Homebrew PCBs

On Monday 30 August 2004 03:12 pm, Stefan Trethan wrote:

> has one of you ever tried making a multi-position switch directly on the
> PCB like most handheld meters have?

Not me!

> I can't gold plate it (yet).
> I think tinning would do for now.
>
> I think of using a M6 screw as axis, just a washer on each side to make a
> bearing of a hole in the PCB. Then take a piece of FR4 and make the "wiper"
> with contacts of thin sheetmetal. The M6 screw would fit into a knob on the
> front panel. The "snap" action could be achieved by drilling holes in the
> PCB and letting some spring catch them.
>
> What do you think of that? stupid idea?

I wouldn't go that far.  :-)  But I wouldn't do that,  either.

> It seems i can't get rotrary switches with enough positions.

How many positions are you looking for?  I've seen up to 11,  maximum,  with 
very few exceptions -- one time I heard of 22,  but that would be a 
custom-made job like what you're talking about here.

Tinned contact on the board,  and metal?  Whether that will work out or not 
depends on what you plan to switch with this.

> Would be nice to be able to just make them how i want.
> After all it works in meters...

Both of my meters here use rows of buttons.  :-)

My old (as old as I am!) Simpson 260 is the only one with a rotary switch.

> tell me what you thik about that.

What are you switching?  How many positions do you really _need_?  Have you 
noticed that rotary switches are in large part going away,  or at least they 
have been since the fifties?  There's a reason for that.  Feel free to take 
this over to Electronics101 if we get too far off the topic for in here.