can this be done? switch/relay

ok, so i am working on a switch board for my car and mapped out 12 necessary switches, i would rather not have 12 switches taking up space so i came up with the idea of...

is there a way that i can wire a momentary switch to a 12 position rotary switch? and use it in the manner of turn to pos 1 push momentary and the item turns on ... go around the dial turn everything off... then be able to go back around the dial and turn things off... all while each position on the dial is in no way affected by another. like say i just want to turn on position 2 4 and 6 and then decide i want to turn off 4 but turn on 9....

i have really though this over and it gets more ludicrous the more i think about it, but it would be the perfect solution to my clutter issue!

any advice would be amazing!

thank you!

the only way i see that senario happening is by using 12 seperate electronic latching relays connected to your rotary switch, ouch, thats gonna cost!

Using that approach wouldn't be user friendly at all, it would be a pain to turn everything on and off!

Why so many switches?

-------------
Kevin Pierson

How about a phone style keypad?  Didn't Radioshack use to do them? You will still need 12 relays, some to latch etc, oh forget it, the other wasy would be a custom remote, Xmitter and rerceiver, you'll still need all those relays unless you buy a receiver with onboard configuable relays.

what kind of project is this anyway? what is it you are trying to do? maybe there is an easier way to accomplish what you want to do that you haven't thought of.

all great stuff guys, thanks!

first, i have thought about using an air ride controller but those are momentary control, and i need a constant.

i had also though about 2 switches and one dial, go on with that idea... lol

i love the idea of a phone dial pad also, that would work

as far as indictors i was just going to use an array 3mm LEDs at the top of the center console i am building...

as for what the switches are controlling it is just the various lights on my car. neons, leds, strobes, light bars, KC lights, just looking for a cleaner way of installing all the switches i want to have, without having to put more things on one switch.

$4.95 from allelectronics.com

This keypad has 12 buttons with individual contacts that you can run to a toggle circuit to drive individual relays to turn them on and off each time you press the corresponding button.
Should be fairly straightforward. I assume you don't need any of this stuff to be on when you leave the car, so you can have it all turn off by default when you turn off the ignition without having to press each button.

The contacts of that keypad are only rated at 20mA, so you will need either reed relays or transistors on every contact.

Nice find dualsport!

-------------
Kevin Pierson

wow, that is awesome and i would love to run it! but im sorry, i have no idea what you guys are talking about for my wiring options... would you mind going into more details on how to wire something like this key pad to work? and how to make it run devices rated at 3 - 30amps

thanks guys!!!

link

Latching circuits like in the thread above would be needed, with 6 flip flop chips and 12 transistors to cover the 12 channels. 12 mechanical relays would be driven by the transistors, to handle the current you want to control. The outputs from the transistors shown in the diagram need diodes to be added across the relay coils to protect against the voltage spikes when the relays turn off.
A cap connected to the reset input from the 12V switched power should make sure everything is off when the car is first turn on. When the car is switched off, all the relays should turn off if the relay coils are powered from the switched power.