I just discovered the lluminated RGB and RG rotary encoders. This is just what I need for my home cockpit project. Despite viewing the explanatory video, there are still a few questions:
How can I achieve the encoder to produce white light? Illuminating all 3 LED terminals?
Does the RG-encoder (not the RGB) also produce white light, or do I need the RGB encoder?
What are the sizes of the breakout PCB for these enocders? Size is critical for me.
This is just what I need for my home cockpit project. Despite viewing the explanatory video, there are still a few questions:
How can I achieve the encoder to produce white light? Illuminating all 3 LED terminals?
Yes, lighting up all three LEDs (red, blue & green) at the same intensity will produce white light. By varying the intensity of each LED, you can achieve any color light you desire.
Does the RG-encoder (not the RGB) also produce white light, or do I need the RGB encoder?
The RG encoder is missing a blue LED and can't produce white light. You can make any color between red and green including orange and yellow. If you want blue purple or white, you must use the RGB encoder.
What are the sizes of the breakout PCB for these enocders? Size is critical for me.
We have a few different possibilities for breakout boards but you're probably asking about part number [[BOB-11722](https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11722) and that's 15.24mm x 27.94mm in size.
We also have an ‘intelligent’ breakout called the Qwiic Twist that uses the same encoders, but includes a I2C enabled driver IC on the board. The dimensions are slightly larger at 25.4mm x 30.48mm but you only need 4 wires to communicate with the board and multiple boards can be daisy chained together. The part number for that is [DEV-15083 if you’re interested. (You might have a look at the [video and [hookup guide for this part to get a better idea how these works since they are not simply an encoder.)
That’s good news, it’s all I need to know, and the size just fits. So I am going to order the needed quantity (from a European distributor, since ordering direct from the USA is very awkward and expensive (customs etc.) - unfortunately), but luckily, tehre are several European distributors.
