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geekhack Marketplace => Interest Checks => Topic started by: flying1911 on Wed, 26 May 2021, 10:17:04

Title: [IC] Mechlovin' Olly - Duck Jetfire and Black Bird Compatible PCBs & Plates
Post by: flying1911 on Wed, 26 May 2021, 10:17:04: BACKGROUND
We've seen a lot of Jetfire and Black Bird owners having issues with the original PCBs and/or searching for replacement PCBs and plates. We were working on this project for quite a long time last year and even had working prototypes, but we had to shelf it at some point for several reasons. First, we needed some extra headspace to deal with other more pressing projects, especially in the midst of COVID. Second, we wanted to offer solutions that are cross-compatible with the original Duck PCBs and Plates, which would have taken much more time for measurements since they were (and still are?) not available. We've decided to abandon that ambition because there's little point in doing so to be honest, and will offer our own PCB and Plate solutions that, when paired together, are guaranteed to work well on the boards.

Personally, I love these boards to bits and think they are the best keyboards with numpad, ever. Wish Duck would make a round 2 for them, although it seems unlikely :-[

WHAT'S BEEN DONE AND WILL BE DONE
As mentioned, we've had working prototypes for about a year now, but it's been a long time and there are things we want to do differently now. That's why we're working on new (and better) designs and will make prototypes as soon as possible. These are the things we will be focusing on:
- Fitment with the boards: the first prototypes fit quite well, but there are some room for improvement, especially with the placement of the LED indicators.
- Trying Type-C: the original Jetfire and Black Bird PCBs use Micro-USB and Mini-respectively, and we'll see if we can make Type-C on our PCBs work.
- Underglow RGB improvement: mostly on the Jetfire because there's a "dark spot" on the front that we want to address.

The PCBs are of course, QMK and VIA compatible. The upcoming prototypes will use the Atmega32A chipset, which is plenty enough for what we're trying to achieve.

(https://i.imgur.com/II5QBBp.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/dED6Jk1.png)

In terms of plate material options, we'll probably go with the usual suspects: FR4, Aluminium and/or PC.

At this rate, we aim to run the GB some time late June/ early July.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP

This is probably not the "we'll make it happen if you're interested" kind of IC. We'll do it anyway, and would really appreciate your opinion on what we should do to make the best out of it. Considering the limited number of Jetfire and Black Bird boards in the wild, this will probably be a one-time thing, so we'll try our best to make it right and hope to have your support along the way.

Please consider joining our Discord Server: https://discord.com/invite/fSsbECG for updates and discussions, on top of the ones posted here.
Title: Re: [IC] Mechlovin' Olly - Duck Jetfire and Black Bird Compatible PCBs & Plates
Post by: unknownh on Wed, 26 May 2021, 10:20:09: Any chance for a TCV3 compatible PCB? I've killed 2 already... and O2D has killed my braincells
Title: Re: [IC] Mechlovin' Olly - Duck Jetfire and Black Bird Compatible PCBs & Plates
Post by: Visionaire on Wed, 26 May 2021, 10:21:52: So glad to see you guys doing this. Very supportive of the project.
Title: Re: [IC] Mechlovin' Olly - Duck Jetfire and Black Bird Compatible PCBs & Plates
Post by: damagepoint on Wed, 26 May 2021, 10:22:43: Count me in for at least 1 Jetfire pcb. If you would consider TC-V3, i'd be in for at least one of those as well. Thank you, this is awesome.
Title: Re: [IC] Mechlovin' Olly - Duck Jetfire and Black Bird Compatible PCBs & Plates
Post by: singabore on Wed, 26 May 2021, 10:22:43: let's gooo
Title: Re: [IC] Mechlovin' Olly - Duck Jetfire and Black Bird Compatible PCBs & Plates
Post by: Visionaire on Wed, 26 May 2021, 10:25:06: Quote from: damagepoint on Wed, 26 May 2021, 10:22:43
Count me in for at least 1 Jetfire pcb. If you would consider TC-V3, i'd be in for at least one of those as well. Thank you, this is awesome.

Also would be interested in TC-V3
Title: Re: [IC] Mechlovin' Olly - Duck Jetfire and Black Bird Compatible PCBs & Plates
Post by: flying1911 on Wed, 26 May 2021, 10:26:59: Thanks a lot guys. We did have a try on the TCV3 last year but the fitment was off. We have access to better measurement tools now so we'll consider doing it after this GB.
Title: Re: [IC] Mechlovin' Olly - Duck Jetfire and Black Bird Compatible PCBs & Plates
Post by: SketchLol on Wed, 26 May 2021, 10:31:50: finally
Title: Re: [IC] Mechlovin' Olly - Duck Jetfire and Black Bird Compatible PCBs & Plates
Post by: unknownh on Wed, 26 May 2021, 10:32:25: Quote from: flying1911 on Wed, 26 May 2021, 10:26:59
Thanks a lot guys. We did have a try on the TCV3 last year but the fitment was off. We have access to better measurement tools now so we'll consider doing it after this GB.

