EVERYONE. I finally had a chance to go through here and give the submissions a proper read-through.
I'm very happy to say right off the bat that this went better than expected.
Massive thanks to ApocalypseMaow for spreading some love to Enigma a few weeks back.
This is a phenomenal Giveaway, thanks Hoffman!
I am a new member (long time lurker) so I can understand if there are some trust issues.
I'd been dying to own a mechanical keyboard for a long time, but living in South Africa and being a student means that the prices are all quite far out of my budget. I was (still mostly am) in a position to drop the equivalent of about $60 on a keyboard, and I really can't find anything for that price.
I was at a charity store a while back and I managed to find an old Chicony KB-5191 with MX Blues for $3. I wasn't expecting it to work and it didn't, but that doesn't matter. I ordered a Teensy from a reseller up in Johannesburg and went about breaking the tracks on the Chicony board and wiring up my own matrix (I don't have access to any cnc facilities for a plate, and I wanted to cut costs as much as possible.)
The Teensy was programmed with Hasu's firmware following matt3o's guide, and the keyboard worked with only a few problems caused by coding errors which I managed to sort out.
The entire project cost about $38. I'm using this keyboard right now and it types better than anything I've ever used before. The only thing I'm looking to get for it is a really nice set of keycaps.
Shipping to South Africa is expensive, and as far as I can tell there is not a single reseller in the entire country.
So my plea is for the DSA Dolch keyset:
http://keyshop.pimpmykeyboard.com/products/full-keysets/dsa-dolch-set-base-set-110-total-keys
Here's my keyboard, I think that it would look fantastic with the Dolch keyset, even if I have to do a bit of modding to the board to make it all work.
http://imgur.com/R5jJnlx,o2nyo0D,GPzZLBA,OyZ7C4Z,lEGuTLU#0
Sorry for the wall of text!
nice one Hoff!!!
send me your address enigma, I got you homie.
I thought I just had to report back here.
ApocalypseMaow came through, what a phenomenally generous guy. I'm absolutely blown away by it. 
The keycaps are beautiful and feel a million times better to type on than what I had before. I had no idea it could make such a massive difference. The DSA profile is amazing.
Here's a picture of the set installed, unfortunately the old Chicony board that I used as a base had slightly different stabilizer placement for the spacebar so I have to stick with stock, but I'm actually a fan of the colour scheme. Also, there's a stabilizer sticking out above the enter key from where I got rid of the old huge enter.
Show Image
Thank you so much man, I can't begin to say how much I appreciate it. :)
So once again, huge props to ApocalypseMaow for coming in here and being so generous! :-* It's so cool to see that sort of thing happen, and it's a huge testament to this community. Love ya guys.
As for my portion of the giveaway, I have made a few selections. I will post them in order of submission, and include a brief explanation for choosing them.
BadwrenchFunny you should post this up as I have been trying to figure out a way to get a new case for my Pure. The TEX CNC acrylic case just popped back up on Massdrop and I was kicking myself for not getting in on it the first time around. I keep seeing pictures of it posted around and I think it looks awesome! I originally wanted to get an aluminum case to replace the ridiculously flimsy stocker, but those have always been way out of my budget. Starting back in January, me and my Wife started doing the Ramsey Budget which results in me getting $20/month to spend on myself (note that even getting a cup of coffee comes from this funding). Needless to say, I will not be able to get in on the current drop which ends in six days.
It would be super awesome of you to get this for me.
Link for ease ;)
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/tex-acrylic-cnc-keyboard-case?mode=guest_open&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Mechanical%20Keyboards%207-16&utm_campaign=Product%20Announcement%202014-07-16
I think it's incredibly honorable what Badwrench is doing with his conservative budget, and it's always a shame to miss out on limited time offers due to that sort of thing. As such, I PMed him right after he posted and we discussed the situation, and long story short he made the purchase. :thumb: He owes us some pictures when the case arrives, but until then I'll just say that I'm excited for it Badwrench! Looks like a really slick case. :)
rowdyI am very interested in the Nuclear Data Green key set.
It is still in the IC phase, hence I do not know how much it is going to be, although the IC seems to be rapidly drawing to a close. Through the PMK GB system this should come in at just under $100,and if sufficient people place an order it should come in at well under the $100. If not, I am more than happy to fund the excess cost.
I have tried OEM (most of my keyboards were born with OEM keys on them, plus Tai Hao). I have tried Cherry (thanks Ivan!). I have tried DCS (mainly from SP as part of various GBs). I have recently tried DSA (Granite - thanks Matt!). I like all of these, perhaps with a slight preference for Cherry. And DCS. And DSA. Ok, and OEM too. I like being indecisive. Or maybe I don't, maybe I've just gotten used to it.
But I have not tried SA.
Although many years ago SA profile keycaps, or similar, were standard on most of the terminals we used to connect to the cluster of minicomputers in the basement at uni. Seeing the pictures at the start of the IC thread has made me nostalgic for the olden days, when men were real men, a proper computer was the size of a washing machine, and everyone wanted to use the shiny new terminals with the separate keyboards and green or orange displays, but I was more than happy to use the old, curved, one piece, white screen, fixed keyboard terminals.
And all the talk about VT220 is making me want to drag my old VT220 out, although that has a very old, very worn, and somewhat horrible, membrane keyboard.
I have vague notions about putting a keyboard with Nuclear Data Green keycaps into an old terminal case, adding a small LCD, and making a retro look PC/terminal, but that will probably end up just another dream, mostly due to lack of time, partly due to lack of money. Also maybe due to somewhat disparaging comments passed by my other half, and the occasional mildly exasperated look she gives me as she hands over another package of keycaps.
In addition, Elrick has been badgering me to try SA profile keycaps for a while, and you know what he's like when he gets going :p
I'm a huge supporter of the Nuclear Data Green set, and have been attracted to those incredibly retro sets for quite some time. rowdy's love of the design, need to try SA profile, and the dream of building a retro PC/terminal all made me want to make sure this set finds its way to Australia (rowdy's house in particular). Now that the buy is underway, we can finally make that happen. ;)
LingjI would like an opportunity in the future to obtain a Brocap someday. Unfortunately I still haven't gotten into a sale yet, but I am patient!
Lingj made this submission here, but my decision to gift him my ROHS Red BBV2 was already made by the time he posted here. I had the pleasure of meeting Lingj at Keycon, and he mentioned that he didn't have any artisan caps and was interested in having a red BroBot. I told him that if he didn't get anything in the next sale he should let me know. ;) He didn't let me know, but I did still notice it. :P He has already received this cap, and hopefully he's enjoying it! :))
In addition to the selections above, I have selected two addition submissions that I would like to be winners. I have PMed the people in question, and am just waiting for a reply. I think they're in bed. :)) This does add some fragmentation to the thread, as I will not list them as winners until I hear back from them, but I wanted to update the thread while I have the chance. :)
Also, I will buy CPTBadAss some ice cream next weekend when I'm with him.
I just want some ice cream.
I'll close by saying thank you to everyone who made submissions, and I only wish I could have chosen more. It was not easy narrowing down the pool to just a few winners, that's for sure. Keep being awesome, geekhackers!
