Keyboard Builders' Digest
5% off Invokeys' tasty switches!
Keyboard Builders' Digest / Projects

HE60 PCB

The HE60 is an open-source 60% Hall-effect keyboard PCB by peppapig.

KBD.news
Published April 25, 2025
Creators! Feel free to tip me off about your keyboard related projects to bring them to 150,000 readers.

As already teased earlier, Pontakorn Prasertsuk aka peppapig/peppapighs released the HE60, a 60% Hall-effect PCB with split spacebar support, and a Tsangan bottom row layout.

This is my latest project in my ongoing Hall-effect keyboard obsession. Inspired by open-source projects like GH60, Waffling60, and Macrolev, I created this design with the hope that it will serve as a useful reference for anyone interested in building their own Hall-effect PCB – Pep.

The PCB was developed with a focus on reducing fabrication costs. The current version costs ~80USD for 2 boards using JLCPCB economy PCBA. To achieve this, the author removed many components from previous designs that he found had little to no impact on PCB performance.

Pic:

The HE60 runs on the libhmk firmware, previously released by Pep. The software latency (from input detection to USB packet transmission) averaged around 0.4ms – "not bad for a PCB polling at 1000Hz", according to the designer.

Pic:

Specs

  • 61-65 keys, Tsangan bottom row
  • split spacebar support
  • HE switches
  • on-board STM32F446RET6 MCU
  • Support for GH60 tray mount cases (KBDfans Tofu60 Redux, Holy60)
  • libhmk firmware
  • hmkconf web-based configurator

Pic:

Resources

Do you like this post? Share, donate, subscribe, tip me off!

Published on Fri 25th Apr 2025. Featured in KBD #190 (source).


Related

GravaStar Mercury V75 Pro HE review

Another masterpiece by GravaStar: the magnetic Mercury V75 Pro HE – hand-painted aluminum alloy case, carbon plate, the hallmark alien legs, and all the Hall-effect features for competitive gamers.

Luminkey Magger 68 HE review

The Magger 68 HE is a solid 65% Hall-effect keyboard, staying true to Luminkey's philosophy of crafting finely tuned, quality products. More for gamer folks, but with the aura of higher-end enthusiast boards.

Macrolev

The Macrolev is an open-source magnetic analog keyboard by Alexandre Moatty.

Dry Studio Battleye 74.5 RT review

A head-turning 75%-ish Hall-effect board with circular display and knob: the Battleye 74.5 RT by Dry Studio – for sophisticated gamers.

TrueStrike42

An open-source Hall-effect unibody split keyboard: TrueStrike42 by Choi Byungyoon.

×
top