xwhatsit's Grand Unified IBM Capsense USB controller Order (Batch 3)

[xwhatsit]

IBM Capsense USB Controllers

For information about this project, see the thread over here: http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=58138.0

It was pointed out to me in the main project thread for these controllers that the `Making Stuff Together' forum isn't for anything commercial. So we'll use this thread for any orders of fully-assembled/tested controllers.

It's worth reiterating this is an open-source project; there are completely open schematics/PCBs/firmware available here. Precompiled hex files, along with ready-to-order PCBs on OSHPark mean that if you're OK with surface-mount soldering you can build these yourself—you don't need some Kiwi with a toaster oven to make these for you.

However, if you are interested in having something fully assembled and tested, this is the thread for you. Hopefully by batching a few orders together I can reduce lead times, and in theory may even be able to effect a small price reduction if there's enough of them.

Pricing/Availability
As mentioned above, these are open-source. If you have a soldering iron and flux, consider building your own! Don't be put off the surface mount soldering, several people (some with no previous surface-mount experience) have now built their own.

However if you're not into picking up resistors with tweezers, I can build one for you and pre-program and test it first. I have a toaster reflow oven that makes this straightforward for me, and at any given point I'm likely to have a large number of the components on hand. Just bear in mind I'm in New Zealand; if I'm out of PCBs, an order from OSHPark takes a few weeks to get to me, even before I mail the finished controller to you.

Here's my spreadsheet of bill-of-materials with pricing in NZ$:

Code: [Select]

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                            Sheet 1: Beamspring-USB

Id Designator                 Package         Quantity Designation Price  Total
 1 CON1                       USB_MINI_B             1 USB-MINI-B   $1.42  $1.42
 2 U2                         tsot-6                 1 DAC101S101   $3.16  $3.16
 3 U1                         TQFP32                 1 ATMEGA32U2   $7.00  $7.00
 6 U6                         so-14                  1 LM339A       $0.48  $0.48
 7 C3,C4                      SM0805                 2 22pF         $0.01  $0.02
 8 C10,C9,C8,C11,C6,C7,C2,C12 SM0805                 8 0.1uF        $0.01  $0.08
 9 R4                         SM0805                 1 4.7K         $0.01  $0.01
10 R3,R17                     SM0805                 2 20K          $0.01  $0.02
11 R1,R16,R2                  SM0805                 3 10K          $0.01  $0.03
12 C1                         SM0805                 1 1uF          $0.02  $0.02
13 R15                        SM0805                 1 47K          $0.01  $0.01
14 C5                         SM0805                 1 4.7uF        $0.02  $0.02
15 R6,R5                      SM0805                 2 22R          $0.01  $0.03
16 RP2                        RPACK_1206             1 100K 1%      $0.08  $0.08
17 RP1                        RPACK_1206             1 10K 5%       $0.01  $0.01
18 X1                         HC49US                 1 16MHz        $0.60  $0.60
19 U3,U5,U4                   DHVQFN16               3 74AHC595     $0.60  $1.80
20 P1                         805_396_30x2_SM        1 EDGE_30X2    $3.00  $3.00
21 P2                         pin_array_3x2          1 CONN_3X2     $0.45  $0.45
   Ground wire + crimp                               1              $0.25  $0.25
   PCB                                               1             $10.04 $10.04
                                                                   Total  $28.52

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                     Sheet 2: Beamspring-Displaywriter-USB

Id Designator                 Package           Quantity Designation Price  Total
 2 CON1                       USB_MINI_B               1 USB-MINI-B   $1.42  $1.42
 3 U2                         tsot-6                   1 DAC101S101   $3.16  $3.16
 4 U1                         TQFP32                   1 ATMEGA32U2   $7.00  $7.00
 6 U3,U4                      so-14                    2 LM339A       $0.48  $0.96
 7 R3,R6                      SM0805                   2 20K          $0.01  $0.02
 8 C9,C10,C7,C12,C11,C8,C6,C4 SM0805                   8 0.1uF        $0.01  $0.08
 9 R4,R7                      SM0805                   2 4.7K         $0.01  $0.03
10 C5                         SM0805                   1 1uF          $0.02  $0.02
11 C1,C2                      SM0805                   2 22pF         $0.01  $0.02
12 R5,R9                      SM0805                   2 10K          $0.01  $0.02
13 R1,R2                      SM0805                   2 22R          $0.01  $0.03
14 C3                         SM0805                   1 4.7uF        $0.02  $0.02
15 R8                         SM0805                   1 1K           $0.01  $0.01
16 RP1,RP2                    RPACK_1206               2 10K 5%       $0.01  $0.02
17 RP3,RP4                    RPACK_1206               2 100K 5%      $0.08  $0.15
18 P2                         pin_array_3x2            1 CONN_3X2     $0.45  $0.45
19 X1                         HC49US                   1 16MHz        $0.60  $0.60
20 U5,U6                      DHVQFN16                 2 74AHC595     $0.60  $1.20
21 Ground wire + crimp                                 1 Chassis GND  $0.25  $0.25
22 PDW1                       805_396_30x2_pins        1 EDGE_30X2    $3.00  $3.00
   PCB                                                 1             $12.60 $12.60
                                                                     Total  $31.06

