Behind the scenes #159

Keyboard projects, quick news, in the mailbox, meetups, new vendors and discount codes!

Hey, what's up 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.

Help to fund the newsletter

Some of you prefer the newsletter format and would support me to continue it. Understood.

Feel free to donate some bucks if you can afford it. The $145 annual fee I'll have to pay could be covered by:

• A one-time $5 donation by 33 people (fees factored in…)

More info below…

Some posts worth sharing

• The IROK ND75, sold by MechKeys, is a genuine little gaming board with compact layout, nice magnetic switches, and plenty of RGB. The first contemporary Hall-effect board I've ever tried.
• Sandalmoth published the Powerspill, a Dactyl-like split with keywell.

• Squalius-cephalus shared the Reviung-derivative monoblock Silli41, along with its numpad companion.
• Jhonatan Ferrer's JK206 is an open-source 12x5 ortho keyboard – actually 3 numpad PCBs stuck together.
• Semickolon shared some updates to the FAK firmware, along with Partycrasher Micro, a Pro Micro drop-in replacement.

• A 65% keyboard case inspired by the ZX Spectrum: Kada Spectrum by Emil.
• I learned about text expanders like Espanso via LividElevator's r/mk post. Unfortunately, steno is not for heavily agglutinating languages I type in, and the usage of these text expanders is limited too, but I set up unicode fractions, some emojis, arrows, etc.
• Svalboard Lightly with trackball holder (onshape repo, source).

• Numpad 21 by alan0ford (photos).
• Some photos comparing Keyreative's "dye sub plus" technology (reduced post-dye-sub diffusion resulting in sharper edges).

• Katana Kombat by Protieusz (closed source) – with symmetric layout and trackball.
• Kyria tenting clip by dasmikko.

Keyboard art

Inferno by Qlavier (source):

This one was inspired by a friend who's awful at touch typing and told me over and over to make a "faster keyboard" whatever that that means. :)

RE:CAP – artisans from recycled plastic by jankycaps (source):

We've seen keycaps made from bottle caps or recycled aluminum.

Junkycaps' Mikhael shared the results of his experiments on injection molding recycled plastic in a great blog post.

I've been trying to make keycaps from 100% recycled plastic for a while and am pretty happy with the results so far. Here's a little blog post chronicling my design and production journey if anyone is interested.

Evolurk Aperture 75

A keyboard (IC) inspired by Leica M Series cameras. "Viewfinder" (display), "ISO knob" (encoder), magnetic contact interfaces and screwless quick-release mechanism for easy assembly.

Chinese dragon spacebar

Chinese dragon spacebars made by the ladies at Aihey Studio:

"Switch" keycaps (IG):

Follow-up on the newsletter

Thanks for the feedback and sorry for not getting back to each of you. I received dozens of emails, lots of great insight. I get it. So some of you don't use social media at all, and find the newsletter format the best option.

Understood. I'm going to continue sending out the newsletter then.

That said, it would be a real shame if I had to pay the annual fee only to be able to work for free, so please support me with some bucks, especially if you indicated your willingness to do so in your feedback. ;)

The $145 annual fee I'll have to pay could be covered by:

• A one-time $5 donation by 33 people (PayPal fees factored in…)
• A one-time $3 donation by 58 people

(Unfortunately, donating $1-2 doesn't make much sense, unless of course you want to support PayPal instead of me. :) E.g. half of a $1 donation goes to PP in fixed fees.)

In addition, thanks for the tips with regards to alternative services and business models. On one hand, I don't want to monetize the newsletter. And I looked into some alternatives again, but Buttondown is still the cheapest option among these services – if I don't want to remove third of my subscribers.

IROK ND75 review

This was an interesting experience. First time playing with (non-vintage) Hall effect switches and PCB.

The feel is nice, just like the potential of the per-key settings. I had to do my own measurements to believe the 8KHz polling rate.

The spring sale discount (10-30% off) is still in effect, so this board is available for $81.

