[IC] Omnikey PCB and Fullsize Case Customs

[BlindAssassin111]

So I have been throwing an idea around about making replacement PCBs for the omnikey ultra's because when I bought mine it had some corrosion and some pads have ripped off of the PCB forcing me to use wire to replace the no longer usable traces.

So I was thinking of designing a pcb to be used with a teensy and a USB panel extension to replace the original PCB and upgrade to USB as I don't know how to do PS/2 and would think more people would be in for it if it where to be USB. Plus I don't want to do SMD soldering or pay to have them assembled that way as it would complicate the design quite a bit.

Initial thoughts are to Support the Ultra and Ultra T as they are the same PCB just have 6 switches unoccupied on the Ultra T and a different top cover. Also could support the non Ultras, but would need to look into that a bit more.

I would like to do a small run only as I have other projects I need to do as well and this was a much quicker one to do as I can start designing next week and open a GB fairly quickly.

MOQ is going to probably be 10, including the one I will order. Pricing is dependent on how many PCBs are wanted but they will for sure be under $50, and drop in price very fast with more orders, and can be half the cost at 40 PCBs, if pricing works like I was quoted for another PCB I did.

Here is the Form:
https://goo.gl/forms/JhwNVxaUeESEHnkc2


Hope this goes somewhere!!!

EDIT: Also added support for ANSI and ISO layouts. Will supply a plate file with the pcb so you can even make custom cases for a fullsize or larger alps board. Check last post as GB will be launching very soon!

[BlindAssassin111]

Update:
Just looked up pricing again, Boards will be under $50 actually...Forgot that the last PCB I did was a 4-layer, and this would only need to be a 2-layer pcb, so pricing is so much lower.

Current estimate: (prices subject to change, may use a different manufacturer)

• 10 - $44
• 15 - $38
• 20 - $32
• 30 - $26
• 40 - $24

Note: Pricing is for the PCB only, I will link the cable needed and you will need to use your original plates as I don't have the time to design a plate that can fit all of these layouts that would actually be useable.

[BlindAssassin111]

Support for:

• Ultra T
• Ultra (need to check, hard part is the bottom of the nav cluster being two 1.5u instead of 3 1u, and SF row spacing)
• Plus (same issue as above minus SF row, but will work)
• 102

As well I will need to jump up to the Teensy++ as it is not possible to support the matrix size needed to support these layouts as I will be just over the limit for the Teensy 2.0.

[BlindAssassin111]

Can anyone send pictures of the connector location for the Ultra, 102, and Plus? Having a hard time finding pictures and want to figure out a way to make this usable with the different connector locations. Which will be a feat in itself.

Ultra T is super easy and can use a panel mount extension, whereas the Ultra I think has a seperate control board that mounts to the case(which means I will have to come up with a solution for that.

[BlindAssassin111]

Update:
Have mostly been updating on DT, so if you want to see everything head over there. But here is the most recent update.


Okay, PCB is fully laid out minus the LEDs and still need the locations of the screw cutouts to finalize the PCB.

I made it so the left function block can be broken off for smaller boards. I may change how it is done to make it stronger than it currently is. So all variants should be supported.

Does anyone know how QMK/TMK works with LED indicators? Does it ground them out or power them? Need to know so I don't mess it up, I wasn't able to find anything when searching the wiki.

[BlindAssassin111]

Okay, so I have basically everything done except I need help with the lock light LEDs. Can anyone tell me how QMK controls the LEDs? I need to know in order to route the traces on the PCB, so if someone can do this soon, the GB can open within a day or two of that.

[BlindAssassin111]

Update:
I have finished laying out the entire pcb and have gone through and checked all switch and LED positions. All I need is to have someone besides me and polecat(over on DT) measure the spacing between the clusters on their omnikey in order to get a larger pool of data for the dimensions. Once this is done, I can get a final quote, and start the GB.

What I need measured: (all are center to center or measured from the same point on two switches)
- num lock to page up (mine is 1.09375 in)
- insert to backspace (mine is 1.46875 in)
- F2 to tilde (mine is 1.23475 in)

I will start designing the sandwich case as well for specific layouts, in order to allow people to make a custom omnikey board. But I can't do that until I get the aforementioned dimensions.

Thank you all for input and the massive amounts of information in order to make sure I get this done right.

[BlindAssassin111]

If anyone can please give me feedback on if I should put a reset switch on the topside of the board alongside the one already on the Teensy++(which will be mounted on the bottom of the PCB). I don't know if it would be useful as the PCB is shorter than the originals, so the models with the doors won't have any PCB below it, and I won't be extending the board as that increases cost by quite a bit as I pay for the max dimensions, even if it is cut off.

Also I wanted to say that the plan is to have a black PCB with ENIG(gold), personally hate green PCBs so I will not be doing that.

Tomorrow I will wrap up the switch plate layout and do the final look over on the PCB to make sure everything is placed properly and to make sure I didn't forget anything. And if no one wants the switch, then I will go ahead and launch the GB on Thursday(3/8) at noon central time, and keep it open until 3/14 at midnight.

As I mentioned early on, the quantity is very important, if I only get 11 orders, I will either have to order 10 or 15 boards, which is hard on me as I don't want to kick people out of the GB, but I also can't afford to have extras and unless people are willing to buy the empty slots before I place the order, I will have to make a hard choice. I will have a live list here with the current number of orders, and the empty slots until the next price drop.

If anyone has any feedback before the GB is opened about a design change, please let me know, but also make sure to check back for my response so as to not delay the GB if I have an important question.

Thank you all for the interest!!!

[BlindAssassin111]

Also need to mention that this GB will have plate files ready so you can make a custom omnikey Ultra or smaller 100% alps board using this PCB and the plate files.

All omnikey variants supported, even added ANSI and ISO support to further customizability(360+ possible layouts)

[BlindAssassin111]

GB is live, https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=94449.0

The thread over on DT has all information right now. https://deskthority.net/group-buys-f50/omnikey-replacement-pcb-t18276.html#p400383

Here is the order form:
https://goo.gl/forms/B3DSyMg2Aq6Xkj6V2