Helders AIO and Tactile Switches

[Treguard]

Regarding 4 pin tactile switches, is there an obvious marking on the switch to tell which one is for Ground and which one has to be connected to the AIO? Also noticed a couple of variations. Some seem to wire the ground for each to the AIO and Wermy's video shows the two connected together (but I don't think there's a ground connecting either of them to the AIO. Not sure if that's something more applicable to the previous AIO version.

Cheers

[Lphillimore]

@Treguard Regarding Ground you can either connect each switch to a unique ground on the AIO or connect the switches together and then only wire one to a ground on the AIO making it a shared ground. That's what I did.

As for which pins I took a punt by looking at the switches on Wermys stills on the guide. Just made sure i reversed the switch so to speak on the other side.

On my tactile switches '170' was on the outside for each one.

20170129_125657.jpg

[Treguard]

Many thanks for the reply and letting me know. By shared ground, is it ok to use the one on the top of the AIO (the ones where you connect the switches to) or does it have to be the powerstrip if the ground is shared?

When you say reversed the switch, do you just mean the Ground and active (not sure the name) wires connecting on opposite sides? Sorry your picture didn't come through

[Lphillimore]

Yeah use one of the ground holes on the AIO next to either L1 or R1.

See wiring as follows:

Screenshot-2016-05-27-23.08.53-1024x576.jpg (50.9 KiB) Viewed 7720 times

Top wire connects two switches together so that they can share a ground.

Outside bottom ones are L and R buttons.

Inside bottom one is ground which connects to AIO. You can use either of the switches for this.

[Treguard]

Many thanks for your help; really appreciate it. I've taken a punt as well - 50/50 aren't bad odds. I'm expecting a replacement pi zero tomorrow (buggered up the TV hole) so fingers crossed.

[Lphillimore]

@Treguard If like me you got a bag of about 100 switches for next to nothing it doesn't matter to waste a couple worst case.

I'm actually thinking of swapping my switches out for more ergonomic ones as having played a lot of street fighter and Mario kart lately they are a pain to click in! Plenty of space on the back so naybe some bigger ones.

What happened to your Pi Zero TV pin hole?

[abrugsch]

I'm actually thinking of swapping my switches out for more ergonomic ones as having played a lot of street fighter and Mario kart lately they are a pain to click in!

that'll be because of the cheap back of 100! (I have one too) they have a really high activation force. try and find the 2-pin vertical mount style, which are sold as GBA shoulder replacements. they usually have a lower activation force. (or even just having a bigger button on top of the existing tact spreads the force so feels more comfortable...)

[Lphillimore]

@abrugsch Yeah you're not wrong. The same 100 bag we all got I reckon

Been have a look around recently. Definitely something that requires less effort.

Will post something once they're in.

[Treguard]

@Treguard If like me you got a bag of about 100 switches for next to nothing it doesn't matter to waste a couple worst case.

I'm actually thinking of swapping my switches out for more ergonomic ones as having played a lot of street fighter and Mario kart lately they are a pain to click in! Plenty of space on the back so naybe some bigger ones.

What happened to your Pi Zero TV pin hole?

I completely blocked up the TV pin hole and tried to get the solder out. Unfortunately I just made an absolute mess around that hole and the neighbouring ones. Lesson leared - tbh I'm on my second gameboy zero as the first one didn't go quite right - seems like a learning experience!

I did find an easier way to solder the tactile switches, as I just find that the wires become detached from the legs (even with using heat shrink tubing). I've just used a bit of perf board and mounted the tactile switch onto a small bit. With a bit of bending, the legs can go over 4 separate strips. I tested them with a multimeter and they seemed fine. It makes it easier as I'll solder the two connecting wires (I'm not going for the common ground method, just going to have a separate ground for each switch) to the neighbouring holes on the perf board. Feels a bit more solid!