I'm Looking for the teeny tiniest push on/off

shrugger · Post by **shrugger** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 8:10 am

Found this at Radio Shack.
http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?c ... d=275-1555
So far it's the smallest I've found and it'll work if need be.
But does anyone know of any smaller?
Or any with the least amount of button travel?

big-dog · Post by **big-dog** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 8:35 am

You could try All Electronics, I think they have a site, Marg got a catalog, prolly to do with getting a bunch of miniature lighting from Cir-Kit for a dollhouse, they have a load of stuff like that.

shrugger · Post by **shrugger** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 9:05 am

Thanx, looks like they may have one that will do the trick.

Wish I could figure out how 'Touch lamps' worked and whether they could
be run on 9-12 volts.

Now that would truely be power switch perfection.

Scott Hasty · Post by **Scott Hasty** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 7:38 pm

You will still need a conductor for touch switches. The switch you referenced from RS is doable. You can pull the red "button" off the top. Ought to be able to hide that....

Scottie

shrugger · Post by **shrugger** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 10:26 pm

If aluminum made a good enough conductor then I'd be set. If I could
figure out how they work

I'm looking to use the bottom sensor dish on my 44" Eagle as a camoflaged
power switch. That way I can keep everything inside the Command module.
Making changing the batteries and whatnot much less of a pain in the butt
Replacing that red button with a machined plug is what I have in mind
here's a pic to give you an idea what I'm about.

http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/3934/pdish9dx.jpg

Mr. Badwrench · Post by **Mr. Badwrench** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 3:25 am

Aluminum is a good conductor. Most house wiring, (Romex) is made of aluminum. It ain't as good as copper or gold, but it will conduct just the same.

Sparky · Post by **Sparky** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 1:42 pm

You can go with a smaller button, trim the extra legs off iy ou are gluing it to the out side of the model:
http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/c ... type=store

You could also go with a magnetic switch, but they canâ€™t handle to much current:
http://www.kc6sye.com/images/images_04_ ... itches.jpg
This drove a transistor that carried the current and voltage for the motor.

Aluminum is very difficult to attach to other conductors too i.e. you canâ€™t solder to it:
Look for copper tape in the stain glass aisle of Hobby Lobby/Michaels:

<A HREF="http://www.kc6sye.com/images/images_05_ ... _spine.jpg" target="_blank">12 volt Power rails</A>
<A HREF="http://www.kc6sye.com/images/images_05_ ... s_lits.jpg" target="_blank"> You can just make out the brass squares</A> that covers the tiny wire soldered in place on each rail. For redundancy I made the connection on both ends of the rail, just incase one should become disconnected or the tape should get torn/cut.

If you have brass photo etch you can just use that: Drill a hole behind the area where you will glue the photo etch in place. Counter sink the whole a bit, since once you solder to the back of the piece it will have the extra thickness of the wire/solder connection point. Test the connection for strength and electrical connection. Then glue it down.

shrugger · Post by **shrugger** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 2:21 pm

Sorry, ya kinda lost me there

Are you using the copper tape for more
than just conducting?

shrugger · Post by **shrugger** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 2:26 pm

This would be perfect if it weren't momentary
http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/c ... type=store

Sparky · Post by **Sparky** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 2:40 pm

Ahh I hadn't thought of these:
http://www.mouser.com/index.cfm?handler ... deid=64209
If you have an old computer case laying about, just rob the power switch, it's probably a push on push off switch. Thats what the MHPS series switches from APEM look like.
http://www.apem.com/pdf/APEM_F.pdf

BTW in the case of the copper tape, we used it for power supply connection (just conducting). The idea for a photo-etch gribbly, is good for when you need to have a momentary switch. Like if you took the electronics out of a blinky key-chain and needed to toggle through the off, constant on, slow, and fast blinking stages. You wouldn't need more than a temporary connection to get the lights flashing in the right sequence.

shrugger · Post by **shrugger** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 3:16 pm

Here we go. I forget who's pic this is. But perhaps it'll clear things up a
bit. I thought the button looked a little tacky so I hit opon the idea of
using the center disk itself as the button.
http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/9813/cm15ic.jpg

Digger1 · Post by **Digger1** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 3:29 pm

How about those teeny weeny push puttons thtat were on eht hero prop for the TOS communicator?
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y131/S ... icator.jpg

shrugger · Post by **shrugger** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 3:35 pm

Well image shack just sucks. lets try this one.
http://public.fotki.com/shrugger/eagle_11/cm2.html

Pat Amaral · Post by **Pat Amaral** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 3:46 pm

This page has several different circuits for touch sensative switches. This one looks particularly simple.

Sparky · Post by **Sparky** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 3:46 pm

The push on push off button on computer cases is pretty small once you pull out the button, you can probably glue the dome looking piece in that picture to the top of the switch. They require more force than the small momentary buttons though.

If you have the room inside, your best bet is to add a latching circuit, so you can use a momentary action to turn it on then turn it off. That allows the use of the window/door alarm switch, turning the light on and off with the swipe of a magnet.

Lt. Z0mBe · Post by **Lt. Z0mBe** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 12:12 pm

What about a sound-activated switch? Or, how about a motion activated one with the little selenium piece in it?

Kenny

shrugger · Post by **shrugger** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 12:27 pm

The clapper Eagle. LOL
Well if it wasn't too complicated.

