Steering Wheel Switches

[Gary Derian]

I think they are optically coupled like your TV remote.  There should be a
"clock spring" or maybe a slip ring to supply power.  A clock spring type
conductor is also used for air bag ignition.

Gary Derian <gderian at cybergate.net>


>I went to Las Vegas with the wife the last week of October.  Went to the
Sahara
>hotel where they have an interesting driving simultation using 24, 3/4 size
Indy
>cars mounted on hydraulic rams, each in it's on booth in front of a big
wide
>screen.  You guessed it, you race against the other drivers.  For $8 it was
better
>than the simulators in the arcades.  They give you a read out after you
race with
>a traction circle and other info showing how you did.  After looking at the
info,
>I was less frustrated and wanted to go back, but the wife had another
agenda.
>
>The transmission was semi-auto with the up and down buttons on the steering
>wheel.  That made me think of the higher end cars in the late '80's.  There
seemed
>to be a contest to see who could mount the most buttons on the steering
wheel.  I
>think the Bonneville SEi had more than an F-16 cockpit.  I know each button
didn't
>have a seperate ring in the steering column, so how did the switch signal
travel
>from the steering wheel to where ever it went?  All my electronically
limited mind
>can think of is either different resistances or capacitances or varying
frequency
>signals.
>
>Am I close?
>
>Joe Boucher
>'70 RS/SS Camaro  '81 TBI Suburban