How to probe the parameters of a mechanical encoder

The mechanical encoder on my Wavetek 75 is broken (mechanically) but it's 
too hard for me to solder anything to the tiny remains in the broken pins.

In this case, I need to buy a new encoder.

Is there a way to probe the parameters such as Pulse Per Revolution,
coding 
(gray, 2-bit, binary, BCD)? I can still stick my multimeter probe to it.

Thanks.

Cheers,
Hoi