New kind of tact switch?

joevennix · Post by **joevennix** » Wed May 31, 2006 12:54 pm

I went to the store today to get some tact switches, and while I was choosing the best kind I stumbled upon these:

They are surface-mount, and labeled as "analog momentary switches." I think that they are just boxes with the regular white analog button-pusher things found in most controllers.

The reason I posted this is because a lot of people would like to use tact switches, but don't like the 'click' that these switches make. The analog switches I found feel just like a regular controller, no tactile response.

Anyone know what they're called?

Also, I saw a pack of 4 NiMh batteries at Walmart without the charger for $5.89.

Post by **Gamelver** » Wed May 31, 2006 2:04 pm

hmmmm...very interesting

....I've never seen anything like this before...

so it's just a full switch, right? No resistance at all when you push down? If not, then that'd actually be nice, because most "squishy" buttons have a bit of resistance, and you have to take that into account with portables...with these switches, perhaps you won't have to!

sorry, I don't know the name, though

...

Post by **gannon** » Wed May 31, 2006 2:36 pm

They're exactly what they say, "analog momentary switches.". Same thing as a tactile switch except...well..not tactile. I haven't seen many surface mount ones before though.

Post by **Skyone** » Wed May 31, 2006 3:42 pm

If it doesn't actually have that *click* when you press it, it's not tactile. Those are fun to use if you don't want to bother with the carbon mushy things. I bought some off digikey a while back!

TitaniumHamster · Post by **TitaniumHamster** » Wed May 31, 2006 5:56 pm

Wow, there's a store near you that sells tact switches? The closest to that in my neighborhood is radioshack, and the only buttons they sell just happen to be frightningly big.

Nonsense Man · Post by **Nonsense Man** » Wed May 31, 2006 7:19 pm

what store and how much a piece

joevennix · Post by **joevennix** » Wed May 31, 2006 9:21 pm

It's called EPO-Houston. It's kind of a mom-and-pop electronics components store, they have everything under the sun. These switches were 75 cents each, as opposed to the regular 40 cents for a tact switch. Here's how I wired them up:

Krepticor · Post by **Krepticor** » Wed May 31, 2006 9:43 pm

wow those couldbe used to substitute the analog pads of the PS2 contrllers or the XBOX

also couldn't those be used to sustitute an analog stick with a d-pad?

joevennix · Post by **joevennix** » Wed May 31, 2006 10:15 pm

No, I thought analog sticks use pots or LED sensors or something?
Unless you're talking about when you push the stick down, that's a tact switch.

Krepticor · Post by **Krepticor** » Wed May 31, 2006 10:24 pm

yea but these are analog tact switches meaningthat how far you press down reacts to yadda yada yada

meaning that one analog function could replace another ? possibly?

joevennix · Post by **joevennix** » Wed May 31, 2006 10:25 pm

What?

Krepticor · Post by **Krepticor** » Wed May 31, 2006 10:34 pm

alright you do know that some XBOX games have an analog funciton on the buttons of the controller right? (That means that how hard you press results in a different action, I personally think it is more timing than anything)

OK well anolog means that the device is running "Straight through" Lets shift the example over to music

Digital music is a representation of the soundwave in a form of ones and zeros (binary) the representation of the sin wave is now an easily made funciton of the sin curve by digital data

Well analog is the complete opposite

meaning that with an electric guitar as the example, whenever the sounds is transfered from the guitar itself to the effects or amp, the sound curve is shaped by that effect, digital effects take the sin curve and shape it according to the appropriate ones and zereos

wellcould these (labeled analog) switches replace a joystick in that the pots are sending resited data could how hard one presses on the switch be converted to the desired analog form of data using these analog switches?

ie analog-> senses everymovement till the end
tactile-> two modes on and off

analogy time!

analog is like a gas pedal while tactile is like a light switch

joevennix · Post by **joevennix** » Thu Jun 01, 2006 12:00 am

Ohhh now I see what you mean, the switches are modifying the voltage sent to them by how hard/soft you press. I guess it's possible, it uses the same technique (the rubber thing pushes down) as the switches in regular controllers.

Krepticor · Post by **Krepticor** » Thu Jun 01, 2006 8:40 am

yea but does it trueky do that?

or is it just a soft tact switch?

Klefmung · Post by **Klefmung** » Thu Jun 01, 2006 11:18 am

Ok, can I pay you to pick up about 20 of them for me?