7 way rotary knob

monkeycat · 11-29-2004, 06:48 PM

Has anyone seen a good supply of these? I really like the feel of a rotary knob for volume and what not. My current head unit (pioneer 860mp) has this great 7 way knob but I don't feel like taking apart a 300 dollar face plate for a 15 dollar knob. I was also looking at an ipod style control wheel and fond an OEM source but I forgot the link. Again not tearing apart a 300 dollar piece of equipment for a 15 dollar I/O device. If anyone has any suggestions on nice control knobs I would appreciate your help.

choyak · 11-29-2004, 10:19 PM

I would use a Griffin
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/powermate/

cadence117 · 11-29-2004, 10:30 PM

or if your looking for more functionality,

http://www.contourdesign.com/shuttle...ttlexpress.htm

absolutley love the thing,
(i used to have a powermate)

Chairboy · 11-29-2004, 10:57 PM

I'll second the ShuttleExpress, it's truly awesome. I use one to control almost every function of my carputer.

BassBinDevil · 11-30-2004, 04:09 AM

Mice. Figure out a way to couple a knob to the scroll wheel, or replace the optical sensors in a mechanical mouse with shaft encoders. There's a couple of threads on this. Mechanical shaft encoders can be bought for a few bucks at Digikey, or maybe cannibalize an old head unit that had an encoder for the tuning knob.
There's also the Sony remote joystick doodad; those can be fed into a joystick port.
Search and ye shall find.

monkeycat · 11-30-2004, 10:34 AM

This is going into a very tight space (1980 ply arrow pickup) so both of the knobs seem kind of big. I was also thinking about parting out a play station controller for the analog thumb joysticks. They would offer a 5 way control scheme that would work pretty well. And instead of having a d-pad I could have a little more control over the amount of a push. i just really like the feel of my current head unit and was wondering if there was any small switches. I looked at a lot of the mame setup thinking that they would have a wide selection of controls. However most of the controls I found are just too bulky. Thanks for all your suggestions I will try wiring up a ps controller to some A/D and see what kind of range I can get.

ApoloV · 11-30-2004, 01:13 PM

Well the powermate really isnt that big....after you take it apart..

I butchered mine and gutted the electronics, the PCB that holds the rotary encoder for the Powermate is at most 1.5" dia.

I love the pwoermate but needed to fit it into a smaller area so i cracked her open and it works beautifuly now

cadence117 · 11-30-2004, 10:36 PM

http://www.tekreview.net/official-te...sp?reviewid=94

GrimReaper77 · 12-08-2004, 08:03 PM

I was so excited when my shuttle express came in the mail and was easily impressed by its great looks and many features.

Took it into the car though and could not find a convenient place for it... It was just too big (for me anyways).

I'm currently looking for a "no-look" solution that's small enough to fit into a closed fist - like those mini remotes built into the headphones...

Also saw the radio stalk remotes on the Renault's and Peugeot's... I'd love to connect one of those up to my carpc...

Tony G · 12-09-2004, 09:14 AM

My solution uses a mouse PCB and Girder. It allows you control every function using the girder "mouse" plugin. It also allows you to choose the size of control knob. I drive an audi, so I used audi parts for a factory look.

Just buy a shaft encoder and wire into the scroll wheel. This has been working for the last year. Along with the 3 soft buttons, I control everything from music, movies to navigation. I cannot stress what a complete solution this is..

The collar and buttons are red LED illuminated, so it looks great at night.

Previous thread with more info and pictures: http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/show...899#post206899

ApoloV · 12-09-2004, 09:56 AM

^^ Very sweet install

Just to post a picture of what the hacked Powermate installed into my console look liek

the rest of my pictures are here

complete no-look solution

I'll take better pictures this weekend when I'm with my car and there is sunlight
*damn working from dawn till dusk*

Sonicxtacy02 · 01-10-2005, 03:25 PM

that looks sweet. When you took the powermate apart did you lose any functionality? I would really only use it for volume control thru frodo as i have touchscreen with the right click program. The car i plan on purchasing has no room for the head unit i currently have installed in my altima

Frigor · 03-09-2005, 06:30 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by ApoloV

Well the powermate really isnt that big....after you take it apart..

I butchered mine and gutted the electronics, the PCB that holds the rotary encoder for the Powermate is at most 1.5" dia.

I love the pwoermate but needed to fit it into a smaller area so i cracked her open and it works beautifuly now

Did you take any picture of the powermate taken apart, before embedding?