[IC] xwhatsit Beam Spring controllers

vivalarevolución · 29 Jul 2015, 04:31

Update here. Phosphorglow has completed a few of the beam spring displaywriter controllers. He is testing them now on one of my keyboards. Here are a couple photos:

: beamspring1.jpg (219.72 KiB) Viewed 9009 times

: beamspring2.jpg (112.27 KiB) Viewed 9009 times

XMIT · 29 Jul 2015, 12:12

Hooray! I hope everything works out because that means I will get mine soon.

vivalarevolución · 29 Jul 2015, 12:52

XMIT wrote: ↑Hooray! I hope everything works out because that means I will get mine soon.

Me, too.

Also, he said 4 are still available. So get them now.

Ellipse · 30 Jul 2015, 05:29

I still have some beamspring controllers (non displaywriter) available too. Hopefully that beamspring IC / GB will pan out!

vivalarevolución · 30 Jul 2015, 12:42

Fyi, I locked the IC document because we've already registered interest and ordered and assembled the components. there's no point in adding info to it. I'll make a new document if I help lead another run.

XMIT · 13 Aug 2015, 22:11

Are there any updates on the Displaywriter Beam Spring controllers?

vivalarevolución · 13 Aug 2015, 22:16

Sorry about that. He's testing them on my display writer beam spring. Phosphorglow sent me this about a week ago:

After testing the first two controllers with neither of them working
properly I took a closer look at the bill of materials and what is
labeled on the silkscreen. There are two discrepancies, a 4.7k resistor
that is supposed to be 47k, and a 1k resistor that is supposed to be
10k. After changing those two, I now have a working controller. I
haven't been able to get in touch with xwhatsit to verify/change the BOM
in the thread yet.

Once the extra components arrive (I had to use some through hole
resistors in place of the surface mounts since that's all I had on hand)
I'll finally get them mailed out.

Sorry again for the wait and thanks for your patience.

XMIT · 13 Aug 2015, 22:26

Thanks vivalarevolución. I think I received that same message as well. So maybe this week or next.

vivalarevolución · 13 Aug 2015, 22:38

They are getting there. While the other controllers were manufactured, the display writer controllers are hand assembled and soldered, and phosphorglow tells me that it has not been exactly easy.

XMIT · 21 Aug 2015, 18:49

I got mine yesterday! After a decent amount of swearing (at the keyboard itself for being filthy and having some gummed switches, particularly the Space bar) everything is working and I am typing on it now. The controller went right in and almost worked the first time.

The edge connector socket on the xwhatsit board is a little wider than the edge connector on the pad card (PCB) itself. I needed to carefully align it in order to get it to work. But it seems to be working now.

I've mapped the left keys as F1-F10, shifted the arrow keys around to form an inverted T, and use the eight keys at the upper right as the Insert..PgDn cluster. It's very similar to a TKL conversion of an AT board.

At some point I'll need to throughly clean everything. The 'C' key in particular is sticky on this specific board. But it is just a delight to type on.

I can't wait for SA key caps now.

vivalarevolución · 22 Aug 2015, 00:24

I was about to update the thread. Phosphorglow said that 7 of 9 are sold and most (if not all) have been shipped to the buyer. For interested parties, here is the link: http://phosphorglow.net/store/products/ ... ontroller/

Thanks for the tip on the edge connector. Good to hear everything is working.

Ellipse · 26 Aug 2015, 05:31

I still have some regular beamspring controllers (non display writer) left as a few in the group buy never got back to me. First come, first served!

Ellipse · 13 Apr 2016, 03:24

Bump - I am almost completely out of the beamspring (non-displaywriter) USB controllers and xwhatsit Model F USB controllers - I suggest ordering them for any keyboards you have or plan on getting in the future

A few people have recently ordered a few units of each.

The beamspring controllers were very expensive to produce and assemble at the factory, and I do not expect to produce another professional production run in the future.

I will now be handling orders through the modelfkeyboards.com web site so please head over there if interested. Shipping will remain $5 US/$6 international untracked - just add 5 or 6 units of "other customizations in $1 increments" and choose free local pickup shipping to save on the standard shipping costs on the web site.

vivalarevolución · 15 Apr 2016, 00:05

Fyi, whoever requested access to the Interest Check document, this group buy is closed, so there is no purpose in accessing the document. As Ellipse noted above, only a few beam spring controllers are left and I doubt another group buy will pop up unless we have another beam spring find. xwhatsit made all the information open source, so you can make your own controller, if you please. Check the original xwhatsit controller thread for more details.

PancakeMSTR · 08 Jul 2019, 06:40

I made a [Digikey Cart] if anyone is interested (for the beamspring PCB). I'd also appreciate it if anyone could point out any errors.

darkcruix · 08 Jul 2019, 15:30

I have ordered all parts in the cart and also ordered the blank PCB (ordered everything to be able assembling two).
Once I have it, I will give it a shot and if all goes well, I will give a quick update and guide.

vivalarevolución · 10 Jul 2019, 04:29

Talk about a necro.

