Topre or Alps in the Phantom?

[thesupergeek]

Would it be possible to get a kit of Topre or Alp switches to work in my Phantom PCB? I would really like to use them instead of Cherry switches.

[CPTBadAss]

Topre definitely won't work. They're not discrete switches and the Phantom PCB isn't designed for the Topre switches. More info on them can be found here.

The PCB also isn't designed for Alps switches but I wonder if you could get it to work if you drilled new holes and wired some of the legs...

[HoffmanMyster]

Topre

Absolutely not.

Alps

With heavy modification, possibly.  The switch leads will not match up, and you would need to create a plate to use, but you could conceivably do this if you were absolutely determined to.

Edit: "sniped" (I'm a bit slow apparently) by the CPT.   

[thesupergeek]

Alright, so I have heard what you have to say. Looks like Topre is a no-go, but Alps may be possible. Any suggestions on how to get that to work?

[CPTBadAss]

Alright, so I have heard what you have to say. Looks like Topre is a no-go, but Alps may be possible. Any suggestions on how to get that to work?

The PCB also isn't designed for Alps switches but I wonder if you could get it to work if you drilled new holes and hand wired some of the legs to the existing leads...

[Defect]

Tbh I think it would be easier to hand wire an Alps TKL than to drill holes in a perfectly good Phantom.

You can grab an ALPS plate off a full size old board and cut it down to TKL and then build around that.

Melvang also had an "enabler pcb" GB which support ALPS.

[Findecanor]

I would instead look for a cheap Filco Zero or Ducky tenkeyless with Alps clone switches. The Filco Zero used to be sold for much less than the ones with Cherry switches. You could replace the switches with vintage Alps or with Matias switches.

It would be worth checking out if bpiphany's controller would be compatible with the Filco Zero - in that case you would be able to program it the same way as a Phantom.

[False_Dmitry_II]

I would instead look for a cheap Filco Zero or Ducky tenkeyless with Alps clone switches. The Filco Zero used to be sold for much less than the ones with Cherry switches. You could replace the switches with vintage Alps or with Matias switches.

It would be worth checking out if bpiphany's controller would be compatible with the Filco Zero - in that case you would be able to program it the same way as a Phantom.

It seems to me like everyone who manages to get their hands on either of those does just that, and then keeps it. If that controller is compatible it would also remove, IIRC, the interposition problems the Zero had.

[Wildcard]

I would instead look for a cheap Filco Zero or Ducky tenkeyless with Alps clone switches. The Filco Zero used to be sold for much less than the ones with Cherry switches. You could replace the switches with vintage Alps or with Matias switches.

It would be worth checking out if bpiphany's controller would be compatible with the Filco Zero - in that case you would be able to program it the same way as a Phantom.

It seems to me like everyone who manages to get their hands on either of those does just that, and then keeps it. If that controller is compatible it would also remove, IIRC, the interposition problems the Zero had.

Along that same thought process, you could use a Matias board with vintage alps. You could also look at using another comparable alps board with a Teensy to add additional layers considering that's mainly what the phantom was, PCB and Teensy. The main reason the phantom was even made was to allow you to to have several "physical" key layout configurations all on the same PCB.

Edit: had to specify that this was to modify the physical layout of the board

[CPTBadAss]

It seems to me like everyone who manages to get their hands on either of those does just that, and then keeps it. If that controller is compatible it would also remove, IIRC, the interposition problems the Zero had.

I've verified with bpiphany that his controller will fit the Filco Zero. I will be modding mine to have bpiphany's controller.

[dorkvader]

It seems to me like everyone who manages to get their hands on either of those does just that, and then keeps it. If that controller is compatible it would also remove, IIRC, the interposition problems the Zero had.

I've verified with bpiphany that his controller will fit the Filco Zero. I will be modding mine to have bpiphany's controller.

I just found it yesterday and put it on the shelf of "things to solder"

---
You may see if you can get the phantom PCB redone to accept ALPS switches. You should only have to move the one hole down a bit. Note that you will also need a plate cut (and switches) (and stabilizers) (and keycaps) but it'd be a lot easier than re-making the whole PCB yourself.

This is why I don't mess around with DIY ALPS: all the "incidental" stuff has to be either targeted to a donor board (kingsaver) or you run into these issues.

[jdcarpe]

This is why I don't mess around with DIY ALPS: all the "incidental" stuff has to be either targeted to a donor board (kingsaver) or you run into these issues.

QFT

[SpAmRaY]

Speaking of ALPs mods one of my favorites is found here http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=54857.0