[GB] CA66 Custom Keyboard Kit Round 2 (Shipping Now)

[PlayKeyboardTW]

Quick update here. Inserting coils for rest of cases.

[cijanzen]

Quick update here. Inserting coils for rest of cases.
(Attachment Link)

Woohoo! Thanks for the update. Nice to see things coming to an end. I can’t wait to receive mine as all the rest of my supplies are ready and waiting!

[Puddsy]

Quick update here. Inserting coils for rest of cases.
(Attachment Link)

that color is nice

[DoCallMeKing]

Both the colors in the shot look awesome!

[Jonathan0903]

Excited to get building! Just saw the title change on the post, do we have any updates on a date for shipping?

Keep up the good work! 

[PlayKeyboardTW]

All works almost done except the glowing bar.
This is the right size of sample.


But the 3D printer shop sent us wrong size bars which exceeded the tolerance by 0.05mm.


New bars are on it's way to us.
After installing them in to cases, we are good to ship orders.

[bcbishop]

Hi PlayKeyboardTW — would you be able to post pictures of the various different colored cases from this round? Especially interested in some close up shots of the white case. :-)

Thanks!

[cijanzen]

All works almost done except the glowing bar.
This is the right size of sample.
(Attachment Link)

But the 3D printer shop sent us wrong size bars which exceeded the tolerance by 0.05mm.
(Attachment Link)

New bars are on it's way to us.
After installing them in to cases, we are good to ship orders.

Getting close! Thank you for the update even if it’s bad news. The transparency at least allows us to understand why there’s a delay.

[Lyle88]

I wanna see some close ups of the white case with titanium badge

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

[edasaur]

partially joking, but if I were in taiwan right now, would I be able to pick my order up instead of having it shipped?

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[coffeeshopcoder]

Thanks for the update guys ! Good to know that’s it’s in progress despite minor setbacks !

[fromjuanm]

If you are interested in selling your spot please let me know
Let me know what color and options you have. Let me know how much I wont be offended. Interested in white, grey blue, dark grey, purple
Purchased a Vortex Race 3 a couple of months ago and now spending more money than I have on these keyboards...  However the CA66 is a keyboard that I would love to own. I seen others in this thread selling their spots and not sure how that whole process works. Thanks

[Jonathan0903]

I'm not personally looking to sell my slot, but you should shoot those people a message and ask them about their slots! Sales generally happen either by having the original buyer changing the shipping and purchasing details to match yours or simply by them shipping the product out to you once they receive. Do things through Paypal, just to stay safe.

Good luck on your hunt, this really is a beautiful board <3

[coffeeshopcoder]

also note that its generally a good idea to follow mechmarket rules - timestamps, and use paypal "goods and services" as opposed to "gift". 

[Sythe]

What is the lead time on the new bar being shipped and installed?

[PlayKeyboardTW]

Sorry guys. Have been really devoted ourselves to finish all stuffs at the moment.
Showing some cases for you guys first. They might look different when exposing under different light sources.
Silver and white come up when we have a bit room to shoot them.

We got some PMs and messages recently. Please resend them again if we didn't answer in time.

Thanks!

[_Paco]

Those look stunning. Thanks for the update!

[dr_unconscionable]

Oh my god these look gorgeous. There's one huge problem though....... I think I might love that green more than the colour I actually chose  )

Thanks for the update! This has me really hyped to get my board soon!

[Lyle88]

Oh my god these look gorgeous. There's one huge problem though....... I think I might love that green more than the colour I actually chose  )

Thanks for the update! This has me really hyped to get my board soon!

Same here! I went for the white option but really feel like the green is the winner here

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

[cijanzen]

Sorry guys. Have been really devoted ourselves to finish all stuffs at the moment.
Showing some cases for you guys first. They might look different when exposing under different light sources.
Silver and white come up when we have a bit room to shoot them.

We got some PMs and messages recently. Please resend them again if we didn't answer in time.

Thanks!

It’s been a long journey but we appreciate your transparency around the issues you ran into. Always better to know what’s going on. I for one am very excited I picked red and can’t wait to receive it!

[Lormania]

Those cases look great. Hoping to see a shot of the purple soon!

[Photoelectric]

I'm happy with my choice of dark red, but now I also want blue and green in addition (green is really nice)...

[coffeeshopcoder]

really appreciate being transparent with the updates ! I don't care about the wait and excited about the grey I ordered ! Looks really nice and elegant.

[teh_pengers]

Am I to interpret the thread subject as shipping will likely start sometime this week?? 

[coffeeshopcoder]

The subject line changed to this more than a week ago I think

[jrfhoutx]

Am I to interpret the thread subject as shipping will likely start sometime this week?? 

