Hello everyone,
I am looking for a potentiometer that is not continouse but has certain steps when you turn it. I have problems finding something like that on the internet, because I do not know if it exists or how it is called.
It would be great if you could give me advice on that.
Best 
The word you are looking for is "detent" or "detents".
Paul
Is it the “rotary encoder” you are referring to ?
If so, get the ones that also have a on/off switch on the shaft.
I think he's looking for a special old school pot used back in the day that had physical detents like Paul described.
I've only seen one in 40 years and it was on some custom equipment at some company I visited.
I don't think such a thing exists anymore (if it ever did). If a continuous pot had detents it would be difficult to adjust between the detents.
I have seen multi (many) position switches with different resistance at each step. It might appear to be a detent potentiometer.
The controls in modern devices that control the volume on you car radio. They have detents but they are not resistors. They are rotary encoders ( @larryd showed one) that give a processor different "counts" as the knob is turned.
Folks might be able to make more recommendations if we know your issue / goal.
Just a guess but if you have a pot going into an processor A/D and you find the A/D reading bouncing around.... welcome to the analog world. This is what analog circuits do.
Definitely an "XY Problem"! 
Hans, you dont say WHY you want this or how many detents you need.
For a small number you could use a multi-way switch with a resistor chain.
If you want a higher resolution (eg more steps) you could perhaps use a digital pot?
hans_sprungfeld:
Hello everyone,
I am looking for a potentiometer that is not continouse but has certain steps when you turn it. I have problems finding something like that on the internet, because I do not know if it exists or how it is called.It would be great if you could give me advice on that.
Best
The correct search term is "stepped attenuator" - watch out though, lots of them are for
RF and have a fixed impedance like 50 or 75 ohms. The sort designed for analog audio are
perhaps what you are looking for. These devices are log-law rather than linear, typically as
the name suggests.
The above blog is about implementing a vibration detent using a vibrator motor triggered when the wiper voltage
falls within narrow windows.
This implies you can combine the above function with visual virtual detents by lighting leds placed around the pot when the wiper voltage is inside a narrow window. I know how to do it with hardware but software is much easier. I think a CASE statement would even work.
Apparently all the people who remember high quality detent pots are in Senior care centers.
I remember one from many many years ago but don't remember where it was.
I don't think they were ever made for any consumer market. They were sold exclusively to high end manufacturers.
Hobbyists couldn't afford them unless they found them in a surplus store.
The hifi at my parents' place has a volume knob with detents, the thing must be close to 40 years old by now. Hated it since they got it. It has some 40 steps, but a normal volume is at 7 or 8, making for a pretty big step in volume by just moving the knob one step up or down. I don't think we ever really used it above 10.
I guess it was in fashion, a novelty, that died out really really soon. Of course it was also the time that electronic volume controls appeared on the market - also discrete steps of course, but with up and down buttons instead of a knob, and with the option of using a remote control.
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