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

[jrfhoutx]

Most cases are done in the anodizing place. Now moves them back to the factory to install helicoil inserts.

Why are helicoil inserts being installed? are the threads not being cut into the aluminum?

[Oatburner]

Most cases are done in the anodizing place. Now moves them back to the factory to install helicoil inserts.

Why are helicoil inserts being installed? are the threads not being cut into the aluminum?

Nope. It was like that for the first round, too. I imagine they're a lot more robust than just threading into the case.

[jrfhoutx]

Most cases are done in the anodizing place. Now moves them back to the factory to install helicoil inserts.

Why are helicoil inserts being installed? are the threads not being cut into the aluminum?

Nope. It was like that for the first round, too. I imagine they're a lot more robust than just threading into the case.

Makes sense. I just took my R1 board apart, and yeah, I guess I didn't realize they used them in R1. TIL

[warmaster]

Have other life stuff coming up that requires $$$ so looking to sell my GB spot if anyone's interested.

Dark Grey HHKB with aluminium default PCB, just message me if interested.

[ZyBeR]

PM

[Sintpinty]

Looks nice.

[liv05]

Looking to sell my gb spot, dark red hhkb / bluetooth / gold alu & brass plate

[ZyBeR]

Looking to sell my gb spot, dark red hhkb / bluetooth / gold alu & brass plate

PM

[omgkittiesyay]

Ordered an extra standard pcb and wondering if anyone would be interested in trading it for their bt pcb? (will cover the difference obviously)

[Jonathan0903]

Haven't heard any updates about the BT PCB, and was wondering if all orders would ship out at the same time, or will orders with a bluetooth pcb be delayed? Keep up the good work!

[Lyle88]

Haven't heard any updates about the BT PCB, and was wondering if all orders would ship out at the same time, or will orders with a bluetooth pcb be delayed? Keep up the good work!

Surely they will ship at the same time hopefully @PlayKeyboardTW can confirm

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[Jonathan0903]

Haven't heard any updates about the BT PCB, and was wondering if all orders would ship out at the same time, or will orders with a bluetooth pcb be delayed? Keep up the good work!

Surely they will ship at the same time hopefully @PlayKeyboardTW can confirm

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Nevermind, apparently I'm blind. Update from him showed them complete on page 8 of this thread. Yay!

[Sythe]

So how long are these steps going to take?

When are the  photos of the units without the newspaper coming?

[Lyle88]

So how long are these steps going to take?

When are the  photos of the units without the newspaper coming?

They said they are aiming to ship out by the end of the month. So more pics should come before then.

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[DoCallMeKing]

I’m still hoping to find a WKL one from someone if they are interested in selling their spot. Thanks a lot!

[Lyle88]

I’m still hoping to find a WKL one from someone if they are interested in selling their spot. Thanks a lot!

Did you pm playkeyboardtw?

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[DoCallMeKing]

I’m still hoping to find a WKL one from someone if they are interested in selling their spot. Thanks a lot!

Did you pm playkeyboardtw?

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I spoke to him by email but there aren’t any extras available at this time.
There might be some after all GB purchasers receive theirs but I’d rather purchase a spot from someone who already has a guaranteed spot than hope to get lucky afterwards

[Lyle88]

I’m still hoping to find a WKL one from someone if they are interested in selling their spot. Thanks a lot!

Did you pm playkeyboardtw?

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I spoke to him by email but there aren’t any extras available at this time.
There might be some after all GB purchasers receive theirs but I’d rather purchase a spot from someone who already has a guaranteed spot than hope to get lucky afterwards

Gotcha. Good luck mate!

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[iEatPuppers]

If anyone is willing to part with their BT pcb + alps plate, please PM me (I was told that there were no more BT pcb's).

[Kerasan]

any advice on battery for pcb bt?

KMK Labs.

[jrfhoutx]

any advice on battery for pcb bt?

KMK Labs.

As long as it fits in the space inside the case, any single cell lipo with a 1.25mm 2 pin jst connector should work.


https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=97035.msg2655283#msg2655283

[Sythe]

Still no photos or anything?

I was hoping we would be getting them shipped out this week or next...

[Lyle88]

Still no photos or anything?

I was hoping we would be getting them shipped out this week or next...

Same here. Hopefully we will see an update this weekend

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[dr_unconscionable]

It'll need to be this weekend, if it's to count as being done this month....

