Will,

I have been pondering this one too.  Was thinking of building a perfboard or two with a number of IC's that act as solid state latching relays.  One pulse to the "trigger" and they turn on and stay on until another pulse goes to the "trigger" and they turn off.

It is not a hard circuit....... but it is a lot of parts and soldering of IC sockets and tiny wiring pins and such.  Plus the parts add up the $ quick.

In my search on this, I just found this website (below) that takes the "old" pre-IC approach to the whole issue.  There is something to be said for that for the "average person" doing the construction.  If you can find the parts via electronic surplus...... it shouldn't be too expensive to accomplish..........  and it is really straightforward wiring construction.

http://home.planet.nl/~schre010/fs/toggle.html

It will work with any type of single pole single throw switch.....not just a toggle....... rockers, slide, and so on too.

If you also want to add a cockpit panel indicator lamp........

Get a DOUBLE pole single throw switch.  Wire one set of poles as the above website shows.  On the SECOND set of poles...... you wire the poles to act as an "on/off" switch to control 12V dc (or whatever voltage you use) that gets routed to an indicator LED assembly with a current limiting resistor.  Then when you flip the switch..... the effect happens in the simulator.... and the light comes on in your cockpit to tell you you have the switch "on".

BTW....look around for a local electronic surplus place.  I have one about 30 minutes drive from here that has all manner of stuff.  I won't pay more than $1.00 for any switch I will use in my cockpit.  Ditto for panel mount LED indicator assemblies with current limiting resistors.

If you can't find one local to you...... try the net and mail order.


best,

................john

PS:  Be careful if you add the indicator lamps.  If you get the supply voltage for the LED on the wrong pins...... you'll likely "fry" whatever interface that you are driving with the switches.... like that keyboard encoder card you are thinking of using.

can someone plz either explain or redo that diagram in that article for me? im quite confused. what I dont get ishow the 10V source is supposed to temporarily charge the capacitor. might be better if you just explain the whole thing for me so I dont get confused.

yeah, I follow you. so what you explained could be easily used as an engine cutoff switch if made properly.

this is all getting more confusing by the minute.  ???

well, just sent an email to the guy with the toggle switch wiring page and hopefully I can get a detailed story on exactly how the thing is wired out of him. ill post any results I get here.

well, i got a reply. hope it helps

Quote:

Vchat,

You have the idea fundamentally correct.

Just to clarify a tad..... it is the electrical charge stored in the capacitor when it was connected to a positive voltage source that activates the relay as it discharges to the ground (0V) that the switch connects it to when in the "off" position.

This is a pretty simple solution to the "constant keypress" problem.

BTW..... nothing magic about the 10V+ figure.  Could be other values...as long as the rating of the coil on the relay and the operating voltage of the capacitor match OK.  

best,

...................john

PS:  I just had a thought......  Will....if you are using a canabalized keyboard encoder to hook your switches up to, I KNOW that there is a way to adjust the "repeat rate" of a keypress.  Is there a a way there to shut it completely OFF?  Ah... but that would not solve the problem of RELEASING the switch, would it.  Never mind  .

Quote:

Now why did you  go and do something like that for?
Just kidding.
What if you made a switch that had a rounded flange on the back, kinda like the flanges(?) on a cam shaft in a car that push the valves? then all you need to do is mount them over the keyboard and as you move the switch from the off position to the on position the flange presses the key and releases it as it goes past. Then the same thing happens when you move it back to the off position. It would be a tad bit of work but it would save cost in electronic parts and gizmos. Sorry if you don't understand what im trying to say but it makes perfect sense to me
Another option would be to use a push button with an led inside that lights up when you press it and turns off when pressed again therefore giving you an indication that it is turned on and only giving you one press of the button on the keyboard instead of constant pressure.
Just a few ideas, hopefully someone understands the first one as I am going to try it myself.
Ok I will stop rambling on now and let you get back to your lives.

Confused,
Kevin