footswitch question

[nic]

I've have a question that I hope someone can answer. I'm looking for a specific footswitch but I can't seem to find one.

Basically I need a momentary switch for a tap tempo EXCEPT that I need it to have two sets of poles because i'm bringing two different pedals into it that for some reason can't be y'd together, if that makes sense. So my plan is to use one set of poles for each pedal.

and a dpdt won't work so i guess i need a dpst (or I may be completely wrong about that).

thanks for any help!

[theehman]

Why wouldn't a DPDT momentary work?

http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=25

[nic]

because doesnt it need to be "off" when not depressed, not just on the unused poles? if i used a dpdt, whenever i switched wouldn't i only get every other tap, plus if i didnt pay attention, and i stopped tapping when the switch is on the poles i used, wouldnt that read as always on and completely nullify whatever i tapped?

thats really hard to explain. I hope that made sense. ha!

thanks for the reply!

[nic]

wait. dpdt momentary. nevermind. i think that i'm an idiot. the momentary means nothing is selected when the switch is not depressed right?

[theehman]

On a DPDT, one set of contacts is Normally Open (NO) and the other is Normally Closed (NC).  With a momentary switch when you press the switch the contacts are reversed (NO becomes NC and NC becomes NO).  When you release the switch the contacts go back to their original state.  That's what makes it a momentary switch.  On a non-momentary the contacts will stay as they are until the switch is pressed again.

[nic]

crikey. i think i was way over analyzing. forgive my idiocy. thanks for the help. you're are now awesome.

[theehman]

no prob.  Sometimes you just have to step back and look at it again.