Can someone tell me the REAL deal with an interface card.

[No Longer Active]

Hi,

Buying Leo Bodnars BU0836 soon, but just making my panel first, decided to use simple square black and red push switches, my switches has the same 'press' action as what you would get in a door bell,

BUT......

What if i wanted to use simple SPST toggle switches, the type you 'flick' up for on and down for off......

Thinking of using these toggle switches for a genuine look, but i want to know.....do i use diodes with each toggle switch?

Am i right to say i dont need diodes for simple push switches, but do for toggle switches?

Let me know.

Thanks people!

[ian@737ng.co.uk]

depends on which board you buy.
fact: with the BU0836X board, you do NOT need diodes at all for any type of switch. each input is independant so that means they are seperate and DO NOT 'loopback' thru each other. so no issues with cross or erroneous switching.
i have now exchanged all my standard boards for the X version, so much easier.

now let's talk about the standard BU0836 board. on simple connections, i.e. where you just add upto 12 either toggle or push switches by connecting any Row or Column to a GND. again you DO NOT need to use diodes.

it is only a requirement to use diodes when you want to connect up the whole 32 buttons by using the Row/Column connection regime. from experience, i used to insert a diode on ALL inputs onto my matrix irrespective of the type of switch (push, toggle, encoder etc).

worked a dream. these are the diodes i use for everything (switching and signal)
http://www.rapidonline.com/Electronic-Components/Discrete-Semiconductors/Rectifier-Diodes/1A-Standard-recovery-rectifier-diodes/33890/kw/1n4001
cheap and effective !

so there you go captain......

have a great day .... ian

[No Longer Active]

Ian you save the day yet again..........cheers for the help.

AP08

[No Longer Active]

I remember reading something about toggle switches, i thought u needed an additional component on a toggle switch, so that when the toggle switch is toggled either up or down then activity on the flight sim doesnt go crazy, ive heard people say that if you dont have this additional component then the sim reads your activity as , on, on, on, on, on, on, on etc or off. off, off, off, off, off, off etc instread of ON or OFF, the last thing i need is my switch panel going crazy on me, just that i've looked at the back of one of DESKTOP AVIATOR'S switch pannels (this is what im making) and i remember seeing quite a few electrical components additionally added to each toggle switch, so what makes my case different to DA's if i want to achieve exactly the same thing but without the LED's.......

Wheres Ian when you need him (lol)

[ian@737ng.co.uk]

using leo's board, you DO NOT need any additional component at all. it's simply a matter of wiring a switch (whichever type you wish to use) thru a diode, if you need one, to the board. then when the switch is on (or pushed), windows, FS, your aircraft or your interface software will see the button as pressed. when you turn it off, the afore mentioned software will see the button as released. easy peasy..... no need for additional components.
the BU0836 (and the X board) are very stable cards.
remember also, if you assign the button in FSUIPC, you can get one action when the button is pressed and another when it is released. so with one switch, you have two actions. an example is the parking brake. by manipulating the offset (and the parameter) you can get a distinct ON or OFF state instead of a 'toggle'.
the ony reason i can see for a repeated action is if the button is assigned to repeat while held (great for things like elevator trim).
then using different types of switches, you can start to do tricks. but let's get you going first.
to the rescue twice in one day, phew i'm good......
cheers ... ian

[No Longer Active]

Cheers Ian,

I recon i will be a professor in switches sooner or later after all the help you gave me!

Renaming you.....SuperIan (LOL)

God help us all when i start the 737 one day (and my poor girlfriend too!)

Cheers mate!

[paul_planes]

I remember reading something about toggle switches, i thought u needed an additional component on a toggle switch, so that when the toggle switch is toggled either up or down then activity on the flight sim doesnt go crazy, ive heard people say that if you dont have this additional component then the sim reads your activity as , on, on, on, on, on, on, on etc or off. off, off, off, off, off, off etc instread of ON or OFF, the last thing i need is my switch panel going crazy on me, just that i've looked at the back of one of DESKTOP AVIATOR'S switch pannels (this is what im making) and i remember seeing quite a few electrical components additionally added to each toggle switch, so what makes my case different to DA's if i want to achieve exactly the same thing but without the LED's.......

Wheres Ian when you need him (lol)

All switches can suffer from "switch bounce" - internally the sprung contacts will bounce for a few milliseconds in an on/off/on/off way until the mechanics settle down. It translates to a slightly noisy signal the first few milliseconds after the switching.

Good I/O boards will have a slight delay of a few milliseconds in the software to allow for the switch bounce to finish, before sending the 1 or 0 signal.

Sometimes resistors and capacitors are added to filter out the switch noise but it can all be done in the I/O software.

cheers
-Paul

[Michael Carter]

Quality break-before-make switches shouldn't have this problem.

Spend a few pences or pound extra and avoid the possible headaches later.

[kiek]

Am i right to say i dont need diodes for simple push switches, but do for toggle switches?

Hi,
FYI.
If you buy Opencockpits IOcards you do not need any diodes at all.
Nico