Analog audio switch

[bill]

Hi

I was looking for a switch - I wanted to hook up 8 analog/stereo
devices (tape recorders etc) and be able to connect any to any, or any
to all.
I have some of the old Radio Shack switches - but they deal with a max
of 4 devices (so I'm now daisychaining a few together).
I ended up with a AMX Phast PLB-AS8 Audio Switch Matrix, - though
discontinued, every thing I read indicated it did everything I wanted.
When I received it, I realized that it only worked as part of a
system.
so now I either have to find a cheap interface for it so I can use the
device, sell it ($100 if any one is interested) - or use it as a boat
anchor and find a switch that does what I need it to do. (of course
then I'd have to buy a boat :-(

Any ideas?

thanks

[hank alrich]

bill > wrote:

> Hi
>
> I was looking for a switch - I wanted to hook up 8 analog/stereo
> devices (tape recorders etc) and be able to connect any to any, or any
> to all.
> I have some of the old Radio Shack switches - but they deal with a max
> of 4 devices (so I'm now daisychaining a few together).
> I ended up with a AMX Phast PLB-AS8 Audio Switch Matrix, - though
> discontinued, every thing I read indicated it did everything I wanted.
> When I received it, I realized that it only worked as part of a
> system.
> so now I either have to find a cheap interface for it so I can use the
> device, sell it ($100 if any one is interested) - or use it as a boat
> anchor and find a switch that does what I need it to do. (of course
> then I'd have to buy a boat :-(
>
> Any ideas?
>
> thanks

Why do yu want to do this? Have you considered a simple patchbay?

--
ha
shut up and play your guitar

[Scott Dorsey]

bill > wrote:
>I was looking for a switch - I wanted to hook up 8 analog/stereo
>devices (tape recorders etc) and be able to connect any to any, or any
>to all.
>I have some of the old Radio Shack switches - but they deal with a max
>of 4 devices (so I'm now daisychaining a few together).
>I ended up with a AMX Phast PLB-AS8 Audio Switch Matrix, - though
>discontinued, every thing I read indicated it did everything I wanted.
>When I received it, I realized that it only worked as part of a
>system.
>so now I either have to find a cheap interface for it so I can use the
>device, sell it ($100 if any one is interested) - or use it as a boat
>anchor and find a switch that does what I need it to do. (of course
>then I'd have to buy a boat :-(

Go to AMX and buy one of the remote devices. I think the PHAST interface
is really just RS-422 in disguise, too, so you can probably hack something
up to control it from a computer as well.

Frankly, I'd just trade it in for a patchbay and do it right.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Mike Rivers]

bill wrote:

> I was looking for a switch - I wanted to hook up 8 analog/stereo
> devices (tape recorders etc) and be able to connect any to any, or any
> to all.

> I ended up with a AMX Phast PLB-AS8 Audio Switch Matrix, - though
> discontinued, every thing I read indicated it did everything I wanted.
> When I received it, I realized that it only worked as part of a
> system.

Well, typically a matrix switch like this would be part of a system, so
even
though I'm not familiar with this unit (OK, so I Googled it) I'm not
surprised
that it requires some external control device.

I seem to recall that 360 Systems made an audio matrix switch that has a
control panel. Maybe you could find one of those. It's unbalanced (1/4"
jacks) but since the AMX is as well, I guess that's oK for you.

Here's a review:
http://www.robertsonics.com/MatrixRV1.htm

And here's one on Craig's List for $100
http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/ele/1285181094.html

I'd love to find some T-Bar matrix switch components that I used in an
installation that I put together for a job at the National Weather Service
in the late 1970s. The switches were made up of groups of really high
grade 8PDT relays and the terminations were on DB-25 connectors. We
used them to switch terminals, printers, and modems around in a large
data communications facility. It seems they ought to show up at hamfests
but I've never seen any.






--
If you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring and reach
me here:
double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo -- I'm really Mike Rivers
)

[bill]

On Thu, 30 Jul 2009 06:36:00 -0700, (hank alrich)
wrote:

>bill > wrote:

>
>Why do yu want to do this? Have you considered a simple patchbay?

do you mean a physical bay - one like the old style
telco operators used - or an electronic one that would allow
one to any?

do you have any suggestions?

thanks

[bill]

thanks


On Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:57:01 GMT, Mike Rivers >
wrote:


>
>Here's a review:
>http://www.robertsonics.com/MatrixRV1.htm
>
>And here's one on Craig's List for $100
>http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/ele/1285181094.html
>

[GregS[_3_]]

In article >, bill > wrote:
>On Thu, 30 Jul 2009 06:36:00 -0700, (hank alrich)
>wrote:
>
>>bill > wrote:
>
>>
>>Why do yu want to do this? Have you considered a simple patchbay?
>
>do you mean a physical bay - one like the old style
>telco operators used - or an electronic one that would allow
>one to any?
>
>do you have any suggestions?


It was about 7 years ago I made a system using the old EDAC matrix switch, was
orginally Cherry. Full mechanical switch. Digikey still has
them in the catalog.

greg

[Scott Dorsey]

bill > wrote:
>
>do you mean a physical bay - one like the old style
>telco operators used - or an electronic one that would allow
>one to any?

A physical patchbay, like studios use.

You can do one-to-many fanouts as well, if you get some jacks wired in
parallel.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[David Gravereaux]

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If you want a construction idea, use relays. For a controller, use a
basic stamp <http://www.parallax.com/tabid/214/Default.aspx>. It'll
click when you switch without a dimmer on the output. It could be all
passive. The latching Omron relays (G5AU) are nice as they don't draw a
holding current. I'd design it for balanced lines, but wire it for
unbalanced operation should you require it.

- --

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