Broken K60 > Project keyboard
Posted: 22 Mar 2017, 18:35
Hey guys,
I've been too busy with university and life in the last times, and sadly I left the forum. Now I'm back and I'll try to stay active again
I'm sadly writing this on a rubber dome 
My only "modern" (USB) mechanical keyboard is fried. What I'm gonna do is probably sell some classic keyboards from my collection to buy another new "modern" one, but in the meantime I saw a modded K60 by Aleksander (http://oyen.in/Deskthority/K30.jpg) which greatly inspired me to do something with what is remaning of my broken K60.
Preamble: water has been spilled on the board while it was on. Ater getting it dry I thought everything was going to be fine, as all the switches felt good and whatever, but the microcontroller is not giving signs of life anymore. I tried cleaning and resoldering it, as a last resort also reflowing it with hot air, but nothing. I think it's dead for good. I still want to make something out of this keyboard, but on the cheap side, until I graduate I'm not working and am poor
Now I have more than one idea, some are the opposite of other ones, I know:
- 60%: I've never had a 60% keyboard, but I got interested in keyboards because of the Poker. So I want a 60%, I'm gonna cut the case!
- Reusing the PCB: The microcontroller is SMD, so I can't reuse his solder pads on the board to connect directly , because said solder pads are really too thin. Still I could theoretically still find the first point where those traces lead to, and just wire my controller pins to them. Am I correct or am I missing something? Would it be doable in your opinion?
It would be positive because it makes LEDs possible, which wouldn't be feasible if I hand wired the matrix. Anyway this leads to the controller.
- Controller: I have a Pro Micro around, is there a way to make a 60% layout/matrix work with such few pins? If not, are there other cheap microntroller with HID capabilitie? I found the Teensy 2.0 on Aliexpress for a lot cheaper than before, but I would like to know about alternatives if there's something even cheaper. I would spend a few euros more for a controller with bluetooth though, so this leads to bluetooth.
- Blueooth: even more interesting than LEDs, there's Bluetooth. Has there been any progress in homemade Bluetooth keyboards lately? When I was following the keyboard scene it wasn't very common, and the controllers were not cheap. Are there any new and cheap Bluetooth controllers? I found this on Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBqsVKMYz1I) which is pretty interesing, but I don't know how many io pins I'll need for the 60% layout.
(TLDR: I underlined the important questions)
Thanks for the help.
I've been too busy with university and life in the last times, and sadly I left the forum. Now I'm back and I'll try to stay active again
I'm sadly writing this on a rubber dome My only "modern" (USB) mechanical keyboard is fried. What I'm gonna do is probably sell some classic keyboards from my collection to buy another new "modern" one, but in the meantime I saw a modded K60 by Aleksander (http://oyen.in/Deskthority/K30.jpg) which greatly inspired me to do something with what is remaning of my broken K60.
Preamble: water has been spilled on the board while it was on. Ater getting it dry I thought everything was going to be fine, as all the switches felt good and whatever, but the microcontroller is not giving signs of life anymore. I tried cleaning and resoldering it, as a last resort also reflowing it with hot air, but nothing. I think it's dead for good. I still want to make something out of this keyboard, but on the cheap side, until I graduate I'm not working and am poor
Now I have more than one idea, some are the opposite of other ones, I know:
- 60%: I've never had a 60% keyboard, but I got interested in keyboards because of the Poker. So I want a 60%, I'm gonna cut the case!
- Reusing the PCB: The microcontroller is SMD, so I can't reuse his solder pads on the board to connect directly , because said solder pads are really too thin. Still I could theoretically still find the first point where those traces lead to, and just wire my controller pins to them. Am I correct or am I missing something? Would it be doable in your opinion?
It would be positive because it makes LEDs possible, which wouldn't be feasible if I hand wired the matrix. Anyway this leads to the controller.
- Controller: I have a Pro Micro around, is there a way to make a 60% layout/matrix work with such few pins? If not, are there other cheap microntroller with HID capabilitie? I found the Teensy 2.0 on Aliexpress for a lot cheaper than before, but I would like to know about alternatives if there's something even cheaper. I would spend a few euros more for a controller with bluetooth though, so this leads to bluetooth.
- Blueooth: even more interesting than LEDs, there's Bluetooth. Has there been any progress in homemade Bluetooth keyboards lately? When I was following the keyboard scene it wasn't very common, and the controllers were not cheap. Are there any new and cheap Bluetooth controllers? I found this on Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBqsVKMYz1I) which is pretty interesing, but I don't know how many io pins I'll need for the 60% layout.
(TLDR: I underlined the important questions)
Thanks for the help.