Sections - Tips & Tricks


111 - Foot Switch
From: Marko
Email: Mark.b@hotbot.com
Date: 20-Jun-99
Stuff to make a cheap foot switch: 1 Mouse (it doesn't need to work as you just want one of the switches/buttons) NB a computer mouse is preferable but I have not tried it with the other type 1 Old Mic (it doesn't need to work as you just wan't the cable and jack)
2 pieces of wood (fairly small- about 20 cm wide and 25 cm long) 1 clothes peg (sprung wooden type) 1 cable holder thing from a plug (the piece that holds the thick part of the cable in place) soldering iron + solder
Wood chisles + other wood marking stuff.
rough guide to making it (I don't want to type it out in detail so e-mail me if you have any queries): Cut cable from mic and strip back a short way (5mm). My mic only had 2 wires in, if yours has any more, cut them off as you only need 2 (if you need to check the cable works, do the above, plug it into your equipment and just touch the wires together and it should work as a foot switch would. Don't worry about voltage/ shocking yourself etc. as all you are doing is making a switch and the power (a very tiny amount) will come from your equipment).
Remove switch from mouse circuit board. Use a voltmeter to find the 2 terminals (they generally have 3) which the switch operates.
Cut your peg back 5mm and recess this half into the top piece of wood and half into the bottom with your chisles. Recess the switch so just the actual moving part of it is sticking up (before this drill a hole the size of the cable through the wood, then 3 more terminal sized ones and link them with some chanels for the wires) Pull the cable through the hole and solder the wires onto the 2 correct terminals (doesn't matter which wire goes on which of the 2 terminals). Push the switch back into the hole. glue the peg onto each piece of wood and let it set ( I had to get a small metal piece to put @ the top of the switch which was fixed in the bottom but moved in and out of the top with a spring round it to quicken the action and make it more stable).
Recess the cable and the piece from the plug into the base so the cable runs out of the back (this stops it being squashed and stops the switch rocking) and there you go! (the top part, idealy, should only move about half a millimeter or less as the top should directly touch the top top of the switch and when pushed down, should be stopped by the base after the switch has gone down).
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