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How to connect hardware to Arduino or Pokeys or MicroControllers
Note that the ports are given for Pokeys. Arduino has different ports depending on the type of Arduino.
Switches are always connected as shown, 1 wire goes to
GND and the other goes to a port, no matter which
Rotary switches
A rotary switch has one contact that is common to all switch
positions. The common contact goes to GND, if you have a switch
with 12 used positions than each position goes to a
Arduino or Pokeys port.
Potentiometers
A potentiometer has three contacts. One outer contact goes to
3.3 Volt on the PoKeys card. This is a separate connection. The
The other outer contact goes to GND, and the slider needs to be
connected to a PoKeys port numbers 43 to 47 or Arduino analog ports
These are specific 12-bit analog ports that can handle potentiometers.
Encoders
Encoders always needs to ports to be connected
to. Please use 2 successive ports. Like a potentiometer,
an encoder has three contacts, but here the middle
contact goes to GND. The outer contacts each go to
a Pokeys port. If, by turning the encoder, the value
goes up instead of down, just switch both outer contacts.
On the left, you can see different types of encoders
used in Flight Simulation. Note that each encoder
has its specific characteristics, and you will also
need to configure none, 2x or 4x switching Flight
Simulator software like ProSim will handle this for you.
The following types have been tested with ProSim
Led’s
7-segment displays
7-segment displays can be connected to a Pokeys card by means of the
MicroDriver board. These board can drive up to 8 digits. You can connect
up to 2 boards, 16 digits in total, to a Pokeys card.
Arduino has possibility to connect up to 8 MicroDrivers or 64 digits
How to connect 7-segment drivers
Relais
In general, relays always needs to be connected by means of a
transistor that can switch the amount of power that the relays needs.
You can also use a LED extension board; these can also drive relays.
The pictures on the left are specific relay boards that are suited
to be connected to Pokeys card and Arduino’s, without transistors.
If you want more info about these, let me know.
LCD display
Pokeys devices support connecting one alphanumeric LCD module up
to a size of 4x20 (4 rows, 20 columns). The selection of the module
is limited by support for HD44780 or compatible chipsets.
Usually, these displays come in various sizes - 1/2/4 line with 8/16/20
characters and colors (black letters on green background, white
letters on blue background, ...). Check the Pokeys manual for
instructions on how to connect. …or Arduino examples.
ALPS Dual
Concentric
2x sampling
Switches, all type of switches can be connected. Push buttons, normal switches, rotary switches…
to any digital port
Only to analog ports
Digital port
Digital port
to input port
Althought it is possible to connect LEDs directly to PoKeys, Arduino or
Raspberry ports you need to be carefull as to not draw more than the
specified mA per port and respect the maximum mA that can be drawn
from the microcontroller. You should take a look at the datasheet of
the manufacturer. For Arduino UNO this is 20 mA per port and to be safe.
Total not more then 200 mA so maximum 10 led’s.
For Raspberry Pi Pico this is specified by the setting of the port and can
vary from 2 to 18 mA. Always check the datasheet to be sure.
Pokeys is only 4 mA per port with a maximum of 100 mA in total.
Led’s more info
