Hi, I'm Martin and I want this! ("How hard could it be?")

[MarMun]

I like to have a mechanical keyboard as I type the whole day long and "just because"...

Total noob who thought: "How hard could it be?" <- turns out: very...

(read: everything you read below, I didn't know about anything at all 48 hours ago.)

As I could not decide which topic board to use (as I have trouble on all steps involved), I just tell you how it is going right here:

The plan:

1) Buy the Red Scarf III Ver.A 96 at MassDrop
- Except that I need to wait for half a year until delivery:
- I have only 6 days left to decide if I could actually handle the whole thing 

2) Make a custom keyboard layout at keyboard-layout-editor.com
- ok, no problem here except I barely know what I'm doing
- you may see my current doodle here: PLZ SEE MY RESPONSE BELOW
  (I maybe call it "Commander Shepard"; I'm positive nobody else did this. Ever.)

3) Have the custom key caps printed at maxkeyboard.com
 - they may not support a "1.75 left shift", though
 - already contacted their support regarding this (waiting for reply)

4) Import the custom keyboard layout at TMK Keymap Generator
 - here we reach a new level of "very":
 - the page doesn't know how to handle the german umlauts I need
 - the german umlauts are not even listed under the supported labels
 - one million dollar question: How do I get my german umlauts into the .eep ? <-- TL&DR? Here are actual questions
 - bonus question: due to the umlauts, I have no room for some keys
 - so I need extra symbols on Y, X and C (accessible via "Alt")
 - how do I get these extra symbols on these keys?

6) Everything else should be piece of cake
 - except I didn't smolder since... I was 14, I guess (26 years ago)
 - needless to say I don't even have smoldering equipment
 - but I have the feeling I have enough time to buy one until I need to use it
 - I may even by one of these small things for training / testing purposes (e.g. this: http://bit.ly/2A1SXRj)


Long story short... If you like to see noob stumble through this adventure for the next 6-7 month, I'm all yours!

I could certainly use your help and advice 

Best wishes,
Martin

[AMongoose]

You know you can get fully assembled and ready mechanical keyboards from regular companies with no wait times right?

(Also your link is broken)

[MarMun]

As bitly doesn't accept keyboard-layout-editor.com perma-links (?) here the link to my Layout:

