Recent discussion from several on the reflector (about a month ago)
concerning the remote tuning knob for the Omni V and Omni VI got me thinking
that home brewing one of these should be pretty easy. So I did a little
looking around and found an optical rotary encoder on an electronic auction
site.
The HP QEDS 7099 Optical Rotary Encoder (being sold by N4YM) was described
as follows:
High resolution stainless encoder wheel
Ideal for positioning/robotics/user interface
2 bit grey code (quadrature) output
480 steps (rising/falling edges) per revolution
5 volt input/output
Internal buffer delivers clean, square pulse
5 pin 0.1" connector attached
Pulled from HP workstation peripherals
This seemed pretty close to the Ten-Tec encoder so I grabbed one for less
than $15.00 including shipping.
While it was winging its way to Canada I found a suitable metal enclosure,
knob and heavy base. For the hook-up to the RS-232 port I used 4 conductor
shielded cable and a pair of inline 4 pin DIN plugs. The wiring for the
Omni V RS-232 plug is:
Pin 16 = +5 volts
Pin 1 = ground
Pins 6 and 8 = Encoder output A and B
The result has been great and I'm really enjoying this little device. A
neat project with little investment in time or cash. Thanks to Pete (AC5E)
for posting the details of the contents of the Ten-Tec 301 kit that got me
started on this!
73,
Rick
VE7ASR
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