Epson Q703C-AA Clean up and conversion

[snacksthecat]

Putting the keycaps back on.


And the final product.

[snacksthecat]

Here's a short typing video on the finished keyboard

[ZedTheMan]

What the heck?

It sounds like raindrops reverberating in a cave after dropping on a particularly thick bucket!

[snacksthecat]

A word of caution about this type of mod



A fellow member reached out interested in buying this keyboard. I didn't really plan on selling it but I also had no plans to use it either (I swear, I really only ever use like 1 keyboard ).

I shipped him the board and made sure to pack it up nicely. Nevertheless, when it made it to him, a few of the keys were not working. He opened the board to discover the issue; three of the diodes had cracked in half in transit.

So be careful not too put too much tension on the diodes. Or use a different method all together, like SMD diodes. I didn't use SMD diodes because it seemed like it would require very precise removal of the solder mask and soldering. It just seemed a little bit out of my skill range. But probably makes the board more rugged.

Anyways, I'll most likely be doing another similar mod on a Fortune Systems keyboard with Digitran leaf spring switches for another member. I haven't opened the board yet but I'm guessing they're at least somewhat similar. I'll be sure to make a post about it when I start that project.

[Sangdrax]

Digitran are capacitive. You don't need to mess with the PCB at all other than to pull controller parts to fit a new one in.

[snacksthecat]

Digitran are capacitive. You don't need to mess with the PCB at all other than to pull controller parts to fit a new one in.

Aw man, this is going to be new territory for me. Any resources you can point me to? Thanks for pointing that out before I started!

[Sangdrax]

It's just like converting a Model F or a Keytronic or any other capacitive. I'd read up the DMA capsense and Xwhatsit controller threads as well as a bunch of my old restores here in the Workshop as well as OldisNew's great stuff.

Just be careful with the old girl. Digitran are the ultimate capacitive linear when they're in good shape IMO and very rare.

[snacksthecat]

Thanks, Sangdrax!

[snacksthecat]

Haven't seen this thing in a while. Almost forgot that I was the proud owner of a working Epson QX-10 computer. My girlfriend is going to hate me when she sees I've pulled this huge thing back out of storage.

I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is the end of the video.

[vdublove37]

Hi snacks, I just purchased a whole QX-10 system and I'm looking to find help with conversion. I wanted to ask you, with this method were you able to use the keyboard both over USB and with the QX-10? Or is it no longer able to work with that system? Some people on discord suggested that I could find someone to handwire directly from a nee MCU to the switch pins. But retaining functionality with the old system would be sweet!