Question: How to test an analog joystick

sdrob13

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I'd like to verify the condition of an old analog Happ joystick I have on hand and do not have an appropriate game to check it with. I've not found much in the way of info online, but would think I'd need to supply some fixed DC (12V? 5V?) to the appropriate pins in the plug and measure voltage changes as I move the stick. Is this correct? Are there any other/easier ways to verify functionality of an analog stick?
 
Just clip the leads from a tester set on continuity on the contacts of the microswitch or leaf switch and move the joysick.
If it beeps, it's working.
 
Maybe i'm misunderstanding, an analog stick to me is just microswitches or leafs.
Good chance I could be wrong.
 
Yeah, I'm not sure this method works for analog sticks, which provide degrees of input instead of a binary 'on' or 'off' signal.
 

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There should be 2 pots. Your pic shows one of them. It says on the pot it's 5k ohms. Find the red blue and black wires on the connector. Set your multi-meter to ohms. Insert your meter probes into the holes that correspond to the red and black wires (the two outside ones). You should get around 5k ohms +- 5%. Then insert your meter probes into the holes that correspond to the red and blue wires. As you move the joystick forward and backward, you should get varying readings from 0 to 5k ohms. Do the same for the holes for the black and blue wires. Repeat the procedure for the 3 wires of the other pot. The Red and White wires coming out of the spring like protector should go to your trigger. That is just a continuity test. Put your probes into the holes for those wires and when you press the trigger, you should get about zero ohms.
 
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Thanks a bunch, Cmndr Brain - I had the wrong scale set on my tester...once I selected a higher range, things behaved as expected. This stick is good to go!
 
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