Simple Questions, Simple Answers (FAQ in the OP)

[jdcarpe]

Is there a way to make capslock work with numbers and stuff in windows 7?
I hate when im typing long lists of consts (eg. SEARCH_PROFSLOT_BOTTOM_Y) and I have to still hit shift for the underscore.

Im sure I could use ahk but id rather have the OS handle it like it does the rest of my remappings.

You need a shift lock key. Replace the MX switch on one of your shift keys with an MX lock switch. Problem solved.

[domoaligato]

Is there a way to make capslock work with numbers and stuff in windows 7?
I hate when im typing long lists of consts (eg. SEARCH_PROFSLOT_BOTTOM_Y) and I have to still hit shift for the underscore.

Im sure I could use ahk but id rather have the OS handle it like it does the rest of my remappings.

You need a shift lock key. Replace the MX switch on one of your shift keys with an MX lock switch. Problem solved.

+1 I have done this to my right shift as I do not normally use it. it is a very fast and easy mod and well worth it. good luck finding mx lock switches. 7bit on deskthority might be your best source...

[yasuo]

For solidity acrylic or stainless for plate?

[HoffmanMyster]

For solidity acrylic or stainless for plate?

Stainless will have less give than acrylic.

[yasuo]

For solidity acrylic or stainless for plate?

Stainless will have less give than acrylic.

Thanks
how thick usually?

[Keytrun]

Does the Poker 2 come with THICK PBT or just regular? Whats the difference between standard Pokers 2 and teh one one with LEDs? How easy is it to access F keys? Do I have to hold FN with my right hand and hit a number with my left to get an F key? Or can I just hold a windows key with left + number and have quick easy access? Do I have to autohotkey?

[HoffmanMyster]

For solidity acrylic or stainless for plate?

Stainless will have less give than acrylic.

Thanks
how thick usually?

I had a plate cut out of 16 gauge (~1.5mm) stainless steel and I believe that's the standard around here for stainless.

[domoaligato]

Does the Poker 2 come with THICK PBT or just regular? Whats the difference between standard Pokers 2 and teh one one with LEDs? How easy is it to access F keys? Do I have to hold FN with my right hand and hit a number with my left to get an F key? Or can I just hold a windows key with left + number and have quick easy access? Do I have to autohotkey?

Does the Poker 2 come with THICK PBT or just regular? the pbt version comes with pbt and backlit version has abs
Whats the difference between standard Pokers 2 and teh one one with LEDs? the led version has the led's already soldered. if you get the pbt version you can solder them yourself but it is a pain in the a$$
How easy is it to access F keys? see the next answer
Do I have to hold FN with my right hand and hit a number with my left to get an F key?  yes
Or can I just hold a windows key with left + number and have quick easy access? no
Do I have to autohotkey? you do not have to do anything you do not want to.

btw this might help you also
=poker+II&s[title]=Y&s[short_desc]=Y&s[full_desc]=Y&s[sku]=Y&s[match]=all&s[cid]=0]http://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=search_list&s[search]=poker+II&s[title]=Y&s[short_desc]=Y&s[full_desc]=Y&s[sku]=Y&s[match]=all&s[cid]=0

[yasuo]

SA or DSA which more ergonomic for regular keyboard?

[CPTBadAss]

SA or DSA which more ergonomic for regular keyboard?

Personal preference. Neither are inherently more ergonomic.

[domoaligato]

I saw this today and I thought... any keys are relegendable!

[digi]

anyone know if these are the same yelllow as the yellow caps in the gmk cmyk pack?

http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=access,cherrymxkeys&pid=cds_yel_arrow

[CPTBadAss]

anyone know if these are the same yelllow as the yellow caps in the gmk cmyk pack?

http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=access,cherrymxkeys&pid=cds_yel_arrow

Should be, those EK caps are from GMK as well.

[Puddsy]

anyone know if these are the same yelllow as the yellow caps in the gmk cmyk pack?

http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=access,cherrymxkeys&pid=cds_yel_arrow

Compared some images and GMKs color codes, and it looks to be that way.

[phatdood9]

how unstable would it be if I soldered plate mount switches directly onto the pcb?

I have a bunch of plate mount clears here ...

[Keytrun]

Does the Poker 2 come with THICK PBT or just regular? Whats the difference between standard Pokers 2 and teh one one with LEDs? How easy is it to access F keys? Do I have to hold FN with my right hand and hit a number with my left to get an F key? Or can I just hold a windows key with left + number and have quick easy access? Do I have to autohotkey?

