what are these mechanical led switches called?

[ELS122]

I am just fascinated by the switched on my Elta 8971 graphic equalizer.
they have buttons on the top/bottom and they have LEDs that show the "position"

it would be awesome if I can find ones that I can buy for not too expensive price.

[ataradov]

Based on the pictures I could find, they are clearly custom made.

I don't think there is a standard component that looks or functions like that.

[ELS122]

Based on the pictures I could find, they are clearly custom made.

I don't think there is a standard component that looks or functions like that.

no, it's not custom made, it has also been produced by realistic and proline I think.
here's a video of pretty much the same one, mine is only branded elta :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULN31grzk5Q

I will post pictures in a moment, but I'm 100% sure it's mechanical, it changes the setting even if it's completely disconnected from power and I press the buttons + it sounds like it's mechanical + there's a pretty big box for that switch inside.

[ataradov]

The labels on the buttons are custom labeled, for sure. It looks like those things come as an assembly, but I'm not really sure they are not custom. It would be nice to see how those things are designed up close. But I really would not expect to actually find them.

Also, is not Realistic a private label brand from Radio Shak? In this case all they did is order the units with custom branding.

[ebastler]

These look like LED bargraphs to me (which, of course, are available as preassembled units), plus two pushbuttons with custom-printed caps. I would expect each of these controls to consist of three separate components, soldered to the front panel PCB.

Have you taken it apaart yet? 

[ELS122]

so I took it apart and took some photos: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/yh3eysn4epmqp75/AABGYqeXKN7dGQ2cyP0GaV7Ha?dl=0
it's really worn out but still works as good as it did when it was new!

oh, those aren't just bar graphs, they are either a led that moves with the buttons (really unlikely and don't see them move at all) or a led bargraph with a switch in 1 package and the LEDs are connected to the switch inside.

also the schematic on the bottom is in german it seems. might mean it's from a German brand? I think the guy I got it from said it was made in Germany.

[ataradov]

In the the video you can see that each unit is a separate sub-assembly. But yes, it looks like a standard LED bar graph and a couple buttons. Given how big they are, I also expect some additional logic on the same assembly.

[ebastler]

Thanks for the photos. The first one shows the switch unit nicely, and it's a surprise indeed.

That looks more like there is a mechanism inside, where the switch/LED unit mechanically remembers the current setting. Hence, they would be relatives of these BCD thumb switches, with an LED bar added instead of the mechanical state display:

[ebastler]

also the schematic on the bottom is in german it seems. might mean it's from a German brand? I think the guy I got it from said it was made in Germany.

Elta was a German brand, active from 1968 to 2010, but according to Wikipedia has only ever been an importer of Asian-made devices. Maybe they went to the effort of creating decent German documentation including schematics?

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elta_GmbH (in German)

[ELS122]

Thanks for the photos. The first one shows the switch unit nicely, and it's a surprise indeed.

That looks more like there is a mechanism inside, where the switch/LED unit mechanically remembers the current setting. Hence, they would be relatives of these BCD thumb switches, with an LED bar added instead of the mechanical state display:

yes, it's exactly what I'm 99.9% sure, I tested if it changes the setting when I disconnect power and push the buttons and it does.
one weird thing I sometimes get is when it jams between 2 values if I press both buttons at the same time, then the 2 LEDs glow really dark.

also the schematic on the bottom is in german it seems. might mean it's from a German brand? I think the guy I got it from said it was made in Germany.

Elta was a German brand, active from 1968 to 2010, but according to Wikipedia has only ever been an importer of Asian-made devices. Maybe they went to the effort of creating decent German documentation including schematics?

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elta_GmbH (in German)

I JUSt started typing if anyone has a schematic, I guess it's worth trying to google it. it's quite decent looking inside... doesn't really tell anything. but it's been in the worst of environments and has survived everything, I soldered some trances that looked bad but had no problems even without soldering them.