[GB] UK78 - 60%+Numpad [Completed] *UPDATE* PCBs and R2 plan

[FearsomeCubedWarrior]

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[shadowrealmwarez]

Ok. it looks like for some reason I've lost RGB at all.
It worked initially prior soldering, but after I've soldered in-switch leds (which are VERY dim after installation, although they are actually very bright when connected to USB directly) the RGB is just gone.
There're some other strange things like backlight level almost not working on that LED or toggle LED working when they're set to minimum level.

Of course I've tried to flash default FW with no luck.
I've used this leds.

So, did I burn something, or that's software issue? Can I troubeshoot that someway?

When you say "USB directly" are you using a USB hub vs plugging directly into a USB port?

[FearsomeCubedWarrior]

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[rozakiin]

Sorry, not directly. Plugged into breadboard powered up with adapter from USB. Anyway, voltage was set to 3.3 volts and LED was that bright:

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And installed to PCB it was that dim:

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Moreover, with RGB activated, in-switch LEDs just turn off.

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Now a bit about RGB. I've turned it off accidentally (set brightness to minimum level) cause actual keymap binding and that shown in keymap.c as an illustration differs. Whatever, I've identified the keys to tune RGB and set it on. But again, for some reason, it took quite some time for keyboard to initialize (3-4 seconds) and it hanged after playing with RGB settings after some time. The only solution was to unplug it and plug back again.

After another unplug the PCB seems dead: Flip doesn't recognize chip, no new devices in device manager after KB is plugged in, no initial flash of all LEDs after KB is plugged in. I can only guess that I've burned the chip with that LEDs. Well, now I've got an expensive brick.

I can give a reason for the LEDs appearing to turn off with the RGB, this is due to the amount of current supplied by the USB, there isn't enough current to drive the LEDs and RGB at once so the LEDs get very dim. Could also be the reason why the LEDs were brighter when attached to an adaptor.

[FearsomeCubedWarrior]

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[rozakiin]

I can give a reason for the LEDs appearing to turn off with the RGB, this is due to the amount of current supplied by the USB, there isn't enough current to drive the LEDs and RGB at once so the LEDs get very dim. Could also be the reason why the LEDs were brighter when attached to an adaptor.

Yeah, my thoughts exactly.

And most likely the reason for PCB becoming brick is the same: simultaneous RGB and in switch LEDs ultimately killing something with overcurrent.

Now upon plugging it some random RGB led just flashes briefly and that's it.

Any way to fix it, or I can just trash entire thing?

If it "died" while connected through USB then it should be fixable, the pcb has a resetable fuse for over current protection. Is anything detected by the pc when plugged in?

[FearsomeCubedWarrior]

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[rozakiin]

Nope, nothing is detected at all. Tried several times, holding reset as well -- no new devices.

Could be that the bootloader got messed up, you could try and reflash the chip via isp. If you PM me I could try and help you through the steps.

[Delirious]

Finally built mine.
- SKCM Browns (thanks to E3E for the hookup)
- ABS plate
- Taihao Arabic caps

[ectoplasmatic]

Woooo good job that is really fresh. Wow. Mixture of alps, abs plate... and then that modern case are just “ooof”. I’ve never seen an abs plate before how is it compared to acrylic?

[Delirious]

Woooo good job that is really fresh. Wow. Mixture of alps, abs plate... and then that modern case are just “ooof”. I’ve never seen an abs plate before how is it compared to acrylic?

ABS plate is much softer and flexy than acrylic. ABS is also much more durable than acrylic, you have to really want to damage ABS plate before you see any crack; on the other hands acrylic cracks easily even when you just tighten the screws. Comparing between acrylic, abs, and polycarb; I would rate them:

Hardness:
10 - Acrylic
3 - ABS
1 - Polycarb

Durability/Brittleness:
10 - Polycarb
7- ABS
2 - Acrylic

I highly recommend abs plate over acrylic and polycarb. Acrylic plate is crackable easily while polycarb is difficult to machine. Here're the flex comparisons between polycarb(white) vs abs(black)

[MMKB]

Finally built mine.
- SKCM Browns (thanks to E3E for the hookup)
- ABS plate
- Taihao Arabic caps

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Just beautiful. Dig the last shot. If you could share the typing sound on the abs plate that would be awesome.

[ectoplasmatic]

Woooo good job that is really fresh. Wow. Mixture of alps, abs plate... and then that modern case are just “ooof”. I’ve never seen an abs plate before how is it compared to acrylic?

ABS plate is much softer and flexy than acrylic. ABS is also much more durable than acrylic, you have to really want to damage ABS plate before you see any crack; on the other hands acrylic cracks easily even when you just tighten the screws. Comparing between acrylic, abs, and polycarb; I would rate them:

Hardness:
10 - Acrylic
3 - ABS
1 - Polycarb

Durability/Brittleness:
10 - Polycarb
7- ABS
2 - Acrylic

I highly recommend abs plate over acrylic and polycarb. Acrylic plate is crackable easily while polycarb is difficult to machine. Here're the flex comparisons between polycarb(white) vs abs(black)

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Hey thanks so much for that, really informative!

