Cheap Thumbwheel Switches

[harry]

Hi Toby (and all)

If you use a programmable counter with each thumbwheel (or as
suggested earlier... matrix them to one common counter...) then
output from this counter to advance the sequencer... then you could
 have each step be 0-15 clock pulses long.  I think the skipped
step would not be a problem at all (except at audio frequencies)...
Even then if you adopt the strategy to using one edge of the clock
for data, and one for strobe... you could run well out of the audio
range as desired.

Our company (industrial controls) had a product like this in the late
70's.  Of course it really turns into a mircroprocessor in
archetecture...
with data and address busses reading the thumbwheel "memory"...

I made a name for myself by hot wiring one of the controls with a
UJT VCO to play "Christmas carols" over the company PA system
at the annual party.  It took quite a while for them to track down where

"Joy to the World" was originating !!!

H^) harry

Toby Paddock wrote:

> >There are obvious uses for these.
> >Use  1-2-4-8 resistors and get an attenuator that covers 16 steps.
>
> I've been thinking of an 'auxiliary' sequencer to do timing.
> Like a toggle switch for each step to set normal, 1/2, and
> 1/4 step time. But now I think a hex thumbnail per step
> might be the way to go. Or maybe a decade one and use
> the first 8 steps. I wonder if a zero would give a short
> enough step time to act like a skip. I don't even have a real
> circuit or know if I'm switching R or C yet, so this is just
> kind of rambling.
>
>  - -- -  Toby Paddock
> Who really needs to stop speculating and start soldering.