INPUTS
AND ROTARY ENCODERS.
IMPORTANT NOTE ::::
The info on this page is extremely
dated. It was done when (in NZ) rotary
encoders were expensive and hard to get,, plus, in-out cards for flight-simmers
were virtually non-existent.
Rotary encoders are now just about “a
dime a dozen” and there are heaps of interfacing cards out there for simmers ,,
most have rotary encoder capabilities.
I have left this page up, as some info
maybe helpful to people “making-do” with what they have at hand.
SEE MY NEWER PAGE ON ROTARY ENCODERS
HERE ,,,,,,
http://www.jimspage.co.nz/encoders2.htm
Overview.
There are heaps of input devices available on the market that will take a switch being turned on (or off) and send it to FS9 which will do something that you want it to do. They range from cheap keyboard encoders thru to items purposely made for flight simmers. The top of the range items, are expensive, versatile, and need to be programmed… some of it quite complex. This how-ever is not a draw back as some simpits require a versatile input devise due to the planned complexity, BUT, there is no “start cheap and work up from there” on most of them
REAL CHEAP METHODS.
Keyboard
hacking … Use the electronics out of an
old keyboard to get momentary button press’s into flight sim. The drawbacks are
that it only can be MOMENTARY and only one key at a time. If this suits, use a USB one as a computer
only likes to see 1 PS2 type where-as a computer will work with heaps of USB
ones all connected at the same time. There are a lot of websites on keyboard
hacking so do a search for it.
WHAT I USED…
I
started with a bought keyboard encoder unit and it works beautifully… I am
using an Xkeys keyboard encoder. USB type and have no complaints and it goes
wonderfully. 128 inputs and all for US$60.
On my panel in “where to from here” I used about 110 of them, so it all
adds up.
The
USB one can be used in 2 different modes, “splat” or “memory resident mode” It
needs to be put into “memory resident mode” for the stuff we do. Its quicker
and doesn’t store the keystrokes in a buffer.
Just remember this if you get one of these.
Their
site WWW.XKEYS.COM look for “XKEYS MATRIX BOARDS”, you will
find it under CUSTOM / OEM. Great bit of gear.
ROTARY
ENCODERS.
These
are the curse of Flight Sim Cockpit Builders….
Although they can be bought now and simply plug into USB or onto
keyboard encoders etc, they all cost money, so I put quite an effort into
making some sort of system for a sim that was to be cheap and simple.
I
really researched this quite deeply and came up with the following…
1/..
Buy ready made up things….. No, cost too much.
2/..
Use Knitter or Elps pulse switch’s (Similar to rotary encoders.. well sort of).
No, apparently if you turn them too fast, they skip pulses… also not available
in N.Z.
3/..
Throw some I.C.’s at a board and make my own….
Ummmed and Awwwed about this but decided to give No. 4 a go first.
4/...
Make a purely mechanical switch that gave the same results as a rotary encoder
and hook it to the keyboard encoder…. This worked great although sometimes the
intial change-over from + to – (or other way round) miss’s the change for the
first click … but you get used to it.
A CHEAP
MECHANICAL ROTARY ENCODER.
I
took an ordinary ALPHA single pole, 12
position switch and modified it.
First
off, I tried it using the 12 positions… didn’t work very well as the switch
“lands” in the switch were too close together and it missed some pulses thru
the keyboard encoder if you turned it too fast.
NOW
READ THE NEXT PARAGRAPH TWICE… IT WILL MAKE OR BREAK THE SUCCESS OF THE
MISSION.
I
then used only, every second switch position and programmed the keyboard
encoder to send (say) + on make and + on break. Now that means when the switch is turned to an “active” position,
it will send a + to the keyboard….now you turn it around another click (That’s
not wired up to anything) and because it is breaking the contact with the last
“active” position, it will send another + to the keyboard…. So, at the end of
the day…. Every click of the rotary switch will send a (say) + to the keyboard
encoder. I then put a small
micro-switch on it to change between 2 inputs, so… turn it clockwise and every click sends a + (plus) ….. turn it anticlockwise
and every click sends a – (minus) …
Just what I wanted.
THE
HARDWARE.
Sorry
about the pix…. It’s a bit too black and white….
The
things on the LEFT are…
1
Single pole, 12 position ALPHA rotary switch
(Dick Smith Electronics)
1
Cheapy miniature micro-switch (Dick
Smith Electronics)
1 One
/ eighth inch cable clamp (Any good Electrician’s supply store) (2 shown for clarity)
1
Three inch nail modified. (See text)
The
things in the CENTER of the picture….
The switch opened out.
