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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: jayko on Mon, 11 April 2011, 15:04:00

Title: making wired usb-keyboard wireless?
Post by: jayko on Mon, 11 April 2011, 15:04:00

hi all together,

while i was looking for the perfect keyboard-solution for an htpc i only found some usb-wired keyboards which suited my needs best.

then i thought about making a usb-wired keyboard wireless by myself.
but unfortunately i have no skills concerning such things.

now i would like to hear from you "pros" what you think about it.
is it feasible to do this?
what do i need and how could it be done?
tell me what you think about it...

thanks!
jay

Title: making wired usb-keyboard wireless?
Post by: The Solutor on Mon, 11 April 2011, 19:07:20

Quote from: jayko;328725

hi all together,

while i was looking for the perfect keyboard-solution for an htpc i only found some usb-wired keyboards which suited my needs best.

then i thought about making a usb-wired keyboard wireless by myself.
but unfortunately i have no skills concerning such things.

now i would like to hear from you "pros" what you think about it.
is it feasible to do this?
what do i need and how could it be done?
tell me what you think about it...

thanks!
jay

Buy a cheap RF keyboard, figure the matrix scheme, then remove the original electronics from the mech keyboard and use the new one.

You need to reconnect the switches accordingly to the one present on the RF keyboard, it can be done via wirewrap or, more professionally, via a custom made PCB

Title: making wired usb-keyboard wireless?
Post by: The Solutor on Mon, 11 April 2011, 19:23:02

Quote from: ripster;328844

Wireless btw can be a PITA.  That nasty 2.4g range messes up my Logitech M570.

It's not matter of frequency range, it's more matter of how the frequency is used, if the transmission is done via frequency hopping, there's no interference problem, if the scheme is a poorer one the interferences can be a problem.

Luckily you can test for problems before starting to mod anything.

Title: making wired usb-keyboard wireless?
Post by: The Solutor on Mon, 11 April 2011, 19:36:01

Quote from: ripster;328852

Xarmor has a long history of using their early customers as beta testers.

Which is no different than the behavior of most of the companies out there...

Title: making wired usb-keyboard wireless?
Post by: The Solutor on Mon, 11 April 2011, 21:37:29

Quote from: ripster;328932

Most companies have more savvy web architects.

Yea...

Like, say, Motorola who fixed a stupid and evident bug in the audio section of the Milestone in just nine months and probably after a million of unit sold.

Title: making wired usb-keyboard wireless?
Post by: stupefaction on Mon, 11 April 2011, 22:22:49

Your sofa isn't more than 49 feet away from the HTPC, is it? So buy a 49-foot USB cable. (http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=103&cp_id=10303&cs_id=1030301&p_id=7643&seq=1&format=2) Problem solved.

Title: making wired usb-keyboard wireless?
Post by: zmurf on Wed, 06 July 2011, 02:41:33

Otherwise you could just piggyback a wireless USB hub on the standard USB keyboard. Most of them run on 5-9V and there would not be any problem running it with a standard 9V battery.

Some wireless usb alternatives:
http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=629
http://www.iogear.com/product/GUWH104KIT/