Dip switch can be regarded as a substitute for jumper group. Its main advantage is that the switch is easier to switch state than jumper, and there is no short connector that may be lost or fall off. The dip switch with sliding rod applied for U.S. patent in 1976. The dip switch was used in 1974 and in the flip game of Atari in 1977.
Where are dip switches used?
Dip switch is widely used in industry standard architecture (ISA) computer expansion card to select interrupt request (IRQ) and memory address. Before the advent of cheaper battery powered ram, arcades in the 1980s also used dip switches to set game parameters, such as difficulty or the amount of money to be invested each time. Dip switch
is also commonly used in garage door opener or some early wireless phones to set security code. The maximum length of the security code can be set with 12 switches, which can be used to avoid electromagnetic interference with other garage door openers or other equipment. The current garage door opener has been changed to a rolling code with high security.
The display cards used in early computers often had dip switches because of their compatibility with other display specifications. For example, color graphics adapter (CGA) graphics card allows compatibility with monochrome display adapter (MDA) specifications, which can be achieved through the setting of DIP switch.
Mechanical DIP switch is rarely used in consumer electronic products since 1990. The reasons include the trend of product volume reduction, the relatively simple setting of product configuration through software menu, and the price reduction of nonvolatile memory. However, dip switches are still often used in industrial products, mainly because they are cheap, easy to integrate with circuits, and can be set in case of power failure.
Dip switches can still be set on some remote control devices to avoid interference between different devices. For example, the remote controller for controlling ceiling fans and lamps. There will be a dip switch on the remote controller, which can set different RF for different transmitters / receivers. Therefore, the remote controller can be used in different rooms in the same house without unexpected mutual interference.
In X10 smart home devices, the rotary switch is also commonly used to set the home, room or device number. Rotary switches are also used in some transmitters (especially VHF and FM broadcast transmitters) to set the DC bias of the VCO (determine the center frequency of the carrier)