[forumusername]

Woooo good job that is really fresh. Wow. Mixture of alps, abs plate... and then that modern case are just “ooof”. I’ve never seen an abs plate before how is it compared to acrylic?

ABS plate is much softer and flexy than acrylic. ABS is also much more durable than acrylic, you have to really want to damage ABS plate before you see any crack; on the other hands acrylic cracks easily even when you just tighten the screws. Comparing between acrylic, abs, and polycarb; I would rate them:

Hardness:
10 - Acrylic
3 - ABS
1 - Polycarb

Durability/Brittleness:
10 - Polycarb
7- ABS
2 - Acrylic

I highly recommend abs plate over acrylic and polycarb. Acrylic plate is crackable easily while polycarb is difficult to machine. Here're the flex comparisons between polycarb(white) vs abs(black)

Show Image

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that looks fantastic!  do you have any more abs plates? thanks for sharing the build

[Traveler]

Alright, so I have what is likely a dumb question. I'm just now getting around to putting my board together, and I noticed on the PCB that the backslash/pipe key for ANSI layout has a stabilizer cutout right where a pin of my switch would go. I did some crude circling on a photo below; red is the spot in question and green is a "normal" set of pin holes.



So how do I solder this? Just use more solder than a normal pin?

[rozakiin]

Alright, so I have what is likely a dumb question. I'm just now getting around to putting my board together, and I noticed on the PCB that the backslash/pipe key for ANSI layout has a stabilizer cutout right where a pin of my switch would go. I did some crude circling on a photo below; red is the spot in question and green is a "normal" set of pin holes.

Show Image

So how do I solder this? Just use more solder than a normal pin?

Hi, yes you just need to add slightly more solder to bridge the connection.

[Delirious]

More

Woooo good job that is really fresh. Wow. Mixture of alps, abs plate... and then that modern case are just “ooof”. I’ve never seen an abs plate before how is it compared to acrylic?

ABS plate is much softer and flexy than acrylic. ABS is also much more durable than acrylic, you have to really want to damage ABS plate before you see any crack; on the other hands acrylic cracks easily even when you just tighten the screws. Comparing between acrylic, abs, and polycarb; I would rate them:

Hardness:
10 - Acrylic
3 - ABS
1 - Polycarb

Durability/Brittleness:
10 - Polycarb
7- ABS
2 - Acrylic

I highly recommend abs plate over acrylic and polycarb. Acrylic plate is crackable easily while polycarb is difficult to machine. Here're the flex comparisons between polycarb(white) vs abs(black)

Show Image

Show Image

that looks fantastic!  do you have any more abs plates? thanks for sharing the build

I have my unbuilt LZ waiting for the pcb.

[forumusername]

I'll take that as "no I don't have anymore for the UK78 if you wanted to buy one'

[forumusername]

I'm a little late to the party but I finally built thanks again Roz!

https://imgur.com/a/OOBk7


Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[xondat]

I'm a little late to the party but I finally built thanks again Roz!

https://imgur.com/a/OOBk7

Looks great noob.

[FearsomeCubedWarrior]

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[Traveler]

I'm a little late to the party but I finally built thanks again Roz!

https://imgur.com/a/OOBk7


Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Niiice. Makes me wish mine wasn't bricked. I enjoyed it the ten minutes I got to use it. I was going to attempt desoldering it yesterday so I could get to the ISP connectors but I quickly learned that I totally suck at desoldering. YouTube vids make the solder sucker look so easy but boy does it not work for me.

I'm gonna pick up something like the Tenma 21-8240 in hopes that it'll work better for me. If not I'm screwed. Not sure if it would be better to get someone on r/mechmarket to desolder it for me or for me to buy a whole new PCB and switches.

[FearsomeCubedWarrior]

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[Traveler]

What happened to yours?

I've got mine bricked as well, I assume by using both underglow and in-switch LEDs.

I guess I should have said "soft bricked". The keyboard is usually detected when it's in DFU mode. When I try to flash I get an error about the memory not being blank at 0x1. I believe the culprit was a corrupted .hex. All of my problems happened immediately after I tried to flash a new one.

Funny enough I have some in-switch LEDs too. I don't think they're my problem but I won't be including them again the next time I put my board together.

[forumusername]

I have a desolder gun pm me if you need some help or suggestions on better tools.

Thank you for the kind words cheers

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[ojrask]

My UK78 has become my favorite board so far. Maybe R2 at some point so I can get a black one for work?

[forumusername]

My UK78 has become my favorite board so far. Maybe R2 at some point so I can get a black one for work?

