Adafruit
Step Switch with LED - Three Pack of Green with Red LED - PB86
These hinged momentary step switches are evocative of the 16-step sequencer keys on TR-808 sythesizers. Also sometimes used on A/V equipment, they're ve...
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These hinged momentary step switches are evocative of the 16-step sequencer keys on TR-808 sythesizers. Also sometimes used on A/V equipment, they're very tactile with a good clicky feel. And of course, the built in red LED is great for indicating when something is on or off - or as visual feedback when clicked.
There's four legs to the switch for mechanical stability. The switch is momentary SPDT type, there are two pins of the four that act as the common, and they naturally connect to one or the other of the remaining pins when the button is pressed. Check the diagram below to see which pins are the pole and which are the two throws. You may also want to use a multimeter on continuity mode to verify.
Note they are not breadboard or perf-board friendly! You'll need to either hand-wire or design into a PCB.
The LED is a simple 3mm, 20mA max, 2.1V-forward-voltage, red LED embedded into the plastic. There is no resistor built in so a 1K or so resistor will be useful to keep the LED from burning out. Our LED guide will help you on how to pick a resistor - then you can PWM dim the LED from a microcontroller pin, or connect it to a digital output as desired.
Jargon buster
Plain-language definitions for the technical terms used above.
- LED
- A light-emitting diode (LED) is a small electronic component that emits light when current flows through it in the correct direction. Because it only conducts one way, its polarity matters, and a through-hole LED must be soldered the correct way around to light up.
- microcontroller
- A microcontroller is a small computer on a single chip that runs a stored program and controls connected inputs and outputs such as buttons, sensors, displays and communication interfaces. In a device built around one, it is the part that executes the code and coordinates the device's behaviour.
- PCB
- A printed circuit board (PCB) is a board, usually rigid, with etched copper tracks that connect electronic components together without loose wiring. Components are mounted on the board and signals route between them through the copper layout.
- PWM
- Pulse Width Modulation is a way for a digital pin to simulate variable output power by switching on and off very quickly. It matters for controlling things like LED brightness, motor speed, or servo-style signals from a microcontroller pin.
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