That title change was on the 2nd, on the 6th they encountered the issue with the light bar diffusers, which now need to be remade. I’m sure that once they’re complete and installed and everything is ready to ship out I’m sure they’ll inform everyone. But that said, never assume anything in a keyboard group buy.

[bcbishop]

Welp. After having intermittent hiccups for a few months now, it looks like my CA66 PCB from the last round just gave up the ghost as so many others have. (LED strip stuck on white, device not recognized by computer, etc.) Starting to feel like it's a matter of when, not if, with the previous round PCBs.

Do we know for certain that the issue has been resolved in the new round? I ordered a second CA66 in a different color, and am definitely concerned at this point.

[squidshop]

Hey there, just wondering if anyone's looking to give up their spot for R2. I'm currently looking for a Blue CA66 if anyone's got it.

[roguesystem087]

Same, if anyone wants to give up spot for R2, or if there's spares, pls lemme know !!

[jrfhoutx]

Welp. After having intermittent hiccups for a few months now, it looks like my CA66 PCB from the last round just gave up the ghost as so many others have. (LED strip stuck on white, device not recognized by computer, etc.) Starting to feel like it's a matter of when, not if, with the previous round PCBs.

Do we know for certain that the issue has been resolved in the new round? I ordered a second CA66 in a different color, and am definitely concerned at this point.

They have said that they resolved the issue, but haven’t said what it was, what was done to fix it, or anything else about it, just that it was found and fixed for R2. How many grains of salt you’d like to take that with is up to you.

[bcbishop]

They have said that they resolved the issue, but haven’t said what it was, what was done to fix it, or anything else about it, just that it was found and fixed for R2. How many grains of salt you’d like to take that with is up to you.

Gotcha, thanks. And yeah.... would feel much better about the whole thing if there was some transparency about what the issue is and how they resolved it for R2. (The info is also vital for those who have working CA66s -- as we've seen, this issue can pop up after months of working just fine.)

[RETURNISO]

If anyone have a WKL R2 dark grey they want bto get rid off, pm me 

[jrfhoutx]

They have said that they resolved the issue, but haven’t said what it was, what was done to fix it, or anything else about it, just that it was found and fixed for R2. How many grains of salt you’d like to take that with is up to you.

Gotcha, thanks. And yeah.... would feel much better about the whole thing if there was some transparency about what the issue is and how they resolved it for R2. (The info is also vital for those who have working CA66s -- as we've seen, this issue can pop up after months of working just fine.)

I’ve had mine up and running since the last round, on the first pcb I used, and in use pretty much daily since then, and I’ve not had any issues (knock on wood). It’s even been desoldered and resoldered so I could change to split spacebars. Still no problems. And I know that there are others who haven’t had any issues either. That would lead me to believe it’s either an intermittent manufacturing error, or a user error that was unaccounted for in design.

[bcbishop]

I’ve had mine up and running since the last round, on the first pcb I used, and in use pretty much daily since then, and I’ve not had any issues (knock on wood). It’s even been desoldered and resoldered so I could change to split spacebars. Still no problems. And I know that there are others who haven’t had any issues either. That would lead me to believe it’s either an intermittent manufacturing error, or a user error that was unaccounted for in design.

I was in the same boat — until suddenly I wasn’t. Same with many of the other customers that have had issues.

Only thing that will really clear this is up is transparency from PlayKeyboardTW.

[Photoelectric]

Is it possible there are some bad solder joints that end up failing over time with flexing of the PCB when typing + just time/aging?  Probably SMD components.  For any poorly functioning/non-functioning PCBs that used to work, I would do a bunch of continuity checking for all the traces, including around the controller(s).  Could be some diodes or resistors going bad, from some poor quality or defective batch.

[4everJayWalking]

Selling my spot. White, BT, HHKB version with extra brass plate and standard silver aluminum plate. Also got an extra standard pcb. 

I have rep on /r/mk under the same username. Pm if interested as it should be shipping soon and I'd like to just change the shipping address to yours.  Thanks
 

[jrfhoutx]

Is it possible there are some bad solder joints that end up failing over time with flexing of the PCB when typing + just time/aging?  Probably SMD components.  For any poorly functioning/non-functioning PCBs that used to work, I would do a bunch of continuity checking for all the traces, including around the controller(s).  Could be some diodes or resistors going bad, from some poor quality or defective batch.

It could be one or more of many things. But it doesn’t really matter cause they’re not going to tell us anyway. If they were going to tell us what the problem is, they would have chimed in by now and said it, but instead they keep ignoring the discussion like it’s not even happening.