Mechlovin doing God's work :llama:
Title: Re: [IC] Mechlovin' Olly - Duck Jetfire and Black Bird Compatible PCBs & Plates
Post by: Jedi on Wed, 26 May 2021, 10:35:53: My wallet is ready.
Spec on the PCB? QMK? LED support? Chipset?
Hope I don’t miss the GB, if you decide to run a mail list let me know. TIA
Title: Re: [IC] Mechlovin' Olly - Duck Jetfire and Black Bird Compatible PCBs & Plates
Post by: flying1911 on Wed, 26 May 2021, 10:49:40: Quote from: Jedi on Wed, 26 May 2021, 10:35:53
My wallet is ready.
Spec on the PCB? QMK? LED support? Chipset?
Hope I don’t miss the GB, if you decide to run a mail list let me know. TIA
Thank you for your questions. Related details have been updated on the first post.
Title: Re: [IC] Mechlovin' Olly - Duck Jetfire and Black Bird Compatible PCBs & Plates
Post by: LightningXI on Wed, 26 May 2021, 16:21:49: Interested in a Blackbird PCB. Please make sure it's compatible with the HHKB top as well.
Title: Re: [IC] Mechlovin' Olly - Duck Jetfire and Black Bird Compatible PCBs & Plates
Post by: koyo on Thu, 27 May 2021, 21:37:31: Quote from: LightningXI on Wed, 26 May 2021, 16:21:49
Interested in a Blackbird PCB. Please make sure it's compatible with the HHKB top as well.

pretty please
Title: Re: [IC] Mechlovin' Olly - Duck Jetfire and Black Bird Compatible PCBs & Plates
Post by: hpkb on Fri, 28 May 2021, 02:35:53: Finally. I've been looking for a Blackbird PCB and non sts plate for ages.
Title: Re: [IC] Mechlovin' Olly - Duck Jetfire and Black Bird Compatible PCBs & Plates
Post by: flying1911 on Fri, 28 May 2021, 03:39:28: Quote from: LightningXI on Wed, 26 May 2021, 16:21:49
Interested in a Blackbird PCB. Please make sure it's compatible with the HHKB top as well.

Quote from: koyo on Thu, 27 May 2021, 21:37:31
Quote from: LightningXI on Wed, 26 May 2021, 16:21:49
Interested in a Blackbird PCB. Please make sure it's compatible with the HHKB top as well.

pretty please

We plan to offer all the supported layouts of the original PCB. I don't have a HHKB Black Bird to test but that would be sufficient, yes?
Title: Re: [IC] Mechlovin' Olly - Duck Jetfire and Black Bird Compatible PCBs & Plates
Post by: LightningXI on Fri, 28 May 2021, 03:42:35: Quote from: flying1911 on Fri, 28 May 2021, 03:39:28
Quote from: LightningXI on Wed, 26 May 2021, 16:21:49
Interested in a Blackbird PCB. Please make sure it's compatible with the HHKB top as well.

Quote from: koyo on Thu, 27 May 2021, 21:37:31
Quote from: LightningXI on Wed, 26 May 2021, 16:21:49
Interested in a Blackbird PCB. Please make sure it's compatible with the HHKB top as well.

pretty please

We plan to offer all the supported layouts of the original PCB. I don't have a HHKB Black Bird to test but that would be sufficient, yes?
Yes

Here's a pic to help

(https://i.imgur.com/smsRd4n.jpg)

Note spacebar is 6.25u not 7u here
Title: Re: [IC] Mechlovin' Olly - Duck Jetfire and Black Bird Compatible PCBs & Plates
Post by: yaya on Fri, 28 May 2021, 09:43:59: In for a few for a jetfire.
Title: Re: [IC] Mechlovin' Olly - Duck Jetfire and Black Bird Compatible PCBs & Plates
Post by: long_qt_pie on Sat, 29 May 2021, 00:41:05: Dont even have my jetfire anymore but i'm in.
Title: Re: [IC] Mechlovin' Olly - Duck Jetfire and Black Bird Compatible PCBs & Plates
Post by: Solus on Sat, 29 May 2021, 18:15:53: Never thought I'd see replacements for these boards.

Quote from: flying1911 on Wed, 26 May 2021, 10:17:04
- Trying Type-C: the original Jetfire and Black Bird PCBs use Micro-USB and Mini-respectively, and we'll see if we can make Type-C on our PCBs work.

