[IC] Phantom PCB

[TheQsanity]

Will plates also be available?  Just wondering how hard is it to acquire one.

[TheProfosist]

Will plates also be available?  Just wondering how hard is it to acquire one.

someone will probably run a separate GB and i may offer them with my assembly service.

[t2russo]

In on this and the assembly thread

[insomnesia]

also interested..
if group buy started,,i would order 10..

[TheProfosist]

also interested..
if group buy started,,i would order 10..

WOW O.O and order for 10 your going to share with your Korean friends?

[Caaaarrrt]

I think I will be in for this.

I have been enjoying the small amount of soldering I have been doing lately, so I might as well get some more to do. Plus these look awesome!

[bavman]

Okay a little update.

1) I think were going to keep the price at a flat $35
2) I will include 100 diodes with every plate included in the price just because its super cheap (<$1 for 100) if we buy a large quantity.
3) Shipping is yet to be decided, but from preliminary searches it will run around $7-8 for domestic and $12-15 for international. This includes shipping charges as well as shipping material (boxes, tape, lots of newspapers)
4) We need to decide on a LED color for the caps/scroll lock. Included with every board will be 2 LEDs for theses keys and 2 compatible resistors.

[jdcarpe]

Awesome, thanks, bavman!

I vote for white or blue LED.

[boost]

UV LED's

[nebo]

Awesome, thanks, bavman!

I vote for white or blue LED.

+1 on this. Let's do a not as common color, every board has blue and red.

[Shadovved]

Awesome, thanks, bavman!

I vote for white or blue LED.

+1 on this. Let's do a not as common color, every board has blue and red.

Lets do a PINK! ORANGE! 

[metalliqaz]

I agree blue and red are very common.  I vote for white or purple.
Can you actually see UV LEDs?

[alaricljs]

UV leds are purple and dim and do not look at them directly as they make your eyes feel funny (and cause a little damage). 

[boost]

UV leds are purple and dim and do not look at them directly as they make your eyes feel funny (and cause a little damage). 

Gottcha, Red or white LEDs then

[Acetrak]

Are UV leds the same as the magenta ones I sometimes see on here? IIRC they are mostly purchased via ebay shipped from China. Are those the same ones that cause problems?

I vote something not white since white leds were from round 1

[jdcarpe]

Black LEDs, then.

[alaricljs]

Every time I press one of these black controls, labelled in black on a black background, a little black light lights up black to let me know I've done it.

[jdcarpe]

^ You're too quick.

[nebo]

Black leds it is! Imagine how sexy this board could be with white PCB and black leds. Throw in that one case in design with the clear center and some CCnBlack keycaps. So monotone, so pretty.

[reverkiller]

Any ETA on the group buy? I have a super limited budget, but am really interested in this, so I want to know how little I should be eating until it comes out.

[boost]

Any ETA on the group buy? I have a super limited budget, but am really interested in this, so I want to know how little I should be eating until it comes out.

better get them soups ready lol

[metalliqaz]

Eat Ramen, buy keyboards  )

[jdcarpe]

Get 2nd job, eat as usual, buy keyboards.

[nebo]

Ramen? Soup? You mean ketchup and hot water? Those were dark days.

[TheProfosist]

I say not white that was last GB

[korne]

Orange leds ftw

[pasph]

2) I will include 100 diodes with every plate included in the price just because its super cheap (<$1 for 100) if we buy a large quantity.

What kind of plate?

[esoomenona]

I think he meant PCB.

[Leewei]

+1 for white/purple leds.

[bavman]

2) I will include 100 diodes with every plate included in the price just because its super cheap (<$1 for 100) if we buy a large quantity.

What kind of plate?

Yup sorry meant pcb

[KuhnTang]

Total Rookie Question:

What is the benefit of a board like this?

I saw a post of a guy summing up cost and it came out to like $300 (w/o keys).  Will this end up being superior to a board like Filco, or even a RealForce at that price?  Don't get me wrong, I'm ALL about quality, which keeps me searching for the (perfect ?) keyboard, but would not want to do it if the only benefit is the satisfaction of self assembly.

So what do I get out of this board that I don't get out of a Filco/Realforce/Ducky/etc?   

[TheProfosist]

Main thing you choose your layout and you can program it to do as you please.

[Acetrak]

Custom layout, option of custom plates, programmable layouts (although you can have that if you got the HID Liberation Device from an earlier GB) etc.

Lots of options of what you can do, you CAN just make another Filco-like board but that's not the advantage of a Phantom.

[nebo]

Not sure where you're getting $300. PCB and all that will be around $35 and $100 for switches. $20 or so for a plate with $10 for a controller and you have a board.$ 165. Keycaps and a case are up to you, can get a filco case for $20 and keycaps vary too much to price.

[reverkiller]

I just found out I can get my parents to pay for textbooks AND NOT BUY TEXTBOOKS.

Phantom, here we come!

[alaricljs]

As a parent, I'd really like to know how that works out for you. 

