[sdiy] Time for a NEW string - Piezo Switches!!!

[Peter Grenader]

Ya see...I was thinking about using five or so just to manually generate
triggers.  then immediately I started thinking of having it work like a
Serge programmer, but I want to stop myself because I am getting burnt out
on making things!

So i'm tossing around ideas in my head.  I need a way to generate triggers
manually without usng the keyboard and Midi to CV.

Regarding how it works: Upon trying it, I realized that the first switch I
got from them (which was a sample) was broken.  The ten I ordered work fine.
You use it like a regular momentary switch.  Press with a little force and
it closes.  No power, no fuss, no muss.

Problem is, it takes a little more pressure than I may be willing to deal
with for a manual trigger.  This peeves me a bit as these switches ain't
cheap (10 bucks a crack).

A thing I like about them though is they are huge, about 5/8" in diameter,
which is cool for a touch plate.  But the holes required for mounting are
also huge, and I don't have a half inch chuck in my drill...but I guess I
could get one.


on 6/15/02 10:29 PM, Batz Goodfortune at batzman at all-electric.com wrote:

> Y-ellow Jim, Peter et all.
> 
> At 08:35 PM 6/15/02 -0700, patchell wrote:
>> I hesitate to respond because I suspect I am completely wrong about
>> this....
>> 
>> I was under impresion that a Peizo device outputs voltage that is
>> proportional to the "change" in presure, ie, constant presure = no voltage.
>> The hydraphones I worked with a long time ago were like that at least.
> 
> I had a look at the cattledog a little while ago. They say that there is a
> switching circuit (of various configurations) mounted in the back of the
> thing and completely sealed. They say that it requires no power and is a
> passive device. This is pretty weird?
> 
> I would have suspected that the tiny amount of charge generated by a few
> microns of moment (as they suggest) would not be enough to do anything
> particularly useful with. Let alone power even a micro-power switching
> circuit. And they have a model with a built in relay as well. I mean a
> Mechanical relay.
> 
> Of course the one thing I could not find in the cattledog was any kind of
> explanation of how you hook these things up. They look pretty cool but all
> the single ones are round. I hate round buttons.
> 
> I guess an extensive web search would be in order but though I'm extremely
> curious about these things, I haven't got time right now. But I can only
> suggest plugging a few key words from the cattledog into google and see
> what you come up with.
> 
> Be absolutely Icebox.
> 
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