The
things in the RIGHT of the picture show….
(Well, not very well)
1/..
Where the “stopping tab” is that you need to cut off. (See text but you should
be able to sort it out for yourself)
2/..
The pilot hole drilled thru the “tit’. (See text)
In
text….
A/..
Get the switch and open it out, as per center of the picture.. to do this I
used a pocket knife and slipped it in between the black and white pieces… then
eased the black clips back a bit…. Got to be careful here or you will break
them… also don’t push on the shaft or the spring and balls will pop out and be
lost for ever.
B/..
Push the shaft out of the black body but be careful and retain the spring and
balls.
C/..
Cut off with a sharp pocket knife the “lug” that stops it going the full 360
degree’s.
D/..
Drill a small hole… straight and vertical,… thru the “tit” on the back piece as
per picture. ( This is to give you a guide for drilling it out properly)
E/..
Then drill the small hole out larger (from the other side) to a size, just
fatter, than a 3” nail.
F/.. Clean out the plastic bits from the drilling
and re-assemble the switch…. You may want to shorten the spring to make the
“positions” less of a click.
(To get the balls and spring back in,
use the groove where the back locating key is to go.. .. the white “D” at the
top of the next picture)
G/..
Get a three inch nail and file the barbs off that are near the head… Just so
there are no “high” bits left.
H/..
Cut the nail with a hacksaw about ¾” to an inch from the top of the head…. File
the jaggard bits off that are caused by the hack sawing.
I/..
Now push the nail in thru the hole, into the hollow in the black shaft bit.
(This hollow used to fit over the “tit”)
(My 3” nails were a perfect tight fit
into the hollow… if yours aren’t, you may have to find something else that’s a
tight fit.)
J/..
Fit on the cable clip.
K/..
Once you have the clip on… You can measure how much gap is left… between the
switch and the clip.
L/..
Cut something that can be used as a packer…. I used the outer sheath of a 3
core flex.. ,, remove the nail (if necessary) and fit it,… Make sure its loose
between the switch and the cable clip… It is there just to keep the clip at the
end of the nail.
A note
on the cable clip and nail…
Nail…
The 3” nail on mine was a perfect fit.. I had to heave on the unit against my
workbench to make it go into the socket on the switch.
Clip…I
ended up with 2 sizes of the same size cable clip…. One was perfect,,, the other
was a bit loose on the nail… If yours is loose…. Squeeze the “tube” bit on the
clip, with pliers and fit the nut, washers and bolt and tighten them, while it
is in the squeezed position.. It may take a bit of playing around here to get
it right.
You
are looking for a “just friction” fit….
You should be able to turn the nail in your hand while holding on to the
clip.
(As
a note… to test this I have a clip on a nail and its in my office… Any phone
call etc, its my “fiddle” thing… I have twisted this thing basically for a
total of hours and the nylon cable clip has not lost its friction grip)
Your
now more than half way there…. The worst is over..
M/..
Cut every second contact off the switch.
N/..
Get a piece if copper wire and make a loop and fit it to the switch as per
photo… (Doesn’t matter where, as long as it only picks up every second contact)
The
above picture shows the type of loop required and it gets filled with solder to
give some strength.
M/..
Get a piece of stiffish wire and feed it thru the microswitch as shown.
N/..
Fit the microswitch as in the following pictures… Making the MINIMUM clearance
from on to off (on the microswitch)
O/..
Turn OFF keyboard “auto repeat”. You
should be able to hold a keyboard key down for ever and only get 1 “hit”.
P/..
Wire it up to your keyboard encoder and slightly bend the lug and micro switch
bracket to make it work when it’s meant to.
Q/..
The last one, for reference…. Mine works flawlessly.. turn as fast as you like
either way and it goes up or down…. So it works.
NOTE…
On FS9 (and it predecessors) there is a built in acceleration, you wont get rid
of that…. But it works out to be a good feature.
Note….Some of the picture show
a washer on the nail head…. This is un-necessary. (Early version)
Note…
The wire thru the micro switch is a very
loose fit… I used a hot glue gun and squirted it in the holes to make it more
rigid. ( The glue looks like solder in some pictures)
CONCLUSION.
These
worked great…. A cheap and easy way to make rotary encoder.
Here
is one in a panel that does all the radios etc. Proves you don’t need heaps of
these. Press the appropriate button and
turn the knob.
Front view
Back view
IF
I WERE TO BUILD THIS AGAIN ?
Well
if I wanted something cheap and simple and to suit a keyboard encoder … Yes I
would make more of these.
Updated 11 June-06
Updated
4 Dec - 11