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QCX, alternate mounting for buttons and switches question

 

While drinking coffee this morning I have been looking at the options for mounting my QCX in a case. Mounting the display seems to be the easy part except for making the hole for the display. I can make a ribbon cable for wiring the display to board connection. It would be convenient if the rotary encoder and potentiometer shafts could be mounted to the board and in the case, then support the board in one or two places with standoffs on the opposite end, but the heights don't match very well.

So I started thinking about what happens if I mount then button, rotary encoder, and potentiometer on the bottom of the board? For the switches and potentiometer, I think It's a wash. That leaves the rotary encoder. I don't know much about them. If the rotary encoder is mounted 180¡ã and on the bottom of the board?does the software "know" which way the knob is being turned? I think the answer to that has to be yes. . The switch in the rotary encoder shouldn't be a problem. The little buttons have to be extended but that has been proved to be doable.

Thoughts?

73
NE5U

Mike

PS - I wish there was a way to edit posts...
 

A quick "dry fit" says the potentiometer is a bit of a problem. Not insurmountable but not a simple flip and solder operation.

73
NE5U

Mike
 

Hello

you can solder female connector for display to PCB
and right angle pins to display?

73! Alexey UT0UM
 

On Sat, Oct 14, 2017 at 07:04 am, Michael Lloyd wrote:

PS - I wish there was a way to edit posts
There is.

3 menus under your message - REPLY / LIKE / MORE.

It's under MORE.

73 de Andy
 

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

Perfect. I can put the rotary encoder in from the back side, insert that thru the case and tighten it up, then use a mounting post in each rear corner to make the board stable in the case. Everything but the two pushbuttons can be mounted elsewhere in the case and wired.

I'm almost done with winding T1 (for 80m), now to find a case that I like.

73
NE5U

Mike

October 14, 2017 at 11:25 AM
On Sat, Oct 14, 2017 at 07:04 am, Michael Lloyd wrote:
There is.

3 menus under your message - REPLY / LIKE / MORE.

It's under MORE.

73 de Andy

 

This may not help (but its yet another option to think about) is that you can extend the pot & encoder controls using a rod of the same diameter say a section off a long pot shaft, a wooden dowel, knitting needle, aluminum tubing etc, and join them with heat shrink tubing

73
Mike?
G0CVZ
 

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

Thinking about another orientation to possible reduce the size of the enclosure, what about a right angle rotary encoder:

The selection is only based on the right angle configuration and the fact that it has a switch. Output type, pulses per revolution, supply voltage, etc... may not be a match. Not the cheapest part in the pile considering the low price of the QCX.

73
NE5U

Mike

October 14, 2017 at 11:55 AM
I've used my QCX "in the open" for several weeks and am waiting for my new case to arrive. It looks similar to the case I used on the Forty-9er:


It has a hinged lid which made it easier to get at the Nano for code updates. It also nice for those show-and-tell events where you want them to see the internals, but someone else leans over to look at it and the contents of his Big Mac falls on the case. I cannot find this exact case any more, but The Container Store has a similar case:




Jack, W8TEE


From: Michael Lloyd <mikell@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Saturday, October 14, 2017 12:41 PM
Subject: Re: [QRPLabs] QCX, alternate mounting for buttons and switches question

Perfect. I can put the rotary encoder in from the back side, insert that thru the case and tighten it up, then use a mounting post in each rear corner to make the board stable in the case. Everything but the two pushbuttons can be mounted elsewhere in the case and wired.

I'm almost done with winding T1 (for 80m), now to find a case that I like.

73
NE5U

Mike

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