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Updates
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[October 16, 2021]
- GB for rev1.1 is up now senselessclay.com (https://senselessclay.com)
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=115012.0
[April 14, 2021]
- The boards are now available along with daughterboards on senselessclay.com (https://senselessclay.com)!
All sold!
[February 12, 2021]
- Equipment and boards have been ordered, just waiting at this point.
[January 15, 2021]
- Added support for the Kei based on the larger indentations on hiney's h60.
[January 14, 2021]
- Design is finalized! Buy will continue with fulfillment happening in later February or early March given the upcoming Chinese New Year.
[October 9, 2020]
- Stream checking out the fit and feel of the PCB in a Unikorn will be on October 10 at 12:00 PM PT at twitch.tv/hadipotter (http://twitch.tv/hadipotter). The switches have been pre-lubed, so I don't suspect it will be a terribly long stream. Hoping to see you all there!
[September 30, 2020]
- I'll be building a prototype case I designed for this PCB and testing it within the Unikorn on stream in October.
[September 27, 2020]
- 25 units of the PCB will be available for EU folks. GB will run after initial US run.
- I'll be prototyping a plastic (POM) plate with matching flex cuts in October.
- I designed an acrylic case for this board that leverages the same mounting style as the Unikorn if anyone's interested. I'll post more details once the prototype arrives in October. I expect to produce 5-10 for GB members in the United States since some assembly is required on my part. Target price for the case will be between $60 and $80 with a display stand and lube station included potentially. Daughterboard will be required.
- Still trying to source nitrile O-Rings less than 70A, preferably 50A. If anyone has any recommendations that don't start with McMaster and end with Carr, let me know!
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Original Post
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Hello, Geekhack!
The had60 is a board I prototyped back in the summer and would now like to make available to the mechanical keyboard community as a token of my appreciation. The goal was to consolidate some current trends in PCB and keyboard design that I thought looked neat, and I’m very much not trying to take credit for the layout of the board or the visual language employed. To be clear, Wilba, TGR, Singa, and Gondolindrim have all heavily influenced this board along with the art additions to it. Functionally, the PCB is intended for use with the Unikorn but it should fit other 60% boards depending on whether or not they have tight connector slots.
Since this is a first for me, these PCBs will be offered at cost with an optional donation for those who would like to see other projects like this one come to fruition. Ran into several unanticipated costs between packaging, shipping, and hosting services, so I'll need to take a bit to cover the additional losses. Sorry.
(https://i.ibb.co/RYmLvDC/Q0AtIAg.jpg)
USB fit and Unified Daughterboard sample
More
(https://i.ibb.co/5GKD3k9/20200923-103244.jpg)
Features
- USB Type-C Connector
- QMK compatible (and VIA, maybe?)
- 4-pin JST Header pre-soldered (pinout conforms to the Unified Daughterboard standard)
- Basic ANSI, ISO, WKL, and HHKB support (preflashed, if desired)
- Green soldermask (or clear—we’ll see)
- ESD protection on power and data lines
- Overcurrent protection via a PTC
- EMI filtering on power via a ferrite bead
- Too much flex
- Absolutely no LEDs
- Some nifty board art
Price
About $30 depending on order quantity and locale (not including PayPal fee or shipping). I’m guessing we can get to the lower half of this range (or even less) easily enough, especially with plain, ol’ green.
Quantity/Availability
Two batches of 5-25 units, one for CONUS and one for EU, FCFS. We will run more extensive rounds if this is successful. Multiples will be allowed if we don't hit the cap in either region.
Potential additions
- Community submissions and designs for front solder-mask art.
- Coupled daughterboard with various connector extensions (typically 0 mm from the front edge per the Unified Daughterboard specification, but 1 and 2 mm are useful for non-metal cases with thicker walls) and a 200mm cable. The pair would be about $5-10, again depending on order quantity.
- QMK layout configuration and flashing for an additional fee (if I don’t get VIA support up in time). $1-10 depending on extent of customization, no macros or custom functions pls. Working to get VIA support up by fulfillment.
- A separate connector-less version, depending on feedback. Just one version for the time being, with option to desolder for an additional fee ($2).
- Plates?
- O-Rings? Not a ton of great sources right now
Changes to production run
- Component package sizes - Switch from 0402 to 0603 since the former are dwarfed by the controller in my opinion.
- Pads for switch pins - The exposed teardrop pads are a little meme-y, but I’m down to leave the soldermask stopped if people find them interesting. I’ll build a board soon-ish to confirm how they affect soldering/desoldering.
