Blaster (& Inferno ?) joystick questions/mystery

Can anyone provide any more insight into a couple of Blaster type joysticks?

I have two joysticks that I thought were both Blaster joysticks, but the
bottoms of them are quite a bit different.

Please check out the pictures at this URL:

http://www.stas.net/3/joekid/blasterjs.html

My first thought is that maybe Inferno used a similar looking joystick, but
the connections are different? I've never seen an Inferno, so I don't know.

The Blaster conversion has a 12 pin (11 & key) connection. The other is a 7
pin (6 & key) connection. The 12 pin has what looks like three optical
readers on two of the four sides on the bottom. The 7 pin has one optical
reader on each of the four sides. I am calling them optical readers, but
I've probably used the wrong words to describe them. What would the
correct wording be? Look at the pictures and hopefully it will make more
sense.

Lastly, the three wires that come out of the handle (for the two buttons)
are color coded differently. The 12 pin from the flat side to the pointed
side is black, red/black, red. The 7 pin is black, red, red/black. I know
that doesn't mean anything, but most parts I've seen usually colored coded
them the same. I did not get a chance to take the handles apart to check if
they really were wired the same or differently.

Any clues anyone? Can anyone confirm/deny if Blaster and Inferno used the
same type of joysticks? Please let me know. Thanks,

Joe

joe.magiera@ameritech.com
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Received on Mon Nov 06 13:03:10 2000