Welcome aboard, Peeg.
I plan to use two Sanwa joysticks, one for each player. I just read something about there being two versions of the encoder - 2 and 5 pin. Looking at the pic it seems all the wires are 2 pin, so does this mean I've ordered the wrong one? :/ If so, being fairly cheap should I just order the 5 pin versions or are there little connectors I can get hold of easily that'll do it?
I thought the ZD encoder had both 2-pin and 5-pin joystick connections.
Both work the same way electrically and it's easy to convert if you have the right size/gender "dupont" connectors and Quick Disconnects. (QDs)
Sanwa "2-pin" JLW -- wires connect to the NO (Normally Open) and COM (Common) of each individual microswitch
Sanwa "5-pin" JLF -- one wire replaces the four COM wires and the other four work the same as the NO wires
it says suitable for happ style buttons. Does this mean Sanwa buttons will not work with it?
Happ buttons have 0.187" or 0.250" wide male tabs.
Sanwa buttons have 0.110" wide male tabs.
Good news: Sanwa-size male tabs (left) will fit into the Happ-size female QDs. (right)
Bad news: Because of the width difference, they are more likely to work loose and fall off if you wiggle the wire.
Keep the wires from wiggling and it should work fine.
Scott