[waxpoetik]

Any updates on the printed parts/installation? Getting close to 3 weeks since the update. Looking forward to having it!

[ZyBeR]

An update would be appreciated

[architones]

Hoping to get an update soon! It's been a while since we've heard anything on this.

[Lormania]

Just here to put my obligatory "NE Update?" post. I would imagine they would have some sort of tracking for when the light bars would be arriving to them and they can easily say, "Plastic light bars have shipped and should be in 10 days, will update once we have received them". I don't know how long something like 3D printed light bars takes, but it still boggles my mind at the lack of updates on this.

[waxpoetik]

Just here to put my obligatory "NE Update?" post. I would imagine they would have some sort of tracking for when the light bars would be arriving to them and they can easily say, "Plastic light bars have shipped and should be in 10 days, will update once we have received them". I don't know how long something like 3D printed light bars takes, but it still boggles my mind at the lack of updates on this.

Assuming they are SLA or SLS printed, I'm fairly certain the manufacturing time would be under 3 days for ~150 pieces at a large scale printing place. Since they worded it as 'on the way', I am interested as to the hold up

[bcbishop]

FWIW Barry responded to a PM on 4/19 about a PCB issue, so PlayKeyboardTW is definitely around and checking the boards. Dunno why they haven’t provided more guidance on status though...

[Lormania]

FWIW Barry responded to a PM on 4/19 about a PCB issue, so PlayKeyboardTW is definitely around and checking the boards. Dunno why they haven’t provided more guidance on status though...

Thanks for letting us know. But that is also my point, why isn't that information about a possible PCB issue posted in this thread where most of the people get their updates on this? If it were to cause a delay to the board by another couple of weeks, I would HOPE something like that would be posted in this thread by Barry. Unless you are referring to your own PCB issue with the last round boards.

[bcbishop]

Sorry for not being more clear — it was a message about my board from the last round (which recently died). Though I asked, no specific info was provided about what the issue was or how/when I could obtain a replacement, only a general assurance that it had been fixed in the new round and that I shouldn’t be concerned about my R2 order.

Of course, the lack of specifics are exactly what’s causing my concern, but that’s another issue.

[Lormania]

Sorry for not being more clear — it was a message about my board from the last round (which recently died). Though I asked, no specific info was provided about what the issue was or how/when I could obtain a replacement, only a general assurance that it had been fixed in the new round and that I shouldn’t be concerned about my R2 order.

Of course, the lack of specifics are exactly what’s causing my concern, but that’s another issue.

Ah, no worries! Yeah, no one has been able to get an answer on the pcb issues from last round. They might not even know. Wish you the best!

I guess I have also been spoiled by my last couple of GB's for boards in the amount of information the GB runner provides. It is definitely becoming the norm now to provide as much information as possible which is good going forward in this hobby.

Still excited for the board, and trust Barry and the team 100%.

[tearai]

looking to buy a gb spot, if anyone would like to give their spot up. No preference on colour, would prefer hhkb, but open to wkl as well. Please pm me

[Sythe]

Would really like to know where its up to now.
After seeing the last image I would have assumed it would be finished by Easter, but its still not done...

I am getting a little impatient now.
Not a huge deal, but getting close to 6 months past the original due date is a little frustrating even if it isn't outside the norm.

This is especially true after seeing the Kyuu(which was my other potential choice to this) is in peoples hands now and it started its group buy a while later than this.

[wgsunrise]

Would really like to know where its up to now.
After seeing the last image I would have assumed it would be finished by Easter, but its still not done...

I am getting a little impatient now.
Not a huge deal, but getting close to 6 months past the original due date is a little frustrating even if it isn't outside the norm.

This is especially true after seeing the Kyuu(which was my other potential choice to this) is in peoples hands now and it started its group buy a while later than this.

I feel you, man.
Neither of the two GB which I got in around the same time (Doro67 and CA66 R2) went smoothly and lacked of transparency.
These experiences could hold me back from a lot of GB for quite some time.

[ganymede]

Not a huge deal, but getting close to 6 months past the original due date is a little frustrating even if it isn't outside the norm.

I agree with this. It's less about the the delays and more about managing expectations. If they are months late and I don't hear anything except for an occasional "we're putting the finishing touches on," "they're almost done," etc. then it's human nature to assume something negative, e.g. there's something significantly wrong with manufacturing, they're intentionally ignoring the buyers, etc.

It would go a long way to be transparent about what's going on, even if it's a bunch of fairly insignificant roadblocks. It keeps us from inferring the worst and getting frustrated—and it'd personally get me more excited about the process of making cool stuff from scratch. I'd much rather support small makers than buy a mass-produced product, but only if the makers are halfway decent at customer service.