OK, so what I want to do is interface an optical rotary encoder, most likely this one,

 

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Bourns/EM14A0D-C24-L064N/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMsWp46O%252bq11WR5thhCT804a9prPhzh6jnc%3d 

 

with this Octal buffer / Line Driver chip

 

http://www.datasheetcatalog.org/datasheets/134/375530_DS.pdf

 

 

And then plug the 8 data pins from the above chip into the Asteroids multi kit, which uses the P0 –P7 pins on a POKEY to read a value between 0x01 (001) and 0xFF (255), which is how the thrust level for LL is determined.

 

The only issue I have is that I don’t know what the hell I am doing and I am going off random snippets found on the Internet.  USDigtal.com says this rotary encoder, http://usdigital.com/products/encoders/incremental/rotary/shaft/sp-16#description ,

will work with the 74LS244 above, but their encoder is $50, while Mousers is $17.  I can’t see a difference between the 2, but please reference my earlier “No Clue” statement and you can see the state I am in.

 

So, do you guys think this will work?  Or do I need something fancier?

 

 

--Sean McLachlan