A proposal for a new SSK

[Muirium]

Smart! But if you have the original keys and test strips next to you, why would you use the camera then? Isn't it enough to judge the right color by eye?

They can be tricky. Especially because the Honeywell is from 1983, and I don't think SP had anything to do with making it. Besides, sometimes you've also got to convince a picky bunch of geezers on the internet.

Just a question, what is everybody intending to program into their board? I find myself configuring most tools in software, so apart from some logins (or hard to press corner-case combinations like Ctrl-shift-layer3-pgdn on a weird layout that the developer is too lazy to fix ) I haven't seen much use till now.

I have quite a few macros. In fact, here's the macro section of my Soarer's Controller config:

Code: Select all

#	Engage the macros!

macroblock
	# Command + Escape = Command + Section break (for app window cycling)
	macro ESC gui -ctrl -alt
	press EUROPE_2
	endmacro
	
	# Soarer's Double Shift Caps Lock
	macro lshift rshift
	press caps_lock
	endmacro
	
	macro rshift lshift
	press caps_lock
	endmacro
	
	# Apple style Control + Corner Arrow shortcuts for Shiny
	
	# Page Up
	macro up lctrl
	press page_up
	endmacro
	
	# Page Down
	macro down lctrl
	press page_down
	endmacro
	
	# Home
	macro left lctrl
	press home
	endmacro
	
	# End
	macro right lctrl
	press end
	endmacro
	
	# Fn + Backtick = Ctrl + Cmd + Opt + 8 (Negative / night colours mode)  
 	macro f24 -shift  
 	push_meta set_meta rgui ralt rctrl  
 	press 8  
 	pop_meta  
 	endmacro  
 	  
 	# Shift + Fn + Backtick = Ctrl + Cmd + Opt + I (Isolator darkness mode)  
 	macro f24 shift  
 	push_meta set_meta rgui ralt rctrl  
 	push_meta clear_meta lshift rshift  
 	press I  
 	pop_all_meta    
 	endmacro
 	
 	# Shift + Fn + Backslash = Numlock for Mouse Keys
 	macro system_power shift
 	push_meta set_meta rshift
 	press scroll_lock
 	pop_meta
 	endmacro

	# Swap # and £ so I can keep UK layout in software but match legends
 	# Pound = Hash
 	macro 3 shift -alt
 	push_meta set_meta lalt
 	push_meta clear_meta lshift rshift
 	press 3
 	pop_all_meta
 	endmacro
 	
 	# Hash = Pound
 	macro 3 -shift alt
 	push_meta set_meta lshift
 	push_meta clear_meta lalt ralt
 	press 3
 	pop_all_meta
 	endmacro
 	
 	# Quick Ctrl+F-keys for menu navigation
 	# Ctrl 2 = Ctrl + F2 = Enter main app menu
 	macro 2 ctrl -alt -gui -shift
 	press f2
 	endmacro

 	# Ctrl 8 = Ctrl + F8 = Enter system menus
	macro 8 ctrl -alt -gui -shift
 	press f8
 	endmacro
 	
endblock

That's for my hand made 60%. I lean on macros pretty heavily there.

Some of my macros dynamically remap keys when used in combos, so I can use the 60% the same way as my larger keyboards. Some others rejigger the layout when I press shift, so I can have a US layout keyboard on a UK system with no conflict in where I assign the window management keys. And then there's the good old Shift+Shift=Caps Lock which I find much more useful and far safer than a dedicated Caps Lock key in the usual position.

The 60% is probably the extreme case. But I've made a habit of using macros on every keyboard I have hooked up to a Teensy. They smooth the often radical difference in physical layouts just as much as layers do, so I have less to remember and can keep working without being constantly surprised.

[M'er Forever]

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[matt3o]

NOW we can talk about it!

very nice, I wish it were true

[Muirium]

That's more like it. Space saving enhanced!

I think you'd need more than our approval to get Unicomp's attention, though. They must know there's demand for SSKs out in the public, beyond their corporate clients, but choose not to make them. They seem to have inherited IBM's stiff collars as well as the Model M design.

[matt3o]

also... those LEDs should be inside the keys (and so you should be able reduce the bezel even more)

[Kurk]

Great stuff! It would be an insta-buy for me.

My only comment is that the LEDs should be placed somewhere else. Either inside the keys (hard to do with buckling springs or double shots) or somewhere more inside the case. How about in the empty space between the six-pack and the cursor keys?

[7bit]

What about no LEDs at all?

Also, please add some function keys to the left, get rid of the function keys on top and add a number block. Also, the space bar is far too large.
1 and 1.5 keys in the bottom row are sufficient!

[Grond]

Yeah, screw leds! The original one never needed them after all.
Trackpoint would also be nice as an option, looks like the bezel is wide enough to hold two mouse buttons.
Great work btw!

[7bit]

Make it 3 and a scroll wheel!!!