Collecting vs hoarding

The other day I drove an hour to take a look at a collection(?) that seemed very promising based on some photos. The classified I came across earlier offered each of the keyboards for about $6 of local currency, which was a no-brainer for the Acer Ergo I recognized in the side-view shots.

Yeah, hundreds of keyboards on top of each other, grouped into DIN, PS/2 and "black" heaps. :)

The on-site experience was shocking and made me aware of the difference between collecting and hoarding. Dust, filth, rust everywhere. You don't store parts of a collection under such circumstances, one of your very goals with collecting is to save relics from exactly these conditions.

My very first encounter, literally in the front yard, was a case of a rare Videoton PC – in open air, thrown away in the middle of the lawn. I was so shellshocked that I forgot to take any photos of the backyard, full of rusty computer parts arranged into huge piles.

Some work has been done lately, but the photos below are not representative of the mess I witnessed in general:

Some incredible finds, e.g. a complete IT section of the local metallurgical works closed long time ago, with lots of IBM terminals from the '70s. Beam-spring keyboards built into a desk – stored like this:

I returned home with some keyboards and a Videoton terminal, but the loot somehow doesn't make me happy. At least I became richer with a realization: what I witnessed here is exactly what I have to avoid. Less is definitely more in this case.

Loot: Videoton VDT 52100 terminal, Acer Ergo 61 aka Acer Future Keyboard – from 1999 –, a Siemens. I had to ask for a broom to clean up most of the dirt, so as disgusting as this looks, it's way better than originally:

Donations

• Yay, a new donor! Thanks Nick B.!
• And many thanks to my awesome regular supporters and everyone who helped this project thus far.

For all the donation options check out the donation page!

In the mailbox

A Modern97 by Melgeek, the fountain colorway. This is a veeery long story :), review later.

Meetup database

Recently added:

• Tiny Little Tech Shop Meetup, April 20, Jacksonville, FL, US
• CannonKeys 2024 Meetup, September 14, Pawtucket, RI, US

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.

Vendors & Discounts

I continue checking the coupons, adding new offers and removing inactive ones. Feel free to use the KBDNEWS discount code at 138 keyboard shops now!

New shops and updates to the database of keyboard vendors this week:

• New discounts: Swagkeys (5% off via the KBDNEWS coupon code). Thanks!
• MonacoKeys (DE) offered you a 5% discount too.
• The KapCo discount changed to $10 (from 10%)
• Cerakey: the coupon has changed a lot recently, it's back to KBDNEWS now, with $5 off.
• thock.click → thock.design
• Newly added: Nullbits, The Keeb Store, Pompokey, Jankycaps, MonacoKeys (DE), Mechaland (ID), Stickeys (IN).

I continue checking who's alive and kicking, contacting each shop listed in the database.

Developments

• Reading progress bar. I've always liked this solution, which may help with orienting oneself within lenghty articles, so I've implemented something similar. Breaking a few things along the way I guess (mobile view, dark mode, etc.) so to be continued… :)
• I practically added all shop logos to the database. Only a handful of them left. Working on a sprite system to avoid loading 550 images on a single pageload.

---

That's all for today. Thanks for checking by. As always: Keep learning and building!

Until next time,
Tamás

Irok ND75 review

The IROK ND75, sold by MechKeys, is a genuine little gaming board with compact layout, nice magnetic switches, and plenty of RGB.

IROK's ND75 is a brand-new pre-built gaming keyboard with second-generation Gateron magnetic switches and 8000Hz ultra-fast return rate support (some first-hand measurements below) in a plastic case. This week it's available for $81 in Mechkeys' spring sale.

While it seems that Hall effect keyboards took over the whole gaming industry, I was magnetic-virgin until this point, so here is a review from someone who experiences this kind of adjustable actuation for the first time.

TLDR;

I love the ND75 as a lightweight, portable board with its compact 75% layout, also the feel and adjustable parameters of the magnetic switches. What drives me crazy is the interface of the software in general. The lights at night are a bit too much for my taste too, but maybe it's a gamer thing. All in all: cool and affordable magnetic board even without listing the marketing catchwords – but the software part can be challenging.

