Hi guys,First a happy new year and happy building for the next coming year.I used my xmas freetime wise and made a few dual concentric rotary encoders. I did dual rotary switches before but was not completely satisfied with the result, so I started this little sidestep. It turned out that these ones are very easy and quick to make , compared to the rotary switches.I found encoders that I could connect to FSBUS directly without the need of REDEC. The pics speak for themselves.RegardsNorbert Boschhttp://home.wanadoo.nl/norbert.bosch/http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/137792.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/137793.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/137794.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/137795.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/137796.jpg

Nicely done!Where did you find the gears?Mikewww.mikesflightdeck.com

at www.conrad.nlthey are active at several european countries.They sell many kind of gears.If anybody wants to know the acatalognumber, just mail me.regardsNorbert

>at www.conrad.nl>>they are active at several european countries.>They sell many kind of gears.>If anybody wants to know the acatalognumber, just mail me.Well, just post it here so you can just copy/paste it once :)//T

to guide the ax through the panel and connect the construction to the panel:183797-06couple the 4 mm ax to the 6 mm ax of the encoder 183745-06gear 237353-8Bwww.conrad.nlthe last 2 numbers are country dependent, so search on the first 6 numbers.regardsNorbert

Hats off Norbert for impressive workmanship and ingenuity!It makes me mad though thinking about why it is so difficult to source these dual rotaries, and when you find them, they cost $$$ since they are usually MIL-SPEC or aircraft-worthy-spec.GF does have access to cheap mechanical ones but nobody knows where to get them. GF's claim that they are manufactured especially for them is ridiculus (if not vane) at best.

>Hats off Norbert for impressive workmanship and ingenuity!>>It makes me mad though thinking about why it is so difficult>to source these dual rotaries, and when you find them, they>cost $$$ since they are usually MIL-SPEC or>aircraft-worthy-spec.>>GF does have access to cheap mechanical ones but nobody knows>where to get them. GF's claim that they are manufactured>especially for them is ridiculus (if not vane) at best.>ALPS makes them - they are not compatible with IOCards thouhg (might work with the rotary module though) - but the minimum order is 1000 pieces. Volunteers? B-)There is one very good choice - Bourns has "hollow shaft" rotaries that have a 5mm hole (I epoxy glued in a 5mm brass tube for the outer shaft) and put through a 3mm shaft for an inner rotary. Works with iocards.http://tigert.com/aviation/vatsim/cockpit-...low-encoder.jpgNow, you can also do the dual concentric thing from two 12-position plastic switches (those cheap ones you can get anywhere) by drilling through one and putting a 6mm brass tube for shaft for the outer one - this works *very well* - we have had two of these on our C172 sim radio panel for 550+ sim flight hours and it is working fine.But using the above, you can mount that on a pcboard and stick a shaft through and mount another encoder (with a switch even!) behind it on some bracket. Worth pondering. Those are $6 or so, so not cheap, but they seem to be of good quality.//Tuomas

Yes, Mouser got back to me some time ago saying that they don't have any in stock (and they do not plan to stock them) so if I wanted to purchase, they'll be happy to serve me 1,000 at a time for @$17 each if I remember correctly.And yes, the Bourns hollow-shaft is a possible solution. I'm still trying to source "normal" duals from somewhere though :-)

Yes, the real ones are very hard to find, or only in massive amounts.But, if you do it my way, you won't feel the difference with "real duals". The only problem is that you do not have enough space to put 2 of these behind a radio panel.I was planning to use 2 of these for a double ADF panel or for the Xponder. At these places I will use the dual rotary switches.I must me honest, I did not invent this myself. I only made some adjustments for my panels. The honour of the original idea goes to another Dutch builder, Frans Broekhuysen (no website).

I have taken a little different approach. I drilled the shafts of the encoders and put them end to end. Gives a little more room.

DaveC3Very well done. But I thought that was not possible, that you would ruin the circuitry inside the encoder. With the encoder I have, that would be impossible, because the shaft is not round, but flat on one side (so you can attach a knob to it with a screw). So it would be impossible to dril in the center, or only with a drill of 1 mm. But then the attachment of the knob to the 1 mm shaft would be floppy.Norbert

NorbertThese also have a half shaft. The encoder can be taken apart. I made a drilling gig thet fits over the 1/4 inch shaft and a 1/8 inch hole in the center. It forces the bit to run in the center. After you drill the shaft you can carefully drill the back of the encoder to pass the inner shaft to the second encoder. The encoders I use are Panasonic EVQ-VEMF0324B. There are 4 tabs on the back that you bend up to take it apart. Just be careful not to bend the 3 wipers inside the encoders. When you are through drilling just reessemble and bend the 4 tabs back again.Dave

Then again, those who think it is impossible to find dual shaft encoders - on many uses like com/nav radio tuning etc - it is perfectly fine to use two separate knobs. Older radios had them anyway, it works just fine and there is no reason why it wouldnt work on a home cockpit. Just two cents for those who do not enjoy this kind of tinkering :)For the rest of us, woot - keep the ideas coming :)//Tuomas

LOL - you are absolutely right!