[Coco] Mechanical keyboard upgrades for the CoCo

[Salvador Garcia]

Hi Ed,


I have a CoCo 1. Some of the keys seem "stuck". When I press them they don't budge until I exert a bit more of force to get them to move. This problem is not new and since the 80s I wanted to get a replacement keyboard (drooled over the ads in Rainbow), but even at $70 USD it was far beyond what I could afford. Since I was living abroad I calculated about 2.25x more to cover shipping and import duties.


I would pay $150 USD, if I can start generating an income again (I just got laid off). But if this project is a go I am sure I have time to have this amount available by the time the kb is ready to ship. Salvador




-----Original Message-----
From: Zippster <zippster278 at gmail.com>
To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts <coco at maltedmedia.com>
Sent: Fri, Aug 21, 2015 10:24 am
Subject: Re: [Coco] Mechanical keyboard upgrades for the CoCo


Ok Brian, you’ve convinced me.  It needs to be done.  :)

It generally only
takes about 30-50 units to make a hobbyist run viable.

My biggest concern would
be any fittings/plates needed to mate the PCB
to the CoCo case.  Who is set up
to help with that?

The CPLD would be for ease of mapping/remapping with the
legends on modern keycaps,
nothing to worry about though.  It would only add $5
or so to the cost, and would allow for
matrix changes without a new PCB.

I’m
pretty sure keeping it at $150 or less will be doable if that’s acceptable to
enough people.

- Ed


> On Aug 21, 2015, at 10:08 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.
> 
>



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