Disclaimer

The IROK ND75 was sent to me by MechKeys. As always, I'm not paid for writing this review, but getting a free sample may still introduce all kinds of bias. Read everything with a grain of salt.

Other than that, the last FPS I played was probably Duke Nukem 3D or Quake III, so bear with me, that's how serious of a gamer I am. :D

About IROK

If you haven't heard of IROK, that's because they are one of the independent local Chinese brands (similarly to e.g. Weikav).

I could as well put their website here, but it's in Chinese too.

Anyway, by their own account, IROK has been committed to improving gamers' gaming performance and experience, designing professional peripherals more suitable for gamers with the participation of professional esports players. As a supporter and participant of China's esports scene, they have always backed clubs, e.g. as a partner of WE esports.

IROK's brand philosophy is:

"Let everyone use the most suitable products for themselves, so that every penny you pay is worth it."

Unboxing

The ND75 comes in a nice and shiny cardboard box, in cool orange color.

In the box you can find the pre-built keyboard, with switches and caps mounted, a cable, and a quick-start guide – but entirely in Chinese. That's it, no tools or anything else.

The white keyboard is the only variant listed at mechkeys and irok.cn, but based on the software and also the packaging, there must be at least a black version with dolch-ish keycaps and red accents.

Features

• Pre-built
• Compact 75% layout
• MX stem, hot-swappable
• Gateron’s 2nd generation magnetic switches
• Dynamic keystroke function (adjustable keystrokes with 0.1mm precision).
• Up to 8000Hz return rate
• RGB backlight
• RGB "streamer indicator light" – decoration
• metallic nameplate
• aluminum alloy plate
• three-layer sound absorbing structure
• Win/Mac compatible
• two-level adjustable feet
• Dimensions: 330x150x18mm
• Weight: 750 grams

Layout

What exactly we call a 75% keyboard may slightly vary. To make it clear: the IROK ND75 has 81 keys, offset arrow cluster, standard F-row with the gaps, and four extra keys (1+3) in the right column.

Getting rid of the numpad and the compact single-column arrangement of what's left of the navigation cluster resulted in a reduced width of only 330mm, which probably matches the requirements of the target audience: plenty of room for your mouse.

Build quality & Structure

The IROK ND75 features some high-quality internals like an aluminum alloy switch plate and three-layered internal padding.

No external screws visible, and I didn't want to destroy the case, so no disassembly this time. Easy disassembly and thus modding beyond swapping keycaps and switches was definitely not a design goal.

Case

Removing the caps reveals some screws, but the top and bottom cases are snapped together very tightly, there's no way I could separate them without some scratches and permanent cosmetic damage.

Seeing this exploded image I gave it up: the very structure I hate with laptops and phones. No problem for the target audience for sure though.

Plate

The plate is aluminum alloy, which, combined with the plastic case, makes the ND75 relatively light: only 750g. The finish has this nice bead-blasted effect:

While a nice milled aluminum case always creates the sense of quality or luxury, the reduced weight was actually a real relief this time, after the Whitefox Eclipse and the Synth Labs 060 (review soon) – both 2.4kg. It was a liberating feeling being able to lift and move the ND75 with only one hand after the daily workout with the other two boards. :D

Joke aside, of course it's hard to compare a plastic case with an aluminum one, but the ND75 has no reason to be ashamed. Especially considering the price: $80 vs $300-400. ;)

Does the weight affect stability? Haven't noticed any issues, but this may depend on your deskmat/desk surface.

Foam

According to the mechkeys page, the padding allegedly includes silicone sound-absorbing filling, silicone bottom padding, etc., but I couldn't really check or validate it (no access to the bottom). The Chinese site mentions poron and IXPE layers and not silicone.

The thick poron switch foam, as well as the thin IXPE layer under the switches are clearly visible, but there may or may not be a silicon filling.

