RominRonin, it looks like you have spent lots oftime with a different layouts. I highly inspired with katana60 keyboard. Inspite of the fact I prefer to have an F keys.
I try to do same but with a russian, that cause some more difficulties by the reason of more letters.
Don't you ever think about russian layout?
I took a look at the Russian layout after reading your posts, it's quite complicated!
Honestly, I think the Katana60 is better suited for the Russian layout - you could make use of all those extra keys in the middle of the keyboard for the extra characters.
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Hah!
I received the switch plate from laserboost.com today, I have to solder the latest prototype up, but here is what it will look like when it's done:
I have to say I am really loving this bottom row, the thumb keys (inner option keys) are in exactly the right place, so you only need a short extension or contraction of the thumb to hit the neighbouring keys. Very nice.
Once I solder the PCB, re-test it and update the firmware, the board will basically be ready. Unless...
Would it be possible to add breakout support for gonnoc's trackpoint module? I feel like this would be nearly the perfect use case on the bottom row. https://github.com/sekigon-gonnoc/LevelConverterForTrackballModule
Show Image
AFAIK it doesn't require modifications further than the breakout support as the sensor (PAW3204) can rest in a single switch slot, with the module sitting between plate and pcb. Show Image
Edit: Changelog for the choco60 to add https://github.com/shinoaliceKabocha/choco60_track/commit/4ea73b0fdc7a779b506713fedb874a8f848d6bef#diff-ef8462a2fd19505be9b755c3d953a2bc , from what I can tell it didn't require any physical modifications, but I could be wrong
Cheers!
I hadn't heard of the trackpoint module, and the few websites I've found are not in English. It looks very interesting,
can you please provide more information Tennstrong? Where can I buy one? Does it just fit in an MX sized hole in a switch plate? Does that potentially mean I can place a trackpoint anywhere I want (provided its wired into the controller through the pin breakouts)?
If it really is as simple as this, then I could add a quick update to the PCB before manufacturing, because quite a lot of people were interested in a trackpoint feature. But without more information, or some kind of support on integrating it, I'm hesitant to delay the Tsuka60 much further.