Fingers crossed, hope you can get USB-C to work!
Title: Re: [IC] Mechlovin' Olly - Duck Jetfire and Black Bird Compatible PCBs & Plates
Post by: Fe on Mon, 31 May 2021, 09:16:46: I love Mechlovin
Title: Re: [IC] Mechlovin' Olly - Duck Jetfire and Black Bird Compatible PCBs & Plates
Post by: callmetal on Mon, 31 May 2021, 09:20:06: My Jetfire PCB is still working, but I would be interested in this
Title: Re: [IC] Mechlovin' Olly - Duck Jetfire and Black Bird Compatible PCBs & Plates
Post by: Altain on Mon, 31 May 2021, 23:10:54: +1 to Jetfire PCB and compatible plate. So hyped!
Title: Re: [IC] Mechlovin' Olly - Duck Jetfire and Black Bird Compatible PCBs & Plates
Post by: Mobius_Doppelganger on Thu, 03 June 2021, 20:12:41: +1 would be super interested in extra pcb and plates
Title: Re: [IC] Mechlovin' Olly - Duck Jetfire and Black Bird Compatible PCBs & Plates
Post by: flying1911 on Tue, 08 June 2021, 03:52:42: We really appreciate everyone's support and interest. Prototypes (PCBs and Plates) are in production and we will report back by the end of the month.
Title: Re: [IC] Mechlovin' Olly - Duck Jetfire and Black Bird Compatible PCBs & Plates
Post by: flying1911 on Sun, 20 June 2021, 22:51:06: New round of prototypes came in and here are some findings/ notes after after some testing:

- USB-C works on both the Jetfire and Black Bird. There's still some realignment to do to achieve a perfect fit.

- Plate fitment is perfect on both boards.

- We increased the number of underglow LEDs on both PCBs and it helps improve the lighting distribution. People who've used the Jetfire would know there's a dark spot on the front-facing LEDs (as pic) and it should be solved on the Olly PCB, although currently the brightness of the Jetfire's front-facing LEDs isn't great, especially on black bottom case because we had to push the LED units further inside to accommodate a greater number of them. We will make another round of prototype with outward-facing LEDs (as opposed to the downward-facing ones currently) to see if we can solve this. This issue does not apply to the Black Bird because its front-facing acrylic diffuser goes all the way inside and the LEDs shine directly towards it.

(https://i.imgur.com/6QzRkY4.png)
uneven LED distribution on the original PCB

Lighting on the Olly Jetfire PCB prototype: https://imgur.com/uYX3D2l. Front-facing LED distribution is great but brightness needs some more work/ experiment.

We're working on the next round of prototypes and aim to have a GB opened within July.
Title: Re: [IC] Mechlovin' Olly - Duck Jetfire and Black Bird Compatible PCBs & Plates
Post by: LightningXI on Fri, 09 July 2021, 05:37:59: Are there updates on this project?
Title: Re: [IC] Mechlovin' Olly - Duck Jetfire and Black Bird Compatible PCBs & Plates
Post by: flying1911 on Wed, 14 July 2021, 01:21:41: Quote from: LightningXI on Fri, 09 July 2021, 05:37:59
Are there updates on this project?

YES! We're testing the second round of prototype at the moment it's all good news:

- Fitting is good. There's some very slight adjustment on the Black Bird USB connector positioning.
- Outward-facing LEDs on the Jetfire PCB look great, and the lighting is much brighter and more consistent than the previous prototype. Demo: https://imgur.com/bliJcsz

We've decided to run another round of prototype to pin down the Black Bird fitment; add another LED unit on the Jetfire PCB and make sure these new LED units are ok for SMT production.

If everything goes well, GB will run within this month.
Title: Re: [IC] Mechlovin' Olly - Duck Jetfire and Black Bird Compatible PCBs & Plates
Post by: LightningXI on Wed, 14 July 2021, 01:27:47: Quote from: flying1911 on Wed, 14 July 2021, 01:21:41
Quote from: LightningXI on Fri, 09 July 2021, 05:37:59
Are there updates on this project?

YES! We're testing the second round of prototype at the moment it's all good news:

- Fitting is good. There's some very slight adjustment on the Black Bird USB connector positioning.
- Outward-facing LEDs on the Jetfire PCB look great, and the lighting is much brighter and more consistent than the previous prototype. Demo: https://imgur.com/bliJcsz

We've decided to run another round of prototype to pin down the Black Bird fitment; add another LED unit on the Jetfire PCB and make sure these new LED units are ok for SMT production.

If everything goes well, GB will run within this month.

Exciting news. Thank you so much for the update and for these committed efforts.