Does the Poker 2 come with THICK PBT or just regular? the pbt version comes with pbt and backlit version has abs
Whats the difference between standard Pokers 2 and teh one one with LEDs? the led version has the led's already soldered. if you get the pbt version you can solder them yourself but it is a pain in the a$$
How easy is it to access F keys? see the next answer
Do I have to hold FN with my right hand and hit a number with my left to get an F key?  yes
Or can I just hold a windows key with left + number and have quick easy access? no
Do I have to autohotkey? you do not have to do anything you do not want to.

btw this might help you also
=poker+II&s[title]=Y&s[short_desc]=Y&s[full_desc]=Y&s[sku]=Y&s[match]=all&s[cid]=0]http://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=search_list&s[search]=poker+II&s[title]=Y&s[short_desc]=Y&s[full_desc]=Y&s[sku]=Y&s[match]=all&s[cid]=0

Are all of these 60% boards like that? Are there any 60% boards that have easy, one handed f key access? I thought the DIP switches could be set in a way that the windows key becomes the FN key. I wouldn't mind holding windows + number key to access F keys, but having to use two hands to press F1 is a deal breaker for the gaming that I do.

[jdcarpe]

Are all of these 60% boards like that? Are there any 60% boards that have easy, one handed f key access? I thought the DIP switches could be set in a way that the windows key becomes the FN key. I wouldn't mind holding windows + number key to access F keys, but having to use two hands to press F1 is a deal breaker for the gaming that I do.

Fully programmable keyboards, such as the GH60, allow you to assign any key to any switch location. Even the Fn key.

[Keytrun]

I'm confused now because the guy who responded to my post said that you can't make windows key fn, but according to this, http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=36434.0 that's exactly what dip switch 4 does...

[AKmalamute]

Are there any 60% boards that have easy, one handed f key access?

I routinely hit function keys with one hand ... pinky on the Fn key, ring or middle finger on the number key.

That may not be the answer you were looking for. It certainly isn't the only answer "out there" for your question, as JDcarpe points out, above.

[CPTBadAss]

I'm confused now because the guy who responded to my post said that you can't make windows key fn, but according to this, http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=36434.0 that's exactly what dip switch 4 does...

Poker 2 isn't fully programmable right? Thought it just had two layers that you could reprogram but the base layer where the Fn lies is what it is.

Also, what you're reading is a post from 2012 so it's referring to the Poker X or Poker 1 or the original Poker. Not the same keyboard as Poker 2.

[Puddsy]

how unstable would it be if I soldered plate mount switches directly onto the pcb?

I have a bunch of plate mount clears here ...

Probably very unstable.

Exchange them in the classified for some PCB mount ones, I guess.

[domoaligato]

I play cs:go with a poker layout. I can autobuy just fine. But you shouldn't use autobuy anyways. It is considered "noob".

Poker 2 has a pn and fn layer. The pn layer is the programable layer. You still have to hold the pn key first.

You could just change tge ingame binding to use something other then f1

[swill]

I don't know where to ask this question, so I will ask it here...  Please tell me to take it somewhere else if it is not a simple question.

A friend of mine at the office has been using my QFR with blues.  Today he showed me that some of the key presses are not registering.  The ones that are really noticeable are: 5, t, b and left alt.  I noticed right away that 5, t, b are probably on the same matrix line.  Left alt is another story, but that key gets used a lot because he is using the keyboard on a mac (so its his command key).

So to the question.  How do I troubleshoot the problem?  I am guessing there is a problem with a couple solder joints are something like that.  It works a lot of the time, but periodically it misses a key press.  Some of those keys are worse than others.  Should I unsolder those switches and then resolder them and see if that fixes the problem?  Anything I can test with a multimeter which would help diagnose where the problem stems from?

[CPTBadAss]

I don't know where to ask this question, so I will ask it here...  Please tell me to take it somewhere else if it is not a simple question.

A friend of mine at the office has been using my QFR with blues.  Today he showed me that some of the key presses are not registering.  The ones that are really noticeable are: 5, t, b and left alt.  I noticed right away that 5, t, b are probably on the same matrix line.  Left alt is another story, but that key gets used a lot because he is using the keyboard on a mac (so its his command key).

So to the question.  How do I troubleshoot the problem?  I am guessing there is a problem with a couple solder joints are something like that.  It works a lot of the time, but periodically it misses a key press.  Some of those keys are worse than others.  Should I unsolder those switches and then resolder them and see if that fixes the problem?  Anything I can test with a multimeter which would help diagnose where the problem stems from?

You can test the connectivity of the joint with the multimeter and then check to see if they solder joints are ok. Solder joints should be shiny, not dull.

[SpAmRaY]

I don't know where to ask this question, so I will ask it here...  Please tell me to take it somewhere else if it is not a simple question.

A friend of mine at the office has been using my QFR with blues.  Today he showed me that some of the key presses are not registering.  The ones that are really noticeable are: 5, t, b and left alt.  I noticed right away that 5, t, b are probably on the same matrix line.  Left alt is another story, but that key gets used a lot because he is using the keyboard on a mac (so its his command key).

