Ardent Tool of Capitalism

CH Products GameCard

@63B3.ADF "CH Products GameCard III-Automatic/MCA gameport adapter"
GameCard III-Plus/MCA gameport adapter - maybe a simple card, no ADF?

CH GameCard 3 Automatic Installation
CH GameCard 3 Automatic Diskette Most likely will work w/GC+

GameCard III Automatic MCA
GameCard III Plus - MCA

GameCard III Automatic MCA (GC3)

S1,2 setting for extra joystick switches

The only decision you need to make about the GameCard 3 is whether or not you plan to use a three-axis joystick (a joystick with a throttle) such as the CH Products FLIGHTSTICK, FLIGHTSTICK PRO, VIRTUAL PILOT or VIRTUAL PILOT PRO as your A-joystick with a 2nd joystick as the B-joystick.

In this unlikely case, to prevent the third axis of your A-joystick from interfering with your B-joystick, you can remove the two jumpers located behind the connector for joystick A on the GameCard 3 Automatic.

If you remove the jumpers on the GameCard 3 Auto, you will not be able to use the third axis (the throttle control) on the joysticks mentioned
above.

Programming Levels

The programming level of the GAMECARD 3 AUTOMATIC is displayed when CHJOY3 is run (every time you boot your computer). The programming levels fit into a range of values between 0 and 31. Level 0 is the least sensitive setting for the card and 31 is the most sensitive setting for the card. A very slow computer (4.77 MHz) will set to the most sensitive setting (31). Where as, a very fast computer (100+ MHz) will set to the least sensitive setting (0).

These programming levels are necessary because a fast computer samples the gameport more often then a slow computer can. Therefore, an adjustment to the gameport is required to get accurate results from the joystick. Most computers will set to levels between 0 and 31, depending on the speed of the computer and what is running in the system.

Many factors can effect the programming level setting, mostly TSR's and memory managers, but anything that is running in the system can effect the programming level. The more you have in your system and the more tasks your system must perform, the slower the system gets.

The numbers that show up inside the JCENTER test program (TEST from JMENU) represent the relative position of the joystick. The ideal joystick axis numbers are usually between 80-120, with the joystick in its center position. This is where most games can easily calibrate to and work with the joystick. CHJOY3 attempts to estimate the rate/speed at which your computer will sample the gameport and adjust the GAMECARD 3 AUTOMATIC so that the numbers, being read form the joystick, fit into this 80-120 range.

150K Pot Joysticks

A special case is provided for use with 150K pot joysticks. If you want to use automatic programming values, but adjust the value for 150K pot joysticks, type CHJOY3 150. The programs on this disk normally expect the standard value joystick (100K). To see the result of this special case, exit to DOS, type CHJOY3 150, then run JCENTER. If stick center values within the 80-120 range are obtained, you may wish to change the AUTOEXEC.BAT file to use this form rather than a particular programming value.

GameCard III Plus - MCA

SW1 Three position slider switch for sensitivity
SW2-5 outlines, maybe I/O addresses for ISA?

I see no ADF... Does it need an ADF? Some extremely simple cards don't...

FCCID HBZ3CY300-055
Joystick Technologies
GameCard III Plus - MCA

Choose one of three sensitivity levels, ranging from 70,000 to 200,000 ohms, to match the needs of your application. Auto-CAD, for instance, requires a lower sensitivity level than does Centipede. CH Products designed the GameCard to avoid the timing problems that may be inescapable with cards meant for machines with slower CPUs — it can be used in machines with clock speeds as high as 20 MHz.

In addition, the GameCard supports four analog inputs, such as paddles, and four digital inputs, such as push buttons. A Joystick with two buttons counts as two digital and one analog input; hence the card's ability to support two Joysticks.