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                              Sheet 3: Model-F-USB

  Id Designator                 Package       Quantity Designation Price  Total
   2 U2                         tsot-6               1 DAC101S101   $3.16  $3.16
   3 U1                         TQFP32               1 ATMEGA32U2   $7.00  $7.00
   5 U3,U4                      so-14                2 LM339A       $0.48  $0.96
   6 R6,R3                      SM0805               2 20K          $0.01  $0.02
   7 C9,C10,C7,C12,C11,C4,C8,C6 SM0805               8 0.1uF        $0.01  $0.08
   8 R4,R7                      SM0805               2 4.7K         $0.01  $0.03
   9 C5                         SM0805               1 1uF          $0.02  $0.02
  10 C1,C2                      SM0805               2 22pF         $0.01  $0.02
  11 R8                         SM0805               1 1K           $0.01  $0.01
  12 R5,R9                      SM0805               2 10K          $0.01  $0.02
  13 C3                         SM0805               1 4.7uF        $0.02  $0.02
  14 R2,R1                      SM0805               2 22R          $0.01  $0.03
  15 RP3,RP4                    RPACK_1206           2 100K 1%      $0.08  $0.15
  16 RP2,RP1                    RPACK_1206           2 10K 5%       $0.01  $0.02
  17 P2                         pin_array_3x2        1 CONN_3X2     $0.60  $0.60
                                right angle
  19 X1                         HC49US               1 16MHz        $0.60  $0.60
  20 U5,U6                      DHVQFN16             2 74AHC595     $0.60  $1.20
  21 P1                         USB-Micro-B          1 USB          $1.60  $1.60
     PCB                                             1             $12.95 $12.95
                                                                   Total  $28.78

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                            Sheet 4: Solenoid-Driver

   Id Designator         Package            Quantity Designation Price Total
    1 U1                 SOT23_6                   1 MIC2009A-1  $1.70  $1.70
    2 U3                 SOT23-5                   1 MIC2250-2   $2.45  $2.45
    3 U2                 so-16                     1 ULN2003     $0.96  $0.96
    4 C5,C3              SM1210                    2 22uF        $0.36  $0.72
    5 D2                 SM1206POL                 1 LED         $0.17  $0.17
    6 R2,R4,R6           SM0805                    3 100K        $0.01  $0.03
    7 R5                 SM0805                    1 16K         $0.01  $0.01
    8 C1                 SM0805                    1 1uF         $0.02  $0.02
    9 R1,R3              SM0805                    2 470R        $0.01  $0.02
   10 C4,C2              SM0805                    2 0.1uF       $0.01  $0.02
   11 P1                 pin_array_3x2             1 CONN_3X2    $0.45  $0.45
   12 P3                 PIN_ARRAY_2X1             1 CONN_2      $0.10  $0.10
   13 D1                 DO-41                     1 1N5819      $0.30  $0.30
   14 C6                 c_elec_6.3x7.7            1 220uF       $0.70  $0.70
   15 L1                 INDUCTOR_12.8x12.8        1 22uH        $1.80  $1.80
      6-pin ribbon cable                           1             $4.22  $4.22
      + connectors
      PCB                                          1             $3.13  $3.13
                                                                 Total $16.79

The pricing for the three controllers is close enough that I will set US$50 for each controller for me to build and test each one. I think this is a fair margin over my raw costs for an hour or so soldering, assembling, testing and packaging (and heatshrinking USB cables for the Model Fs). I certainly won't get rich charging that

The solenoid driver I will set at US$25 for me to build/assemble/test.

Shipping in the past has been US$11.50 to pretty much anywhere with untracked airmail. It has usually taken about 2 weeks to arrive. For tracked airmail, NZ Post puts the price up to approx. US$40.50 which is reasonably steep, but may be worth it if you've had packages go missing in your part of the world before.