- Front soldermask art - I’m still working on finalizing the front of the board given that the owl featured is a reproduction of a silkscreen print, ‘Bird Dream of the Olympus Mons’, by Kevin Tong (@tragicsunshine, https://tragic-sunshine.myshopify.com/) that I threw together for prototyping. I did get permission from the artist to share these photos but would rather stick to something that is either entirely mine or sourced from the community. If you have any recommendations or owl art you own, let me know!
- Connector extension - If anyone has a 60% PCB that uses USB Type-C lying around, I’d love to know how far the connector extends past the main edge of the case along with its position relative to the ‘Escape’ and ‘1’ keys. It would be great to make the PCB as compatible as possible with other cases.
- Connector position - Seems like the connector may need to be moved a bit more to the right. I'll build my Unikorn with the PCB to confirm it's indeed centered.
- Column traces between Rows 2 and 3 will be moved to the bottom.
Timeline
Interest Check : September - November 2020
Accepting orders : December 1 - 14 2020 WILL BE SOLD AS IN STOCK DUE TO CONCERNS WITH PROTOTYPE, DATE TBD
Order/Production : December 15 - January 15, 2021
Shipping/Fulfillment : January 15 - February 30, 2021 ~March, 2021
Form
https://forms.gle/qpXt2PttKQV1ANkk9
I’ll send an email to responders closer to the end of the IC as a notification for the buy.
Terms
- Group buy members may not resell the pieces for profit. Anyone found to be violating this request will be banned from participating in all future rounds.
- I’ll order a few extra to have as backups if anything happens to the PCBs under typical usage, but refunds might be more convenient for this initial run. Just let me know and I’m sure we’ll be able to work something out.
TODO
- Order final prototype with updated art, pads, and connector position (if changed) Who needs to prototype when you have unfounded confidence and excess capital
- Get a shipping label printer so that the local postal service proxy doesn't slap me with printing charges DONE
- Source packaging for the boards along with an adequate flat-rate shipping option
- Make sure PayPal doesn’t lock my account No PayPal, sorry
Shameless self-promotion
I run a small YouTube channel and Discord server for makers looking to implement their own keyboards from scratch. If you’d like, we’re always looking for new members to join and collaborate on projects. I stream a bit of some of my design work on the side, too, and will probably give a prototype or two of this PCB away at some point.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpWGAJr2AU7LPUwVYbBQZRg
https://discord.gg/E6ujkUG
https://www.twitch.tv/hadipotter
https://www.patreon.com/hadiiskandarani
Let me know what you think!
I'm still interested. Do you know if the cutouts support the Kei?
Well, the cutouts seem to be in the same positions relative to the switch footprints, but I'm unsure about the exact clearances. Do you have an outline file, measurements, or a straightish top-down photo? If so, editing the profile to fit should be fairly easy, but I imagine the USB connector would still have to be removed based on what I can glean from build videos. Happy to do it for you using hot air if it ends up working out.
Here's the product page for the PCB the Kei uses:
https://hineybush.com/collections/pcbs/products/h60-hotswap-daughterboard?variant=32196671635558 (https://hineybush.com/collections/pcbs/products/h60-hotswap-daughterboard?variant=32196671635558)
Here's a timestamp to Taeha's stream where he shows off the PCB:
Picture from a Discord user that has a decent shot of the PCB:
Show Image
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/688413953952710790/779124693310636062/20201119_131051.jpg)
Another picture from a Discord user:
Show Image
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/688413953952710790/778434165124366366/image0.jpg)
I don't think outline files are available, but we might be able to ask hiney.
So the answer is no, not at the moment, but making it compatible would just require adding two circular cuts at the top and expanding two at the bottom to match (in red, see photo). The other, smaller indentations are unnecessary, right? The USB platform is ever so slightly extended on my board, but I don't think the ~0.5mm will hit the case since the overall dimensions still seem to be smaller than those of the H60.
So the answer is no, not at the moment, but making it compatible would just require adding two circular cuts at the top and expanding two at the bottom to match (in red, see photo). The other, smaller indentations are unnecessary, right? The USB platform is ever so slightly extended on my board, but I don't think the ~0.5mm will hit the case since the overall dimensions still seem to be smaller than those of the H60.
Show Image
(https://i.imgur.com/M4gMamm.png)
I went ahead and expanded the cuts since they were extras to begin with. I'm guessing it should be compatible now based on hiney's store listing. Here's a (very low-quality) png export for reference.
Show Image
(https://i.imgur.com/iieYCVm.png)
That looks like it would work! To answer your prior question about the small indentations -- no, those are not necessary for the Kei. Only the large indentations are necessary due to board being screwed together from the top. Those large indentations are so you can screw the board together.