Keyboard Builders' Digest / Editorial
Behind the scenes #139
Quick news, donation issues, in the mailbox, meetups, updates. Would you like a giveaway?
Published October 13, 2023
Hey everyone,
Welcome back for another weekly recap and behind-the-scenes write-up. If you are new to kbd.news, you can read how this started out and what this is all about nowadays. If you like what you see, subscribe to the newsletter (free) and donate some bucks to keep this otherwise free and ad-free project alive.
Reading for the weekend
- Thorium is a small ortholinear split keyboard by note96e.
- RaphCoder13 designed Birdy44, a handwired split with dual trackpads and tented case.
- Etienne Collin's Wave is a reversible split Ferris/Sweep derivative with Mini DIN 4 connectors.
- Sergei Silnov's Crabapplepad is a minimalistic, ultra low-pro foldable split keyboard with X switches.
- Sergei shared his PUR keyboard, an ortholinear one with offset spacebar and bent metal sheet case.
- STHLM kb announced Större, an easy-to-build 75% keyboard kit with exposed diode cluster and using only through-hole components.
- Oak Ninja published a 3D printed EC12 encoder knob with skirt.
- NerdBoard 6. A split with integrated trackball and extreme "keywell"(?).
- Another abomination by ADreamOfStorms. To be open sourced.
- What once was the KeyboardDweebs shop has been reopened as a blog. Alex will keep all of his keyboard projects on there (without selling anything). Related project.
- Commercial: Keeb.io announced Iris CE (Compact Edition), a low-profile Choc Iris PCB and keyboard.
- Tools: keyboard-info.com is a place to compare 3D keyboard models with AR view on mobile. Figma layout designer by Accomplished Table561, as of my understanding, a tool to make beautiful visuals of your keyboard for reference, e.g. while learning a new layout. FAK is a keyboard firmware for the cheap CH55x series chips. Written by semickolon in Nickel.
- A Dactyl with strange keycaps. They make sense though when you realize they were designed by MooMarMouse, a lady with long nails.
- Finally, the Datadesk Switchboard – a modular keyboard from the early '90s spotted by TrustyTrombones. DT wiki entry and Chyrosran22 review:
Donations
- New donor: Aubrey Williams. Thanks a lot! But another three recurring donations failed. I'm not sure what's going on at PayPal.
- And as always, many thanks to everyone who helped this project thus far, especially to regular donors. Without you, this project wouldn't turn 3 in a few weeks.
Giveaway?
So we are slowly approaching that dreaded time of the year – the birthday of kbd.news with the annual giveaway. Last year there were 100+ prizes, and if I'd like to organize another event, I should slowly start with the preparations.
But honestly, it's a real PITA, and I don't really have any incentives to do it. I don't really want more subscribers, it would cost me more money. I don't really see any point in increasing the number of my followers e.g. on twitter either. All this would work if I'd heavily monetized this blog, but that's not really the case. So try to convince me. ;) Why should I dedicate weeks and probably months of my life to the next giveaway? Or just share your thoughts about a feasible giveaway model.
In the mailbox
Nothing in the mailbox this week, but it doesn't mean I haven't bought another keyboard. ;) At least I guess, because the seller is quite unresponsive. Anyway, it's a pretty standard keyboard, looks like an LK-201 clone but with a twist. The untrained eye wouldn't even notice the difference, but I'll show you what I'm talking about if I'll ever get this board. ;)
Some of you are eagerly waiting for the Videoton article. It's coming soon, almost finished. The keyword is almost here. I managed to collect a lot of material in the end but I don't want to delay this issue and the newsletter because of the post, so I'll probably publish it tomorrow or early next week.
Meetup database
Upcoming:
- Nashville Mechanical Keyboard Meetup, Oct 14, Nashville, TN
- SF x MK Autumn Meet, Oct 14, Redwood City, CA, US.
- UCSD Nightmare Before Keebs Meet, Oct 15, San Diego, CA
- The Grand Lason Round 2, Oct 15, Pasay City, Philippines.
New additions:
- 天下一キーボードわいわい会 Vol.5, Nov 4, Tokyo, JP. Sold out in a few hours.
- NorCal 2023 Keyboard Meetup, Nov 4, San Jose, US.
- Brest keebzh meetup, Nov 25, Brest, France.
As always, this meetup database is both a calendar and an archive so feel free to send me upcoming events or even ones from the recent past to make this collection as comprehensive as possible.
Vendor database
No new shops or major updates to the database of keyboard vendors this week, maybe a few logos here and there.
Developments
- Hmm. The free map tiles I use for the meetup and vendor pages will be part of a paid service from next month on. Tried to sort this out but my first attempt doesn't seem to bear fruit. I'll have to find an alternative or figure out something.
---
Still with me?
I read that by law you must turn on your headlights when it’s raining in Sweden, but how am I supposed to know when it’s raining in Sweden?
---
That's all for today. Thanks for checking by. As always: Keep learning and building!
Until next time,
Tamás
Published on Fri 13th Oct 2023. Featured in KBD #139.
Related
Behind the Scenes of Issue 41
Developments, Reddit cake day inventory, Issue 40 follow-up, to-do list, etc
Behind the Scenes of Issue 117
New shops, in the mailbox, developments, etc.
Behind the Scenes of Issue 65
40s Day, quick news, on cleaning up the subscriber database, lot of new vendors added.
Behind the Scenes of Issue 57
A plethora of new splits, I've lost 65% of my donors, list vendors by country, upcoming newsletter cleanup, etc.
Behind the Scenes of Issue 71
2,000 newsletter subscribers, purging inactive users, consider contributing to the new costs, etc.