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Emblem aka BTA

Tenstaana came up with Emblem aka BTA, another feature-rich monoblock design.

KBD.news
Published September 9, 2022
Creators! Feel free to tip me off about your keyboard related projects to bring them to 140K readers.

The great and notoriously prolific tenstaana came up with Emblem aka BTA ("Better Than Alice") – another feature-rich monoblock angled split keyboard.

After the SkyllaBallz, all the split Chunkies, Rocksolid and UniChunky, tenstaana aka freznel keeps raising the bar by his latest project featuring a gorgeous alu case, circular display, scroll ring, combined encoder/5-way switch – and more.

Honestly, this is the level where impostor syndrome starts to kick in when I realize I'm reporting on a project I can't fully fathom. Nevertheless, here are the specs as told by the designer himself:

Specs

  • QMK RP2040 powered
  • No diodes - uses shift registers (aka tzarc's "SPI" matrix)
  • Switch support - MX, Choc V1 and V2
  • Pointing devices - PMW3360 or 3389, Cirque trackpad
  • Encoders/multi function switches - Bourns encoders for the scroll ring, two ALPS RKJXT1s ("I love this as it combines a 5 way switch and an encoder")
  • Piezo buzzer
  • Breakouts for all pins, including a JST SH port following the STEMMA QT pinout for i2c expansion.
  • Haptic feedback - onboard DRV2065 connected to a Vybronics 1206 actuator
  • RGB screen - GC9A01 (onboard or you could use breakouts from AliExpress)
  • Gasket mount alu case (e-white) and sandblasted alu plate.

Scroll ring demo

Display

Freznel has been receiving several questions about the display which is directly soldered to the PCB. He was kind enough to provide some close-ups:

Pic:

Pic:

Pic:

Resources

Photolog: https://imgur.com/a/aBwIMRC

More info in the Absolem Club server: https://discord.com/channels/714176584269168732/958580625932161045

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Published on Fri 9th Sep 2022. Featured in KBD #94 (source).

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