Phantom

This article requires additional photographic illustration — would be nice to have some photos of completed keyboards

Phantom Logo

Note: To learn how to build a Phantom, please look at the Phantom instruction guide.

Introduction

The Phantom is a community-developed design for a tenkeyless keyboard with plate-mounted Cherry MX switches, intended to fit inside the case of a Filco Majestouch keyboard. Parts were produced/procured and sold together in a Phantom Group Buy during 2012, which did not include any case. The keyboard was engineered by bpiphany (formerly "PrinsValium") following the original idea of HaveANiceDay. Bpiphany owns the copyright of the PCB. Text on the circuit board says: "All rights reserved, but just ask I won't charge anything", meaning that bpiphany will help set up an order for a batch of boards. Individual boards are available from online retailers. The controller is a Teensy 2.0, mounted under the main PCB between the rows for function and numeric keys. Unfortunately, not all third party cases that can hold the innards of a Filco have room for this controller board.

Features pioneered by the Phantom were:

Different layouts with the same PCB. Plates were made for ISO and ANSI, with and without Windows keys (and for a special "7bit layout"). The PCB supported more layout options than the official plates, including a 6u space bar.
Fully programmable controller.
Custom-designed mounting holes in the switch plates, allowing Cherry MX switches to be opened without desoldering. One purpose of this is to allow changing of switch innards easily, to in effect change the type of Cherry MX switch.