Reply from one PCB designer (me) regarding building the through-hole "Blue" version.
This is the easiest one to build yourself. Every part will use easy-to-solder through-hole leads, so no mucking about with hot air and solder paste. All of the the diodes go the same direction, and can be mounted on either side of the board. Backlighting is optional, but if you want to go that route, this board uses a 54-cent transistor to power the LEDs.
Parts list: - PCB, probably $25 or less.
- Teensy 2.0 with pins $19.00 from PJRC:
here - Diodes 100 for $3.30 from Mouser:
here - Socket for Teensy (optional) $1.67 from Mouser:
here - LED transistor (required to use backlighting) 54 cents from Mouser:
here - Switches to taste. Get 50 MX Black for $18.00 from Techkeys.us:
hereAdding LEDs?There are thousands of LEDs you can choose, red, blue, and white being the most popular. The specific resistor you need depends on the LED you choose, but here is a web site that will help determine the resistor value you need:
http://led.linear1.org/led.wizNOTE: Source voltage is 5, number of LEDs is 1. Forward voltage and current vary by LED.Red: - Red 3mm, 2.05 V, 20mA LEDs, 50 for $4.60 from Mouser:
here - Resistors, through-hole, 1/4watt,
150ohms, 100 for $4.00 from Mouser:
here
Blue: - Blue 3mm, 3.5 V, 20mA LEDs LEDs, 50 for $9.00 from Mouser:
here - Resistors, through-hole, 1/4watt,
82ohms, 100 for $4.00 from Mouser:
hereWhite: - White 3mm, 3.3 V, 20mA LEDs LEDs, 50 for $14.60 from Mouser:
here - Resistors, through-hole, 1/4watt,
100ohms, 100 for $4.00 from Mouser:
hereI will add more LED choices if that would be helpful to anyone.
NOTE REGARDING MIXING LEDS:
It is possible to have different LED colors on the same keyboard. Simple even. However, you must ensure that each LED has the proper resistor. So, for example, if you used the above red LEDs in most places, those LEDs should have 150ohm resistors. And then if you used the white LEDs listed above for the WASD cluster, those LEDs would require 100ohm resistors. Each switch position has one resistor position. Simply install the correct resistor for the LED you used in that particular switch. - Ron | samwisekoi
Sig auto-typed by my GH36 LH keypad.