cherry G80-1800 key-matrix replacement (kind of)

[psycorama]

About a year ago, I got one of those G80-18xx from imp and modded it into a tenkeyless.

tenkeyless -- starting point

tenkeyless.png (742.98 KiB) Viewed 4447 times

Lately I've started to get annoyed by the placement of the keys.
I want to keep the form factor because I think it is quite nice.
I thought about a symmetrical layout which is not completely possible because of the location of the arrow keys and nav cluster.

Nontheless I implemented something and at the moment I'm waiting for it to be shipped.
The render doesn't have stuff for the switches so you have to use your imagination.

board layout

board.png (165.78 KiB) Viewed 4447 times

The right hand side got more keys then the left, but I'll have to see what it feels like.
Both sides are rotated inwarts (not rotated left as most "standard" boards).
I split the space key (it is way tooo big for my preference) and got some extra room for modifier keys.
One nice feature I hope to achieve will be the 6kro (nkro ist not possible with USB, afaik), but I will have to test all of this.
I'm not finished with the exact layout, but this is where imps controller replacement comes into play.

[psycorama]

My PCBs arrived and they turned out quite nice.

01_PCB.jpg (381.47 KiB) Viewed 4294 times

imp and myself heated up the irons and got to work.
I grabed a bunch of blacks and imp had some blues lying around.

02_blacks.jpg (265.91 KiB) Viewed 4294 times

02_blues.jpg (338.46 KiB) Viewed 4294 times

I went for a colorful approach and fully populated arrow keys and nav block.
In the background the keyboard from the earlier post is lying around for easy reference.

03_caps.jpg (199.29 KiB) Viewed 4294 times

imp's version allows you to see the markings on the buttons more clearly.

03_imps_colors.jpg (245.24 KiB) Viewed 4294 times

Some keys need to be placed in software and the case has to be fitted, but for now i'm quite happy with this.

[Icarium]

Hahaha..nice spacebar placement.

Seriously though, looks like a pretty good layout do you have any spare PCBs?

[7bit]

Where did you order the PCB from?

[Jmneuv]

i very much like this vertical nav cluster layout;
what controller do those use?

[psycorama]

Hahaha..nice spacebar placement.

Seriously though, looks like a pretty good layout do you have any spare PCBs?

At the moment i just got about enough for local use. But I'll make another batch, since there're some bugs in the PCB and
I'm not 100% pleased with everything.
I'm unable to use the new version at the moment and I want some first hand experience before I decide on my next steps.
But I will keep you posted.

Where did you order the PCB from?

I ordered those from http://www.hackvana.com

i very much like this vertical nav cluster layout;
what controller do those use?

The vertical cluster is a relict from the original keyboard.
You can see that I cut the original case and PCB and glued it back together.

The older versions with the more standardized layout, I've been using for the last year was driven
by an Atmega32U2 hacked together by imp.

The new version with custom key placement is controlled by a fully custom controller likewise created by imp.
http://deskthority.net/workshop-f7/g80- ... t4534.html
I designed my matrix to play well with his controller.

[imp]

And another image of an freshly finished case, matrix and imptech v3 controller:

another one

100_8179.JPG (702.5 KiB) Viewed 4160 times

.
It's only missing a black capslock and small shift for the right side.
For some closeups of the modded case, see http://deskthority.net/workshop-f7/abs- ... ml#p101366 .

[Jmneuv]

seriously cool.

That gap in the middle asks for a dim led behind a little frosted window :p
How do you access arrow-keys?

[gmjhowe]

That modded case and keycap set combo is coming along very nicely.

Looking ace.

[imp]

seriously cool.

That gap in the middle asks for a dim led behind a little frosted window :p

We can try that . The main idea was to use the space for a trackpoint.

How do you access arrow-keys?

Since I'm typing neo2, there'll be the arrow keys in the 4. layer on esdf, surrounded by backspace, del, page up/down, home and end.

[Kurk]

These boards really do look great! Staggering like staggering should be.