Light Switch for Your Scaler - Firmtronics RC Switch Review

[roktoy]

When I started building up a scale rig I knew one thing it had to have was some lighting. I wanted to add some running/headlights and some rock lights, and I wanted to operate them from a standard 3-channel pistol radio. With steering and throttle taking two channels, that left me one channel for lighting.

After a little searching I found a product from the South African company Firmtronics that could help with the lighting task. Basically, they offer a small module that plugs into your receivers third channel port and provides switch control for two loads from a single radio channel.

Their small module is capable of switching up to 2.5 amps per switch and the state of each of the two switches is determined by the stick/lever/switch position on your radio. This works great for two sets of lights you may want to control from a single channel. The module has two sets of pins that mate to standard 3-pin servo connectors to wire up whatever you choose to connect to. One pin on each output provides positive voltage and a second wire switches your load to ground upon command.

For you tech heads, Firmtronics starts with an Atmel Tiny 15L 8-pin SOIC 8-bit CMOS micro-controller. To that, they add some outboard passive and active components surface mounted to a small PC board and shrink-wrap it to make a compact package with about a 6 inch servo lead.

I tried the module on my 3-channel radio with a potentiometer on channel 3. Both switches were off at the lowest dial setting. As the dial was moved to about the 1/3 point, the first switch turned on. At about the 2/3 point, the second switch came on and the first switch was off. At a setting near full upper limit, both switches were on.

The module could be used with this setup or with a set of resistors in the transmitter that set the servo settings based on a toggle switch on the radio.

In the U.S., I found the Firmtronics RCSwitch available from the Robot Market place (www.robotmarketplace.com) for about $15 plus shipping. More details and specs can be found here as well.

If you’re looking for a way to add an additional switched output to your radio gear, this just might do the trick.

[JohnRobHolmes]

Nice find! That would make some interesting lighting possibilities, like reverse lights or brake lights. Maybe even turn signals of some sort.

[Grizzly4x4]

That is super cool! Nice find Jay. Lots of cool stuff on that site.



I wonder if I can get the electrical engineers at work to design me something that can handle about 50 amps........hmmmmm.......

[constantmotion]

Here is another one that I have found. I haven't tried one out yet.

http://www.dimensionengineering.com/PicoSwitch.htm



Product Description

PicoSwitch is a relay switch that you toggle via hobby radio control gear. You can use PicoSwitch to quickly and easily control anything from a digital camera shutter to an electric squirt gun to home lighting and more. You can activate applications with voltage levels as high as 125VAC without having to know anything about microcontroller logic levels or transistors because the relay offers full electrical isolation from your receiver electronics.

PicoSwitch plugs into a standard hobby radio control receiver as easily as a servo does. You connect the load that you want to toggle using PicoSwitch's wear resistant screw terminals. Depending on the channel you use, you will then be able to control the relay by moving your radio's control stick up or down, left or right, or another method you desire.
Picoswitch has a status LED on the bottom. The LED will light up when the relay switch is on, and vice versa. It will also tell you if your radio link is too weak by flashing repeatedly.
The relay is a single pole single throw switch. Its typical lifetime is 100,000 to 1,000,000 switching cycles, depending on how heavy a load you are using. The relay is normally open when unpowered.

PicoSwitch does not supply power at the screw terminals.

PicoSwitch should not be used to switch inductive loads like motors or solenoids without an antiparallel diode.

Need more power? Try BattleSwitch.


Specifications: Max relay voltage: 60VDC, 125VAC
Max relay current: 1A @ 24VDC, 0.5A @ 125VAC (60W lightbulb)
Relay resistance: 100 mΩ max
3.5V to 5.5V operating voltage (on servo pigtail)
30mA typical draw from receiver

Note: PicoSwitch has a maximum voltage rating of 125VAC, meaking it unsuitable for toggling 220VAC applications.

Diagrams: PicoSwitch example diagram.jpg Dimensions: 0.75" x 0.62" x 0.62"
20mm x 16mm x 16mm
12 inch servo pigtail Applications: Control of lighting systems on RC planes, boats, cars.
Control of digital cameras in aerial photography.
Control of auxiliary weapons in RC combat tournaments.
Control of low power home lighting systems.
Control of nearly any low powered application that can be toggled with a switch.

