I was wondering if I could use an EC11 rotary encoder swith as a normal switch in a keypad connected to arduino to save pins for other components.
The only circuits I've found online using EC11 rotary encoders always connect one of the switch pins to GND and the other one to the arduino, but I'd like to connect one of those pins to the a "row" pin and the other one to a "column" pin (and of cource use the other 3 pins for input and ground of the rotary encoder knob rotation).
Is this possible, and if so, do I need any additional components like resistors, or can I use those 2 pins as a normal switch?
How would using the switch on an EC11 encoder rather than a stand alone pushbutton switch save any pins ?
Which Arduino board are you using and what have you used all of the pins for ?
If I have a rotary encoder and a key matrix of 4x4 normal switches (but only use 15 keys),
I could do it in 2 ways;
A) 8 pins for the matrix (4 rows + 4 cols) + the pins needed for the rotary encoder knob + 1 pin for the rotary encoder switch -> 8 + 2 + 1 = 11 input/output pins.
B) Use the rotary encoder switch as one of the other key switches in the key matrix.
This results in 8 pins for the matrix + the pins needed for the rotary encoder knob -> 8 + 2 = 10 input/output pins, but the math is the same.
Note: This is just a simple example, I plan to have more keys and more rotary encoders in the real thing.
Judging by this schematic from debounce - How to connect an EC11E rotary encoder to a microcontroller? - Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange
The switch connects terminal P1 to GND as you say. If that is the case, unless you can modify the switch to prevent this then you cannot use it as a matrix switch
That's what I was afraid of...