Current orders
Round 1/June 1st batch closed, fully shipped
Final tally:

• 24x Model-F-USB-Rev2
• 9x Beamspring-USB-Rev4
• 6x Beamspring-Displaywriter-USB-Rev1
• 8x Solenoid-Driver-Rev2
• 4x 3178-Adaptor-Rev1

Round 2/August 15th batch closed, fully shipped
Last round almost squeezed in a month from close of order to end of shipping everything out (apart from the leftovers—which are all gone now); I'm reasonably confident we can aim to hit a month this time.

Final tally:

• 18x Model-F-USB-Rev2
• 11x Beamspring-USB-Rev4
• 2x Beamspring-Displaywriter-USB-Rev1
• 13x Solenoid-Driver-Rev3
• 1x 3178-Adaptor-Rev1

Round 3/October 18th batch accepting orders
Current tally:

[jwaz]

I'm in for a few! Let me go take inventory and figure out exactly what I need

[riotonthebay]

Interested in a model f controller

[Techno Trousers]

I may already be on your spreadsheet, but I'm in for three to use with Model Fs (1 x F-122, 1 x Kishsaver, 1 x spare).

Thanks!

[xwhatsit]

Cheers guys, didn't notice this thread had been approved. I'll link to it from the other thread.

[vivalarevolución]

I would be interested in the Model F controller, if it works with the Kishsaver.

[xwhatsit]

Cheers prdlm2009.

One of the Rev1 boards is now installed and working in Murium's Kishsaver. We're going over some modifications over at the DT thread to give it a better fit/mounting and make the installation easier for the Rev2 boards (the mounting points don't quite line up on the Rev1 boards in the Kishsaver). It is successfully working though which is good news.

[Photoelectric]

Should this be in Artisan Services for now or even Interest Checks (most likely A.S.)?  The project does not seem to be in a true group buy state yet.

[SpAmRaY]

Should this be in Artisan Services for now or even Interest Checks (most likely A.S.)?  The project does not seem to be in a true group buy state yet.

His last edit says he is taking orders until June 1st to get prices down.....isn't that what group buys are for?

[Photoelectric]

Just checking!  It seems like it could go either way, technically.

[xwhatsit]

If it's a drama, Photoelectric, feel free to move it into Artisan Services. I've only got 18 orders at the moment (see edited last paragraph of top post), but I'm still keen to batch them together rather than doing a whole bunch ad hoc, which is why I set it up here.

[Photoelectric]

No drama at all

[xwhatsit]

I've just updated the first post with details of the June 1st order:

June 1st order has closed, order confirmations have been sent out and I'm now waiting to get confirmations back from everybody before I place the orders for PCBs and parts.

Once I place the order, the PCBs will probably take the longest to get back, even with expedited shipping. I am allowing 2–3 weeks before everything arrives, although hopefully will be sooner.

Once I start assembling I will keep this thread up-to-date with progress photos etc.

If you were interested, there are a total of 39 different boards that have been ordered (including Solenoid Drivers and 3178 adaptors etc.). Looks like my tweezers and solder-paste-syringe muscles are going to get a workout

[xwhatsit]

Have ordered PCBs (rather a lot of them, because of minimums, 48 in all!), now OSH Park is assigning them to panels. Looks like all of these orders will be assigned to the June 5th panel, so should be a reasonably quick turnaround.

[xwhatsit]

The PCBs are at the fab and OSH Park expects to get them back on June 15th. Then they're in the mail to NZ. Meanwhile, all the parts are ordered and mostly in the mail, apart from a few things that were out of stock and had to be sourced overseas. I was also short a few connectors, but a very helpful Deskthority member is helping me out in that regard! At this stage it still looks like the PCBs will get here last.

[CPTBadAss]

Thank you for the updates xwhatsit!

[The_Beast]

These are the controllers needed for the Tinsaver?

If so, I'll take an extra or two!

[xwhatsit]

By the Tinsaver do you mean the Kishsaver? Yes, Murium over at Deskthority was my beta-tester for the Rev1 with his Kishsaver.

Unfortunately I'm all out of extras from this batch; I had one spare, but that's already been assigned to a Geekhack member contacting me via email

After I've assembled this batch and finished up, I will be happy to do more orders, even if they're one-offs, which is how I did the Beamspring orders in the past.