USB socket

The part around the USB socket, as well as the depression for a wireless dongle, make it likely that the case was reused from the wireless FEpro75.

Badge

While the badge with the IROK logo has a metallic shine, I'm not sure if it's made of metal.

Keycaps

Unmistakable gamer style keycaps with the characteristic translucent legends. If this is not your cup of tea, you can always replace them. Despite the magnetic switches, the stems are MX, so compatibility is great, you have plenty of sets to choose from. (However, there are 1.25U mods on the left, and 1U ones on the right side of the spacebar.)

That said, these caps fit the RGB features very well, and the secondary legends with almost all of the FN functions (Win/Mac, RGB, sound) indicated may come in handy.

Magnetic switches

We have come an incredibly long way in just two years. Since the introduction of riskable's maglev switches, while a completely different breed, magnets are everywhere. Magnetic switches are mass-produced by revered manufacturers now, and Hall effect keyboards are taking over the whole gaming scene. Knowing IROK's target audience and philosophy, it's no surprise that the ND75 sports these switches too.

The stabs are generously lubed. Maybe a bit, just a tiny bit, too much. ;) Some of this makes it even into the cap:

The new-generation magnetic switches support functions like "Quick Trigger", "Dynamic Keystroke", etc. Basically adjustable keystroke you can set in the software. Playing with a bunch of settings, you can fine-tune the keyboard and alter your typing/gaming experience.

E.g. the Dynamic Keystroke function ("Senior Keys / DKS") allows you to assign 1-4 functions to a single key, based on how deeply you press it. You can adjust settings from 0.1 to 3.6mm, in 0.1mm increments.

Similarly, with the rapid trigger function you can fine-tune the depth of keypress needed for actuation – starting from 0.1mm, in 0.1mm increments.

Polling rate

Overemphasizing the role of latency and polling rate is often ridiculed in one half of the keyboard hobby, and probably feverishly researched in the other. Keep calm, after quoting the next line, I wanted to see some actual test results and real-life numbers too:

IROK ND75 offers a lightning-fast trigger response. With its 8000Hz return rate, the keyboard is about 8 times faster than a standard keyboard in the market!! – MechKeys.

With many keyboards marketed with a 1000Hz return rate, 8KHz would really mean much faster response.

This is of course another sign of targeting the product: it makes definitely no difference when it comes to typing, coding or office work, but competitive gamers may benefit from the speed of actuation.

I hit up the first latency test tool Google listed, started smashing my keys – and realized these online tools use Javascript, so are limited to 1ms thus 1,000Hz.

I ended up using mat1jaczyyy's powerful Keyboard Inspector.

What I learned is that the ND75 is definitely able to register sub-1ms, even 0.125ms triggers, which means it's indeed a 8,000Hz keyboard. How often you'll be able to capitalize on this spec is another question.

From this 388-key smashing session depicted above and below, only one keypress was in the 0.25ms (4KHz) group. There's a chance I'm simply too slow, but given 150-200ms is a decent reaction time for mere mortal human beings, that 0.125ms (8KHz) seems a bit too sophisticated even for pros.

Of course I'm not a trained gamer, it might even make a difference for professionals.

With some cheating, the rapid trigger set to 0.1mm and DKS – dynamic keystroke – to four different functions on a single keypress, the result is more telling:

More than 30% of the keystrokes was registered in the 0.125ms group (8KHz), indicating a real difference compared to a 1,000Hz board.

Software

All the custom magnetic switch related features mean that the software is custom too, and closed source of course. No QMK, no VIA, no Vial. That said, let me recommend you my SpaceFN tutorial. ;) Setting up the spacebar as a double-function key to access a virtual layer (TouchCursor on Windows or KMonad on Linux) I soon felt at home even despite the proprietary software.

If you'd like to explore the magnetic switch features, however, you have to download and install a software called IROK Keyboard Engine, version 2.03.07 (ND75_installer_V2.03.07.exe) as of writing this.

The installing process is mainly in Chinese even if you select English. After the successful installation, thankfully, the language changed to English eventually – with some weird translations though.

