Tech questions

[Erick Girouard]

Omega electronic question:

Does anybody know how the Omega deck boxes or deck plates register a signal from the plungers or pads?  I'm looking beyond the obvious that it's a electrical signal created by the plunger.  I've figured out that the deck boxes supply 12v to one side of all the plungers and pads (indicated by a line connecting them all on the box).  This is wired in common with the positive signal wire in the cable to the next box or to the Ares.  Obviously the other connection reads the signal.  But what voltage does it require, or what current does the box sink before triggering?  For example, I know that we have pads that have some significant leakage even when not activated.  According to the pad manual, a resistance of 100 ohms when nominally open indicates the tape switch is starting to fail and presumably still works, and I know I've had some that had a measurable resistance when open and still functioned normally.

Why do I want to know this?  Partly I'm just curious, but more importantly I'm thinking of making an in-line tester that can be used to see if the plungers and pads are working correctly, while plugged into the deck plate or box.