Encoders and Rotary Switches

[ozziesim]

Hi All,

I have spent all day searching and looking at all sorts of encoders and rotary switches and to my demise i cant find what i want locally here in Australia.

Unlike all the other countries in the world who know that they need to stock certain products in the country for hungry sim builders, the Aussies, well they say buy them from the rest of the world because we dont want to stock flight sim stuff. I just cant figure it out.

So !!, this is where i have turned to for some idea sharing.

If there is anybody, especially Aussies that want to play name the Encoder or Switch please feel free.

If you have built a home sim, would you mind sharing where you got your encoders from and what sort are they, whats the specs if you know them. As you may be aware most sims work best on "quarter wave" ecoders so if thats what you use i wouldnt mind knowing the brand and type that it is.

Also i cant seem to find 45 degree index rotary switches over here so any mention on these would be great also.

Any info would be great so i can try and source and supply them to sim builders in AU

Thankyou

Clint

www.ozziesim.com.au

[Kennair]

Clint,

Most, if not all, interfaces seem to use the gray code 1/4 cycle encoder of the CTS288 type. This has been a source of much frustration as you can get them anywhere BUT Australia. I would have thought Radio Spares would have sold such a thing, but sadly no! Online there are many suppliers at various prices then of course you have to add shipping. Two I know of are Opencockpits who sell them for 3 euro and Flight Deck Solutions for $9USD. Now, if you want a real challange, try finding dual concentric rotary encoder!

A 45 degree rotary switch is also elusive, however you can make one by adapting a 12 position switch which is readily available.

Ken.

[Mike.Powell]

Clint,

For my last electronic project I used rotary encoders I purchased through Ebay. I believe the same person is still selling them. (For example: item number 330165495219) These are moderate quality, consumer grade items rather than aerospace. Can't say I've beat on them enough to have a feel for how long they might last, but so far no complaints.

When I bought mine, the Ebay listing had a link to further documentation. That seems to be missing from this listing. I can't tell how the detents align with the switch action, or if there even are detents.

On the other hand, the price is low and they will ship to Australia.

[ozziesim]

Clint,

Most, if not all, interfaces seem to use the gray code 1/4 cycle encoder of the CTS288 type. This has been a source of much frustration as you can get them anywhere BUT Australia. I would have thought Radio Spares would have sold such a thing, but sadly no! Online there are many suppliers at various prices then of course you have to add shipping. Two I know of are Opencockpits who sell them for 3 euro and Flight Deck Solutions for $9USD. Now, if you want a real challange, try finding dual concentric rotary encoder!

A 45 degree rotary switch is also elusive, however you can make one by adapting a 12 position switch which is readily available.

Ken.

Thanks for your comments Ken, but i refuse to believe that no one in AU can supply us ? Is it possible that the rest of the world can have them but we cant ? Probrably -- I will continue searching today !!

[brianwilliamson]

Gooday Clint............http://www.altronics.com.au/index.as...=item&id=S3350

Not sure of the quality but they are availible. I get mine from IO Cards, which are good quality and cheap. The 45 degree switches as far as I know can be supplied from Peter Cos.
http://www.flightdecksolutions.com/l...p?id=40&page=3

That is where I had to get mine. Concentric rotary encoders...........you need to build them, which is not all that hard.
Hope this helps.....................Brian W.

[Kennair]

BTW, I bought a pack of 10 push button gray code rotary encoders off ebay (based in Perth would you believe) as Mike mentioned, as they only cost $18AUD. But sadly they didn't work with my IOCards. Obviously not the required parameters. I did find the spec sheet for them which indicated the they were 24 pulse/24 detent. This was really unfortunate as they are readily available on ebay and cost very little, even came with nice grey knobs. They are from China I believe. I also tried the Altronics variety to no avail. I ended up making my own using the old hacked 12 position switch method, which works great but consumes an extra card input for each one. Replacing them with real encoders would release 13 inputs.

FWIW, I did manage to find a supplier of dual concentric rotary encoders of the CTS288 variety from Brazil at about $28AUD each. http://www.hesimpanels.com/catalog/p...1d3c565b51c571

Ken.

[ozziesim]

Ok, i have my distributors looking all over for me for a solution.

This is what i am proposing

Rotary encoder would be the CTS like the CT2999-ND availble from digikey. ( Used and Tested by Gwyn in his 737NG.)

Dual Concentric rotary encoder????? still waiting for some ideas, distributor is trying to find a solution.

Rotary Encoder with Push Button?? Still waiting for a soulution and specs if anyone has tried them distributor looking for a solution.

7 segment display amber/ yellow 8mm Cathode - Need some specs if anyone has tested some models.

Rotary switch 8 positions 45 degree indexing- still waiting for a solution and distributor is looking into it. If anyone has tested and has any specs on a particular model ??

any comments?

clint

[Kennair]

Clint,

Most of the cockpit encoders being sold are push button I think you'll find. FDS sell with and without. The digikey ones Gwyn uses are push button also. They are the most popular and not much more expensive.

Ken.

[Westozy]

Clint,

Most of the cockpit encoders being sold are push button I think you'll find. FDS sell with and without. The digikey ones Gwyn uses are push button also. They are the most popular and not much more expensive.

Ken.

I can confirm - the Digikey CT-2999ND does have a push button, I use the push button to toggle the radio panel window on the main view.

Found these too - http://www.cockpitsonic.com/oxid.php...c2287.30377362 AUD$10.50ea.

Gwyn

[brianwilliamson]

Here is some help if you need to build a concentric encoder.
Brian W.