Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!sun!decwrl!labrea!aurora!amelia!ames!hao!gatech!purdue!i.cc.purdue.edu!j.cc.purdue.edu!pur-ee!iuvax!bsu-cs!cfchiesa From: cfchiesa@bsu-cs.UUCP (Sir Xetwnk) Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.8bit Subject: Re: Linking two computers Message-ID: <2209@bsu-cs.UUCP> Date: 26 Feb 88 00:32:15 GMT References: <8802191655.AA26182@mitre-bedford.ARPA> <1719@ihlpm.ATT.COM> Organization: CS Dept, Ball St U, Muncie, Indiana Lines: 85 Summary: Sailplane simulator rudder pedals In article <1719@ihlpm.ATT.COM>, njd@ihlpm.ATT.COM (DiMasi) writes: > > > > ..... [ stuff about getting busier and busier so DO IT NOW!] > > I know what you mean about just getting busier and busier! And I am > only 32! Heh; you're lucky! I'm the same way and I'm only 25, and I've BEEN this way (too busy to do all the things I want to) since I was about 6 ! No kidding, I have lists and lists of "things to try out" that go WAY the hell back... I plan to retain a segment of time for "experimenting/hacking," whether with my Atari or whatever else takes its place in my life, forever! Come Hell or high water, I am NOT going to give this up - it's my LIFE! Don't sell yourself short. I'm not going to have kids in the foreseeable future, nor get married, nor own a house unless it comes with maintenance and ser- vants... ;-) They can call me a nut, "that guy who lives in the shack full of electrical stuff," if they want to, but hey, I love it... > In fact, before I found a used Koala pad (I > REALLY WANTED one BADLY!), I was considering building a gadget > described in that column (issue #/month escapes me just now) that > emulates the Koala Pad (but may need an extra button to do this with > MicroIllustrator). The device was named the "Rodent" and used a R- > Shack type joystick pot (a joystick "innards" with 2 variable > resistors at right angles, for you "software only" types. :-) Hey! I have one of these in a box of electrical gadgetry given to me by a friend -- see if you could dig up the issue # / month, willya? (Now all I need is to find someplace that archives the MAGAZINE... local facilities are pretty sad...) Or Xerox the article or info if YOU have it, send me Email to get my real address, and mail me the Xerox's... :-) This gadget sounds like a lot of fun... (Same goes for lightpen plans, if you have any!) > I want to try to write my own flight > simulator someday, just for gliders (sailplanes), and a relatively > simple one (little if any recognizable scenery, no fancy instruments, > etc.). The "Rodent" would be a great stick for such a "bird." Now, > what to use for rudder pedals? ... ... which brings me to the crux of my topic! How about using two of those pedal-thingies like my Mom used to have to control her sewing machine? That seems to be a variable resistor (okay, Dad, RHEOSTAT, happy now?) in a pedal- type casing... It should be MODIFIABLE, at least, if not usable as-is... Of course, it would lack the "push one down and the other comes up" interlink- age, but you could maybe build something.... > > Remember, a mouse is just an upside-down trackball with a tiny ball, > where the mouse pad (table) is your hand... (essentially). Input > devices are fun to play with (even if only in your head). > Right you are. I picked up a 9-position thumbwheel switch somewhere long ago, and hooked it up to provide direct single-digit input to the joystick port. The thing's contacts were made-and-broken in 4-bit BINARY... And you could build a "pantograph arm" with pots at the "shoulder" and "elbow" to translate drawing motions to screen positions... (That wouldn't happen to be what they did in the "Rodent", now did it?) > So, I sincerely wish any and all "hobbyist hackers" the best of luck, > fun, and so on with their Ataris. (And if this article is too > verbose/long for anyone, please accept my humble apologies. > Sometimes it seems to me that I was born with a hard-coded dash-v > option!) > Don't worry about it; you're not alone. I'm the same way. Note that I matched you pretty well, bytecount for bytecount. We verbose types have to stick together. So tell me where Naperville is and maybe we can gab sometime... Chris Chiesa, Senior, CS Dept., Ball State University, Muncie, IN (317) 288-2957 (home) -- <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Chris Chiesa <><><><><> <> {ihpn4|seismo}!{iuvax|pur-ee}!bsu-cs!cfchiesa <> <> cfchiesa@bsu-cs.UUCP <> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>