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geekhack Community => New Members => Topic started by: phosphor on Thu, 06 August 2015, 00:38:01
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Hey all, newbie here.
I've been looking to improve over my crappy hand me down Dell kb212-b for a while now two things happened. First was a special on hackaday about custom keyboards; second, i remembered they clackety mechanical keyboards i learned to type (and spell) on in first grade. read up on the different types of mechanical keys and googled them extensively. That led me to Keypuller.com and i fairly well tumbled down the rabbit hole.
Im still using my crappy dell, but wallet (and wife) permitting i plan to pick up a Cherry MX key sampler on amazon, followed shortly by my first mechanical keyboard (i suspect i'll choose the Cherry MX Browns).
i'm also planning on soldering the keys from the sampler onto a perf-board and arduino, along with a rotary encoder or two to use for media and gaming.
Sooo yea, im in way over my head and thought i should talk to some people with a little more experience. And here i am.
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Welcome to Geekhack!
A switch tester will only give you a vague idea of what the switches feel like. The best way of assessing a switch is to type on a full keyboard with that switch. Do you live near a PC shop that sells keyboards? Some might let you try a keyboard or two.
Not sure about the Arduino, you might need something more like a Teensy if you want to connect the device you are planning to a computer.
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Like i said, i was hoping to make a media remote out of it, mostly for my wife and 3 year old to use with Netflix. And i already have an Arduino Mega 2560 gathering dust, but you aren't the first to mention a Teensy so i'm considering it.
I've never used one before though, so it'd be a new experience all around.
i"m smack in the middle of Spring Texas, so the nearest computer stores are Fry's and Best Buy. I'll take a look when i have some free time, but i have to be stealthy. Not allowed to visit electronics stores after payday or with any credit cards. too tempting.
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A media remote is a great idea!
As a suggestion, have you seen the CM switch tester?
There are a couple (https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=67338.0) of threads (https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=58029.0) about beefing them up. With a Teensy and perhaps a bluetooth module, you could make a great remote!