[Broadmonkey]

I think this will look more classy regarding the LEDs, at least it reminds me more of how IBM would have done it.

SSK flatline LED.jpg (437.22 KiB) Viewed 4451 times

[matt3o]

and a toaster!

[7bit]

Yes, and I want a kitchen sink included!!!

[matt3o]

I think this will look more classy regarding the LEDs, at least it reminds me more of how IBM would have done it.

SSK flatline LED.jpg

THIS!

so did you ship mine?

[Findecanor]

I think this will look more classy regarding the LEDs

As long as none is lit up. If one is lit up, you won't tell which is which.

I think putting them near the affected keys is best like in the original proposal, but the closer to the key the better. Best would be to have LED windows. Use a different colour on the Scroll Lock key for the Num Lock-layer.

[Muirium]

I like Broadmonkey's idea for LED placement. Perhaps a different colour LED for each of the two locks; with no or very subtle labelling. Understatement is key. The original SSK got away without them at all, but if there was ever a keyboard that needed a Num Lock status light, it was this one. Not ordinary (superfluous) num lock, but integrated number pad around the I key, "SSK style" num lock; much like my old PowerBook. Being straight in the alpha area, it can catch you by surprise all right! "F6r examp3e."

[Findecanor]

You won't need any labelling if you put each LED next to its key, but I admit that that is not that easy to see if your eyes are on the screen.
I see no reason why the LEDs should be in the corner. It would be easiest to see them if they were in the top/centre of the keyboard and each with a different colour. There are keyboards that instead of a label beside the LED let the LED be underneath the label giving you glowing letters, but that is only useful until you learn what each colour means and that wouldn't have to take that much time.

The ultimate would be spring-loaded latching keys, with releasing solenoids and a stubborn firmware. Latching to give you also a tactile indication of the state. The keys could be pressed and released by the user but only released by software (let a press on a Shift key release Caps Lock). The firmware would reject a LED setting if the key is not down by sending a virtual key press to the host.
The latching mechanism may need a bit of engineering though. Because it would be under software control, you would only need a simple linear solenoid with a hook, not a double-action latch as on latching Alps, Cherry MX, Mitsumi, etc.

[Muirium]

All this solenoid stuff must be seen to be believed! The idea is that latching keys (which toggle and retain their up or down state, like caps lock on a beam spring) must be kept in sync with the computer's own state. Either you can have a cunning controller that forces the computer to conform with the keyboard, or even more cunning mechanics to force the keyboard to conform to the computer!

[Findecanor]

Yes, a cunning controller is what I propose. The host would not be able to press the Caps Lock key, but it would be able to release it. The solenoid would only release a spring-loaded hook.
The hook could latch into a loop that would hang down from the keycap, outside the switch itself.

[matt3o]

do we really need a label for 2 leds?

left capslock, right scrolllock... it doesn't seem so complicated. Am I missing something?

[M'er Forever]

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[wcass]

for my caps lock on my custom model M, i use under key cap lighting. a light pipe sends the LED light through a rivet hole. light spill out around the caps lock key. the light pipe is a tight fit and could be sealed to the barrel plate to maintain water tight seal.

As some of you know, taking pictures of LEDs is difficult. With flash, the LED light is washed out - without flash, the LED light is blinding. attached are one of each. IRL, it looks great.

hack14.JPG (68.51 KiB) Viewed 4354 times

LEDs.JPG (218.86 KiB) Viewed 4354 times

And a side view ...

[M'er Forever]

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[Soarer]

Maybe use induction - the barrel is ideal for forming a coil!

[jeffkoch]

Maybe use induction - the barrel is ideal for forming a coil!

Would be interesting if that could be part of the resonance circuit for the Model F capacitive switches. But I'd guess that's very low power.

[M'er Forever]

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[M'er Forever]

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[Findecanor]

For Caps Lock and Scroll Lock that have indicator lights as opposed to backlight, I think that a simple LED window would suffice. The Scroll Lock key could have the window in the front where you see it easily. The Caps Lock would also have the option of having it in the small extension between it and A, or in the corner.

[Soarer]

Maybe use induction - the barrel is ideal for forming a coil!

Yes, Soarer, that's an interesting idea! I was in fact thinking of the same thing a while back, but decided it would be prohibitively expensive unless the coils could be wound by automated equipment at very high speed. It is an elegant way to transfer electrical power without the need for wired connections.

But then you'd also have to have a secondary coil wrapped around the key stem and that, I think, might present significant challenges vis a vis interference with the inside of the spring barrel.

I was thinking the other coil would be stuck inside the keycap, so outside the barrel coil. Really have no idea if it would work or not, but it would be cool!

[Muirium]

Yes, it definitely would. The problem I can think of is that transformers like AC, while LEDs like DC. A dead simple rectifier of some sort would need to be built into the key, alongside the secondary coil. The primary side is easy enough to get right, from an AC point of view. Just needs strobed by the controller, like the whole matrix.

[Soarer]

An LED is still a diode