| > You might find it easier to use a SPDT (aka three-way) switch and some | > series capacitors. | | Not quite sure I follow without a circuit diagram since I'm such an | electro-tyro. )-: I took some photos of the circuit board so that I could | trace out the circuit, but I seem to have momentarily lost track of that CF | card. When I find it (or decide to take one apart again and rephotograph) | I'll ASCII diagram the switch.
I'm afraid I'm not very good with ASCII diagrams. :(
| Am I correct in assuming the capacitor will allow it to fire once and then | not again until the switch is toggled once more?
That would be my hope, though of course it may be impossible to select a capacitor (possibly with a shunt resistor) with a value that operates the device reliably and has a quick enough discharge to allow the switch to be operated frequently. Still, it's a simple thing to try and it might save a lot of complication.
Note that if you want the switch to do the same thing independent of which way it is flipped (e.g., to activate something that toggles) you can wire one capacitor between each contact and the pole. That way the switch shorts one capacitor as it brings the other across the circuit you are trying to control, eliminating the discharge time from consideration.
None of these tricks will work if the devices is using some multiplex scanning approach to read the switches, so the first thing to check when you trace the circuit is whether one side of the buttons is connected to ground of a fixed voltage source.
| BTW, did Santa manage to get that binocular magnifier to you?
Yes, thanks. It actually gave me a bit of a start because a few days before eBay had sent me mail (for real) saying that my account had been compromised and they were resetting my password...
Dan Lanciani ddl@danlan.*com