Pushbutton not working

Support for the SimWareKits Knobster in combination with Air Manager and Air Player

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Luca Piergentili
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Dec 17, 2020 7:11 pm

Pushbutton not working

#1 Post by Luca Piergentili »

Hello guys,
I finally built my own knobster using an Arduino Nano (official) and an ELMA encoder.
It all works great except the pushbutton.
I made a couple of tests using a breadboard and it looks like the circuit is ALWAYS CLOSED: if I unplug the COMM wire it senses the push, if I plug it back (to make the other ones working) it doesn't work anymore.
I also tested the knobster using a ClampMeter and it all works... (If I push the circuit is closed, when I release the circuit opens... which is the way it should be).

In my opinion, it looks like it is doing the opposite as it should be... Is the same as if it would be ALWAYS PUSHED and never released....

Anyone who can help me?

ps. As it is an ELMA encoder, it comes with only one COMM, I plugged it to the GND close to D2 as a lot of people did.

Hope I've been clear enough ahaha. Have a good day :D

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Sling
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Joined: Mon Sep 11, 2017 2:37 pm
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Re: Pushbutton not working

#2 Post by Sling »

If you only have it connected via breadboard then perhaps your wiring is incorrect for the switch. Are you certain the wiring is good? Also did you flash the Nano from the version of AM you are testing with?

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jph
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Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2020 12:50 pm
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow..

Re: Pushbutton not working

#3 Post by jph »

Luca Piergentili wrote: Tue Feb 09, 2021 1:04 pm Hello guys,
I finally built my own knobster using an Arduino Nano (official) and an ELMA encoder.
It all works great except the pushbutton.
I made a couple of tests using a breadboard and it looks like the circuit is ALWAYS CLOSED: if I unplug the COMM wire it senses the push, if I plug it back (to make the other ones working) it doesn't work anymore.
I also tested the knobster using a ClampMeter and it all works... (If I push the circuit is closed, when I release the circuit opens... which is the way it should be).

In my opinion, it looks like it is doing the opposite as it should be... Is the same as if it would be ALWAYS PUSHED and never released....

Anyone who can help me?

ps. As it is an ELMA encoder, it comes with only one COMM, I plugged it to the GND close to D2 as a lot of people did.

Hope I've been clear enough ahaha. Have a good day :D
Hi, ensure you are using a pullup resistor (around 10k, not critical) on the switch side that dosen't go to comm.. That should sort your issue. ie - the switch is normally pulled up to 5v via the pullup resistor, pressing the button grounds it. should be 'job sorted'
Joe. CISSP, MSc.

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jph
Posts: 2846
Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2020 12:50 pm
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow..

Re: Pushbutton not working

#4 Post by jph »

Just out of interest,
If you are using an Elma encoder, and you have a single common then the unit must be on a PCB, I presume you are using a Bodner unit with PCB ? - can you confirm this or otherwise which PCB are you using ?.
Joe
Joe. CISSP, MSc.

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ce123
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Mar 19, 2017 6:48 pm

Re: Pushbutton not working

#5 Post by ce123 »

I'm using the Arduino knobster and X-Plane 11.
The knobster works great on all my instruments except for the FPL and FMS on the X-Plane 1000 pop out.
My instruments are on (2) touch screen monitors, with the main cockpit screen and scenery on (3) 4k monitors.
My problem is that the knobster push button doesn't switch the functions of the FMS.

1st I can click the FPL button and bring up the flight plan window. It shows the active flight plan the way it should.
I can touch or click the FMS button to turn it yellow and active.
If I turn the outer knob, nothing happens (that's normal). The inner knob changes the screen from the active flight plan window to the flight plan list window.
That's also normal.
But when I'm looking at the active flight plan and push the button, nothing happens. It should highlight the cursor within the flight plan for editing, but it doesn't work. I've tried using the mouse or touch on the FMS button with the same result. It's also the same result on the PFD or MFD windows.

As a workaround, I can use the mouse to push the FMS button on my main cockpit in XP1000, and it correctly toggles between activating the cursor for editing or turning it back off. Like it should. But I can't do it with the FMS button on either pop out screen.
Is there a setting that I'm not aware of that would fix this? It seems like it should be simple, but I can't figure out what to do.
Thanks for any help or tips.

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ce123
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Mar 19, 2017 6:48 pm

Re: Pushbutton not working

#6 Post by ce123 »

I should probably add this information.
In the AM version 4.02 Home tab, the knobster shows the following options:

Knobster disabled )
Knobster (A) )
Knobster (No channel) ) These were all choices before I flashed the knobster to AM.
Knobster (No channel) ) The knobster did not work with any of them.
Knobster (No channel) )

Knobster (A) ) These 2 showed up after flashing.
Knobster (No channel) ) The only one that works is the Knobster (A) choice. But after I select it, it shows as Knobster (No channel).

Thanks.
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