rickman wrote:

snip

I have seen no reasonable explanation of how a reed switch is any more
analog than a mechanical switch. They are both analog movements of a
mechanism. The only difference is one adjusts a magnetic field while the
other applies pressure to a spring which bends (again in an analog manner)
until it begins to make contact with another spring. Which will have more
jitter? Only a measurement will say and the reed switch has a much lower
time of bouncing, so will not possibly have a noticeable jitter in time of
actuation.

I agree that jitter is not a major issue, but I do think that with a
mechanical switch that human muscles and brain are directly part of the
analogue feedback loop controlling jitter in a way they may not be with
an intervening magnetic link. At least with a straight key, if springs
are part ot the system then your argument is more convincing. This is a
different issue from contact bounce, which occurs after the initial
contact closure.


--

Roger Hayter