Where to find Leland spring-loaded analog joysticks

[Dekelia]

Hi all.  I've been lurking for a while but this is the first time I have posted.

I am in the planning stages of an arcade cabinet and I would like to add the spring-loaded analog joysticks for the Leland baseball and football games (e.g. Strike Zone Baseball, John Elway Football, etc).

I have done a search in the forum for people who have do it in the past and got some great info on how to do it...thanks for that.  

I'm now trying to figure out where/how to get them.  It appears that at one point they were fairly common but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore (or I'm just looking in the wrong place).  I've checked eBay (using various search strings) and a site recommended in one of the old messages but could not find these sticks.

Does anyone have any idea of where to get them?

Thanks.

[Kremmit]

You usually find these as part of a complete control panel, although I have seen 'em selling by themselves.  Also see 'em sometimes included in a "lot" of arcade parts, or listed as "unknown" control.
Today, here's what I found for you, searching in "Home > All Categories > Collectibles > Arcade, Jukeboxes & Pinball > Arcade" for "football":
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=13718&item=6109126227&rd=1

Same thing, searching for "baseball":
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=13718&item=6109125043&rd=1

It seems like I read somewhere that one of these (baseball, I think) used one dual-axis stick, and one single-axis one (for batting?), but I'm not sure about that- you'll want to find out for sure.

Good luck!

[Dekelia]

Wow.  That is amazing.  Thanks a ton.  You have no idea how long I looked for those exactly.

Thanks for the tips and both of those are already on my watch list.

[Justin Z]

Also, I've heard about an interface for these (USB?) but I have never known where to look for it.  Obviously if someone has that information it would help a bunch so you wouldn't have to do a wiring hack to a joystick to get them working properly.

~Justin

[Dekelia]

That would be fantastic.  I was planning on doing the joystick hack but it would be nice not to have to buy the joysticks and try to figure it out..

[Kremmit]

Posted by: Justin Z  Posted on: Today at 03:22:28pm  
Also, I've heard about an interface for these (USB?) but I have never known where to look for it.  

http://dave.bit2000.com/aki.html

This is the thing-a-ma-bob you want.

[u_rebelscum]

It seems like I read somewhere that one of these (baseball, I think) used one dual-axis stick, and one single-axis one (for batting?), but I'm not sure about that- you'll want to find out for sure.

AFAIK, they're all dual axis analog sticks with two 5k POTs.

OTOH, some of them centered horizontally (perpendicular to the snap spring direction), some of them didn't.  This centering was pretty weak, and was usually used for the sideways mounted pasing springstick just to prevent you from always swinging down.  

AFAIK, they are still made OEM, but have to buy them in groups two to four ... thousand.