Dropcheck Posted September 2, 2023 Share Posted September 2, 2023 7 minutes ago, ScreamingAtTheRadio said: Oh, the four contacts at the top-right? Ignore that, those enable you to wire F1-F4 to external switches. I use it to connect the function keys on the Sidecar XE85. 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+scorpio_ny Posted September 2, 2023 Share Posted September 2, 2023 Interestingly, when I sent it for fabrication, they installed jumpers at the layout selection and the voltage connections by the keyboard connector. I can remove and install right angle jumpers for the layout selection but what is the voltage jumpers by the keyboard connector for? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScreamingAtTheRadio Posted September 3, 2023 Author Share Posted September 3, 2023 39 minutes ago, scorpio_ny said: what is the voltage jumpers by the keyboard connector for? To give you the option to get power from another source for the backlighting, if I correctly interpreted your question. You can ignore that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScreamingAtTheRadio Posted September 7, 2023 Author Share Posted September 7, 2023 Today I received a big bag of clicky Alps switches. What could that possibly be for?... 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildstar87 Posted September 7, 2023 Share Posted September 7, 2023 I know, but I'm not telling.. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScreamingAtTheRadio Posted September 23, 2023 Author Share Posted September 23, 2023 Sending those prototype designs for fabrication next week: 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+scorpio_ny Posted September 23, 2023 Share Posted September 23, 2023 (edited) Wow! A lot of people are going to be very happy! Edited September 23, 2023 by scorpio_ny 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+scorpio_ny Posted October 15, 2023 Share Posted October 15, 2023 (edited) Hi everyone! I finally got my keyboard manufactured and assembled and I am really pleased with it! I wanted to share some info and experiences for those who go on the path on assembling and fabricating on your own. 1. Test your PCB before soldering any keys. This is one tip that I should have known better since one of my hobbies was building keyboards from group buys. One of my PCB’s from JLPCB was defective with non working keys. I only discovered it after I had built it🤦♂️. You could test it by using some metal tweezers. Connect the PCB to the computer and short the option key with the tweezers to go while powering the computer to go into test test mode. Use the tweezers to test the keys with the keyboard test to save you possible extra work. 2. Use a different switch with a heavier spring for the spacebar. You may find that using the same switch as the regular keys, the spacebar may feel a little too light to the touch. I used a switch with 74g spring for the space bar. For the smaller keys that used a stabilizer, I opted to use keys with 67g spring of force. 3. For those building the keyboard with the XE remake board, the wide keyboard connector would hit the battery holder. If you ordered the PCB that at .6mm thickness, it can easily flex to to avoid the battery holder. I am not sure if it would at .8mm though. 4. When I ordered the function keys from JLPCB to be printed, they complained that the tab connecting the keys together was too thin and could break apart while printing. They said did I want to resend a new file or go ahead with the print. I decided to go ahead with printing and when I received the keys the results seem fine. I does seems that some of the keys did separate out but I am not sure at what point . @ScreamingAtTheRadio : Did you get same response when you had them manufactured? 5. JLCPCB does offer a clear resin for printing. The only catch is they will not do much finishing on it since so much can go wrong since it is a clear materials. When they shipped it to me, they shipped some sandpaper of various grits so I can do final finishing. I was able to file away a lot of the roughness of the prints without damaging the look too much. I think they came out great in the end. I will probably use some acrylic paint on the lettering. With that, I am finally finished building my new Atari computer. Here is how it came out: @ScreamingAtTheRadio: Thank you very much for all your hard work on this project! Edited October 15, 2023 by scorpio_ny 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScreamingAtTheRadio Posted October 15, 2023 Author Share Posted October 15, 2023 3 hours ago, scorpio_ny said: Did you get same response when you had them manufactured? Yes, they complain about something every time, even on reorders. very nice build! Good tip about using a stronger switch on space… connectors are no longer an issue as I now ship flexible PCBs instead. Perfect fit, no clearance issues… your console keys are a little low. I use a 3D printed mini-plate to raise those at the correct height. