Separate front panel PCB, or use right-angle switches and displays?

[Rich Grise]

5 cycles of 1 KHz goes "tick" - I suspect 5 cycles of 400 Hz goes "tock".
But beeps can work, I guess.

Cheers!
Rich

 

[Rich Grise]

Thanks Sphero. FWIW , by gluing I really mean self-adhesive standoffs
(since I can't come through the front panel due to aesthetic reasons.)
That is the part of my design I really like the least, and saw the use of
right-angle switches to be a possible way to avoid it. However, I take all
your points on-board and realise it might not be such a good idea after
all! The suggestion for soldering the ribbon cable does sound very good
though. I'm tempted to leave one end socketed to speed of repairs,
although the entire cost of the assembled front panel board is only about
$6, so might not be worth treating it as a separate item.

You can get press-in studs that are invisible from the front, after
painting. I think they're called Pem studs. Even flathead screws could
work, if you could cover them with the above-mentioned overlay or something.

Or, you could make the screw heads part of the decor.

Good Luck!
Rich

 

[John Woodgate]

I read in sci.electronics.design that Rich Grise <[email protected]>

5 cycles of 1 KHz goes "tick" - I suspect 5 cycles of 400 Hz goes
"tock". But beeps can work, I guess.

I need something that goes 'pooop'. (;-)

 

[Dave VanHorn]

I need something that goes 'pooop'. (;-)

Dogs and cats are both right angle mount, but Dogs are SM, and Cats are
Thru-Hole.

 

[[email protected]]

So I'm considering using just one PCB, attaching right-angle 7-seg LED
displays and tactile buttons to it for use as the front panel.

I think the buttons will work better with a vertical PCB mounted to the
front panel. For the 7-segment displays, how about mounting them on
the main board, wiring them up to display a mirror image, and mounting
a mirror above them at a 45 degree angle so the image of the displays
comes through the front panel?

Matt Roberds

 

[Luhan Monat]

I think the buttons will work better with a vertical PCB mounted to the
front panel. For the 7-segment displays, how about mounting them on
the main board, wiring them up to display a mirror image, and mounting
a mirror above them at a 45 degree angle so the image of the displays
comes through the front panel?

Matt Roberds

Hi,

My newsreader isn't showing the original post, just this reply.

If it has not be suggested before, I like to put a PIC on the front
panel, run all the buttons and displays, and communicate with another
PIC on the main board via hardware serial (PIC16F628, PIC16F870).
Microcontrollers can be cheaper than a lot of the other hardware they
replace.