So to the question.  How do I troubleshoot the problem?  I am guessing there is a problem with a couple solder joints are something like that.  It works a lot of the time, but periodically it misses a key press.  Some of those keys are worse than others.  Should I unsolder those switches and then resolder them and see if that fixes the problem?  Anything I can test with a multimeter which would help diagnose where the problem stems from?

I know some older QFR's had problems with screws being too tight and it affected the board in a similar fashion.

[1pq]

Has anyone modded a FC660C to 55g? How does it feel compared to 55g Realforces/55g modded HHKBs?
Thanks!

[CPTBadAss]

I don't know where to ask this question, so I will ask it here...  Please tell me to take it somewhere else if it is not a simple question.

A friend of mine at the office has been using my QFR with blues.  Today he showed me that some of the key presses are not registering.  The ones that are really noticeable are: 5, t, b and left alt.  I noticed right away that 5, t, b are probably on the same matrix line.  Left alt is another story, but that key gets used a lot because he is using the keyboard on a mac (so its his command key).

So to the question.  How do I troubleshoot the problem?  I am guessing there is a problem with a couple solder joints are something like that.  It works a lot of the time, but periodically it misses a key press.  Some of those keys are worse than others.  Should I unsolder those switches and then resolder them and see if that fixes the problem?  Anything I can test with a multimeter which would help diagnose where the problem stems from?

I know some older QFR's had problems with screws being too tight and it affected the board in a similar fashion.

If that's what you think is going on swill, you can open the case, put a bit of drawer liner between the case and PCB, then close it back up. Might want to try that first actually since it's an easy fix.

Has anyone modded a FC660C to 55g? How does it feel compared to 55g Realforces/55g modded HHKBs?
Thanks!

Wouldn't it feel the same as a Realforce, just in a different form factor? HHKBs are case mounted. Anyways, if you do a Google search, you can find plenty of 45g vs 55g Topre discussions on GeekHack.

[swill]

Thanks Cptn and Ray.  I will try the drawer liner thing first and then work my towards the more technical/invasive suggestions.

[domoaligato]

Swill... it may still be under warranty also... check that befoe you open it and contact support for a rma.

[swill]

[q uote author=domoaligato link=topic=40501.msg1162388#msg1162388 date=1387321646]
Swill... it may still be under warranty also... check that befoe you open it and contact support for a rma.
[/quote]

True. I will check that. Thx.

[kolonelkadat]

Is there a way to make capslock work with numbers and stuff in windows 7?
I hate when im typing long lists of consts (eg. SEARCH_PROFSLOT_BOTTOM_Y) and I have to still hit shift for the underscore.

Im sure I could use ahk but id rather have the OS handle it like it does the rest of my remappings.

You need a shift lock key. Replace the MX switch on one of your shift keys with an MX lock switch. Problem solved.

genius level solution. thanks!

[1pq]

Wouldn't it feel the same as a Realforce, just in a different form factor? HHKBs are case mounted. Anyways, if you do a Google search, you can find plenty of 45g vs 55g Topre discussions on GeekHack.

I've heard a lot about 45g vs 55g already; I'm more interested in the subtleties of different topre boards. Most people I've talked to say that the HHKB, FC660C, and Realforce boards have very different feels, even when comparing 45g models. I was wondering if any topre officionatos here, who often talk about their beloved 55g 87Us and 55g modded HHKBs have ever tried modding a FC660C. Many say that the FC660C actually feels closer to a 55g RF, so I was wondering what it would feel like with 55g switches.

[domoaligato]

The difference in feel is contributed to many different factors.

To compare a realforce 45g to a realforce 55g is a much easier thing to do. They have the same case design.

To compare an fc660c hhkb rf against each other just doesn't work because of the case differences.
If comparing one 45g against another it is mostly personal preference based on the layout.

[Pacifist]

are the ibm POS computer+keyboard thingies that many stores use to sell things have buckling or rubber domes?

[swill]

If I was to look for 5 alps switches to replace some broken ones on an Apple Extended Keyboard II, how should I go about that?  Classifieds I guess?

[Puddsy]

If I was to look for 5 alps switches to replace some broken ones on an Apple Extended Keyboard II, how should I go about that?  Classifieds I guess?

Yeah, that's about it for options.

[ComradeSniper]

are the ibm POS computer+keyboard thingies that many stores use to sell things have buckling or rubber domes?

Rubber dome.

[swill]

What is the standard angle that most keyboards are at (without their feet up).  For some reason 7º is sticking in my head, but I have no idea if that is even close to correct.  Any ideas or resources on this?