Example projects:
Using PicoSwitch to control christmas lights
Using PicoSwitch to control a digital camera
Using PicoSwitch to control sound effects

Skulltronix uses PicoSwitch to turn off servo power between animation routines
timetocreatetoys uses PicoSwitch in prebuilt aerial photography systems

[JBHardwear]

Originally Posted by constantmotion

Here is another one that I have found. I haven't tried one out yet.

http://www.dimensionengineering.com/PicoSwitch.htm



Product Description

PicoSwitch is a relay switch that you toggle via hobby radio control gear. You can use PicoSwitch to quickly and easily control anything from a digital camera shutter to an electric squirt gun to home lighting and more. You can activate applications with voltage levels as high as 125VAC without having to know anything about microcontroller logic levels or transistors because the relay offers full electrical isolation from your receiver electronics.

PicoSwitch plugs into a standard hobby radio control receiver as easily as a servo does. You connect the load that you want to toggle using PicoSwitch's wear resistant screw terminals. Depending on the channel you use, you will then be able to control the relay by moving your radio's control stick up or down, left or right, or another method you desire.
Picoswitch has a status LED on the bottom. The LED will light up when the relay switch is on, and vice versa. It will also tell you if your radio link is too weak by flashing repeatedly.
The relay is a single pole single throw switch. Its typical lifetime is 100,000 to 1,000,000 switching cycles, depending on how heavy a load you are using. The relay is normally open when unpowered.

PicoSwitch does not supply power at the screw terminals.

PicoSwitch should not be used to switch inductive loads like motors or solenoids without an antiparallel diode.

Need more power? Try BattleSwitch.


Specifications: Max relay voltage: 60VDC, 125VAC
Max relay current: 1A @ 24VDC, 0.5A @ 125VAC (60W lightbulb)
Relay resistance: 100 mΩ max
3.5V to 5.5V operating voltage (on servo pigtail)
30mA typical draw from receiver

Note: PicoSwitch has a maximum voltage rating of 125VAC, meaking it unsuitable for toggling 220VAC applications.

Diagrams: PicoSwitch example diagram.jpg Dimensions: 0.75" x 0.62" x 0.62"
20mm x 16mm x 16mm
12 inch servo pigtail Applications: Control of lighting systems on RC planes, boats, cars.
Control of digital cameras in aerial photography.
Control of auxiliary weapons in RC combat tournaments.
Control of low power home lighting systems.
Control of nearly any low powered application that can be toggled with a switch.

Example projects:
Using PicoSwitch to control christmas lights
Using PicoSwitch to control a digital camera
Using PicoSwitch to control sound effects

Skulltronix uses PicoSwitch to turn off servo power between animation routines
timetocreatetoys uses PicoSwitch in prebuilt aerial photography systems

What switch are you using on your yota?

[Rckcrwlr]

Tamiya makes a set up that works great and gives you lots of flexibility.

The TLU-02 is the control unit that gives you 16 profiles including turn signals, reverse lights, ect.

The TLU-01 can be used separately but you will not have the profiles.

The combination of the two can give you up to 16 pair of lights.

Here is mine right now...

[Trimmy]

Originally Posted by Rckcrwlr

Tamiya makes a set up that works great and gives you lots of flexibility.

The TLU-02 is the control unit that gives you 16 profiles including turn signals, reverse lights, ect.

The TLU-01 can be used separately but you will not have the profiles.

The combination of the two can give you up to 16 pair of lights.

Here is mine right now...

Wow that is sweet!!!

[SACCO]

Nice finds




I just remove the motor from a cheapo servo and wire a plug to the board for the led's.

[roktoy]

Originally Posted by SACCO

Nice finds




I just remove the motor from a cheapo servo and wire a plug to the board for the led's.

That's cool, but only provides one light switch, right?
Jay

[Oze30]

Originally Posted by roktoy

That's cool, but only provides one light switch, right?
Jay

Couldn't you wire it to an old tamiya style speed controller?

[JavelinSST390]

Originally Posted by Rckcrwlr

Tamiya makes a set up that works great and gives you lots of flexibility.