[Selectric]

I would like to order an assembled controller for the IBM Displaywriter Keyboard. Please get back to me with further details. Thanks! Luke

[xwhatsit]

I would like to order an assembled controller for the IBM Displaywriter Keyboard. Please get back to me with further details. Thanks! Luke

Unfortunately I closed the order on June 1st, so I have already ordered the parts. However, I think you might be in luck with the Beamspring Displaywriter controller, I do have a couple of spares of those (maybe!). I'll double check to make sure I have ordered enough parts, and let you know.

[xwhatsit]

Most of the components have arrived here in NZ, and OSHPark have sent me a million emails with shipping notifications a couple of days early  Will be baking time soon!

[Techno Trousers]

Woohoo! I need to get moving on my Kishsaver reconditioning.

[xwhatsit]

Sweet! The PCBs have arrived, and nearly all of the components are here. I can more or less start assembling immediately but might have to wait a couple of days before I can get away from Real Life.


I've spotted a problem with the 3178 adaptor boards; the holes for the pin headers are waaaay too small for the 3.96mm-pitch right-angle pin headers I was going to use to connect it to the Model F controller. It seems you can barely get 3.96mm-pitch pin headers any more, and the few that are out there are all this massive size (1.14mm square, or 1.6mm diagonal!) that doesn't stand a chance of fitting. It might squeeze into the controller side but definitely not the adaptor side. Either I can get some new boards fabbed up and wait for weeks again, or what I'll probably do is solder on 30 individual broken-off standard right-angle pin headers, holding them in place with a jig of some sort. Will mean a fair bit of time with soldering iron in hand but preferrable to waiting I'm sure people will agree.

[xwhatsit]

Woohoo! Put together the first Rev2 Model F controller in a spare moment, and it all works As always, found something to worry about, I was concerned I'd ordered 24 PCBs with a crook micro-USB connector. All works nicely and seems very robust and easier to reflow than the mini-USB on the other boards (and should be rated for way more connect-disconnect cycles than the mini-USB despite its flimsy-looking appearance).

[riotonthebay]

Woohoo! Put together the first Rev2 Model F controller in a spare moment, and it all works As always, found something to worry about, I was concerned I'd ordered 24 PCBs with a crook micro-USB connector. All works nicely and seems very robust and easier to reflow than the mini-USB on the other boards (and should be rated for way more connect-disconnect cycles than the mini-USB despite its flimsy-looking appearance).
(Attachment Link)
(Attachment Link)

Thanks for all the updates! I can't wait . Will you be shipping them out as they're made?

[didjamatic]

This is incredible.  I honestly thought this site had become mostly about key caps and fights over group buys... but I come back and find an amazing thread like this?   You sir are awesome.

I have multiple beam spring keyboards, a Displaywriter, a "space saver" Beam spring and many other terminal boards.

I'd love three of them - a Beamspring to USB, Displaywriter to USB and a Model F controller.

[CPTBadAss]

I'm beyond excited to see these PCBs being built up. Thanks for all the updates xwhatsit!

[HoffmanMyster]

I missed this group buy due to my own ignorance, so I really hope you run a second round.      That said, this project looks amazing and I can't wait to see these out in the wild and in action.   

[xwhatsit]

I'm beyond excited to see these PCBs being built up. Thanks for all the updates xwhatsit!

Cheers! I might have to do a video of a controller being reflowed... that is a cool thing to watch

Thanks for all the updates! I can't wait . Will you be shipping them out as they're made?

Once I start assembling in earnest (might have to wait until this weekend unfortunately) I think I'll knock most of them off pretty quick, apart from the 3178 adaptors which will need a lot of hand-soldering. I might just hit the post office in one hit Santa-style with a sack of controller parcels.

I missed this group buy due to my own ignorance, so I really hope you run a second round.      That said, this project looks amazing and I can't wait to see these out in the wild and in action.   

I'll keep both threads up to date with details of future orders. Providing everything goes well on these orders, I'll do a new batch relatively soon, as there have been a number of inquiries after leftover boards etc.

This is incredible.  I honestly thought this site had become mostly about key caps and fights over group buys... but I come back and find an amazing thread like this?   You sir are awesome.

I have multiple beam spring keyboards, a Displaywriter, a "space saver" Beam spring and many other terminal boards.

I'd love three of them - a Beamspring to USB, Displaywriter to USB and a Model F controller.

Thanks! There's some cool stuff on GH and DT; the other capsense project based on HaaTa's controller is looking very promising for the Model Fs too. The more `doing' and less `keycapping' the better I say I sent you a PM as you probably saw; as above, hopefully will be able to run a new batch in the next couple of months.

