ColecoVision Super Action Controller
| ColecoVision Super Action Controller | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Two Super Action Controllers: keypad and speed roller at left, the grip and its four action buttons at right (Museo8bits, CC BY-SA 3.0) | |
| Manufacturer | Coleco Industries |
| Type | Game controller |
| Release date | September 1983[1] |
| Interface | 9-pin D connector to a ColecoVision controller socket[2] |
| Compatible | ColecoVision; any ColecoVision cartridge played with a joystick[3] |
| Model | 2491 (set of two); 2499 (single controller)[4][5] |
The ColecoVision Super Action Controller is a hand-grip controller that Coleco sold in pairs as the Super Action Controller Set (model 2491) from September 1983, packed with the Super Action Baseball cartridge.[1][4] Each controller has a ball-top control stick, a twelve-key keypad, a speed roller under the keypad and four action buttons on the front of the grip.[1][4] It plugs into a ColecoVision controller socket in place of a standard hand controller. A redrawing of its wiring shows only switches, two reed switches, two resistors and 1N4148 diodes, with no chips, transistors or electrolytic capacitors.[2]
History
[edit | edit source]Coleco released the set in September 1983 with Super Action Baseball; Super Action Football, Rocky Super Action Boxing and a conversion of Front Line were also written for it.[1][5] Single controllers were also sold, as model 2499 in the US.[5] ColecoVision.dk credits the design to Eric Bromley and Beverly D. Sustare and says they patented both the design and the speed roller in 1984.[3]
Connecting
[edit | edit source]- Unplug the standard hand controllers from the console and set them aside.
- Plug one Super Action Controller into Port 1, the rear socket. Port 1 is the one used for one-player games.
- Plug the second into Port 2, the front socket. The jacks fit one way only; do not force them.
- For larger hands, snap the pistol grips over the hand grips.
Steps from Coleco's manual, which also repeats the rule to switch the console off before inserting or removing a cartridge.[4]
Construction
[edit | edit source]A KiCad redrawing of the controller shows three boards: the keypad board (rev A), the button board for the grip (rev B) and the main board (rev C), linked to a female 9-pin D connector.[2]
- The control stick works an 8-way contactor whose four direction contacts each pass through a 1N4148 diode.[2]
- Two reed switches, SW9 and SW10, marked 10-15 AT, are fed from the common line through a 220 Ω resistor. The redrawing shows no other sensor that could serve the speed roller.[2]
- The four grip buttons are colour-coded yellow, orange, purple and blue.[2]
- The keypad and the purple and blue buttons are encoded on four data lines by 1N4148 diodes, D1 to D34.[2]
The console reads two square waves from a spinner on each port, with the phase between them giving direction and their rate giving speed.[6]
| Key | Pin 1 | Pin 2 | Pin 3 | Pin 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | X | |||
| 2 | X | |||
| 3 | X | X | ||
| 4 | X | X | X | |
| 5 | X | X | ||
| 6 | X | |||
| 7 | X | X | ||
| 8 | X | X | X | |
| 9 | X | |||
| 0 | X | X | ||
| * | X | X | ||
| # | X | X | ||
| Purple button | X | X | X | |
| Blue button | X | X | X |
From the key code table on the schematic redrawing.[2] Each key reaches its lines through its own diodes, so a key with one open diode reads as a key whose code lacks that line: key 8, for example, would read as 5, 7 or *. A key that does nothing at all points at its contacts.[2]
Care and faults
[edit | edit source]- Do not drop or bang the controllers, and do not press the keys with anything sharp. Keep them away from heat and moisture, never immerse them, and wipe them with a soft, slightly damp cloth with the console switched off and unplugged.[4]
- Coleco's troubleshooting chart has one entry: if a controller does not work properly, check that its jack is firmly seated, then swap it with the other controller. If the good controller fails in the same socket, the console is at fault; if it works, the first controller is.[4]
- The speed roller is read by the console's spinner interface. If the roller does nothing on either controller, Coleco's tip for a dead spinner interface is to replace U24 in the console if it is a Texas Instruments part; the console's own fault chart for the spinner interface is on ColecoVision Troubleshooting Guide.[6]
- The controller has no electrolytic capacitors, so there is no capacitor list.[2]
Documentation
[edit | edit source]- File:ColecoVision Super Action Controller Set Owners Manual Guide 91877.pdf: Coleco's owner's manual for the set.
- File:ColecoVision Super Action Controller schematic (KiCad redraw).pdf: community redrawing of the wiring.
Related pages
[edit | edit source]- ColecoVision
- ColecoVision Troubleshooting Guide
- ColecoVision Roller Controller
- ColecoVision Expansion Module 2
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Wikipedia, "ColecoVision" (retrieved 2026-10-19), used for history only: the Super Action Controller Set available from September 1983 with Super Action Baseball; a ball-top joystick, four finger-triggered action buttons, a 12-button keypad and a speed roller on each controller; Super Action Football, Rocky Super Action Boxing and Front Line written for it.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 Super Action Controller, one-sheet KiCad redrawing of the Super Action Controller wiring, author not recorded: keypad board rev A, button board rev B, main board rev C; DB9 connector JJ1; joystick SW1 drawn as an 8-way contactor with diodes D6, D12, D19 and D26 on its four direction contacts; speed roller switches SW9 and SW10 drawn as reed switches marked 10-15 AT, fed through RJ1 (220 Ω); RJ2 10 kΩ; grip buttons SW23 (yellow), SW24 (orange), SW25 (purple) and SW26 (blue); diodes D1 to D34, all 1N4148; a table of the key codes on DB9 pins 1 to 4. Hosted here as File:ColecoVision Super Action Controller schematic (KiCad redraw).pdf.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 ColecoVision.dk, "Joysticks for use with ColecoVision" (retrieved 2026-10-19): the Super Action Controller's 8-direction joystick, speed roller, four player-select triggers, 12-button keypad and custom grip with snap-on pistol grips; designers Eric Bromley and Beverly D. Sustare and their 1984 patents; use with any cartridge played with a joystick.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Coleco Industries, Super Action Controller Set Owners Manual, model 2491, Guide No. 91877, 1983, pp. 2-4: hooking up (player 1 in Port 1, the rear socket; player 2 in Port 2, the front socket; jacks fit one way only); the snap-on pistol grips for larger hands; the labelled drawing (control stick, keypad, spinner, action buttons, custom designed grip); care; the troubleshooting chart. Hosted here as File:ColecoVision Super Action Controller Set Owners Manual Guide 91877.pdf.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 ColecoVision & ADAM Computer Museum (DiRoccoVision), "Super Action Controller" (retrieved 2026-10-19): sold with Super Action Baseball, later games Super Action Boxing and Front Line; box numbers 2491 (USA), 02 491C (Europe), 2491-CA (Canada), and single controllers 2499 (USA) and 74840C (Europe).
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Coleco Industries, ColecoVision Technical Manual, p. III-6 (the spinner interface: two inputs per port, two square waves 180° out of phase, phase for direction and pulse time for speed, one input interrupting the processor) and technical tips p. VIII-1 (a spinner interface fault with a Texas Instruments U24). Hosted here as File:ColecoVision Repair Manual.pdf.