The TLU-02 is the control unit that gives you 16 profiles including turn signals, reverse lights, ect.

The TLU-01 can be used separately but you will not have the profiles.

The combination of the two can give you up to 16 pair of lights.

Here is mine right now...

The tamiya units are cool, but they're like $350!!!! I could get a whole 'nother crawler!

[Mirage]

Originally Posted by JavelinSST390

The tamiya units are cool, but they're like $350!!!! I could get a whole 'nother crawler!

He isn't using the MFC-02, he is using the TLU's. Check his link for prices.

I had Vic at RCLighting help me out with a transmitter opperated light set for my Hilux:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAGKTakDRsI

[SACCO]

Originally Posted by roktoy

That's cool, but only provides one light switch, right?
Jay

not really. I have a multiplex radio, which has flash function on the servos if you want.

You can make one board turn on two sets of lights at different times if you want to(for signals). when you push the switch one way, it activates the right signal, left it turns on the left, center is no signals. I will show pics/vid of that later.

here is just lights with two different boards running them on just flash.

you can also proportianally turn on the lights(dim/bright) too.

[Nova's Ark]

Nice find. I see lights in my scalers future. Plus with a DX6 I have plenty of channels to choose from. Thanks for posting the info.

[30percent]

Here are the ones I use. They offer different amp ratings. Most of them are not reversable current so you can only turn lights on/off but it wont reverse the winch motor.



http://www.robotmarketplace.com/prod...nterfaces.html

They also use a seperate switched power source, its not powered from the Rec.

[hairba11]

so my $8 mini servo and $2 toggle switch are obsolete now?

[SACCO]

front signals. I just gotta tie in the wires for the rears. I am gonna make a pigtail off the rears to run my trailer lights too

[roktoy]

Originally Posted by Oze30

Couldn't you wire it to an old tamiya style speed controller?

Yes, that's a good idea....just much bulkier.

Originally Posted by hairba11

so my $8 mini servo and $2 toggle switch are obsolete now?

Yep....sounds like it :-)


Jay

[constantmotion]

Originally Posted by JBHardwear

What switch are you using on your yota?

I was using the micro servos activating two micro switches.

[constantmotion]

Originally Posted by roktoy

When I started building up a scale rig I knew one thing it had to have was some lighting. I wanted to add some running/headlights and some rock lights, and I wanted to operate them from a standard 3-channel pistol radio. With steering and throttle taking two channels, that left me one channel for lighting.

After a little searching I found a product from the South African company Firmtronics that could help with the lighting task. Basically, they offer a small module that plugs into your receivers third channel port and provides switch control for two loads from a single radio channel.

Their small module is capable of switching up to 2.5 amps per switch and the state of each of the two switches is determined by the stick/lever/switch position on your radio. This works great for two sets of lights you may want to control from a single channel. The module has two sets of pins that mate to standard 3-pin servo connectors to wire up whatever you choose to connect to. One pin on each output provides positive voltage and a second wire switches your load to ground upon command.

For you tech heads, Firmtronics starts with an Atmel Tiny 15L 8-pin SOIC 8-bit CMOS micro-controller. To that, they add some outboard passive and active components surface mounted to a small PC board and shrink-wrap it to make a compact package with about a 6 inch servo lead.

I tried the module on my 3-channel radio with a potentiometer on channel 3. Both switches were off at the lowest dial setting. As the dial was moved to about the 1/3 point, the first switch turned on. At about the 2/3 point, the second switch came on and the first switch was off. At a setting near full upper limit, both switches were on.

The module could be used with this setup or with a set of resistors in the transmitter that set the servo settings based on a toggle switch on the radio.

In the U.S., I found the Firmtronics RCSwitch available from the Robot Market place (www.robotmarketplace.com) for about $15 plus shipping. More details and specs can be found here as well.

If you’re looking for a way to add an additional switched output to your radio gear, this just might do the trick.

I purchased one these switches/relays and I cannot get it to do anything. The servo will move when plugged into either port but nothing when I toggle my three-way switch. I have changed my switch settings to proportional, but no change. I cannot get in touch with Robot Marketplace for support.