[CPTBadAss]

Post videos, please. I love seeing videos of people hard at work. Almost as much as I like machining porn.

[didjamatic]

Fantastic.  I'm subbed to this thread and will be eagerly waiting for another run of these controllers. 

[xwhatsit]

Machining porn sounds like a hard job.

O_o

[bcg]

I've spotted a problem with the 3178 adaptor boards; the holes for the pin headers are waaaay too small for the 3.96mm-pitch right-angle pin headers I was going to use to connect it to the Model F controller. It seems you can barely get 3.96mm-pitch pin headers any more, and the few that are out there are all this massive size (1.14mm square, or 1.6mm diagonal!) that doesn't stand a chance of fitting. It might squeeze into the controller side but definitely not the adaptor side. Either I can get some new boards fabbed up and wait for weeks again, or what I'll probably do is solder on 30 individual broken-off standard right-angle pin headers, holding them in place with a jig of some sort. Will mean a fair bit of time with soldering iron in hand but preferrable to waiting I'm sure people will agree.

I forgot what the adapter board did again... IIRC there was a way to attach the 3178 without the adapter, right?  If so I'm cool with doing that so that you don't have to go to the extra trouble or order any extra boards for me

[vivalarevolución]

I've spotted a problem with the 3178 adaptor boards; the holes for the pin headers are waaaay too small for the 3.96mm-pitch right-angle pin headers I was going to use to connect it to the Model F controller. It seems you can barely get 3.96mm-pitch pin headers any more, and the few that are out there are all this massive size (1.14mm square, or 1.6mm diagonal!) that doesn't stand a chance of fitting. It might squeeze into the controller side but definitely not the adaptor side. Either I can get some new boards fabbed up and wait for weeks again, or what I'll probably do is solder on 30 individual broken-off standard right-angle pin headers, holding them in place with a jig of some sort. Will mean a fair bit of time with soldering iron in hand but preferrable to waiting I'm sure people will agree.

I forgot what the adapter board did again... IIRC there was a way to attach the 3178 without the adapter, right?  If so I'm cool with doing that so that you don't have to go to the extra trouble or order any extra boards for me

If I am not mistaken, hasu figured out a way to do it with a Teensy, but ut does not give the full functionality of replacing the controller.  And you really have to do a lot of DIY for hasu's controller.

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=54706.0

[Pacifist]

If anybody has extra model F controllers, I would like to buy them when they're done. I somehow completely missed this thread

[xwhatsit]

That's OK, there's more than one person who has a 3178, I think I know how to solder all of the pins individually without going mad. The only way you'd be able to attach the Model-F-USB Rev2 to the 3178 would be by desoldering the ribbon cable and soldering a bunch of single wires in its place; the pinout is different enough that I don't think the ribbon would be able to be modified.

All right... long day. Didn't have any time to work on these yesterday (why is June/July always the busiest two months in the year?!), so put in as much time as I could today.

Have assembled all 24 Model F controllers; took a lot longer than I expected, but got there in the end. Most of them still need the pin headers soldered on, and all of them still need to be properly tested.

I quickly plugged all of them into USB (whatever micro-USB sockets I selected are damned tight—you won't need to worry about the cables falling out!); all but two showed up as the Atmel DFU bootloader, so that's promising. The remaining two I hope just need some simple rework, maybe clean up a short I missed or whatever.

Apologies for the crap photo, I was in a bit of a rush to get out the door!

[xwhatsit]

Ooh s***! I've just realised... if I've assembled all 24 Model F controllers, the two people who ordered Model F *kits* won't have anything to assemble.

D'oh!

Hope you two weren't eagerly waiting with soldering irons Sorry if I've taken the fun out of it...

[snoopy]

That's OK, there's more than one person who has a 3178, I think I know how to solder all of the pins individually without going mad. The only way you'd be able to attach the Model-F-USB Rev2 to the 3178 would be by desoldering the ribbon cable and soldering a bunch of single wires in its place; the pinout is different enough that I don't think the ribbon would be able to be modified.

All right... long day. Didn't have any time to work on these yesterday (why is June/July always the busiest two months in the year?!), so put in as much time as I could today.

Have assembled all 24 Model F controllers; took a lot longer than I expected, but got there in the end. Most of them still need the pin headers soldered on, and all of them still need to be properly tested.

