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Cherry G80-1501 SSK (in progress)

Posted: 08 May 2012, 22:29
by CeeSA
1501 case top.jpg
1501 case top.jpg (348.5 KiB) Viewed 8649 times
1501 case open.jpg[/atachment] [attachment=0]1501 ssk.jpg
here you see a little progress in my 1501 mod.
Tarkoon brings up the idea to make a 1501 a tenkeyless.
Controller is in the right position, the case is screwed and easy to mod.
NKRO and all the old DS sets fits without moogle kit.

This time i use some little metal pieces (instead of plastic) as stabilizers. So i am able to bring up more pressure during the "gluing".

The PS/2 cable is atm not detachable. Tarkoon plans to do it. So i maybe change this before i spray the housing.
Maybe a USB converter find it's way...
The keycaps are mixed. Many 2551, few 1501.

I will update this the next days / weeks.

I am not shure about the color i should use. Any proposals?

Posted: 08 May 2012, 22:36
by rodtang
Nice work.

It should be in a color I just made up, a light green industrial color.

Posted: 08 May 2012, 22:49
by off
Nice! Shame the seam is a lot more visible on the last pic vs the first.. Hoping it'll clean up nicely with a bit of sandpaper and paint. Seconding rodtang's colour suggestion; think it could work so well with the cherry modifier colour.

Posted: 08 May 2012, 22:52
by CeeSA
this is an optical illusion ;)
in the 3rd pic, the fine glue (brown) fills all the litlle holes. the sanding is also done.

Posted: 08 May 2012, 23:03
by off
Magician ;)
So you're saying it's physically near perfect (when feeling) just needs a lick of paint? Awesome, grats, have at it! :D
*edit to take back any doubt of you/ceesa making this one niiiiiiiiiice after having done sixty's, somehow remembered that reversed, that sixty made yours xD

Posted: 08 May 2012, 23:51
by guilleguillaume
After Sixty's keyboard this is your best mod I think :mrgreen:

I love it!

Posted: 13 May 2012, 16:48
by CeeSA
not like it should be...
top.jpg
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right side.jpg
right side.jpg (147.96 KiB) Viewed 8523 times

Posted: 13 May 2012, 17:43
by mintberryminuscrunch
maybe more sanding and layers of paint

Posted: 13 May 2012, 18:42
by dirge
stunning work, hope to do something similar myself :)

Posted: 13 May 2012, 22:53
by Jim66
Great work, it's really impressive!

Posted: 17 May 2012, 23:08
by Acanthophis
Do you have more photos? Maybe of the sawed PCB or the general 'modding into TKL'-process?

I am about to try a TKL mod myself when the keyboard arrives.

Posted: 18 May 2012, 06:30
by Game Theory
Yes Please.

Posted: 18 May 2012, 10:21
by CeeSA
1501 pcb.jpg
1501 pcb.jpg (66.02 KiB) Viewed 8389 times
if you need a better one (i think so) give me a hint. I would upload it later.

Posted: 23 May 2012, 00:11
by off
CeeSA wrote:if you need a better one (i think so) give me a hint. I would upload it later.
I'd think it's just the top left and bottom right that are needed in more detail; top left is unclear where the two/three black wires connect, and bottom right it's unclear if that long white cable is split into two and connecting on the row above space or if that's just tape blurring the vision there.
Don't have the board though, but just noticed ;)

How's it looking now btw?

Posted: 23 May 2012, 08:07
by ndp
Very nice job.

It seems that not all G80-15xx have a metal bar screwed on the bottom of the case. Is it the case for your keyboard?

Posted: 23 May 2012, 08:19
by CeeSA
no, there was no metal bar. There was a copper film underneath the PCB separated by a plastic sheet.

@off i have to upload a better pic in the evening, if not pls remind me.

*EDIT* better pic
lanes.jpg
lanes.jpg (604.5 KiB) Viewed 8315 times
there is no splitting cable lower right (more shadow).

Posted: 25 May 2012, 01:09
by kint
Someone who wants to cut his PCB should trace his own PCB for the leads to cut/jumper as those can vary and you may find yourself in trouble otherwise. :!:
my 1501 is just open due to me spilling tea over it yesterday... :|
Looking at my PCB I don't see any sense in connectiong the lowest right solder to the switch in the lowest right anyhow - that one ("Y" on DE layout) has direct traces to the ICs between F and num Row as well as to the IC above the ESC.

CeeSA were did you connect the cables shielding ? Seems you bend the wires just outside the pic on that.

Posted: 25 May 2012, 01:21
by CeeSA
i did not connect cable shielding. in my research it should be nr. 3 at the pic.
there was a resistor from point 3 to the lane of point 4.
hope the pic explain it better than the words ;)
Cutlane PS2 Connector_1.JPG
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(the yellow numbers are not for the ps/2 connector)

Posted: 25 May 2012, 01:38
by kint
yeah looks like mine (an DIN one) also with the resistor. That's why I was wondering. So no Shielding on your Mod. Any thoughts on the resistor/ missing shield ? :)

Posted: 25 May 2012, 09:16
by Peter
Nice SSK !