PancakeMSTR · 15 Jul 2019, 04:07

Hi,
I just finished (badly, SMD sucks so hard) soldering up a Beamspring -USB-5251 Rev 4. When I plug it into my computer (win 10), it says "USB device not recognized) and when I try to start up the capsense utility it says "No Controller found"

Here's the parts list:

Code: Select all

                            Sheet 1: Beamspring-USB

Id Designator                 Package         Quantity Designation Price  Total
 1 CON1                       USB_MINI_B             1 USB-MINI-B   $1.42  $1.42 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/690-005-299-043/151-1206-1-ND/4312192/?itemSeq=297384381
 2 U2                         tsot-6                 1 DAC101S101   $3.16  $3.16 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/DAC101S101CIMK%2fNOPB/DAC101S101CIMK%2fNOPBCT-ND/953475/?itemSeq=297384429
 3 U1                         TQFP32                 1 ATMEGA32U2   $7.00  $7.00 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/ATMEGA32U2-AUR/ATMEGA32U2-AURCT-ND/3789462/?itemSeq=297384636
 6 U6                         so-14                  1 LM339A       $0.48  $0.48 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/LM339ADT/497-1586-1-ND/592080/?itemSeq=297384826
 7 C3,C4                      SM0805                 2 22pF         $0.01  $0.02 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/C0805C220J5GACTU/399-1113-1-ND/411388/?itemSeq=297385114
 8 C10,C9,C8,C11,C6,C7,C2,C12 SM0805                 8 0.1uF        $0.01  $0.08 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/CL21F104ZBCNNNC/1276-1007-1-ND/3889093/?itemSeq=297385195
 9 R4                         SM0805                 1 4.7K         $0.01  $0.01 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/RC0805JR-074K7L/311-4.7KARCT-ND/731274/?itemSeq=297385269
10 R3,R17                     SM0805                 2 20K          $0.01  $0.02 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/ERA-6AEB203V/P20KDACT-ND/1465978/?itemSeq=297385292
11 R1,R16,R2                  SM0805                 3 10K          $0.01  $0.03 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/RNCF0805DTE10K0/RNCF0805DTE10K0CT-ND/2687083/?itemSeq=297385332
12 C1                         SM0805                 1 1uF          $0.02  $0.02 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/CL21B105KAFNNNE/1276-1066-1-ND/3889152/?itemSeq=297385348
13 R15                        SM0805                 1 47K          $0.01  $0.01 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/ERA-6AEB473V/P47KDACT-ND/1465987/?itemSeq=297385373
14 C5                         SM0805                 1 4.7uF        $0.02  $0.02 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/CL21A475KOFNNNE/1276-1065-1-ND/3889151/?itemSeq=297385412
15 R6,R5                      SM0805                 2 22R          $0.01  $0.03 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/CRGCQ0805J22R/A130124CT-ND/8577956/?itemSeq=297385638
16 RP2                        RPACK_1206             1 100K 1%      $0.08  $0.08 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/CAT16-1003F4LF/CAT16-1003F4LFCT-ND/3592894/?itemSeq=297385959
17 RP1                        RPACK_1206             1 10K 5%       $0.01  $0.01 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/EXB-V8V103JV/Y4103CT-ND/155171/?itemSeq=297385997
18 X1                         HC49US                 1 16MHz        $0.60  $0.60 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/ECS-160-20-3X-TR/XC1776CT-ND/2676640/?itemSeq=297386083
19 U3,U5,U4                   DHVQFN16               3 74AHC595     $0.60  $1.80 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/74AHC595BQ%2c115/1727-6021-1-ND/2753857/?itemSeq=297386118

I'd really like to convert this thing...but I dunno what to do here.

Oh not to mention not only is it not working, but the DAC101S101 (U2) is sparking/crackling

One other note: I'm testing the controller completely disconnected from my actual beamspring. Just plugging the converter alone into my computer. Don't know if that matters.

darkcruix · 15 Jul 2019, 08:08

The system should recognize the controller even with no keyboard connected.
What worries me is the DAC sparking/crackling...

