I picked up this EMCO brand joystick a little while back in a lot of stuff, and can't find much information about it. It's a dual Apple/IBM joystick, with a switch on the bottom. Then there are 4 pegs that look like some kind of adjusters sticking out of the bottom. They aren't for centering/trimming though, as those adjustments are on top of the stick. The pots measure just shy of 1Meg across, which seems odd to me. And the switch for Apple/IBM mode seems to switch in or out 2 resistors. I didn't have time to trace everything out to see exactly what is going on. The stick seems to work OK, just printing the PDL numbers in basic. Its a little twitchy, the pots could probably stand to be cleaned.
Does anyone know anything about this joystick? How can 1Meg pots work in this? And what those pegs are for? I assume they are some kind of adjustment, but the little diagram next to them doesn't make much sense. It also says ON/OFF next to each one. And they go up inside the joystick box. Maybe some kind of physical restriction? But then the ON/OFF notation on the bottom of the case don't make sense.
The ON/OFF settings engage or release the centering springs. Granted, the diagram is a bit abstract.
If you want to disable the centering springs, push the stick into the corner indicated in the diagram, then turn the two indicated pegs to OFF. Then move the stick into the corner indicated in the other diagram, and turn the two remaining pegs to OFF.
Thanks. I didn't even think about the centering springs. That makes sense, as now that I look at it again there are no visible springs like on an Apple OEM stick. So makes sense they are inside the control box. I guess disabling them makes it easier to use an axis like a paddle controller?
Pretty much that; for Arkanoid, having the horizontal centering spring off is really nice IMHO.
And having rotary paddles is even better for Arkanoid ;-)
Rotary is great. I have an arcade panel for Arkanoid which fits my JAMMA Sega cabinets. It uses a Happ encoder and works for several titles.
I don't have any paddles for my II Plus to accompany my stash of CH joysticks, but if the right set catches my eye I would certainly snag them.
I think for Arkanoid nothing beats an Apple Mouse II. With a perfectly calibrated joystick I could never get past the first level. Then I hooked up the mouse and got to level 3 on the very first try.
If you closely analyze the mechanics of the parts inside the control box, what you will find is that moving the joystick fully on one axis will NOT cause the pot to use it's full rotational travel. In my joystick (an Apple-branded one) the pots are 750k ohm, but moving the joystick stop-to-stop only uses 1/5 of the rotational travel of the pot. So you get a 150k ohm variable resistance.
Bottom line is that you are aiming for the presented resistance to swing from 0 - 150k ohms. By not using the full rotational travel of the pot, manufacturers were able to make pots that are > 150k ohms work. In fact, I think a lot of joysticks do this.