In for round 2!

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[speaktobrett]

My UK78 has become my favorite board so far. Maybe R2 at some point so I can get a black one for work?

In for round 2!

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Me too! Please bring out the Round 2 of UK78 !!

[Peppermint216]

Any interest in a 5mm frosted diffuser/base?

[Traveler]

Any interest in a 5mm frosted diffuser/base?

I know I'd be interested in a diffused bottom piece. I've thought about picking some acrylic up and sanding it myself, but I've never done anything with acrylic so idk how it will turn out.

[Peppermint216]

Any interest in a 5mm frosted diffuser/base?

I know I'd be interested in a diffused bottom piece. I've thought about picking some acrylic up and sanding it myself, but I've never done anything with acrylic so idk how it will turn out.

I would rather have it done professionally and that means it would have to be laser cut due to CNCs cutting tolerance of 1mm.

I want one so if I can get a few people to do it with me the price will go down.

Also it being 5mm it is thicker that the 3mm it came with so would also need some extra screws I could provide.

[Traveler]

I would rather have it done professionally and that means it would have to be laser cut due to CNCs cutting tolerance of 1mm.

I want one so if I can get a few people to do it with me the price will go down.

Also it being 5mm it is thicker that the 3mm it came with so would also need some extra screws I could provide.

Gotcha. Well you can count me in if the price is right. There's a list of the people who purchased one in the post at the beginning of this thread; not sure if it would be rude or not to PM them all and ask if they're interested. I know it would be the most straightforward way to get more people on board.

[Peppermint216]

Decided to do some experimenting seen as I had a spare diffuser.

The first image below shows a sanded edge diffuser with 1.7mm washers above it, simulating a 4.7mm piece of acrylic. The second image shows the original 3mm diffuser without sanded edges with the exact same underglow settings.

[clickstops]

Wow, that looks far better than I would've anticipated! Looks excellent.

[Peppermint216]

I actually got 6 panels delivered today, they are cut perfectly. Unfortunately they are gloss white and I asked for frost white so these are no good, I have asked for them to be replaced.

I ordered 3 full base pieces, with 4 screw holes and 3 small feet pieces with 8 screw holes.

If there is no problem with the replacement they should be 4GBP + Postage.

5mm gloss white image below.

[SBN]

I actually got 6 panels delivered today, they are cut perfectly. Unfortunately they are gloss white and I asked for frost white so these are no good, I have asked for them to be replaced.

I ordered 3 full base pieces, with 4 screw holes and 3 small feet pieces with 8 screw holes.

If there is no problem with the replacement they should be 4GBP + Postage.

5mm gloss white image below.

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Really appreciate your work! I like to see people adding stuff like this after the GB :)

So I would like one panel! Should I pm you or will you post further details here?

[Peppermint216]

If anyone wants one pm me what type you need because right now I'm thinking 3 full base and 3 small feet types.

[Peppermint216]

Replacements have been shipped, arriving next week.

[forumusername]

I wish I had opted for a full base instead of just acrylic one... if anyone wants to sell me one let me know 

Also finally built my second kit.  I'm ready for round 2 Roz 

https://imgur.com/a/8dfK2#rQI6MoY

[Peppermint216]

Plates arrived! 3 reserved, 2 left.

[Peppermint216]

Why are my images published upside down 

[KaosJ]

Plates arrived! 3 reserved, 2 left.

What you got left exactly and where are you from? From pics seems like you are in Australia :/ 

[Peppermint216]

 ) Really dunno why it's done that, sorry. I am in the UK. 2 full bases left (only 4 holes in each corner).

[Peppermint216]

I also have 6 Gloss white ones, they do diffuse but the leds have to be on full brightness to fill the acrylic.

2 Full base frosted left.

[KaosJ]

I wasn't in for the GB, i can't get any leftover i guess?

[Peppermint216]

I wasn't in for the GB, i can't get any leftover i guess?

UK78's? You would have to check r/mm.

[KaosJ]

I wasn't in for the GB, i can't get any leftover i guess?

UK78's? You would have to check r/mm.

Ye RIP me  

[Traveler]

Plates arrived! 3 reserved, 2 left.

Mind sharing one last pic of the bottom/flat side of the plate itself? Curious as to how much it's actually frosted. These look great though; definitely interested in fulfilling my reservation.

[Peppermint216]

Plates arrived! 3 reserved, 2 left.

Mind sharing one last pic of the bottom/flat side of the plate itself? Curious as to how much it's actually frosted. These look great though; definitely interested in fulfilling my reservation.

I had to go with a frosted white, frosted clear has completely clear edges. Also compared to the original gloss white I got below.

[Traveler]

I had to go with a frosted white, frosted clear has completely clear edges. Also compared to the original gloss white I got below.

Looks good to me. I'll PM you my info.