[iEatPuppers]

Apparently they just got the PCB's.

[Rumblehotep]

Hoping the new pcbs don't have the round1 issues

[jrfhoutx]

Hoping the new pcbs don't have the round1 issues

They’ve stated that the issues have been found/figured out and fixed for R2. What the issue(s) were has not been said unfortunately.

[DoCallMeKing]

I wish someone would inform us of what the issue was so that way people with r1 pcb's might be able to stop the bricking before it occurs.

[Lyle88]

I wish someone would inform us of what the issue was so that way people with r1 pcb's might be able to stop the bricking before it occurs.

I'm pretty sure someone discovered the issue. Have a look at the end of the R1 GB thread

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[waxpoetik]

Not holding my breath for the March 30th deadline, seeing as it's noon on a Friday in Taiwan. Let's hope for 2019!

[EvilemX8]

Don't be so cynical. I messaged them on Facebook and they responded quick, they are still aiming for end of March / early April they said. They have much of it done it looks like. We'll get it pretty soon I think.

[Lyle88]

Don't be so cynical. I messaged them on Facebook and they responded quick, they are still aiming for end of March / early April they said. They have much of it done it looks like. We'll get it pretty soon I think.

I would have to agree. I'm pretty sure they just need to fit the screw threads into the cases, do a QC, then pack and send out

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[waxpoetik]

Mostly just being tongue-in-cheek, although I do wish they would make more updates here rather than hearsay from Facebook messages. Still very much looking forward to it!

[aslanxdeft]

Really hoping for a round 3 

[dr_unconscionable]

Really hoping for a round 3 

I think playkeyboardtw have said a few times in this thread that there will be no R3 :/

It's possible there might be a tiny bit of extra stock once this round gets shipped, but I wouldn't hold my breath -- probably your best bet is to keep an eye on mechmarket or this thread to see if anyone wants to sell their R2 spot.

[jrfhoutx]

Really hoping for a round 3 

I think playkeyboardtw have said a few times in this thread that there will be no R3 :/

It's possible there might be a tiny bit of extra stock once this round gets shipped, but I wouldn't hold my breath -- probably your best bet is to keep an eye on mechmarket or this thread to see if anyone wants to sell their R2 spot.

They also said there wouldn’t be a round 2 after round 1 was over...

[arrowM]

Really sad I missed out on this; I sure hope they change their mind about not doing a round 3! Either that or if somebody wanted to sell me their spot in this round...

[Sythe]

Mostly just being tongue-in-cheek, although I do wish they would make more updates here rather than hearsay from Facebook messages. Still very much looking forward to it!

Exactly, I just want at least some information about what is going on.
This is getting close to 4 months later then their initial timeline and their communication has become worse the longer this group buy has gone...
I just want to have a reasonable expectation of when I'll receive my new keyboard, but as it is right now, I'm completely in the dark about when we should expect them to be shipped and I don't think random Facebook replies are enough information right now.

[EvilemX8]

I just decided to take initiative and tried to find information as best as I could. At the end of the day, I spoke directly with PlayKeyboards the other day, and also spoke with them today, but there's really no point in mentioning what was said because it would be called hearsay and random. There is proof of life that in fact stuff is being made to get this product out. Further, this is a group buy, and this is what you signed up for - there are disclaimers everywhere about the nature of these things. If you can't wait for it, there are many people who would love to pickup a spot in this.

[coffeeshopcoder]

None of that means the updates or lack of it should not be shared to the community.

[Lormania]

I am typing on a CA66 from the last GB so I am okay with the wait, but if I didn't already have one then I would be pretty upset by the total lack of communication going on in this GB. I have no doubt that PlayKeyboards will deliver the product, but holy cow I can't imagine running a GB and just ignoring everyone in the MAIN area where updates are supposed to go. A simple update stating that "there is not much to report and we are still waiting on the anodizing and will update again in 1 week" would go A LONG WAY.

[PlayKeyboardTW]

Hi guys, finally can get back to here to announce that we are ready to pack things up then shipping your CA66s out.

Sorry there's lack of update this time. We hope we can talk everything to all of you, but it will be just unprofessional to let all of you know the inside situation.
And we promise that we will definitely change an anodizing factory for our future products. This one really pissed us off this time (not about the quality, but the attitude).
But we hope all of you to know that we just want to perfect everything that we are gonna send to your hands.

