Do-It-Yourself Joystick
By Dominic Cioccarelli
Copyright (c) 1990 Apple Users' Group, Sydney
Permission granted for non-profit user groups to reprint this article in their publications as long as the original source and author are specified.
After discovering the poor quality of many Apple joysticks, and the price tag of the better ones ($60 or more), I decided to make my own. This is not a complicated procedure, all that is needed is a basic knowledge of electronics, about $20, and a spare hour or two. Most of the parts are readily available, the only relatively hard to get part is the joystick pot itself. I know for a fact that a high quality mechanism can be obtained from Rod Irving Electronics (Paramatta road, Stanmore), for $9.95 (Cat no. X15637). A similar pot used to also be available through Altronics distributors for $4.95.
The circuit can be seen in figure 3, and as you can see, it is relatively simple. You will have to have a knowledge of electronics to construct this circuit, though there is little chance of damaging your computer if you get things wrong. I constructed the circuit in a small jiffy box (Rod Irving cat no. H10111) with two push-buttons (Cat no. S11036). Due to the simplicity of the circuit, no PC board is needed, as the components can simply be soldered together. To construct the circuit, simply follow the circuit diagram. The Joystick pot is mounted in the center of the box with the buttons to one side (figure 1). Connections are made to the back of the computer via a DB-9 connector (Cat no. P10878), and a backshell (Cat no. P10882) should be placed over this. Note, this is only for the //e, //c, IIgs. For the ][, ][+, and older //e's a 16 pin DIN connector is needed. These connections are shown in figure 1. A 6 wire cable (Cat no. W12670) is used to connect the joystick to the plug.
List of parts available from Rod Irving Electronics:
Joystick Pot - X15637
Jiffy Box - H10111
2 Pushbuttons - S11036
DB9 Connector - P10878
DB9 Backshell - P10882
6 Wire Cable - W12670

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