PLEASE MOVE ALL CONVERSATION OVER TO THE GB THREADhttps://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=114413.0Please fill out the new IC Form below. Even if you filled out the first one, this is a much better gauge for me.https://forms.gle/gUGY5Gf77aRSkmDH6UPDATE 08/20: New proto is built as you can see at the bottom of this post. Very happy with the end results! GB Date is OFFICIALLY September 1st run on Aeternus.co and Prototypist.net for US and EU/ASIA buyers.
Oceanographer is a Premium, 45% layout keyboard that is heavily influenced by 2 of my favorite boards; The Pearl and The Minivan. Oceanographer is an homage to both boards, being that the Pearl coming from the Oyster and the Minivan and related boards being about travel, it was fitting that this board be named Oceanographer.
I’ve been tinkering with the idea of mashing up the Pearl and the Minivan for a really long time. I love the form factor of the Pearl and the weight, and at the same time, I think the Minivan layout is one of the most efficient and intuitive of any 40/45% layouts currently on the market. So I finally got enough motivation to download fusion and learn and teach myself the program, as well as get help from fellow users to design my own board. With the blessing of both Evan and Koobaczech I went ahead plowed through the design phase.
I knew I wanted a very large brass weight. Outside of the Pearl and Cajal, there aren’t too many 40’s that have a large brass weight. However I wanted this one to be different from your standard weight. I knew I needed it to be unique and stand out, and I enlisted the help of /u/meatsmoothies for artwork to add. She came up with a fantastic version of a ship on the waves of the ocean and sent it over to me. I couldn’t be more pleased and we were able to fill a ton of negative space that is always on brass weights on other boards. On the inside is the name of the board as well just to give it a further unique touch. (Please note that “FSTS” will not be on any of the boards going forward. It was only for those that participated in the prototype run.)
Next up I knew I wanted to have an extra column of keys and an arrow blocker similar to a 65% board. However after going back and forth with /u/KnobleesOblige, we realized we could put both a rotary encoder and an OLED in that column and moved forward with that design change instead of some additional keys.
When we finally got to the PCB, we included 3 indicator LEDs for layers or other functions, and a speaker similar to the one on the Plank. This PCB is also a Diode-less STM32 that was designed by /u/KnobleesOblige and features ESD protection.
All of this, plus some additional background work rewarded us with a feature rich, 45% premium board.
Oceanographers Feature List:
* Minivan Inspired Layout with Multiple Bottom Row Options (1.75U Backspace)
* 2 Piece Aluminum Case
* 3 Degree Typing Angle
* .5U Blocker to separate arrow keys
* Top Mount
* Brass Plate
* Large Brass Weight with artwork by Brooke
* Ship Wheel Engraving on Backside Top
* STM32 Diode-Less PCB with ESD protection designed by Taylor
* USB-C
* Rotary Encoder
* OLED Screen
* Speaker
* Indicator LEDS between Q, W, and E similar to the Minivan
Layout Options
One of my biggest pet peeves is getting renders of a product and then when you order it and receive it, the product is not what you expected. We’ve been working on this board for nearly 8 months now and ordered prototypes about 3 months ago. The reason we are just now moving to IC on Reddit, Geekhack, and other sites is that I wanted prototypes in hand before showing to the rest of the community. It was incredibly important to me to have an actual product in hand so you can see exactly what you will be getting. Yes it cost money to do a small run of protos, and yes it delayed the IC for a few months, but we felt it necessary to take the time, money, and effort for the results we wanted. This helps stop delays between an initial IC and then waiting on the GB runner to get prototypes months down the road before starting the GB. We’ve done the legwork on the back end so you as an end user won’t have to wait additional months.
So without further adieu, here is the album of prototypes:
https://imgur.com/a/U96EaXMWhat’s next for this process?
Start GB
The Biggest thanks in the world go out to a few people for the help and advice along the way!
u/KnoblesseOblige - Man has the patience of a saint. Seriously. I couldn't have done any of this without him, and he has helped excel my knowledge of Fusion 360, tenfold. I also wouldn't have a PCB without him painstakingly routing and building a PCB for this board. He’s also taken on the task of getting the manufacturer, communicating, and ordering prototypes and receiving them as well as being an overall design leader for this project. I'm so thankful for all of his input, direction, and ideas as well as late night discord streams throughout this process over the last 8 months or so. You rock my man!
/u/meatsmoothies - Artwork for the weight and back of the case done by her. It's unique, breaks the mold and I really love the entire use of the weight instead of just a name on it. You have been very flexible and timely, and for that I'm very grateful!
/u/dingusxmcgee_- Renders. Renders. Renders. Always doing them on the fly and helping me out, you rock and it's much appreciated as always!
/u/Factoryofidols - The idea and hype man who's also been there since I came to him with my layout. He has provided excellent feedback and thoughts, and also been part of many late night streams on design and working through different parts of this board since inception.
u/Koobaczech and /u/Evangs - For your blessings and encouragement to actually make this idea into a reality. 2 of my favorite boards come together in a mashup that has been a dream to actually produce. Also thank you for being in the prototype run as I’m honored that you love the design as much as I do!
FAQ- How much will this board cost? - A full base kit will be $350 USD. Any add-ons such as extra PCBs, or plates will be available at an additional cost.
- What is included in the Base kit? - Case in your color choice, Brass and FR4 Plates, Brass Weight, PCB, Rotary Encoder, Rotary Knob, OLED and additional case hardware.
- How much does this board weigh? - Fully built just over 5lbs with switches and keycaps. With GMK Keycaps one prototype weighed in at 5.05lbs.
- Will this board have RGB? - No. I wanted this board to be more “elegant” and as such we left RGB off this version.
- Will Ortho be available? - No. The 1.75U backspace makes this a little more difficult and we don’t plan on this being available at this time.
- Will there be custom knobs available in the GB? - Yes, they will be $10 USD each and colors will be finalized shortly.
- What colors will be available? - Jet Black, Ocean Blue, Rose Gold, Forest Green, and Ursula Purple
- What Plate Options are available? - Brass and FR4 will be the only options during GB. After the GB ships to the buyers we will post the plate files for you to have other options available to source on your own such as aluminum, copper, etc...
- What Keycap Compatibility will I need for this? - Any Base + 40’s kit that includes a 1.75U backspace will fit this board.
- Will there be any limited editions or founders editions? - No. I hate the idea of falsely inflating supply/demand due to special editions. The only “Founders Editions” are those that were in the prototype run and they have a small designation on the weight to signify that.
- What Vendor are you using? - Aeternus Decorum and Prototypist
- Will you be using proxies? - Yes. Please see above.
Thank you for looking at this IC and I am excited to hear your feedback and thoughts. This has been a long time coming for me and I’m excited to share my design with all of you.
-Hedgey
