Cromemco JS-1 Joystick Console

[pyrelink]

Today I have quite the input device spectacle for you. This is the Cromemco JS-1 Joystick Console. It was made for use with S-100 bus, mini and micro computers. This specific set was used with my grandfather's Altair. Now this wasn't just a standard joystick, it also included 4 Cherry M6 switches, a speaker, and an amplifier, along with the 2 axis joystick.



Cromemco were one of the first computer peripheral specialists in the world of early computing. Most of their peripherals and computers all centered around expansion and the S-100 bus slots. Creating interface devices for all of the S-100 bus hobby computers at the time. Cromemco created the first microcomputer interfaced digital camera, and color graphics. They needed something to be able to control these devices, and that is where the JS-1 Joystick Consoles were born.



You can find the actual manuals for these consoles, in PDF form here and here







I know that [wiki]Cherry_M6[/wiki] switches are already pretty well documented and covered, so I did not feel the need to go super in depth with the switches themselves, on these consoles. There were different 1-2 digit numbers on the tops of each of the switches, but I don't think they pose that much significance. If more photos of the switches would be appreciated, again, just let me know.









I thought this was a pretty neat find, and it is actually in pretty good condition. The PDF manuals seem to have the wiring diagrams and everything listed, but if anyone is interested I could pop open the case and take some more photos of the insides.

There are a handful more photos like usual in the album: here. And again feel free to use these photos for what ever, I do not mind. I took these photos outside this time, so I got far better lighting, but due to trying out a shitty lens of mine, I got a bunch of chromatic aberration, and artifacts in the photos. I had to do a good bit of post work on them to make them decent, so they might not be super sharp. This is all a process for me, so working on finding the best way to photograph the things that I have with the equipment available, on minimal money. Hope you all enjoy!

-Pyrelink

[Nuum]

Nice photos and nice joystick! The keycaps seem to be quite similar in terms of profile and legends to the ones I found a while ago: http://deskthority.net/photos-videos-f8 ... t7791.html

[pyrelink]

Nice photos and nice joystick! The keycaps seem to be quite similar in terms of profile and legends to the ones I found a while ago: http://deskthority.net/photos-videos-f8 ... t7791.html

Hah! Yeah, your post was the one that convinced me to dig this out and take some pictures. I did notice though, your keycaps seem to have a bit of a texture on the top of them. Mine are completely smooth. Otherwise like you said, they seem to be same profile, and share the same legends. Yours are in far better condition then mine as well.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

How do the plate clips work with those? Does the whole side of the switch flex inwards as the switch is mounted?

(I don't know that they're M6 — and the ones I thought were M6 are in fact M5, so it's got complicated.)

[matt3o]

those are simply amazing!

thanks for documenting!

[Nuum]

[...]

On one of the photos there are some notches in the case, where the clips are. I just realised these notches are on my keypad (although M7) I linked above as well, you can see it on the switch closeup. That way the clips don't need to bend inwards that much, just a little bit.
Btw, the color scheme is very nice on this. Can they be adapted to a modern PC?

[Daniel Beardsmore]

The clips don't appear to bend at all — my only guess is that the whole side of the switch has to flex. It's a strange design, but possibly easier to mould.

[7bit]

Interesting that they use I-mount on such a device and that they are so much raised up.

The I-moint might break, so be careful!!!

[pyrelink]

So I had figured that these were just the standard M6 switches, and there was nothing all that interesting to see there, so I didn't take too many decent photos of the switches themselves. I just ran down and took a couple iPhone photos, so they kind of suck, but they illustrate the mounting system, far better then I could describe with words. I can take some nicer photos of them tomorrow. But for now:









They are basically just raised "bumps" or "slots" or "tracks" or what ever you would describe them as, in the plastic of the switch. They do not flex. Then there are grooves in the metal case (which doubles as the plate), that allow the switch to slide in. Then the top part of the switch casing basically locks the switch into the plate. The edges of the plate basically sandwich in between the top part of the "clip" and the very top part of the switch plastic. This is all very hard to describe, without knowing the proper terms for each piece of plastic, but I hope it makes some basic sense.