Plenty of functions, but calling the interface not really intuitive would be an euphemism. There's an all-icon GUI, you have to hover over each of them to reveal the functions.

In addition, the Irok team came up with some strange terms even for established functions, which is a bit confusing to say the least.

There's some mod-tap functionality but no layers (and 10ms default tapping term!), so other than remapping some keys, I couldn't recreate my keymap, not even SpaceFN natively.

Next question: How to save changes? This made me some headache too. Changes made to the keymap in the app are not saved to the keyboard automatically, but it wasn't obvious what do I have to do. After clicking all the icons, as a last resort, I clicked Download to at least save my settings locally before resetting everything. Guess what? Exactly. It turned out that you have to click Download to apply/upload changes, save settings to the board.

RGB

Per-key RGB, plenty of animations. Too bright for me at night, even at the lowest brightness level.

In addition to the per-key RGB there's a decoration light bar right of the Esc key, illuminated by 5 LEDs. Again, lots of animations if you're into this.

Two-stage feet & Typing angle

The two-stage feet passed my test: they don't collapse when tossing the board around – in contrast to some other models I tested earlier.

The default typing angle is 3 degrees. The smaller and taller legs change this to about 6.5 and 10 degrees, respectively.

Conclusion

The IROK ND75 leaves plenty of room for your mouse and can fit into any backback with its compact 75% layout. The 81-key arrangement has everything that's handy: offset arrow cluster, function row, etc. The layout is perfect not just for gamers, but also if you need something relatively small and light on the go. The software requires a major overhaul though, or at least better translation.

Availability

The IROK ND75 is available at Mechkeys in a single, white variant for $89.99 $80.99 (spring sale from March 17th to March 27th).

By the time you're reading this, the adjusted prices should be displayed.

The sale offers up to 30% off of a plethora of keyboards and mice, so check out other products too! Here's the link to the sale page.

Resources

• IROK ND75 product page at mechkeys.
• IROK ND75 at irok.cn.

Other products in the photos:

• Kyoto deskmat from qwertykey (5% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code)
• Stackable tray by keebwerk (10% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code)

Thanks for reading thus far! ;)

Powerspill

Sandalmoth published the Powerspill, a Dactyl-like split with keywell.

The handwired Powerspill, designed by Sandalmoth, is yet another Dactyl-like split with keywell.

My first design had the keys just a bit too close together and a thumb angle that was too steep for my hands. I also decided to add another row, as I find that it's pretty easy to reach and didn't see the harm in having it – Sandalmoth.

Initial layout created via OpenSCAD, design done in Blender.

Design considerations

• The stagger is "a mix of vertical and back to front".
• Pinky keys are slightly closer together than the others
• Columns are flatter on the far end than on the close end.
• The thumb cluster angle is reduced compared to previous designs.
• Pitch is 17.5 mm vertical (16.5 for pinkies) and ~19 mm horizontal.

The author found that he doesn't really use his pinkies for the number row, so two keys in the top row are positioned for the ring finger – that's why the unusual shape.

Resources

• https://github.com/Sandalmoth/keyboards/tree/master/powerspill

JK206

Jhonatan Ferrer's JK206 is an open-source 12x5 ortho keyboard – actually 3 numpads stuck together.

Published a few months ago, the JK206 by Jhonatan Ferrer aka Jhoalferco has now a nice stacked acrylic case (not yet in the repo).

Some time ago I designed and assembled the JK206 keyboard, and I was quite happy with the result but it looked a bit fragile, so I designed a new case with gasket mount using stacked acrylic – Jhonatan.

This project consists of a mechanical ortholinear keyboard design that is capable of being used as a macropad/numpad or a 50% keyboard.

This is achieved through the modular design of the PCB that can be used by itself to mount a macropad with up to 20 keys (5 of them can be exchanged for encoders), while with three PCBs you can build a keyboard with up to 60 keys (3 of them can be encoders).

