New Cherry MX keyboards for the A500, A600 and A1200

[kipper2k]

fonts lookin good, i am still trying to identify the "real" official colours of the Amiga keyboards, most of mine have been retrobrighted and not sure what the original values were. If anyone has access to a colour scanning tool and decent keys it would be nice to get some values. (paint stores have this tool i believe)

[lmimmfn]

Originally Posted by kipper2k

Hi, eventually i will release all my files when i have had enough, doing this project has taken MANY hours to get to this point, not so much the electrical side of it but also the physical side of it getting the boards to fit etc. Someone has actually released the schematic for the A500 keyboard so they are already available, i never used it. I took pictures of all the different membranes and manually traced everything. I have no doubt that this will be repeated by someone else. Remember this project is not just the one project but a few that has cascaded from the original membrane that i done,

The biggest problem you will find in 10 years will be getting new keycaps, that is where the cost is, trying to replace the original style of keys. I will release the info on where to get the keycaps once this project has ran its course. be prepared for a very expensive cost if not able to drum up a lot of support. I was very fortunate in finding a manufacturer who already has the moulds for all the key sizes we need hence the quick project turnaround time or it would have been a very long haul like other similar projects. Unfortunately for our pocket book the manufacturer is in the USA and not China where the manufacturing cost would be approx 30% less. If i had abandoned the authentic look then prices would be lower as there are quite a few mainstream companies that cater to the PC industry.

the Cherry MX switches are almost $40 USD a set and i was shocked that i was offered no discount from their website price if i ordered 10,000 switches. The knock off switches in China are $15 a set (Ali express) which other projects use for their keyboards, but i really didn't want to go through the waiting game hassle waiting for the parts to arrive and not certain of their quality, for those people that want to go this route then it is entirely up to themselves. As i have said before, if people can help by finding alternative cheaper pricing for the parts then i will see if we can implement it.

I completely understand the work you have put in and I really appreciate all your Amiga contributions.

Is it ok that we in the Amiga community request that projects like this are open sourced eventually? I'm genuinely asking.

I realise the switches are expensive and cheaper in bulk but but seriously if I had to pay $250 on a set in 10 years I would honestly be ok with that, a decent mech KB on PC is nearly 170euro.

I'm only thinking long term, apologies if it looks like I'm taking away from your work, its the complete opposite, and thanks for the opportunity for this, its brilliant.

[grelbfarlk]

So, since it's been a while since I had a wedge Amiga, does the A500 keyboard fit in an A2000 or A4000 keyboard shell?

Great project BTW, getting tired of my tired PS/2 keyboards.

[radfoo]

Originally Posted by kipper2k

fonts lookin good, i am still trying to identify the "real" official colours of the Amiga keyboards, most of mine have been retrobrighted and not sure what the original values were. If anyone has access to a colour scanning tool and decent keys it would be nice to get some values. (paint stores have this tool i believe)

Needs some consideration as to which Amiga keyboard you want to replicate? My Escom white keyboard (not retrobrighted, think it's immune, lol) would look daft in an A500.

A2000 and A500 were always a cream or beige type of colour for the main keys.
Commodore A600, A1200s and A4000s were a slightly off white colour and Escom A1200s were whiter than white bright white, seem even a bit opaque (cheapo).

Probably the function keys changed over time as well but not so I noticed as much. Doubt I would be able to tell if you put a set of a1200 function keys into an a500.

[seb132]

Yes I also don’t find critical to find exact colour match as they simply don’t exist.
I would go for keeping the spirit and pick a white/grey set for A600 and A1200 and cream/beige for A500s...
Maybe pick few samples and propose a poll to the community ?

[Predseda]

I want F-keys in rainbow spectrum

[Mr.Flibble]

Can't Phil help out with the colours as he already did the research for that for the case and keycap campaigns?

[Mick]

I've managed to do Amiga keys using CSS but I'm not sure if it's just an abuse of their app, they say they have a parser so it should be okay? I'm trying to work out how to do the right Amiga key decently.

Link

[radfoo]

Originally Posted by Mr.Flibble

Can't Phil help out with the colours as he already did the research for that for the case and keycap campaigns?

I asked Phil, as did others at the time of the keycaps campaign, and at that point it seemed as if he thought that a500/a2000 keys had just yellowed more than the a1200. Was disappointed with the response at the time, still backed his campaign but won't put them in an a500/a2000.

If only one colour can be picked, perhaps go for something different or in the middle of two commodore versions.