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+scorpio_ny Posted October 16, 2023 Share Posted October 16, 2023 19 hours ago, ScreamingAtTheRadio said: Yes, they complain about something every time, even on reorders. Good to know! Thanks! 19 hours ago, ScreamingAtTheRadio said: very nice build! Thank you for the compliment! You did a great job on the design and documenting on how to go about doing the build. It was the first time I actually had something created and assembled by a third party. 19 hours ago, ScreamingAtTheRadio said: connectors are no longer an issue as I now ship flexible PCBs instead. Perfect fit, no clearance issues… I saw this and I am interested. Does it have control on the LED brightness on it?Do you sell them individually? 19 hours ago, ScreamingAtTheRadio said: your console keys are a little low. I use a 3D printed mini-plate to raise those at the correct height. I actually did! I thought the same thing so I went to take a second look. Your posted link was broken, so I searched your GitHub for the file. It seems that I grabbed and used an earlier version that was only 2mm high. I found the one that was 4MM high, printed it and replaced the other plate. Now it is all good! Thank you for the heads up! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScreamingAtTheRadio Posted October 17, 2023 Author Share Posted October 17, 2023 (edited) 22 hours ago, scorpio_ny said: I saw this and I am interested. Does it have control on the LED brightness on it?Do you sell them individually? The LED brightness has been moved to the main PCB for that reason, meaning you can't use the new flex PCB cable with older revisions of the PCB, sorry. Or you'd have to get creative and wire a pot somewhere yourself. Can't really help with that The LED circuit is cleanly separated though, so should be possible. Edited October 17, 2023 by ScreamingAtTheRadio Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clint Thompson Posted October 17, 2023 Share Posted October 17, 2023 Oof! @scorpio_ny do you know if they offer the clear printing in red as well? Mind sharing the price as an FYI? Am curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+scorpio_ny Posted October 17, 2023 Share Posted October 17, 2023 Hi @Clint Thompson, No, they do not offer clear printing in red. As @ScreamingAtTheRadio mentioned, the color options are limited when it comes to resin. I went to the website and saw that they now offer more finishing options for the material I used. They now offer sanding but they spray oil on it for finishing it and makes it more transparent. One set is $9.16. Shipping is very high.The cheapest way to send it costs approximately $9 to the USA. It would be worth ordering if part of a larger order. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScreamingAtTheRadio Posted October 17, 2023 Author Share Posted October 17, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, scorpio_ny said: It would be worth ordering if part of a larger order Depends if you mean a group buy or just a larger order. When I have sets printed, I do them in batches of two (a single part with two sets of 5 console keys), and it saves some money (not a lot). You'll also save some shipping to the US, but not a lot as JLCPCB's shipping costs depend on the weight, and there's a threshold where the cheapest options become unavailable. Also keep in mind that you'll have to pay for shipping inside the US once you've done your group buy, and the cheapest package shipping options with USPS are going to be probably $6-7. So not convinced a group buy makes sense. It does for PCBs because there's a minimum quantity, but that's not the case for printing... Edited October 17, 2023 by ScreamingAtTheRadio Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+scorpio_ny Posted October 17, 2023 Share Posted October 17, 2023 18 minutes ago, ScreamingAtTheRadio said: Depends if you mean a group buy or just a larger order. When I placed my order, I ordered the keyboard PCB's, keyboard connectors, assembly of the PCB's and 3D printing. I also had added a bunch of smaller PCB's for some other projects to to the order as well to save on shipping. It would have cost me a lot more to order them individually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScreamingAtTheRadio Posted October 17, 2023 Author Share Posted October 17, 2023 Just now, scorpio_ny said: When I placed my order, I ordered the keyboard PCB's, keyboard connectors, assembly of the PCB's and 3D printing. I also had added a bunch of smaller PCB's for some other projects to to the order as well to save on shipping. It would have cost me a lot more to order them individually. For sure. I'm surprised they put 3D prints and PCBs in the same order though, they used to separate them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+scorpio_ny Posted October 17, 2023 Share Posted October 17, 2023 14 minutes ago, ScreamingAtTheRadio said: For sure. I'm surprised they put 3D prints and PCBs in the same order though, they used to separate them. You are correct. I checked my order and they stared it could not be combined so they had to ship it separately. So not much savings on the shipping with 3D parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
