two schematics of the Roller Controller have been published by collectors: a diagram by Bruce Tomlin (revision B, March 2004) on ColecoVision.dk, and a seven-sheet KiCad redrawing published by colecovisionadam.com.[2][4]
| Position | Type (Tomlin) | Sheet in the KiCad redrawing |
|---|---|---|
| U1 | 4093 quad Schmitt NAND | N-S sense |
| U6 | 4093 quad Schmitt NAND | E-W sense |
| U2 | 4013 dual D flip-flop | Translator |
| U3 | 4093 quad Schmitt NAND | Translator |
| U4 | 4081 quad AND | Translator and mode switch |
| U5 | 4528 dual monostable | Translator, with the 2.2 µF timing capacitors |
| U7, U8 | 4081 quad AND, 4071 quad OR | Input 2 mixer |
| U9, U10 | 4081 quad AND, 4071 quad OR | Input 1 mixer |
Types from Tomlin's chip list;[2] sheets from the KiCad redrawing.[4] ColecoVision.dk's photograph of a board shows HEF4093BP, HEF4013BP and HEF4081BP chips, Motorola MC14071B chips and a 4528BPC.[6]
The ball rests on two rollers at right angles; each roller shaft carries a slotted disc that turns through a photo-interrupter.[6][2] Each photo-interrupter has two channels, and the phase between them gives the direction of travel.[4][7] The console reads this through its spinner interface, two inputs per port, one of which interrupts the processor.[7]
Connecting
[edit | edit source]- Unplug the hand controllers from the console.
- Plug each hand controller into the socket inside a well of the Roller Controller, wind its cord into the well and snap the controller into place.
- Plug the WYE cable jack marked 1 into the console's rear controller socket and the jack marked 2 into the front socket, numbers facing up.
- Plug the Roller Controller's power adapter plug into the power supply socket on the back of the console, then plug the console's supply into the back of the adapter plug.
- Set the mode switch to ROLLER for roller games, or to JOYSTICK for joystick games.
Steps from Coleco's manual.[1]
Documentation
[edit | edit source]- File:ColecoVision Roller Controller Owners Manual Guide 91950.pdf: Coleco's owner's manual with the ADAM supplement.
- File:ColecoVision Roller Controller schematic (KiCad redraw).pdf: community redrawing of the circuit.
- Bruce Tomlin's diagram is on ColecoVision.dk.[2]
Related pages
[edit | edit source]- ColecoVision Roller Controller General Maintenance
- ColecoVision Roller Controller Troubleshooting Guide
- ColecoVision Roller Controller Capacitor Replacement Guide
- ColecoVision
- ColecoVision Super Action Controller
- ColecoVision Expansion Module 3
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Coleco Industries, Roller Controller Owners Manual, model 2492, Guide No. 91950, 1983, pp. 2-4: hooking up (hand controllers in the wells, WYE connector cable jacks 1 and 2 to the console's rear and front controller sockets, power adapter plug in the console's power supply socket, the supply's jack in the back of the power adapter plug); the MODE SWITCH (ROLLER cartridge and JOYSTICK cartridge positions); care; troubleshooting (snow, no hand controller response, roller response backwards). Supplement No. 14310: connecting to the ADAM through the ADAM adapter. Hosted here as File:ColecoVision Roller Controller Owners Manual Guide 91950.pdf.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Bruce Tomlin, Colecovision Roller Controller schematic, revision B, 24 March 2004, published by ColecoVision.dk (retrieved 2026-10-19): chip list U1 4093, U2 4013, U3 4093, U4 4081, U5 4528, U6 4093, U7 4081, U8 4071, U9 4081, U10 4071, all on +5 V; supply leads BLK/WHT (+5 V) and BLK (ground); optical sensors OS1 (N-S) and OS2 (E-W) with 100 Ω 1/2 W resistors; 0.047 µF and 0.22 µF capacitors; 2.2 µF polarised timing capacitors on the two halves of U5 with 10 kΩ resistors; 6.2 V zener diodes VR1-VR4 on the hand controller lines; action buttons SW5-SW8; the JOY/ROL mode switch; connectors J1 and J2 for the hand controllers and J5 and J6 to the console.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Wikipedia, "ColecoVision" (retrieved 2026-10-19), used for history only: the Roller Controller packaged with Slither; Victory also written for it; the joystick mode switch letting it play all cartridges; its power connector not compatible with Expansion Module #3, and Coleco mailing an adapter to owners of both who complained.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Roller Controller, seven-sheet KiCad redrawing, author not recorded, from the colecovisionadam.com Documents page (retrieved 2026-10-19): sheets for N-S and E-W sensing (photo-interrupters OS1 and OS2 with R1 100 Ω, HEF4093B gates, C1 and C3 47 nF, C5 and C6 drawn as 22 µF), the mode switch, two input mixers (4081 and 4071 gates, action buttons) and the translator (4013 flip-flops, 4528 monostables with C2 and C4 2.2 µF polarised and R9 and R20 12 kΩ). Hosted here as File:ColecoVision Roller Controller schematic (KiCad redraw).pdf.
- ↑ ColecoVision.dk, "ColecoVision Roller Controller" (retrieved 2026-10-19): Coleco's description (free-rolling control ball, 360° movement, four action buttons, mode switch, hand controller wells, Slither included); games usable with it (Omega Race, Mindwalls, Slither, WarGames, Victory, Centipede, Arkanoid, Armageddon); a CBS-branded package and label with the same electronics inside; the site author's own modification replacing the power plug with a DC jack fed from a 5 V outlet added to his console.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 ColecoVision.dk, "ColecoVision Technical" (retrieved 2026-10-19), photograph of the inside of a Roller Controller: the ball resting on two rollers whose shafts carry slotted discs, HEF4093BP, HEF4013BP and HEF4081BP chips, MC14071B chips, a 4528BPC, two orange disc capacitors, two green capacitors, the mode switch and the four action buttons.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Coleco Industries, ColecoVision Technical Manual, p. III-6: the spinner interface, two inputs per port reading two square waves 180° out of phase, phase for direction and pulse time for speed, one input interrupting the processor. Hosted here as File:ColecoVision Repair Manual.pdf.