I'm considering using the space of the card-reader for something like this :
epia-p900-1.jpg
epia-p900-1.jpg (27.21 KiB) Viewed 8282 times
10cm x 7.2cm
EPIA-P900-10 1.0GHz Eden X2
Pico-ITX Board with 1.0GHz Eden X2 CPU, MPEG-2, WMV9, H.264,
1 x LVDS, 1 x HDMI, 7 x USB, 1 x IDE, 2 x SATA, 1 x GigaLAN, on-board DC-in
http://www.viaembedded.com/en/products/ ... serialNo=6

Posted: 25 May 2012, 14:44
by off
Peter wrote:I'm considering using the space of the card-reader
10cm x 7.2cm
That's 4 rows you'll be needing (provided that the hdd doesn't extend past that), doubt you could sqeeze that in that top portion... But GL/HF, it IS a nice idea!
Never noticed it had a concealed cardreader on the side!

Posted: 25 May 2012, 17:40
by Peter
off wrote:
Peter wrote:I'm considering using the space of the card-reader
10cm x 7.2cm
That's 4 rows you'll be needing (provided that the hdd doesn't extend past that), doubt you could sqeeze that in that top portion... But GL/HF, it IS a nice idea!
Never noticed it had a concealed cardreader on the side!
I'm pretty sure the card-reader is the reason this board even has NKRO,
it reads the card and outputs it as a text-string over PS/2, as if it had been typed on the board by the worlds fastest typist.
(All the boards with card-readers in my humble collection also have NKRO, but they are all MX -
Do MY-boards with card-readers also have NKRO ? )

It's a very nice keyboard, if you have the space for it, so a SSK-1501 is a great idea IMO !
(This post was written on my G80-1501 HAD with all-white caps !
It's been the daily driver for the last few months, except for extended typing, that's done on a 'M' .
)

Posted: 25 May 2012, 19:37
by kint
Peter wrote:Nice SSK !I'm considering using the space of the card-reader for something like this :...
nice idea, back to the days when our Computers were build in the keyboard!
I just closed my 1501 but before that I took some measurements and compared them to the ones taken from the datasheet of the epia board. It will be a pretty tight fit if at all.
Main Problem i figured would be the height of the unit, as the Board ist 3cm thick with all the connectors and DIMM and cooler. Another one ist the units length of 10cm - combined with the thickness this will most likely interfere with the keyboards PCB.
Not saying that it can't be done, but it's definitely not a drop in solution imo. Take pics ! :) . And as CeeSA said: GL/HF.

And: good thought regarding the NKRO in Cardreader boards, never thought of that. :)

Posted: 25 May 2012, 20:59
by JBert
Peter wrote:(All the boards with card-readers in my humble collection also have NKRO, but they are all MX -
Do MY-boards with card-readers also have NKRO ? )
(OT Continuation: It's highly unlikely that MY switches have NKRO. These switches sit on top of a membrane, so unless each key has its own trace on the membrane there's no NKRO. The card-reader might send a whole string of characters at once, but that's just the controller, not the rest of the keyboard.)

Posted: 27 Jun 2012, 01:06
by Acanthophis
So...now that I finally found a 1501 I also want to try a SSK mod.
If it doesn't turn out too ugly I will gift it to my girlfriend.
She just bought herself the newest generation of the MacBook Pro. I doubt the 1501 is Mac compatible.
TL;DR: How do I make the 1501 Mac compatible?

Posted: 27 Jun 2012, 01:38
by off
Since thread got ressed, perfect moment to say this: Having just seen one of these firsthand, I repeat the word: magician.

Posted: 28 Jun 2012, 12:41
by CeeSA
here is another ssk known from the keyboard party in Best.
it is in full function.

Beside the "making it a ssk" i change the switches to MX Blue and the LED's to white.

Open points:

- PS/2 to USB
- Detachable Mini USB

I am still thinking about the caps (color).
And should i add a gold Cherry Sticker?
blue.jpg
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Posted: 28 Jun 2012, 12:50
by dirge
Stunning, add the sticker, and get a photo with lighter alpha keys.

Posted: 28 Jun 2012, 13:05
by off
That one.

Perhaps either a slightly darker tint for the case (slightly more grey added to the blue), or slightly lighter keys- try some 'pure' whites from an 11800?
And personally, at least from the pic, perhaps less 'sharp' leds; you could just take a marker and put a stripe on the led itself.

Posted: 28 Jun 2012, 16:09
by Half-Saint
What's that white stuff on the inside of the case?