I quickly plugged all of them into USB (whatever micro-USB sockets I selected are damned tight—you won't need to worry about the cables falling out!); all but two showed up as the Atmel DFU bootloader, so that's promising. The remaining two I hope just need some simple rework, maybe clean up a short I missed or whatever.

Apologies for the crap photo, I was in a bit of a rush to get out the door!
(Attachment Link)

That are great news. Can't wait...

[vivalarevolución]

the day of reckoning comes ever closer...

[xwhatsit]

Fixed a couple of shorts on the boards that weren't showing up on USB at all and they are now sorted. They still all need proper testing and the pin headers soldered on. I might be able to knock off a few over my lunch break. It's looking like I might be able to start shipping the Model-F-only orders soon.

Still to go:

4x 3178 adaptors
6x Beamsprings
5x Beamspring-Displaywriters
7x Solenoid Drivers

I'm also still waiting for the 6-pin ribbon cables from element14, which have to be the single worst supplier I have ever used.

[CPTBadAss]

It's looking like I might be able to start shipping the Model-F-only orders soon.

YES! Now to hunt down a beamspring board...

[Frenir]

Excuse me for my noob question, but why would you want to replace your controller?

EDIT: Nevermind.

[xwhatsit]

On a Beamspring or Beamspring-Displaywriter, you'd replace it so you could use it with a modern computer at all.

On a Model F, in nearly all cases you could get by with Soarer's converter (or if you have a PC-AT, just with an adaptor). However, there are weird Model Fs like 3178s, Kishsavers and other strange terminal boards where you don't have a choice. On some of the more esoteric terminal boards I believe that even with a converter you may not get full functionality (full make/break key events, NKRO, use of the solenoid if you're lucky enough to have one etc.).

If you're me... you'd change the controller just for Science

[Frenir]

On a Beamspring or Beamspring-Displaywriter, you'd replace it so you could use it with a modern computer at all.

On a Model F, in nearly all cases you could get by with Soarer's converter (or if you have a PC-AT, just with an adaptor). However, there are weird Model Fs like 3178s, Kishsavers and other strange terminal boards where you don't have a choice. On some of the more esoteric terminal boards I believe that even with a converter you may not get full functionality (full make/break key events, NKRO, use of the solenoid if you're lucky enough to have one etc.).

If you're me... you'd change the controller just for Science

Ahh, thank you for answering my somewhat ignorant question. I just saw another thread earlier with replacement controllers for various boards and thought "why?"

[xwhatsit]

All 24 Model-F-USB boards programmed and tested (twice); a little bit of rework on some of them but they all now test OK.

[CPTBadAss]

I see mine!

[xwhatsit]

Sorry it's taking me a while to get these boards out, the rest of the world seems to be conspiring to give me as little time as possible

Tonight I put together the solenoid driver boards. I've tested one but the others will need testing tomorrow.

You'll see during the reflow photos below (first one is early in the oven at about 150°C, you can see the paste pooling between the pins and going all mushy—this is when I normally start freaking out, second one is when the solder has melted and is cooking off the flux) that I have missed off one of the ULN2003s (the board at the top right). Solder fumes must be getting to me. Wondered why I had one leftover ULN2003 still in the box  :roll:

Tonight I will send out `ready to ship, please pay' emails to everybody who has ordered just a Model F board. I can then start shipping those once the payment comes through.

[Techno Trousers]

Paid, woohoo!

[xwhatsit]

8 orders posted, comprising 11 Model Fs, woohoo! Yours is in the mail, Techno Trousers.

The rest of the Model Fs (13 left) are part of multiple-controller orders, or also need solenoid drivers and 3178 adaptors.

[xwhatsit]

7 solenoid drivers, now fully tested (my coworker didn't appreciate the noise of a solenoid being fired like a machine gun repeatedly over his lunch break... pro-tip for recipients of a solenoid driver, if you just mash the keyboard with your arm, you will get up to 255 queued solenoid bangs ).

Cables assembled. You'll note four have extra wires; these are destined for 3178s, which have the cool blue switch on the top. This is for that; I'm going to add a mode to the firmware allowing it to be used for locks (Caps Lock to start with; Num Lock would be good too, and I think Fn locks are something nice to have anyway).

On the solenoid drivers, I left an (unused) pin missing for the 6-pin connector, and filled the spot with a blanking plug. This was on Dorkvader's suggestion, to avoid plugging it in backwards—anyone heard from him lately? He sent me a PM with some queries about his Displaywriter controller (not scanning so good) and I haven't heard back after I replied with some more questions. Maybe he's still moving house.