[Photekq]

What is the standard angle that most keyboards are at (without their feet up).  For some reason 7º is sticking in my head, but I have no idea if that is even close to correct.  Any ideas or resources on this?

Filco is 5.5deg with feet down, 10deg with feet up (roughly, and off the top of my head)

[kolonelkadat]

What is the standard angle that most keyboards are at (without their feet up).  For some reason 7º is sticking in my head, but I have no idea if that is even close to correct.  Any ideas or resources on this?

with just some imprecise measurements, It looks like my corsair is right around 4 degrees.

[yasuo]

what stainless can be  wraped/bent? like maltron/kinesis

[SpAmRaY]

If I was to look for 5 alps switches to replace some broken ones on an Apple Extended Keyboard II, how should I go about that?  Classifieds I guess?

You can buy matias alps switches from http://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_list&c=52

They have a 5 pack. They won't be exactly the same as what's on your keyboard but they should work.

But I know there have been some alps switches for sale in the classifieds recently.

[riotonthebay]

Why do some whites click inconsistently? I've heard that they come pre-lubed, and I know that incorrectly- or over-lubing clicky switches can kill the click; if this is the cause in non-clicking or weirdly-clicking whites, can cleaning out the switch and re-lubing it help?

Do people commonly make "ergo-whites," to basically make lubed blues with a softer click?

[CPTBadAss]

Why do some whites click inconsistently? I've heard that they come pre-lubed, and I know that incorrectly- or over-lubing clicky switches can kill the click; if this is the cause in non-clicking or weirdly-clicking whites, can cleaning out the switch and re-lubing it help?

Do people commonly make "ergo-whites," to basically make lubed blues with a softer click?

So I opened up some White switches recently and didn't notice any lube. I no longer believe Whites have more lube beyond the standard factory lubing. I'm not really sure why they click inconsistently. Issues with the manufacturing tolerances I imagine. There were similar issues with Blues and Greens. Cleaning the switch may help.

Ergo Whites are just Whites with a swapped spring. I personally really like MX Black Spring with an MX White Stem. Lubed MX Blues feel like Browns to me. There's no Click like the Whites have.

[riotonthebay]

Why do some whites click inconsistently? I've heard that they come pre-lubed, and I know that incorrectly- or over-lubing clicky switches can kill the click; if this is the cause in non-clicking or weirdly-clicking whites, can cleaning out the switch and re-lubing it help?

Do people commonly make "ergo-whites," to basically make lubed blues with a softer click?

So I opened up some White switches recently and didn't notice any lube. I no longer believe Whites have more lube beyond the standard factory lubing. I'm not really sure why they click inconsistently. Issues with the manufacturing tolerances I imagine. There were similar issues with Blues and Greens. Cleaning the switch may help.

Ergo Whites are just Whites with a swapped spring. I personally really like MX Black Spring with an MX White Stem. Lubed MX Blues feel like Browns to me. There's no Click like the Whites have.

Do you know if sherryton's 80g springs are close to the springs from blacks? Cherry black springs are rated at 60g, but my understanding is that that's at the point of actuation while the springs on originative are rated at the point where they're fully depressed.

[CPTBadAss]

1) Do you know if sherryton's 80g springs are close to the springs from blacks?

2) Cherry black springs are rated at 60g, but my understanding is that that's at the point of actuation while the springs on originative are rated at the point where they're fully depressed.

1) I've been told they are, yes.

2) Yes, the Originativeco springs and Korean springs are measured at bottom out. Cherry is measured at acutation point.

[riotonthebay]

1) Do you know if sherryton's 80g springs are close to the springs from blacks?

2) Cherry black springs are rated at 60g, but my understanding is that that's at the point of actuation while the springs on originative are rated at the point where they're fully depressed.

1) I've been told they are, yes.

2) Yes, the Originativeco springs and Korean springs are measured at bottom out. Cherry is measured at acutation point.

Great. Thanks so much for your help!

[Nixietube]

I am looking for a seperate numbpad with cherry mx blue switches that visually fits a poker. I really like the  Leopold FC 210TP  but the top row seems out of place. Is there a numbpad like the one i am looking for?

[CPTBadAss]

I am looking for a seperate numbpad with cherry mx blue switches that visually fits a poker. I really like the  Leopold FC 210TP  but the top row seems out of place. Is there a numbpad like the one i am looking for?

What do you mean by "visually fits"? Layouts look similar? Same color? Same profile?

[Nixietube]

I am looking for a seperate numbpad with cherry mx blue switches that visually fits a poker. I really like the  Leopold FC 210TP  but the top row seems out of place. Is there a numbpad like the one i am looking for?

What do you mean by "visually fits"? Layouts look similar? Same color? Same profile?

The numblock has one row "too much" to fit with a keyboard that has no dedicated F key row
The overall design is great... just to many rows.