http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/##@_backcolor=%23d9d9d9&switchMount=cherry%3B&@_c=%23e0222c%3B&=Esc&_c=%23525252&t=%23ffffff%3B&=F1&=F2&=F3&=F4&=F5&=F6&=F7&=F8&=F9&=F10&=F11&=F12&_f:4%3B&=%3Ci%20class%2F='mss%20mss-Unicode-PrintScreen-3'%3E%3C%2F%2Fi%3E&_f:3%3B&=Pause%0ABreak&=Insert&=Delete&=PgUp&_c=%2322a7e0%3B&=PgDn%3B&@_c=%23525252%3B&=%C2%B0%0A%5E&_c=%23cccccc&t=%23000000%3B&=!%0A1&=%22%0A2%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%C2%B2&=%2F&sect%2F%3B%0A3%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%C2%B3&=$%0A4&=%25%0A5&=%2F&%0A6&=%2F%2F%0A7%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%7B&=(%0A8%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%5B&=)%0A9%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%5D&=%2F=%0A0%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%7D&=%3F%0A%2F&szlig%2F%3B%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%5C&=%60%0A%C2%B4&_c=%239e9e9e&w:2%3B&=Backspace&_c=%23525252&t=%23ffffff%3B&=Num%20Lock&=%2F%2F&=*&_c=%2322a7e0%3B&=-%3B&@_c=%23525252&w:1.5%3B&=Tab&_c=%23cccccc&t=%23000000%3B&=Q%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%2F@&=W&=E%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%E2%82%AC&=R&=T&=Z&=U&=I&=O&=P&=%2F&Uuml%2F%3B&=+%0A*%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A~&_c=%239e9e9e&w:1.5%3B&=%23%0A'&_c=%23cccccc%3B&=7%0AHome&=8&=9%0APgUp&_c=%2322a7e0&t=%23ffffff&h:2%3B&=+%3B&@_c=%23525252&w:1.75%3B&=Caps%20Lock&_c=%23cccccc&t=%23000000%3B&=A&=S&=D&=F&=G&=H&=J&=K&=L&=%2F&Ouml%2F%3B&=%2F&Auml%2F%3B&_c=%239e9e9e&w:2.25%3B&=Engage&_c=%23cccccc%3B&=4&=5&=6%3B&@_c=%23525252&t=%23ffffff&w:2.25%3B&=Shift&_c=%23cccccc&t=%23000000%3B&=Y%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%3C&=X%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%3E&=C%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%7C&=V&=B&=N&=M%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%C2%B5&=,%0A%2F%3B&=.%0A%2F:&=-%0A%2F_&_c=%239e9e9e&w:1.75%3B&=Shift&_c=%23525252&t=%23fff7f7%3B&=%3Ci%20class%2F='kb%20kb-Multimedia-Up'%3E%3C%2F%2Fi%3E&_c=%23cccccc&t=%23000000%3B&=1%0AEnd&=2&=3%0APgDn&_c=%2322a7e0&t=%23ffffff&h:2%3B&=Enter%3B&@_c=%23525252&w:1.25%3B&=Ctrl&_c=%23cccccc&t=%23000000&sb=cherry&st=MX1A-E1xx&f:4&w:1.25%3B&=%3Ci%20class%2F='kb%20kb-Symbol-YinYang'%3E%3C%2F%2Fi%3E&_f:3&w:1.25%3B&=Alt%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%3Ci%20class%2F='mss%20mss-Unicode-Option-3'%3E%3C%2F%2Fi%3E&_c=%239e9e9e&a:7&w:6.25%3B&=&_c=%23cccccc&a:4&w:1.5%3B&=Alt%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%3Ci%20class%2F='mss%20mss-Unicode-Option-3'%3E%3C%2F%2Fi%3E&_c=%239e9e9e&w:1.5%3B&=Ctrl&_c=%23525252&t=%23fff7f7%3B&=%3Ci%20class%2F='kb%20kb-Multimedia-Back'%3E%3C%2F%2Fi%3E&=%3Ci%20class%2F='kb%20kb-Multimedia-Down'%3E%3C%2F%2Fi%3E&=%3Ci%20class%2F='kb%20kb-Multimedia-Play'%3E%3C%2F%2Fi%3E&_c=%23cccccc&t=%23000000%3B&=0%0AIns&_c=%23525252&t=%23ffffff&a:7&f:6%3B&=.

[metalliqaz]

umlauts don't need to go into the file.  You can just use a normal Red Scarf layout and the German characters will be on the correct keys as long as your PC is configured to interpret the keyboard as German.

[MarMun]

@AMongoose

Yes, I know I can buy "turn key" keyboards.

But I don't like the look of most of them.

I like to have the compact layout like the one linked above with a thin case.

What I'm also considering atm: https://mechboards.co.uk/shop/all/96key-kit/

Here, I could let them assemble everything.

But:

- It would not give me german umlauts at the keycaps (but I might consider to let go of them if it turns out as a big problem)

[MarMun]

@metalliqaz

uh! very good news! this helps with the umlauts in the keymap. 

Any tipp regarding the "X", "Y" and "C" extra symbols?

[metalliqaz]

If it's a standard qwertz layout, then you just use a standard layout.  The scancodes are the same for all keyboards, the only difference is how the PC is configured to interpret them and what keycaps are on the switches.

[MarMun]

The thing is: On german layout there is a dedicated key for "< > |" which is missing on the 96 layout the Red Scarf III features...

I have the feeling that I need to simplify things:

A) I seriously consider to drop my requirement of the german layout completely and "just" go for the ANSI US layout.

First: You informed me the OS interprets what symbol to print if a key is hit (so I could just switch to GER if I need to type things like "Ö Ä Ü").
Second: If I look at the US layout, I actually like the positioning of "{} []" (as a programmer, I need those often + even after 20 years of coding, the positioning of those symbols on GER layout feels odd to me)

But most important: It "unlocks" a ton of options I don't had before:

- I could "just" buy a key set (e.g. order directly from Taiwan; there is one I like at Tai Hao shop)
- OR I could "just" go with the default layout at maxkeyboard.com and customize colors to my liking (still awaiting info about availability of 1.75U shift, though)

[SamirD]

Welcome to the madness Martin!