opinions needed

[Goddard, Duncan]

>>The real trick, for us DIY'ers, is finding a source for rotary pots that
have 
> a center tap<<
> 
the trick for all of us is finding a source of good hardware generally-
where do these parts come from? I reckon that when a manufacturer commits to
an engineering idea, they get a cosmetic designer in to finish and make
presentable (i.e. commercial) a product, and in the process, they
inadvertently create a (much later) market for parts that were probably
custom-made for a production run. 

example: the pitch/mod wheel assembly in the OSCar; it looks like something
out of a car radio, but is impossible to find now. the curtis chips are a
similar problem- they weren't exactly off-the-peg products that could find
application in other areas of electronics, were they?

much as I'd like to stay "analogue", I'm finding that more of these quirky
interface problems are easier addressed in software. I hate that- I'd far
rather have an interesting (read: hard-to-find hardware controls) interface
for the end-user. something with some character. it's hard enough these days
to find ordinary pots with one of two electrical characteristics without the
additional difficulty of it being a direct mechanical replacement for
something 20 years old......

I spent an age, a few years ago, sourcing a replacement rotary encoder for
someone's proteus module- I looked in all the catalogues I had at work. then
I found the manufacturer's website and bought four of them for a little over
ten english quids. the equivalent item in a major electronics catalogue was
a tenner each.
hence all the "spares/repair" adverts.....

d.


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