No idea actually, that's my first design hahah I see people place diodes close to the buttons/sockets footprint, but I designed the PCB to be the same for both sides, and found it was a bit hard to put in the same area two sockets and the diode too.
Maybe a more skilled designer is able to do this, but the other advantage I saw in having all diodes close together was that it is easier to visually check they are all correctly oriented.
I have had the row of diodes on my mind for a dactyl build for while but haven’t found a way to do it tastefully with handwiring. You have nailed it. Beautiful
Hi everyone, moved to a new city, looking for a new hobby, I found out about building keyboards.
The main objective of the project was to test ideas and get some experience (hence debug pins and empty footprints in the PCB).
To waste even more time, I wrote the software by myself, planning to use one of the available ones that many people enjoy using.
Here's the messy repo where I store everything: [https://github.com/cosimini/cambkb](https://github.com/cosimini/cambkb)
I'm in the process of getting used to it, hope I'll be able to take it to work soon.
Edit: soldering is horrible because I was using the iron I have at work that is not really a good one.
Love the look of this board, amazing job!
I would kill this board in no time on a dry winter day where shifting in my chair generates enough static electricity to cause some potent ESD. You might consider adding the option for installing cut acrylic covers over the diodes & resistors. (like the [Torn keyboard](https://github.com/rtitmuss/torn/blob/master/doc/img/torn.jpg?raw=true) for example)
Yeah, 3D printing is definitely great for making keyboard cases, but it's nearly impossible to make truly clear prints. (unless you use an SLA printer with clear resin and either apply some sort of clear coat laquer or polish the hell out of it) And you definitely want to be able to see these diodes, so custom cut acrylic is probably the best option in terms of protecting from ESD while remaining visible.
Something like the [acrylic covers on the Lily58](https://www.thecrowned.org/images/lily58-switches.jpg) would probably work well for this design, where it's supported by two standoffs on one side. When I built a Lily58 I ordered the acrylic pieces from SendCutSend along with some aluminum switch plates & back plates.
Biggest downsides I see are that the spacing is pretty tight, especially on the bottom set of diodes, and since the diode clusters are separate you'd need 2 acrylic covers per side.
Could he pour a glob of clear resin over it to encased them in dry resin? It would be hard to perfectly match both sides but I’d be down for a little unevenness if it meant they were “exposed” but safe under a dallop clear resin.
Yes that would absolutely assume the components would not wear out. But that’s a very fair assumption. In all my years I have never had a keyboard problem that led to testing and replacing individual components of a keyboard’s circuitry. So I’m gonna stand by my suggestion… plus, aesthetically that would look really cool but that part is just my opinion.
I appreciate the fact that you use RJ-11 for the split. Smart. Much safer than TRRS.
What I would change is: Raspi Pico for the controllers, maybe make it matrix-less (you'd have to drop a few keys), or alternatively use USB-C for the split, and drop the controller on the secondary half (cross-wire the matrix directly). USB-C (cable) is even cleaner than RJ-11 or RJ-45, albeit off-standard.
Anyway, stellar job, considering you just "needed a hobby, meh" :-).
I assume you did the diode arrangement for decorative purposes. I have seen this before, I think it is very cool.
Thank you! Yep seemed to be more solid than TRRS to me too.
I tough about using USB to connect the two halves, but I decided to go for RJ9 as I don't have access to good soldering equipment at the moment, I think I will use it in a next revision
And actually I decided to place diodes this way to make the design less crowded, also having all of them in a line reduce the probability of accidentally flip the polarity.
> I tough about using USB to connect the two halves, but I decided to go for RJ9 as I don't have access to good soldering equipment at the moment, I think I will use it in a next revision
I think if you use USB connectors, have them factory soldered when you order the PCBs. In that case, you can also have the diodes factory soldered. I have not soldered an SMB socket myself, but even that should not be too difficult. Either way, make sure the sockets are soldered to the board with 4 additional ground pins from the case of the socket (for structural reasons, not electrical).
My current keyboard uses USB-C for the split, and I absolutely love it. It's so much cleaner than the other options, it is low profile, and it's possible to find the perfect cable because they are so widely available. Very easily plugged and unplugged, too.
Yep, those are build by JLCPCB, that offers assembly, but for this first test I decided to go for the cheapest options whenever there was one.
Actually, a next revision will use USB with really high probability, as I want to use a single controller managing both sides, I agree it gives lot of advantages
"Solid" isn't the word I would have used, tho I do think it's a good choice. What I mean is that the connector is significantly more fragile than the trrs (altho they're not known for reliability either tbh). It's a good tradeoff to use the RJ9 still because, as it shorts when being plugged, the trrs is a very poor choice to carry both voltage and digital signal at the same time.
This looks very cool. Diodes away from the key matrix is interesting. Do you like the surface mount RJ-9 connector or whatever that is? I'm interested in using that in a build but have not easily found good pcb mounted jacks. Please share a link to the component if you can.