Specs

• 4x5 PCB
• hotswap, MX
• optional encoders
• Raspberry Pi Pico
• KMK
• stacked acrylic case

Resources

• https://github.com/JhonatanFerrer/JK206

Silli41 & Silli18

Squalius-cephalus shared the Reviung-derivative monoblock Silli41, along with its numpad companion.

The Silli41 is a 41-key column staggered unibody keyboard, heavily based on the REVIUNG41.

Designed by Juho T. aka Squalius-cephalus, the PCB uses MX/Choc combined switch footprints, but the current top plate only supports MX style switches.

Both devices, the Silli41 and the accompanying Silli18 numpad use a Raspberry Pi Pico clone.

Specs

• 41 keys, unibody split
• MX/Choc, soldered
• Pi Pico
• QMK/Via

• 16 keys + 2 encoders
• MX only, soldered
• Pi Pico
• QMK/Via

Resources

Gerbers (no KiCad files):

• https://github.com/Squalius-cephalus/silli41
• https://github.com/Squalius-cephalus/silli18

Kada Spectrum

A 65% keyboard case inspired by the ZX Spectrum: Kada Spectrum by Emil.

Emil aka baokaola shared a 3D printed 65% case: the Kada Spectrum is build around a Tofu65 PCB, and uses gasket mounting with self-adhesive poron foam gaskets.

This is the author's third 3D printed keyboard build, and the design in inspired by the legendary ZX Spectrum:

I was too young and in the wrong place to ever own one but I really enjoy everything retro-computing related and have a particularly soft spot for rainbow designs of the era – Emil.

The the top of the case was printed in four separate parts - the left part, the two rainbow parts and the right part. The rainbow parts are printed in one go but with manual filament swaps for the different colors. This is then attached together using printed dowels going all the way through the rainbow part. The fit is so tight that it doesn't need any glue whatsoever. The other parts mostly fit together with screws going into heat-set inserts.

Resources

• https://www.printables.com/model/817100-kada-spectrum-a-65-mechanical-keyboard

Partycrasher Micro & Xiao

Semickolon shared some updates to the FAK firmware, along with Partycrasher Micro, a Pro Micro drop-in replacement.

FAK, a keyboard firmware developed by semickolon aka mikoi14 for the cheap CH55x series MCUs, is now drop-in compatible with Pro Micro designs thanks to the newly implemented CH559L support.

Previously, FAK only supported CH552 chips (14 GPIOs at most), not enough for a Pro Micro replacement. Now, support has been added for CH559L which has over 40 GPIOs, way more than enough for a Pro Micro.

As a proof of concept and as a reference design, the author made Partycrasher Micro, a development board sporting the CH559L/CH558L with a footprint of a Pro Micro.

Compared to the Pro Micro, CH559L has a very minimal circuit that only requires TWO caps. No crystals, resistors, LDOs. This is amazing because this means diodeless 40% keyboards with integrated chip and very minimal circuit should now be possible with FAK! – semickolon.

True to the original concept of making keyboards as cheap as possible, the CH559L goes for $1.6 while the CH558L (virtually identical to CH559L except for flash size) goes for $1 on LCSC. You will likely find better deals elsewhere like on Aliexpress.

Other updates:

• Duplex matrix support has been added. This makes it possible to have up to 98 keys with just the 14 GPIOs on a CH552T.
• Rotary encoder support is also now implemented.
• There's repeat key, sticky layers, analogue to ZMK's macro_pause_for_release, and transparent layer exit. Check out the GitHub readme for more info!

Lastly, if you also wanna take a look at the Seeed Studio Xiao drop-in replacement for FAK, here's the Partycrasher Xiao.

Due to how minimal the circuits are for these hand-solderable dev boards, it feels oddly satisfying to just make one on my own pretty quickly then slap it on a keyboard. I never expected I'd make my own dev boards and firmware when I got into this hobby, but, yep – mikoi14.

Resources

• https://github.com/semickolon/fak
• Partycrasher Micro
• Partycrasher Xiao