[Coco] Mechanical keyboard upgrades for the CoCo

[Brian Blake]

Also, a CPLD on the PCB solves the issue of the key layouts. Not perfect to
the original, but, certainly acceptable to most users.

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On Aug 21, 2015 4:21 PM, "camillus" <camillus.b.58 at gmail.com> wrote:

> I am sure it can be done cheaper. Only the caps are to me a problem.
> Finding the right caps with coco3 specific captions is asking for DIY or
> ordering at pricely manufacturers.
>  The PCB of which I would go with should not cost more then $35 if self
> made. The sherry MX keys are found at $39.00 for 120 pieces ( is 2 boards
> when fill up the gaps in the original design coco3 kb matrix).
>
> I just want it to cost max $100. I think this can be done.
>
> cb
>
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> On 8/21/2015 10:09:10 AM, Brian Blake <random.rodder at gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm not picking on Ed specifically here, especially considering all of
> his contributions to the CoCo-Cause, but, I'm having a hard time
> justifying the recent comments regarding a mechanical keyboard being
> prohibitively expensive, and here's why.
>
> We all have significant investments in our CoCo systems. Those of us
> running MPI's, floppy systems, hard disk systems, etc... have hundreds
> of dollars in them. When the items were available, you were looking at
> $100+ for a hard disk controller (not complete disk system) from Cloud
> 9. An MPI on eBay is all over the map, but, I've seen them go for over
> $200 or as low as $50. How much will Jim's replacement MPI cost?
>
> Why is it that paying $145 for a drop in keyboard seems scary?
> Especially considering a keyboard is used EVERY TIME the CoCo is turned
> on - the above equipment may or may not be.
>
> Are PS/2 adapters wallet friendly? Hell yes they are! They also offer
> the ability to use the keyboard a bit of a distance from the CoCo due to
> the PS/2 keyboard's long cord. But, there's a lot to be said about
> keeping the CoCo original, or semi-original. If the original keyboard
> dies, and we still don't know about the mylar replacements yet, I don't
> think anyone can argue with the utility or durability of the switches Ed
> mentioned previously being on a drop in keyboard replacement. Having a
> drop-in ready keyboard to keep the CoCo semi-original would be a great
> item. I've got three CoCo's here with dead keyboards - while I wouldn't
> necessarily buy three replacements at once, I certainly would over time
> since I can only use one CoCo at a time, and I do like my hardware to be
> functional - I only have two CoCo's that I consider parts machines, and
> I bought them that way.
>
> And to explain my admittedly biased though a little more, let's look at
> the cost of the 'original' replacement keyboards and compare them to
> today's dollar:
>
> Keyboard 1984 Cost 2015 Cost
>
> Macrotron Pro $49.95 $115.78
> Macrotron Premium $89.95 $208.50
> Keytronic $89.95 $208.50
> MarkData $69.95 $162.14
> HJL-57 $79.95 $185.32
>
>
> No, it's not any easier to swallow, but, $150 for a drop in replacement
> keyboard is not out of line compared to what was being sold 'back in the
> day.'
>
> Ed,
>
> Unless your plan is to make a keyboard that might be modular between
> several systems (which would be difficult at best considering keyboard
> layouts), I don't understand why a CPLD would have to be placed on the
> PCB. As long as the CoCo matrix is mapped out on the PCB and there's a
> cable with an adapter to fit the CoCo motherboard, it should be fairly
> simple.
>
>
>
> On 8/21/2015 9:25 AM, Zippster wrote:
> > For sure. But if ease, economy, and practicality were the goal, none of
> us would be here. :)
> >
> > We’d all just buy a windows box from Walmart and be done with it.
> >
> > But yeah, this project looks prohibitively expensive.
> >
> > - Ed
> >
> >
> >
>
>
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