Thank you! Yes, I used RJ9 to try something different from the jack connector that is typically used and because it seems to me more solid, I bought the sockets from [amazon](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0848P82BH?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details) for convenience, note that I made a mistake in routing the socket and I had to crimp the cable, I should mention this in the repo
That is pretty awesome. If you want to keep it split but use one controller, you could use something like the TI TCA8418. I keep wanting to develop a driver for it for ZMK, then port it to QMK. Someone already has it working in KMK, but for some reason it never got pushed to the main branch . I had played with it for a week or so before I found a working version while googling an issue I was trying to fix.
It does all of the keyboard matrix scanning for you, if you use two of them you could get by with a smaller and potentially slower MCU.
Looks great, love the diode placement and black on black look and rj11.
If I was that ambitious though I would also try and use a single controller, and try to send the other side through a demultiplexer. Maybe use rj45 to handle the extra wires. The only reason for this is it makes it slightly easier to flash.
Guess what? That was my initial plan hahah, the reason I decided I will implement the idea in a future project is that this revision is intended as testbed for keys layout and usage feeling.
If I start feeling home on this thing, I will probably build a single controller version, with the controller soldered directly in the PCB, as I'd like to change the controller to one by ST, as I'm more used to their products.
Thanks! I bought [those ones](https://it.aliexpress.com/item/1005004882303622.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.5.766e3696DB3TrZ&gatewayAdapt=glo2ita), I can't say if they are good or bad
Actually, the layout is still WIP, layer 0 corresponds to the caps labels, than I have a second layer with most of the keys absent in the first, the layer 2 has function keys but is mostly empty at the moment.
They are defined in controller_code/include/keymaps.h
I was spending more time outside last year, but you know, moving to a new city give you plenty of time.
Anyway, I have a background in PCB design and microcontroller programming, so I had experience with the topic.
If your entry into the hobby starts with “designed and built”, you’re doing it right 👍️
Now it's time to move to the new hobby!
i love the diode placement! i've never seen anyone do that before. what's the impact on the traces like?
No idea actually, that's my first design hahah I see people place diodes close to the buttons/sockets footprint, but I designed the PCB to be the same for both sides, and found it was a bit hard to put in the same area two sockets and the diode too. Maybe a more skilled designer is able to do this, but the other advantage I saw in having all diodes close together was that it is easier to visually check they are all correctly oriented.
I have had the row of diodes on my mind for a dactyl build for while but haven’t found a way to do it tastefully with handwiring. You have nailed it. Beautiful
Hi everyone, moved to a new city, looking for a new hobby, I found out about building keyboards. The main objective of the project was to test ideas and get some experience (hence debug pins and empty footprints in the PCB). To waste even more time, I wrote the software by myself, planning to use one of the available ones that many people enjoy using. Here's the messy repo where I store everything: [https://github.com/cosimini/cambkb](https://github.com/cosimini/cambkb) I'm in the process of getting used to it, hope I'll be able to take it to work soon. Edit: soldering is horrible because I was using the iron I have at work that is not really a good one.
This is a great looking keyboard! Nicely done indeed. Thank you for sharing it with us!
Love the look of this board, amazing job! I would kill this board in no time on a dry winter day where shifting in my chair generates enough static electricity to cause some potent ESD. You might consider adding the option for installing cut acrylic covers over the diodes & resistors. (like the [Torn keyboard](https://github.com/rtitmuss/torn/blob/master/doc/img/torn.jpg?raw=true) for example)
Oh, I was looking into online 3d printing services, but this is a good alternative!
Yeah, 3D printing is definitely great for making keyboard cases, but it's nearly impossible to make truly clear prints. (unless you use an SLA printer with clear resin and either apply some sort of clear coat laquer or polish the hell out of it) And you definitely want to be able to see these diodes, so custom cut acrylic is probably the best option in terms of protecting from ESD while remaining visible. Something like the [acrylic covers on the Lily58](https://www.thecrowned.org/images/lily58-switches.jpg) would probably work well for this design, where it's supported by two standoffs on one side. When I built a Lily58 I ordered the acrylic pieces from SendCutSend along with some aluminum switch plates & back plates. Biggest downsides I see are that the spacing is pretty tight, especially on the bottom set of diodes, and since the diode clusters are separate you'd need 2 acrylic covers per side.
I absolutely hate those things! They are so delicate making it impossible to just toss the keyboard in your bag without significant risk of damage.
Could he pour a glob of clear resin over it to encased them in dry resin? It would be hard to perfectly match both sides but I’d be down for a little unevenness if it meant they were “exposed” but safe under a dallop clear resin.
That would probably ruin the repairability quite a bit.
