Help needed troubleshooting Midway Sportstation joystick issue

bdlou

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Help needed troubleshooting Midway Sportstation joystick issue

Hello all. I acquired an NFL Blitz cabinet that was converted to a Midway Sportstation, the setup that has NBA ShowTime NBA on NBC Gold Edition and NFL Blitz 2000 Gold Edition.

The unit did not boot up. I replaced the Power Supply in it as I determined it was no longer working. The game now boots up and passes all boot diagnostics. I can start the game. All buttons work fine. However, none of the joysticks respond correctly.

The Joysticks are the 49-Way A-21939-1 joysticks. If I go into the test mode, the menu will eventually make it's way to where I can hit a button to go into the switch tests. What it shows is Player 4's joystick rapidly twitching between two directions. None of the other joysticks cause anything to light up.

I'm not sure how to troubleshoot these. The joysticks run to an Midway I-40 PCB. All I can tell you is that if I disconnect the Player 4 line that runs from the I-40 to the main board, the Player 4 joystick stops freaking out in the test menu. No matter what I plug or unplug, it has no effect on making any of the sticks work. Setting the game to 2P mode via dipswitches doesn't have any effect.

Does anyone have any experience with this setup that can give me some tips on what to look for?

Thanks!
 
Is switch 1 on DIP Switch 2 set for 8 way or 49 way joysticks? The ON setting is for 49 way. If this is wrong that could be causing some problems.
 
Thanks for the suggestion. Still haven't had a chance to test this out. The game is at work, and any time I try to start working on it, I get an audience.

I've seen mentions of a 2P mode. In theory, can the I-40 be bypassed, and two of the joysticks can be hooked directly to the game board instead? That would help determine if the I-40 is to blame.

Subsequently, is there a source for a replacement I-40? I haven't seen one for sale in my searching.

Thanks!
 
I can confirm that the dip switch is in the correct position for 49-way and I'm seeing this behavior.
 
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