I just remembered that I hadn't posted this, I kind of need to so I can bitch about something related in the Random Thoughts Tech Edition thread.
When I got the glass Kallax inserts I also got a small Lack shelf for £7. The plan was to make a small bedside shelf, I knew it was too big but I could trim it down. The construction made this a little tricky, it has a chunk of particle board glued in the back of an otherwise hollow shell with cardboard ribs. I had to remove the chunk, trim the shelf, cut out the cardboard to make space and then glue the chunk of board back in. It actually went fine and I also added screws.
Once that was done I was on to phase 2. I wanted a light switch on it to control the lights from my bed. For years I've been turning the light off and then using my phone light or falling over stuff in the dark while I get into bed. This was a good excuse to experiment.
I got a new remote control with the 4-way extension so I could sacrifice the old one. There are two types of Energenie remotes.
What I would call the old style:
And what I would call the new style:
The old style has the advantage of using microswitches on the board that you can solder to, but it's held together with three screws and you have to peel off the grey sticker to access two of them. The new one is only held together with one screw but uses contact pads and squishy buttons. I haven't tried soldering to them but I've done it to an Xbox 360 controller board before, it wouldn't be fun.
Anyway I had an old style that had already been apart for me to see how it worked, so that became the controller for this project. Engage photodump:
Wires soldered on. Positive is taken up to the momentary on-off-on switch and then is sent out to either the on or off. I'm saying the positive is commoned but I never actually tested the polarity.
Wires fed through the shelf
Attached to the spade terminals on the switch. You'll be very surprised to learn that this switch is from a Land Rover, it's an old electric window switch from Keely.
Screwed to the underside of the shelf so I can access it. These are RF so the LED didn't have to be bent over, it's just so I can see it and figure out if the coin cell battery is dead.
Probably should've used stickers. I thought about buying an unlabelled switch but that was overkill, I can still do that if I want to.
This remote is linked to the main lights and the 4-way, which allows me to turn on the main lights and the LED strips I have inside the cubes at the same time. It also allows me to control the other three sockets on the 4-way by reaching underneath and pressing the buttons, as whenever you link a remote to a 4-way strip it takes over all four pairs of buttons. My moan in the RT thread will explain why I might need to do that.