OH and 1 more thing to add, the switch linked in the wiki under Cherry M6, is exactly the same switch that are in this console. I am also operating on very very little sleep at the moment, so I am confusing myself with all this that you are saying. Hopefully, I have not confused anyone else.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

The only way that the switch will lock into place is if the switch is wider than the hole, otherwise it will just fall out again. Normally you have a flexible clip: sometimes these are designed to lock tight, and other times they appear to just offer a loose fit until soldering is complete.

In the case of M5/6/7, I am aware of the holes in the plate (they're in the catalogue diagrams for one) but in order for them to behave as you describe, the switch has to change shape in some way.

The Cherry M6 link you posted redirects to Cherry M6/M7, as there's no clear difference between the two (same specs, same appearance in catalogue illustrations). The "M7" photos are confirmed to be M5, yet while they were intended for Burroughs, they're not the same as the drawing sheet for Burroughs M5, which also looks just like an M7 (per the catalogue diagrams).

Plus we have the puffy M7 design that must be a later issue, with actual plate clips, and now the RS ones I'll be getting soon that don't matching anything else either.

Then there's the data sheet for "M11", which has a design and date that puts it close to M8 and M9, but a product code that implies M1, as Cherry codes were always "Mab", where a is the series number and b is the subtype. MX and M8 in particular had a fourth character, a letter, while M5, M6, M7 and M9 just had two characters after M. Cherry Germany has implied that M10 also exists, which apparently looks similar to M11, but that could also be a variant of M1.

It's terribly confusing.

[pyrelink]

The only way that the switch will lock into place is if the switch is wider than the hole, otherwise it will just fall out again. Normally you have a flexible clip: sometimes these are designed to lock tight, and other times they appear to just offer a loose fit until soldering is complete.

In the case of M5/6/7, I am aware of the holes in the plate (they're in the catalogue diagrams for one) but in order for them to behave as you describe, the switch has to change shape in some way.

The Cherry M6 link you posted redirects to Cherry M6/M7, as there's no clear difference between the two (same specs, same appearance in catalogue illustrations). The "M7" photos are confirmed to be M5, yet while they were intended for Burroughs, they're not the same as the drawing sheet for Burroughs M5, which also looks just like an M7 (per the catalogue diagrams).

Plus we have the puffy M7 design that must be a later issue, with actual plate clips, and now the RS ones I'll be getting soon that don't matching anything else either.

Then there's the data sheet for "M11", which has a design and date that puts it close to M8 and M9, but a product code that implies M1, as Cherry codes were always "Mab", where a is the series number and b is the subtype. MX and M8 in particular had a fourth character, a letter, while M5, M6, M7 and M9 just had two characters after M. Cherry Germany has implied that M10 also exists, which apparently looks similar to M11, but that could also be a variant of M1.

It's terribly confusing.

So after sleeping for a long time, what your saying makes far more sense. That is to say insanely confusing, but still more logical then what ever I was thinking yesterday. Again for some reason, what you kept saying about the sides needing to compress to actually lock into the plate, didn't seem to "click" with me.... Bad puns aside, yes the sides to compress. I also wasn't quite understanding that, the switch actually pictured in that wiki article may not actually be what it was originally believed to be, not that you had never seen these switches before. On that note, I really don't have anything else to help you...

[Daniel Beardsmore]

Yeah I need to sleep for a long time, too.

The wiki photo could be an M6, but it could also be an M7 — but that's why there's a skull at the top of the page.

[nourathar]

aah, such beauty !

[mr_a500]

I want one of those! I love the keycaps and the case goes nicely with the Bud keypad.

Keypad.JPG

The stick reminds me of the joystick in Space 1999:

[pyrelink]

Wow. Honestly, they look like identical cases... Thats crazy! Joysticks look very similar as well. Very cool!

[Muirium]

Very nicely shot. Both!

Was he piloting a ship or a remote control helicopter? Nerd appeal present, but not exactly the manly stuff you'd expect in the retro future military.

[mr_a500]

They had more manly sticks inside the ships:



They only went wimpy when on remote.

[Muirium]

Movies and TV require, no, in fact *demand* that the bigger the thing you're controlling, the bigger the stick. Hollywood physics!

[mr_a500]

Wow. Honestly, they look like identical cases... Thats crazy!

That case style was actually common in the late 70's - probably because it's fairly simple, requiring only 2 pieces of bent sheet metal. I've got a George Risk keyboard with a similar case and most of the small Ohio Scientific keyboards are the same.