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geekhack Community => New Members => Topic started by: shingi on Sat, 18 May 2024, 07:47:24
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Salutations, fellow humans!
I am definitely not an extra-terrestrial being looking for insight into humanity's hobbies. Rather, I am a keyboard 'nerd' that finds enjoyment in the sensory responses triggered by different types and variants of mechanical key switches, and other items of the sort.
My main purpose is to purchase new 'keebs', as the cool kids say, to find my true end game 'board. I'll try to be active, however, my very busy schedule of working a Human job at a Human company for Human purposes might become an obstacle for this objective.
My current daily driver is certainly nothing impressive: I possess a Redragon K552 with lubed Akko CS Matcha Latte switches along with other miscellaneous mods.
Although it is not as high-end as most of the 'boards utilized by other fellow humans, I find it satisfactory.
My wish for the near future is to purchase a keyboard with an ISO layout and a southpaw numpad. I have been observing the Keychron Q12 very closely, but I would very much appreciate it if you have any recommendations.
Thank you!
- S.
Zeep Zorp.
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Welcome to geekhack fellow human :D
Sadly there aren't that many southpaw fullsizes or close to fullsize atm, and the one I know of the kangaroo doesn't support iso. The keychron q12 does have an iso barebones kit so that might have to be your best option atm, of course there are a lot of new projects happening so surely one will have southpaw with iso eventually.
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Welcome to geekhack fellow human :D
Sadly there aren't that many southpaw fullsizes or close to fullsize atm, and the one I know of the kangaroo doesn't support iso. The keychron q12 does have an iso barebones kit so that might have to be your best option atm, of course there are a lot of new projects happening so surely one will have southpaw with iso eventually.
Hello!
Yes, that is unfortunately true. I did observe the Southpaw75 DIY kit, which comes with an ISO layout as an option, but I currently do not possess the dexterity needed to properly solder all components onto the PCB. Additionally, I do not own a soldering iron either...
I believe I will stick to the Q12 ISO for now, and once I slowly build my soldering confidence, start my foray into custom boards such as the previously mentioned one. I might even try hand-wiring down the line!... In several years, that is. Hand-wiring as a building method scares me.
I am, however, very excited to see what projects I can complete in the future.
Thank you for the response!
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Hello!
Yes, that is unfortunately true. I did observe the Southpaw75 DIY kit, which comes with an ISO layout as an option, but I currently do not possess the dexterity needed to properly solder all components onto the PCB. Additionally, I do not own a soldering iron either...
I believe I will stick to the Q12 ISO for now, and once I slowly build my soldering confidence, start my foray into custom boards such as the previously mentioned one. I might even try hand-wiring down the line!... In several years, that is. Hand-wiring as a building method scares me.
I am, however, very excited to see what projects I can complete in the future.
Thank you for the response!
Soldering seems pretty daunting but it's actually not as hard as you think, especially when it comes to just soldering keyboard pcbs. Soldering stuff like diodes or doing handwiring is a lot more daunting, to me at least but it seems that with enough practice that should be fine as well (but atm I'm still not that level I feel)
t=179
This video is pretty helpful (I used to recommend another guide but it isn't the best, it's fine if you just want to solder a keyboard and be done but learning proper soldering is important, so I use this one), I keep my soldering iron at about 280 now, and it flows fine and is easy to control. I just don't do the bending tip they show but that might help you.
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Pangea keyboard will be south paw and ISO fellow human :cool:
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Soldering seems pretty daunting but it's actually not as hard as you think, especially when it comes to just soldering keyboard pcbs. Soldering stuff like diodes or doing handwiring is a lot more daunting, to me at least but it seems that with enough practice that should be fine as well (but atm I'm still not that level I feel)
Thank you for the video recommendation! I've watched it just now, the lady made it seem very easy! I wonder if I'll get the hang of it quickly. Guess I'll have to find out!
Pangea keyboard will be south paw and ISO fellow human :cool:
Thank you! I've looked at them and they seem very promising! With that price tag, though, perhaps I'll buy a kit (if my wallet allows for it!) and keep it for an "endgame" build!
If I am not mistaken, it looks like the ISO version will only be available with a solder-only PCB (which would make sense, as I've observed that many solder-only PCBs allow for many different layouts at once), which at my current skill level would be quite a terrifying ordeal considering the value of such a 'board!