Adding mouse buttons

The problem with the mouse buttons is that I need 2 hands to use the mouse pad, one hand to move the cursor and the other to click the mouse buttons. I like to surf the net with one 1 hand so the solution is to add mouse buttons beneath the mouse pad.







My camera is crap.


The mouse button layout on the AA1 is like this:

....1....2
....|....|...
|............|
|............|
|............|
....|.....|..
....3.....4

Sorry about the dots, if I use a space the formatting gets f*cked.

Terminals 1& 3 are always electrically connected to each other, terminals 2 & 4 are always electrically connected to each other. Terminals 1 &2 are open when not the button is not pushed, and they make electrical connection to each other when the button is pushed.

All you need is a tactile switch that connects terminals 1 to 2 or 1 to 4 or 2 to 3 or 3 to 4, when the tact switch is pushed.

For the left mouse button I used terminals 3 and 2, since they are the most easy to access.

For the right mouse button I use terminals 3 and 4.

Be careful when you solder the wires, the case of the button on the AA1 is metal, so if you put alot of solder on the terminals you might bridge the terminals to the case and create a short between the terminals, if that happens your AA1 will think that the mouse button is always pressed. Use a multimeter and check the resistance between the terminals to check over your work. Just check the resistance between terminals 1 and 2, if the resistance is 0 then you have a short somewhere.


I used hot glue to glue the buttons to the case, the wires are fed through the exhaust holes on the underside, it looks like crap and would probably get pulled off if I threw the AA1 into my bag. I just wanted to test everything out before I decide if I want to drill my case and mount the button inside of it with the plunger sticking out.

Everything works well, I can now surf the net with one hand

Regards,

Alan To