Posted by Eradicator on 18, 2001 at 6:01 PM:
In Reply to: Just noticed something important is missing in the FAQ about wiring buttons posted by Matthew C. Waterman on 18, 2001 at 5:54 AM:
: Maybe you can point it out to me, but I poked around, and I couldn't find information quickly about exactly how to wire up a button. Found some stuff about what kind of buttons to buy, but nothing that actually tells you what prongs which wires go to. I think this needs to be added, and if it really isn't here, a couple of you owe apologies to sinfestboy. By the way, I answered your question about this further down the page.
Pretty basic info, and does indeed belong in the FAQ. Chances are you're going to need a multimeter or other continuity testor at some point to debug your machine, so you can always figure out this information yourself...
Anyway, the microswitch has three connectors, marked COM (common, ground), NC (normally closed) and NO (normally open). When the switch is up, COM and NC are connected. When the switch is pressed, COM and NO are connected. The ones I have here have a little diagram directly on them to make this clear. So to register a keypress, you need to hook one lead to COM and the other to NO. You generally wire the ground to COM, although it makes no difference if you get them backwards.