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Radio buttons
Le Chuck:
Remember how your old car stereo had a row of preset buttons that were conditional? Only one could be pressed at a time. There was a mechanical contraption that controlled that rather than a software solution.
Anybody know where I can get one? Can one still buy them? I'm thinking I need to go hit the junk yard and grab an old radio as my google-fu has totally failed me, even when I use -gui, -html and -excel I still get all kinds of crap about radio buttons in menus.
I'd really like a row of four or five toggle switches in which only one an be selected at a time but push buttons could work just as well providing they are largish.
I'm working on a 4 way shifter solution that is unothodox (insert usual suspects to tell me why this is a bad idea and how I'm ruining gameplay). I welcome all hairbrained half cocked construction ideas as well. I am shooting for something purely mechanical with no need for a servo or AHK script or anything other than fantastic tactile feedback.
DaOld Man:
Would this work?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1967-1968-1969-1970-1971-1972-Chevrolet-GMC-AM-Truck-Radio-/221101604495?pt=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item337aaebe8f&vxp=mtr
(Sorry for long link, its late)
Le Chuck:
That's exactly what I'm talking about. Just don't know if they are momentary or push-lock. To use somewhat correct terminology I'm looking for 4 ganged linked SPST push-lock (on/off) switches... i think ;)
PL1:
Your best bet is to find a local source for a 4 or 5 button radio so you can verify it has properly working buttons that latch to the "in" position like daoldman's suggestion. (5th button for neutral?)
Adapt that mechanism to something like this.
Blue is the spring-loaded slide plate.
As you push a button, the plate slides to the side, releasing any other buttons (which are spring loaded to pop up) and locking the pressed button under the slide plate. Length of the ramps are not to scale, and the width and placement are critical.
Fabricating this from scratch would be a nightmare, but this is very doable by adapting a radio from a you-pull-it yard or a pawn shop.
BTW, why didn't daoldman just tell Corey or Chumlee to go dig one out? You know they must have some in the warehouse. :duckhunt
Scott
Hurray Banana:
As PL1 said easier to get an old radio and adapt existing mechanism, you seem to be able to buy the buttons cheaply enough but not the gang part that links them together.
Here's a link to a patent for the design, if you want to see in more detail how they work
http://www.google.com/patents?id=zewBAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4#v=onepage&q&f=false