this post was submitted on 07 Nov 2023
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ErgoMechKeyboards

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Ergonomic, split and other weird keyboards

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I added a trackpoint to a corne-cherry (crkbd) keyboard for ergonomic pointing bliss!

Build details: https://github.com/joh/crkbd-trackpoint

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That's awesome!

Now I really want to replicate something similar in a future keyboard I build.

[–] joh 2 points 1 year ago
[–] jenny_ball 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

ur an insane person but i like your style

[–] joh 3 points 1 year ago

Thanks, I guess? :P

[–] wolfwood 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

the readme says that your firmware enables pullups on clock and data lines but i don't see that code in your keymap?

[–] joh 5 points 1 year ago

Yes, you're right, I changed the PIO driver directly for that: https://github.com/joh/qmk_firmware/commit/aa0214f5b1b3001cf7cc99419c32c8b87707cb5a

I plan to make it an optional feature for qmk proper, but for now it's somewhat of a hack :)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Super nice!

How much did you pay for the trackpoint and shipping? It's great to hear that you can just email Sprintek!

Nice that the RP2040 doesn't require a reset circuit! I just finished a handwired with a ATMega32U4 ProMicro where I needed to remove a resistor to clear the D5 pin for USART. That was quite a painful process overall. This seems significantly easier!

[–] joh 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Thanks! I paid $28.55 per SK8707 module + shipping (around $22 to Norway).

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Ok, I gæs it'd be about the same shipping to Denmark. Compared to sourcing from ThinkPad keyboards, I find it very appealing to not have to risk popping the pin pads of the pcb when desoldering the keyboard ribbon cable. I've caused a few casualties.

Edit: Ah, I see you had to undsolder a ribbon cable from the controller board, too.

[–] joh 2 points 1 year ago

You don't have to desolder the ribbon cable. You could use some sort of ribbon cable connector, if you have one available. But I found it more practical to only have the wires I needed. And desoldering the ribbon cable was fairly straightforward.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I wanted something like this! I think I'm gonna give this a shot, thank you for sharing your work

[–] joh 3 points 1 year ago

Cool! Let me know how it goes :D

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This is marvellous. Thank you. I will save this link and make my own!

[–] joh 2 points 1 year ago

Thanks! Let me know how it goes :)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What are you using for left/ right /middle click?

[–] joh 3 points 1 year ago

I'm using the thumb cluster keys.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Amazing thing that my ADHD ass wants to replicate with my piantor but will never have the time to.

Thanks, full time job! /s

[–] joh 3 points 1 year ago

The piantor looks like a nice piece of kit! Unfortunately the PCB doesn't seem to have any holes to accommodate a trackpoint. There even seems to be a trace right between the YUHJ keys, so drilling a hole is not possible either.

[–] hymenopterror 1 points 9 months ago

i need this