[kipper2k]

Originally Posted by radfoo

I asked Phil, as did others at the time of the keycaps campaign, and at that point it seemed as if he thought that a500/a2000 keys had just yellowed more than the a1200. Was disappointed with the response at the time, still backed his campaign but won't put them in an a500/a2000.

If only one colour can be picked, perhaps go for something different or in the middle of two commodore versions.

i think something in between is good, i have seen pictures taken from (NTSC) A500s that were relatively new and the colours were definately a cream/beige colour. An inbetween colour mix is the best, in the spirit of keeping costs down and keeping everything simple. i will draw up some different colour plates today showing different 2 colour schemes. Feel free to play yourselves, i posted the template back in post #171

check the grey/beige on this one...
http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/index.p...-keyboard.html

also this one...

[radfoo]

Looks good! Think something in between is a good compromise.

Can we have the arrow line on the return key rather than it saying "enter"?

[Romanujan]

Originally Posted by Mick

I've managed to do Amiga keys using CSS but I'm not sure if it's just an abuse of their app, they say they have a parser so it should be okay? I'm trying to work out how to do the right Amiga key decently.

Link

Maybe something like this? But I think Times New Roman is not the best font for both left and right.

.amiga2 {
  font-family: 'Times New Roman';
  font-weight: bold;
  color: #A7A7A7;
  text-shadow: -1px 0 black, 0 1px black, 1px 0 black, 0 -1px black;
}

[kipper2k]

We do have the left and right amiga key symbol drawn

the only one missing is the unusual arrow on the enter key, (we may end up forking out another $50 lol as it is not a standard symbol

note: thanks for people offering to redo my webpage, i guess it is too simple and loads too fast so they want to add stuff to it to slow it down. I like it the way it is, it does not consume a lot of resources, zero ads and it does the job

[Mick]

I've customised some of the other keys using unicode symbols but like I said I'm not sure if they'll just laugh at the code and throw it back. I'll leave it to you guys I guess too many cooks and all. It's been fun messing with that app though.

Link

[kipper2k]

Originally Posted by Mick

I've customised some of the other keys using unicode symbols but like I said I'm not sure if they'll just laugh at the code and throw it back. I'll leave it to you guys I guess too many cooks and all. It's been fun messing with that app though.

Link

the enter key looks great. i will pass it on and try to get it added. thx

is it line 7 in raw data i need to import ?

[Mick]

Originally Posted by Romanujan

Maybe something like this? But I think Times New Roman is not the best font for both left and right.

.amiga2 {
  font-family: 'Times New Roman';
  font-weight: bold;
  color: #A7A7A7;
  text-shadow: -1px 0 black, 0 1px black, 1px 0 black, 0 -1px black;
}

Yeah I had a try with something like that but it makes the right A a pixel or so bigger, could do with like an inner outline I think?

[Mick]

Originally Posted by kipper2k

the enter key looks great. i will pass it on and try to get it added. thx

is it line 7 in raw data i need to import ?

Add <span class='enter'>?</span> to the legend and this to custom styles:

.enter {
font-size: 36pt;
}

edit... you'll need to copy and paste the symbol because it's not showing on here, put it between the spans.

I also changed the delete arrow so it can't be confused with the left arrow key.

[kipper2k]

Originally Posted by Mick

Yeah I had a try with something like that but it makes the right A a pixel or so bigger, could do with like an inner outline I think?

they are quite picky on the info they get as their CNC machine is pretty picky on how it interprets data -

I was reading on "sublimation printing" there are a few people with homemade equipment that can do a very good job using the sublimation process on keycaps, for about $350 and some creative home made plates you can start your own little sideline. I think it could be rewarding if you had the time.

here is a good starting place to learn...

https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalK...your_own_caps/

[Romanujan]

Originally Posted by Mick

Yeah I had a try with something like that but it makes the right A a pixel or so bigger, could do with like an inner outline I think?

So maybe also decrease font size for this particular key by 1-2 points? A pitty one can't just upload the bitmap...

[Mick]

Originally Posted by Romanujan

So maybe also decrease font size for this particular key by 1-2 points? A pitty one can't just upload the bitmap...

I tried but it just doesn't look right due to low resolution. I think what the app needs is the ability to export/view the final product in 1:1 scale. I would ask to see everything in proper scale before sending anything for mass manufacturer to ensure the font sizes are exactly how I wanted them.

For example, I think size 4/bold looks better in terms of clarity of a lot of the symbol keys but the alignment goes a mess in the app and because you don't really know how accurate the app is you might send it off for manufacturing and be disappointed in the outcome?

edit....

A bit of dubious code later:

Link

I'd love to see what it looked like to actual scale in a render assuming their system can follow the code.