[KuhnTang]

Hey, would anyone be kind enough to tell me how much the whole endeavor would cost? (or in what balllpark it runs in) before i put my finger in the gear :S

from what i understand
pcb 35
plate 15-35 (based off GB from boost and whitefire
Case =??? (i saw some made in aluminum that were like 300+ but thats a bit out of my budget range)
keys = 40-50? @ around .4 per key or something like that

and then you would need keycaps ofc...am i missing anything else?

 1 PCB (includes 2 white LEDs and2 resistors) - $35
 1 Plate - $25
 1 Teensy (includes 1 40-pin pin header) - $16
 100 switches - $65ish (I think that's what I paid to get them from 7bit)
 100 diodes - $4
 4 2x stabilizers for ANSI or 3 2x stabilizers for ISO or 0 for PH7BIT - (??)
 1 7x or 1 6.25x stabilizer set for spacebar or 0 for PH7BIT - (??)
 1 case - Depends on what you go with or can find.  There are acrylic cases that would work starting at $40ish, or you could try and find another filco case.

I would think, all said and done to plan for $300 before caps.

I'm getting the $300 from here.  I's on the second page of the very thread you are reading.

[reverkiller]

As a parent, I'd really like to know how that works out for you. 

Its only a minor deception - I've spent my own money on my textbooks up to this point, and found out my parents had saved enough money for my textbooks for the rest of my college career in some small credit union. I told them I'd withdraw money to pay for "expenses". I think my mom realizes that means keyboards. (Considering I just picked up a Siig Minitouch and got a Poker with in the last month.)

[nebo]

That only goes up to $145 before stabilizers, case and keycaps. So also not sure where they got $300. It all depends on what case and keycaps you want.

[Piehunter]

Btw I got a few PMs for questions of total costs and help with assembly. I'll just post it here too so know you what parts to source and cost expectations:

• 1 PCB $35
• 1 case $??
• 1 plate $18
• 1 teensy controller $20
• 87 diodes $2
• 87 switches ~$60
• 10 stabilizers (plate mounted cherry or costar) ~$10
• 1 USB cable $??
• keycaps $??

That's roughly $150 before shipping and other fees. Of course the number of switches and diodes will vary depending on the layout you choose, but not by much. The only layout that adds significant amount of switches is the 7bit layout, which is a little over 100 switches.

edit: I just realized tjcaustin also posted a list of things needed. It's correct for the most part but $300 is grossly overestimated unless that includes buying a brand new $150 filco just for the case.

Or planning to spend that much on a one off aluminum case/risking a vortex aluminum one.  Besides, I would rather plan to have more money than needed than not enough.

This is the latest assessment

Also...logically speeking, if you are just looking mech keyboard, this is probably not the most economic way to do it...

This is more of a "hobby" kinda thing....having the possiblity to customize it and make it just the way you want it

[tjcaustin]

That only goes up to $145 before stabilizers, case and keycaps. So also not sure where they got $300. It all depends on what case and keycaps you want.

Why not spend the extra for a sexy aluminum case?

[nebo]

That only goes up to $145 before stabilizers, case and keycaps. So also not sure where they got $300. It all depends on what case and keycaps you want.

Why not spend the extra for a sexy aluminum case?

I was just saying the base price, I fully intend to get the one in this thread so I hope the timing is right. I'm in this to get a good quality winkeyless board that I can program.

[TheQsanity]

Main thing you choose your layout and you can program it to do as you please.

YES!

LED: I hate bright LED, like the white, white ones. Blue is okay. I just like being blinded if anyone knows what I mean

[TheProfosist]

Main thing you choose your layout and you can program it to do as you please.

YES!

LED: I hate bright LED, like the white, white ones. Blue is okay. I just like being blinded if anyone knows what I mean

you can control their brightness via PWM I have mine as dimm as possible

[el2k]

Interested and green LED's <3

[KuhnTang]

If someone can organize other parts like plates/cases/switches etc that will be compatible with this board then I'd be in.  I just don't want to have to dig around all over the place and buy something that doesn't fit, I just don't trust myself.  And on the flip side, I don't want to just have a PCB collecting dust.  I'll leave it in the hands of all you more experienced people, if you can organize the other stuff consider me in.

[Acetrak]

You might want to take a look around. There are a lot of resources and good threads you can read up on so you understand what you're getting into. The chances of this GB including everything you need is not very high.

[tjcaustin]

To be fair, with the pcb GB starting, there's another gaining traction for a custom aluminum/acrylic case and another for plates (I think).

The only thing left to source would be switches, which you could get from 7bit if you had the patience of a really patient person or source through a donor board or even through wasd.

[bavman]

Okay guys, I think this will be much easier if we just voted on it:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFdpSkpCNWdpNHBzbEdabjA5YTlEdVE6MQ

[KuhnTang]

To be fair, with the pcb GB starting, there's another gaining traction for a custom aluminum/acrylic case and another for plates (I think).

The only thing left to source would be switches, which you could get from 7bit if you had the patience of a really patient person or source through a donor board or even through wasd.

Will all these parts be compatible?  I'm just worried that I'll get in on a group buy for something that I don't need.

Other than that I think I'm starting to like this idea a lot. 



Go ahead and count me in.  I'll figure the rest out later.