Due to the short supply of mice for the Atari computers I decided to build an adapter that would allow me to use a standard Microsoft compatible PC serial mouse on my Atari. The present version supports a Microsoft compatible 2 button mouse, some 3 button mice that are switchable between Microsoft and Mouse systems can also be used.
This adapter requires some knowledge of electronics to build it. I've built my prototype on a small piece of stripboard, the stripboard can be mounted in a small plastic box with a 9 pin male connector mounted on one side and a 9 pin female connector mounted on a short lead with a lead long enough to reach to the Atari mouse socket.
The circuit works by receiving the packet of data sent when the PC mouse is moved or a button changes state, my circuit then decodes this data and then simulates the Atari mouse.
The circuit consists of 2 integrated circuits. IC1 is a RS232 Transceiver with built in voltage converters. The voltage converters supply the plus and minus voltages needed for RS232 communication and also powers the PC mouse. IC2 is a microcontroller and contains the program that does most of the work. The circuit is available in the file pcstm010.zip
The microcontroller, a PIC16C84, needs to be programmed with a program that is supplied in the download. The program is supplied in two forms pcstm010.obj is an object code file in Intel hex and can be read by most programmers capable of programming the PIC16C84, pcstm010.asm is the source code of the program and could be used with a PIC assembler to generate your own object file.
No special software is required on the Atari and it will work with all software. Your favourite mouse accelerator program may be used if required.
If you have any enquires or if you need a PIC16C84 programmed then contact me at tgkirk@aol.com. Please allow a few days for a reply as I have other commitments as well.
This zip file contains the instructions, circuit diagram in bmp format and PIC16C84 program in object and source format.
In case you prefer the circuit in an Atari format here it is in degas compressed hi-res format.
640 x 400 jpeg picture of the prototype on stripboard.
