Hellos and Questions

[eucarya]

First would like to say hullo to everyone, recently found this forum and recently got into DIY Electronics mainly circuit bending.

And I have a couple questions...

What is the difference between SPDT , DPDT, etc? I have a few theories about this but not exactly sure...

Has anyone used a knife switch on a circuit bend?

Anywhere online to buy bags of assorted pots or switches? Theres a local electronics store here in Akron that has a bin of assorted switches at about $1.80 a piece, and I've got a few at Radio Shack for a bit more. As far as pots the cheapest I've found around here is Radio Shack.

What's the deal with using old Atari/Nintendo joysticks with circuit bends? I have plenty of old Atari stuff and have seen enough SK1's and ish online that people have hooked up to joysticks, just wondering on the hows/whats of this.

So yea, as I said I'm fairly new to circuit bending and the related, have only done a couple bends so far, I'll post a topic in the circuit bending section with links to the my first bend...

As far as music I am involved with or have worked on here's a couple links,,

MySpace page for a current project

Patternbased, record label/collective started by a friend of mine, I worked on a couple albums on here

Alright, cool stuff guys!!

- euc

[expanoncolin]

Welcome Euc!

Switch P and T's refer to their pulls and throws.  An SPDT switch is single pull double throw-meaning one connectiong can be switched to one of two  other connections.  An SPST switch is single pull single throw, meaning one connection can be switchd to one connection, or not.  SPDTs can be wired as SPSTs because you can just leave one throw unconnected-thereby making one position of the switch "disconneted".  If it has multiple throws, IE 3PDT, that means that a set of three seperate connections are being switched between corresponding (but still seperate) connections.

Knife switches would work fine for circuit bending.  They are just big and bulky.

Check out th eparts pricing thread for info on pots.

Older joysticks are basically just a bunch of buttons that connect/disconnect momentary switches-SPST, they are connected when the button is pushed down and disconnected when it is not.  So, all you need to do is act like they are switches and wire accordingly.

Good luck!

-Colin

P.S.-Check your PM box-your avatar is a bit big.

[spivkurl]

Many joysticks contain two or three potentiometers that can be rewired to control your bends.  It's pretty fun.

[okietech]

Hey Euc,
I ran across a couple of joysticks a few years back that used hall-effect sensors. I don't remember the mfr or what they were used to controll, but halls are used as counters, position detectors, ect. Even in computer mice.
I've not played with any yet, though.