Lt. Z0mBe · Post by **Lt. Z0mBe** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 3:07 pm

shrugger wrote:The clapper Eagle. LOL
Well if it wasn't too complicated.

I've seen them where they're activated by just a snap of the fingers. I would think such a switch could be found for your Eagle.

Kenny

Madman Lighting · Post by **Madman Lighting** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 12:42 pm

Quck question for Pat...

I like the finger triggered MOSFET switch. One question though: How do you turn it off besides removing power?

GYSGT Hartman · Post by **GYSGT Hartman** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 2:01 pm

Don't want to wait to order micro-momentaries?

1. Root around in your junk drawers for an old, cheap calculator. Bust that puppy open. Rob the switches. Or buy one at Wally World or store of your choice for 2 to 5 bucks. Repeat procedure. Should yield ya a dozen or more micros.

2. Got an old VCR hanging out in your garage or in storage that doesn't work anymore, but that you've kept for parts? Bust THAT baby open, too. Treasure trove of micro-momentaries. Also bust up those old remotes that don't go to anything/work anymore.

GYSGT Hartman · Post by **GYSGT Hartman** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 2:05 pm

Madman Lighting wrote:Quck question for Pat...

I like the finger triggered MOSFET switch. One question though: How do you turn it off besides removing power?

Remove your finger.

( circuit SHOULD be momentary, as long as finger bridges contacts. )

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 2:06 pm

HAL 9000 wrote:Don't want to wait to order micro-momentaries?

1. Root around in your junk drawers for an old, cheap calculator. Bust that puppy open. Rob the switches. Or buy one at Wally World or store of your choice for 2 to 5 bucks. Repeat procedure. Should yield ya a dozen or more micros.

2. Got an old VCR hanging out in your garage or in storage that doesn't work anymore, but that you've kept for parts? Bust THAT baby open, too. Treasure trove of micro-momentaries. Also bust up those old remotes that don't go to anything/work anymore.

Are you talking about the buttons? Most of those nowadays use a contact embedded in a non-conductive flexable pad to make the connection. No switches to speak of.

GYSGT Hartman · Post by **GYSGT Hartman** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 2:14 pm

kylwell wrote:
Are you talking about the buttons? Most of those nowadays use a contact embedded in a non-conductive flexable pad to make the connection. No switches to speak of.

Some of the older ones and cheapos use pcb mounted momentaries. Thing is...if you have a device like I described lying about that you aren't using...open it up and see.

You raise a good point, though. A lot of newer devices use membrane switches.

GYSGT Hartman · Post by **GYSGT Hartman** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 2:26 pm

Mr. Badwrench wrote:Aluminum is a good conductor. Most house wiring, (Romex) is made of aluminum. It ain't as good as copper or gold, but it will conduct just the same.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but ROMEX is the modern replacement for aluminum house wiring. Most building codes have forbidden aluminum wiring for construction since the 70's.

ROMEX is copper-conductor, two or three wire ( Hot, Common, Ground ) PVC-sheathed and comes either in the large 12-2 config or 14-2. It's used in most modern construction.

Aluminum is about 10 percent less efficient than copper and has a much lower melting point.

But for low-current modelling concerns, none of the above is a factor.

Kekker · Post by **Kekker** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 2:54 pm

If you want to hide a switch on a model - do it like a modeler! I hid a switch ona model by mounting it with just the button showing, and then covered it so that it looked like another stray greebly panel. Worked out pretty well. You could also use the switch as a ount for some bit that sticks out - engine bell, etc. Then you just have to push the part in to turnit on, and do the same to turn it off. That way you can use a regular push-on, push-off switch.

There ought to be enough stray bits and things on an Eagle to hide a dozen switches, invisibly!

Kev

Chacal · Post by **Chacal** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 1:52 pm

You can also go the needle way. Mount the switch inside the model, and drill a tiny hole so a sewing needle (or straightened paper clip, or a pin, or an acupunture needle, you get the idea) could be inserted into the hole and hit the switch (just like the "reset" on Palms or emergency eject on CD-ROM drives). If you choose a place in a recess, specially where a dark wash will be applied later, on the underside of the model, the hole will be nearly invisible.

Eagle-1 · Post by **Eagle-1** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 10:40 pm

Shrugger,

I'll refresh your memory. It's my picture.

The switch in the pictures you've used definately came from Radio Shack. It's the one mentioned with the red button pulled off and the shaft trimmed. It's an on/off switch. That complete set up in that 22" CM only came to around $10 bucks.

Next time though, I think I'll center the switch in the dish or use the entire center of the dish as the button to conceal it completely. It's off center on that CM so that it can't be seen through the windows. In the cramped quarters of that 22" CM, it was kinda tough to conceal it. The button is tacky, maybe, but there weren't alot of options once the CM backwall detail was added to the rear cap.

Rob.

IamBatman · Post by **IamBatman** » Sat May 27, 2006 10:18 am

Swiches from an old mouse might work better. They are almost always 'reed' or disk switches, 'specially in the 9-11 dollar models. Hence why they 'click' verses a membrane that does not; normally, click.

Just a thought.

dekesdragon · Post by **dekesdragon** » Sat May 27, 2006 2:38 pm

from the world of model railroading

http://www.miniatronics.com/Merchant2/m ... ct_Count=1
they are tiny but the actual size alludes me
(~ .25 x .5 base )