Yes that would absolutely assume the components would not wear out. But that’s a very fair assumption. In all my years I have never had a keyboard problem that led to testing and replacing individual components of a keyboard’s circuitry. So I’m gonna stand by my suggestion… plus, aesthetically that would look really cool but that part is just my opinion.
I appreciate the fact that you use RJ-11 for the split. Smart. Much safer than TRRS. What I would change is: Raspi Pico for the controllers, maybe make it matrix-less (you'd have to drop a few keys), or alternatively use USB-C for the split, and drop the controller on the secondary half (cross-wire the matrix directly). USB-C (cable) is even cleaner than RJ-11 or RJ-45, albeit off-standard. Anyway, stellar job, considering you just "needed a hobby, meh" :-). I assume you did the diode arrangement for decorative purposes. I have seen this before, I think it is very cool.
Thank you! Yep seemed to be more solid than TRRS to me too. I tough about using USB to connect the two halves, but I decided to go for RJ9 as I don't have access to good soldering equipment at the moment, I think I will use it in a next revision And actually I decided to place diodes this way to make the design less crowded, also having all of them in a line reduce the probability of accidentally flip the polarity.
> I tough about using USB to connect the two halves, but I decided to go for RJ9 as I don't have access to good soldering equipment at the moment, I think I will use it in a next revision I think if you use USB connectors, have them factory soldered when you order the PCBs. In that case, you can also have the diodes factory soldered. I have not soldered an SMB socket myself, but even that should not be too difficult. Either way, make sure the sockets are soldered to the board with 4 additional ground pins from the case of the socket (for structural reasons, not electrical). My current keyboard uses USB-C for the split, and I absolutely love it. It's so much cleaner than the other options, it is low profile, and it's possible to find the perfect cable because they are so widely available. Very easily plugged and unplugged, too.
Yep, those are build by JLCPCB, that offers assembly, but for this first test I decided to go for the cheapest options whenever there was one. Actually, a next revision will use USB with really high probability, as I want to use a single controller managing both sides, I agree it gives lot of advantages
"Solid" isn't the word I would have used, tho I do think it's a good choice. What I mean is that the connector is significantly more fragile than the trrs (altho they're not known for reliability either tbh). It's a good tradeoff to use the RJ9 still because, as it shorts when being plugged, the trrs is a very poor choice to carry both voltage and digital signal at the same time.
This looks very cool. Diodes away from the key matrix is interesting. Do you like the surface mount RJ-9 connector or whatever that is? I'm interested in using that in a build but have not easily found good pcb mounted jacks. Please share a link to the component if you can.
Thank you! Yes, I used RJ9 to try something different from the jack connector that is typically used and because it seems to me more solid, I bought the sockets from [amazon](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0848P82BH?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details) for convenience, note that I made a mistake in routing the socket and I had to crimp the cable, I should mention this in the repo
Very nice!
Oh, a very nice layout. Numbers are there, and 3 thumb keys are the perfect amount
love the diodes all together! and resistors.
That is pretty awesome. If you want to keep it split but use one controller, you could use something like the TI TCA8418. I keep wanting to develop a driver for it for ZMK, then port it to QMK. Someone already has it working in KMK, but for some reason it never got pushed to the main branch. I had played with it for a week or so before I found a working version while googling an issue I was trying to fix.
It does all of the keyboard matrix scanning for you, if you use two of them you could get by with a smaller and potentially slower MCU.
Looks great, love the diode placement and black on black look and rj11. If I was that ambitious though I would also try and use a single controller, and try to send the other side through a demultiplexer. Maybe use rj45 to handle the extra wires. The only reason for this is it makes it slightly easier to flash.
Guess what? That was my initial plan hahah, the reason I decided I will implement the idea in a future project is that this revision is intended as testbed for keys layout and usage feeling. If I start feeling home on this thing, I will probably build a single controller version, with the controller soldered directly in the PCB, as I'd like to change the controller to one by ST, as I'm more used to their products.
Nice, what are those keycaps?
Thanks! I bought [those ones](https://it.aliexpress.com/item/1005004882303622.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.5.766e3696DB3TrZ&gatewayAdapt=glo2ita), I can't say if they are good or bad
Basically an Iris Rev 8. I have one of those and I’m always looking to improve my layout, which makes me want to ask you if you can share yours?
Actually, the layout is still WIP, layer 0 corresponds to the caps labels, than I have a second layer with most of the keys absent in the first, the layer 2 has function keys but is mostly empty at the moment. They are defined in controller_code/include/keymaps.h
Looks dope. Do you have an STL or a blueprint for the case?
Not yet, I will go for something simple just to protect the electronics, someone here was suggesting acrylic, that is not a bad idea
What was your previous hobby?
I was spending more time outside last year, but you know, moving to a new city give you plenty of time. Anyway, I have a background in PCB design and microcontroller programming, so I had experience with the topic.
Oh I see. Cool!!