Beautiful NASA switches - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: eti
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2021, 08:11:02 pm
content: The sheer beauty of design and operation.And a pdf:http://www.flamecorp.com/PDF/Safran-Electronics-Defense/Safran-10%20Series%20Catalog.pdf

author: AlbertL
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 20, 2021, 02:42:37 pm
content: Thanks for posting that! I really enjoy the aesthetics of control panels, and the Apollo MOCR consoles with those wonderful switches are among my favorites.A computer display and mouse, or a touchscreen, just doesn't do it for me. It's gotta have *real* buttons and knobs!

author: jmelson
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 20, 2021, 03:45:13 pm
content: The ones on the left are Microswitch, or copies of theirs. Used on lots of other computer gear that get a lot of pushes over the life of the equipment, like tape drives and printers.Jon

author: Red Squirrel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 20, 2021, 09:31:36 pm
content: Quote from: AlbertL on May 20, 2021, 02:42:37 pmI feel the same way, and it seems we are losing the beauty and usability of real switches and knobs. Almost all cars now seem to only have touch screen - even touch handles! (looking at you Tesla). How are you suppose to do something basic like change the radio station or adjust the hvac when you're driving?But even just every day appliances it seems things are slowly going to full touch screens now or touch buttons. It's just not the same imo. I know why they do it though... to save costs. But they still charge us more for it.

author: Red Squirrel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 20, 2021, 09:59:40 pm
content: Just watched the video, those really are nice! Don't think they make stuff like that anymore and if they do I bet you pay for it, like, a lot. It's cool how they are so modular. I can just picture NASA having a "switch guy" who probably knew every in and out of those and had every data sheet on them you can think of and even knew model numbers off hand. The switch in your mission control panel not working? He shows up with his tool box, looks at it "ahh yes, we need a [blurts out long part number]" and digs one out and has it fixed in 5 minutes.

author: WattsThat
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 20, 2021, 10:12:51 pm
content: Quote from: jmelson on May 20, 2021, 03:45:13 pmYes, agreed. They are reminiscent of the switches on IBM 1400 & 360 series machines and their peripherals. My personal fav was the 2560 MFCM or Multi-Function Card Machine. It’s nickname was the Mother-F’ing-Card-Muncher. Card jams at 10 cards a second were always spectacular. The punch chad hopper was about a cubic foot. Made for lots of fun at New Years parties.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 20, 2021, 10:21:24 pm
content: Quote from: Red Squirrel on May 20, 2021, 09:31:36 pmThat drives me absolutely nuts. I drove my dad's Tesla around for a while after he died and there were many things I loved about that car but I absolutely hated the dashboard. It had absolutely no switches, buttons or indicators at all on the dash, everything controlled via a huge touch screen that looks like an afterthought, like someone just bolted a big iPad to the middle of the dash and called it good. Trying to adjust the temperature, turn on the seat heaters, adjust the mirrors or even manually control the wipers requires digging around in menus on a touchscreen or figuring out what voice command is needed to open the menu you want, it is a recklessly dangerous design.My car on the other hand has physical switches, sliders and knobs for everything, they're laid out logically and have different shapes so I can operate everything by feel without taking my eyes off the road. Physical switches cost money but there is enormous value in tactile feedback. I think touch screens in cars ought to be banned, it is impossible to operate a touchscreen by feel, you HAVE to take your eyes off the road, often for a dangerous amount of time. They are hugely distracting, as dangerous as being drunk, and yet everyone is flocking to them. Car makers tout them as "modern" and "clean" but the real reason they push them is that they are cheap.These old buttons linked above are gorgeous, something like them would be great for the dash of a car.

author: AlbertL
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 23, 2021, 11:14:55 am
content: Nuclear power plants are one of the few places that have successfully resisted the touchscreen trend. Perhaps safety regulations demand that each control and indicator be hardwired to its corresponding field device. Anyway, some of those nukes have beautiful control rooms!

author: fourfathom
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 23, 2021, 04:15:03 pm
content: Occasionally I am a passenger on a small commuter plane (the DeHavilland DHC-2 Beaver floatplane, or the Cessna 208 Caravan) which gives me the opportunity to see the cockpit up close. I assume most planes are similar in this respect, but many of the controls have very different shapes for the knobs and switches. This makes it much less likely to pull the wrong lever in the heat of the moment, as your sense of touch will immediately warn you if you've got the wrong control. With a touchscreen you lose all this tactile feedback.

author: IdahoMan
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2021, 06:27:53 am
content: Great thread, thanks for posting.This history and schemes for the layouts of control-panels (switches, meters, lights and sound (alarms)) should be documented.

author: RJSV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2021, 01:44:46 am
content: SYSTRON DONNER CORP. used those 'Mil-Spec' type push buttons, with '325' type incandescent indicator lamps. The Safety Systems division (Concord, CA.) sells industrial fire and overheat detection. So the typical system control / display box would have detectors wired in, and a 'press to test' feature would run a low voltage down the wiring, to detector, and back: That way virtually every portion is checked out.Used in aircraft, and some (military) heavy vehicles as well.

author: AlbertL
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2021, 10:49:30 pm
content: These guys make some nice-looking switches of the type used in power-plant control rooms:https://www.electroswitch.com/products/utility-power-switches-relays/manual-standard-instrument-and-control-switches.And no power plant would be complete without a bunch of these!https://www.ametekpower.com/products/alarm-management

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 08, 2021, 12:38:27 am
content: NASA TN D-8301 Apollo Displays and Controlshttps://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19760026143/downloads/19760026143.pdfI don't see a direct link to the document above, however in the sectionApollo Experience Reportsthere is also:https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/tnD6722LMDisplayControl.pdfThere's a lot more information at:https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/main.htmlIf you're a fan of space exploration and Project Apollo, you could easily spend many hours following the links there.Buzz Aldrin's Ph.D. thesishttp://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/12652John C. Houbolt's Lunar Orbit Rendezvous Studyhttps://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/JCHoubolt1961LunarOrbitRendezvous19780070033.pdfPutting a flag on the Moon, how hard could it be?https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/alsj-usflag.html