Here are cases. We hope there will be time for us to take a quick photo for showing.


And PCBs, accessories and boxes as well.


As a reminder, please PM us asap through GH PM, Facebook message or emails if you want to change the shipping address.
Thanks!

[Lyle88]

Hi guys, finally can get back to here to announce that we are ready to pack things up then shipping your CA66s out.

Sorry there's lack of update this time. We hope we can talk everything to all of you, but it will be just unprofessional to let all of you know the inside situation.
And we promise that we will definitely change an anodizing factory for out future products. This one really pissed us off this time.
But we hope all of you to know that we just want to perfect everything that we are gonna send to your hands.

Here are cases. We hope there will be time for us to take a quick photo for showing.
(Attachment Link)

And PCBs, accessories and boxes as well.
(Attachment Link)

As a reminder, please PM us asap through GH PM, Facebook message or emails if you want to change the shipping address.
Thanks!

Yaaayyy!

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

[PlayKeyboardTW]

Mostly just being tongue-in-cheek, although I do wish they would make more updates here rather than hearsay from Facebook messages. Still very much looking forward to it!

Exactly, I just want at least some information about what is going on.
This is getting close to 4 months later then their initial timeline and their communication has become worse the longer this group buy has gone...
I just want to have a reasonable expectation of when I'll receive my new keyboard, but as it is right now, I'm completely in the dark about when we should expect them to be shipped and I don't think random Facebook replies are enough information right now.

None of that means the updates or lack of it should not be shared to the community.

Sorry for letting you guys feeling this way. Please believe us that we really want to come up with some updates to the community.

I just decided to take initiative and tried to find information as best as I could. At the end of the day, I spoke directly with PlayKeyboards the other day, and also spoke with them today, but there's really no point in mentioning what was said because it would be called hearsay and random. There is proof of life that in fact stuff is being made to get this product out. Further, this is a group buy, and this is what you signed up for - there are disclaimers everywhere about the nature of these things. If you can't wait for it, there are many people who would love to pickup a spot in this.

We are really thankful for your words and all the support.

[lirtle]

Can you give us any outlook on when extras will be available? I really need a PCB for my round 1 CA66.

[Lyle88]

Can you give us any outlook on when extras will be available? I really need a PCB for my round 1 CA66.

Have you looked at the possible fix that was posted in the R1 GB thread? It requires a small amount of rewiring and re-programming, but I think that someone actually found the issue and there is a fix for it.

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[lirtle]

Can you give us any outlook on when extras will be available? I really need a PCB for my round 1 CA66.

Have you looked at the possible fix that was posted in the R1 GB thread? It requires a small amount of rewiring and re-programming, but I think that someone actually found the issue and there is a fix for it.

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Yeah, I've looked through the thread but I'd much rather just pay for a replacement than muck about with re-wiring. I just checked my messages with Play and they told me extras will be available once orders from this GB ship out. So I guess there's the answer.

[euphxenos]

I'd also like to know when I can order a replacement PCB for my CA66 from the last round.

Yes, I've read the other thread.  There have been multiple posts about what might be wrong and about ways one might be able to get it to work.  Reflow some solder joints on the diodes, reflow solder joints on the controller, flash it with qmk, rewire bad columns to different pins on the controller -- I haven't seen anything in there to convince me that the issue is well understood and fixable by end users.  The fixes people have described sound like they're to correct different problems from pcb to pcb.  An explanation from the seller about what was wrong (and it sounds like there may have been multiple issues), what has been changed, and a corrected PCB is what I'm looking for, not a neverending repair project.

[Lyle88]

I'd also like to know when I can order a replacement PCB for my CA66 from the last round.

Yes, I've read the other thread.  There have been multiple posts about what might be wrong and about ways one might be able to get it to work.  Reflow some solder joints on the diodes, reflow solder joints on the controller, flash it with qmk, rewire bad columns to different pins on the controller -- I haven't seen anything in there to convince me that the issue is well understood and fixable by end users.  The fixes people have described sound like they're to correct different problems from pcb to pcb.  An explanation from the seller about what was wrong (and it sounds like there may have been multiple issues), what has been changed, and a corrected PCB is what I'm looking for, not a neverending repair project.

Fair call. Fingers crossed these get shipped out soon so you can get hold of a V2 pcb

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[Sythe]

Glad to finally get the update. Thanks.

Looking forward to getting my new board!