commander Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 what kind of filament you have choosen for the Sidecar XE85. I am searching for a filament with the "same color" of the XE Cases... Many thanks for this great project Go ON Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScreamingAtTheRadio Posted November 16, 2023 Author Share Posted November 16, 2023 On 10/30/2023 at 1:26 AM, commander said: what kind of filament you have choosen for the Sidecar XE85. I am searching for a filament with the "same color" of the XE Cases... Many thanks for this great project Go ON Sorry for the delay, I was travelling. It's gray PLA from Anycubic: Anycubic 1.75mm PLA 3D Printer Filament - 1KG – ANYCUBIC-US Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScreamingAtTheRadio Posted December 2, 2023 Author Share Posted December 2, 2023 It's been a while since I gave a Decent Keyboard update... Here's what I've been up to. Lots of new stuff coming... 1. The XL Modern keyboard is ready and shipping pre-orders now. I'll create a new thread to take orders for the next batch sometime next week. Oh, it also won the ABBUC hardware contest, did you hear? 2. XL vintage should follow shortly, I just need to test the adapters that are right now in transit from China. 3. XL Alps looks like it'll need a pivot. I had hoped to use Matias switches, which are Alps-compatible, with the original Atari Alps caps. Unfortunately, it seems like the caps are a few microns too big and mess with the switches, and also are extremely difficult to remove once inserted. So it'll probably be adapters on top of low-profile switches like other vintage keyboards. It's fine, I expect most Alps keyboards are still working fine, so this should be low-volume anyway. I just thought it would be neat. 4. I got a 1200XL on loan for a few months, and I'm finalizing the design of the Decent1200. Pretty much works already, really close to done. Both vintage and modern. I also recently acquired a fully-functional 1200XL for myself on eBay (I made an amazing deal: $220 for the computer plus a 1050 and a printer, still can't believe my luck). 5. We have PCBs for Decent800, I'm in the process of assembling the first prototypes, both vintage and modern. The modern key caps are on order and should be here next week. 6. I just finished assembling and testing the first Decent400 prototype. Works great! This is modern only, since there are no vintage 400 caps. Caps are on order and should be here next week. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenames99 Posted December 2, 2023 Share Posted December 2, 2023 will you be offering kits or assembled units? thanks. Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScreamingAtTheRadio Posted December 2, 2023 Author Share Posted December 2, 2023 Just now, kenames99 said: will you be offering kits or assembled units? thanks. Of course. Both. In fact, there's a wait list, let me know if you want to get on it. No obligation, just makes you first in line when they become available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenames99 Posted December 2, 2023 Share Posted December 2, 2023 6 minutes ago, ScreamingAtTheRadio said: Of course. Both. In fact, there's a wait list, let me know if you want to get on it. No obligation, just makes you first in line when they become available. ok, if you could put me down for a kit for 800XL and a kit for 800 would be great. thank you. let me know if there is any other info you need, (like the 130xe questionaire ). Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScreamingAtTheRadio Posted December 2, 2023 Author Share Posted December 2, 2023 2 minutes ago, kenames99 said: ok, if you could put me down for a kit for 800XL and a kit for 800 would be great. thank you. let me know if there is any other info you need, (like the 130xe questionaire ). Sure, I'll PM you for details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted December 2, 2023 Share Posted December 2, 2023 17 hours ago, ScreamingAtTheRadio said: Oh, it also won the ABBUC hardware contest, did you hear? Congrats... a well-deserved win, man. 17 hours ago, ScreamingAtTheRadio said: I just finished assembling and testing the first Decent400 prototype. Works great! This is modern only, since there are no vintage 400 caps. Caps are on order and should be here next week. Cool! I'll be watching progress on this... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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