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Switches...We don't need no stinkin' switches

A project log for Star Trek TNG Bluetooth Communicator

Turning a BT headset into a real communicator

bartBART 04/28/2014 at 05:480 Comments

Well actually we do...However, given the height already 5 mm in just the base and sound channel. Another 5mm micro switch, to make it look asthetic would be imposible without increasing the size. Defeats the coolness if you've got a big ol cd case riding on your chest.

After a lil creative recon, we happened upon some micro switch domes that were salvaged from some old cell phones.

Simple, long life, Up-cycle = hackerific! :)  They're the lil black dots on the tape.

Did'nt really have time or extra money to do a custom pcb, so we opted for the always elegant Radio Shack Proto-Board. That and a dremel, you could almost be McGyver. lol.

So anyways...The initial testing was a bust. The micro switches worked great if you pressed them with your finger, and terible with the flat buttons we had crafted to press them down. 

One of us finally had the idea of making the buttons directly on the protoboard. That way we could force the putty through the wholes, and we'd have a bunch of pegs to press on the buttons. As it turns out this worked, and worked great. We were able to cut the number of disk needed down to 2 for each button, putting an extra one on the delta shield to be on the safe side.

Height is still a lil bit of a concern, but I think it'll be fine once we get it wrapped with the aluminum brace.

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