I have ordered the exact same list from digikey and will start soldering mine, when the PCBs have arrived (this week). I will make either a video of the process or take high res pictures of the task.

kmnov2017 · 15 Jul 2019, 10:09

PancakeMSTR wrote: ↑

15 Jul 2019, 04:07

Hi,
I just finished (badly, SMD sucks so hard) soldering up a Beamspring -USB-5251 Rev 4. When I plug it into my computer (win 10), it says "USB device not recognized) and when I try to start up the capsense utility it says "No Controller found"

Here's the parts list:

Code: Select all

                            Sheet 1: Beamspring-USB

Id Designator                 Package         Quantity Designation Price  Total
 1 CON1                       USB_MINI_B             1 USB-MINI-B   $1.42  $1.42 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/690-005-299-043/151-1206-1-ND/4312192/?itemSeq=297384381
 2 U2                         tsot-6                 1 DAC101S101   $3.16  $3.16 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/DAC101S101CIMK%2fNOPB/DAC101S101CIMK%2fNOPBCT-ND/953475/?itemSeq=297384429
 3 U1                         TQFP32                 1 ATMEGA32U2   $7.00  $7.00 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/ATMEGA32U2-AUR/ATMEGA32U2-AURCT-ND/3789462/?itemSeq=297384636
 6 U6                         so-14                  1 LM339A       $0.48  $0.48 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/LM339ADT/497-1586-1-ND/592080/?itemSeq=297384826
 7 C3,C4                      SM0805                 2 22pF         $0.01  $0.02 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/C0805C220J5GACTU/399-1113-1-ND/411388/?itemSeq=297385114
 8 C10,C9,C8,C11,C6,C7,C2,C12 SM0805                 8 0.1uF        $0.01  $0.08 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/CL21F104ZBCNNNC/1276-1007-1-ND/3889093/?itemSeq=297385195
 9 R4                         SM0805                 1 4.7K         $0.01  $0.01 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/RC0805JR-074K7L/311-4.7KARCT-ND/731274/?itemSeq=297385269
10 R3,R17                     SM0805                 2 20K          $0.01  $0.02 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/ERA-6AEB203V/P20KDACT-ND/1465978/?itemSeq=297385292
11 R1,R16,R2                  SM0805                 3 10K          $0.01  $0.03 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/RNCF0805DTE10K0/RNCF0805DTE10K0CT-ND/2687083/?itemSeq=297385332
12 C1                         SM0805                 1 1uF          $0.02  $0.02 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/CL21B105KAFNNNE/1276-1066-1-ND/3889152/?itemSeq=297385348
13 R15                        SM0805                 1 47K          $0.01  $0.01 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/ERA-6AEB473V/P47KDACT-ND/1465987/?itemSeq=297385373
14 C5                         SM0805                 1 4.7uF        $0.02  $0.02 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/CL21A475KOFNNNE/1276-1065-1-ND/3889151/?itemSeq=297385412
15 R6,R5                      SM0805                 2 22R          $0.01  $0.03 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/CRGCQ0805J22R/A130124CT-ND/8577956/?itemSeq=297385638
16 RP2                        RPACK_1206             1 100K 1%      $0.08  $0.08 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/CAT16-1003F4LF/CAT16-1003F4LFCT-ND/3592894/?itemSeq=297385959
17 RP1                        RPACK_1206             1 10K 5%       $0.01  $0.01 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/EXB-V8V103JV/Y4103CT-ND/155171/?itemSeq=297385997
18 X1                         HC49US                 1 16MHz        $0.60  $0.60 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/ECS-160-20-3X-TR/XC1776CT-ND/2676640/?itemSeq=297386083
19 U3,U5,U4                   DHVQFN16               3 74AHC595     $0.60  $1.80 : https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/74AHC595BQ%2c115/1727-6021-1-ND/2753857/?itemSeq=297386118

I'd really like to convert this thing...but I dunno what to do here.

Oh not to mention not only is it not working, but the DAC101S101 (U2) is sparking/crackling

One other note: I'm testing the controller completely disconnected from my actual beamspring. Just plugging the converter alone into my computer. Don't know if that matters.

Post some high resolution pictures of your finished controller.

Replace the DAC and also check that all the components are soldered the correct way.

A lot of people find SMD soldering easier with solder paste and hot air method.

adamcobabe · 24 Nov 2019, 03:52

Does anyone know where the original BOM lists can be found for the xwhatsit beamspring and solenoid controllers? Where did the parts list above come from? I don't think they exist in the zip files on OSH Park. The original xwhatsit post doesn't seem to exist anymore. I can use the list above for the beamspring, but can't find the solenoid. Seem like that info should be around somewhere, right? Can I generate it from the files that are available?

adamcobabe · 24 Nov 2019, 05:18

adamcobabe wrote: ↑
24 Nov 2019, 03:52
Does anyone know where the original BOM lists can be found for the xwhatsit beamspring and solenoid controllers? Where did the parts list above come from? I don't think they exist in the zip files on OSH Park. The original xwhatsit post doesn't seem to exist anymore. I can use the list above for the beamspring, but can't find the solenoid. Seem like that info should be around somewhere, right? Can I generate it from the files that are available?

Okay, I found the kicad files in the tar. I guess I thought that was just a different version of the capsense files that live in the zip file.