Kraft vs. IBM joystick innards comparison

On Fri, 14 Dec 2001, Fred Cisin (XenoSoft) wrote: Ok, here is the scoop on these joysticks. I found an IBM badged one and a Kraft badged one. The IBM one had a PCjr connector on the end. I don't know if I have one for the IBM PC. In fact, I may have been mistaken and premature in saying that I have one for the IBM PC. I think all the ones I have may well be for the PCjr. I'll check tomorrow. At any rate, here are pictures of each and their innards: http://www.siconic.com/crap/joysticks/ The Kraft stick has pots labelled 365Z145K<ohm> and the IBM are 365Z100K<ohm>. There are also some capacitors (markings say 684Z) in series with the pots and joystick buttons on the IBM stick that are not present on the Kraft stick. So Tony's prediction as it were was right on. Tony, as always, gets the award for Intimate Knowledge of Something No Sane Person Should Have. The Kraft joystick works on my Apple //e. I found another IBM PCjr joystick today at a thrift store so I would classify these as "uncommon". BTW, these sticks can be configured for either self-centering or free-floating. I'm too tired and lazy to describe the mechanism properly, but basically there are these two tabs on the bottom of the stick (for each axis) that catches an armature that is holding down the self-centering spring inside. When you move the stick to a corner and then flip the tab, it catches into a slot on the spring arm and allows the stick to move around freely without the force from the spring pushing it back to center. Very clever. Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org