Universal Model M Controller

Muirium · 10 Jul 2015, 10:26

I like the green light. Mu stoked indicator!

wlhlm · 14 Jul 2015, 13:28

Looks really promising! Awesome project phosphorglow!

Small idea, but how about turning the charge indicator LED on the sub-board by 90 degrees? This would allow to solder the LED sideways (like some people do with their GON PCBs) and have it shine directly at the port cover.

vivalarevolución · 18 Jul 2015, 16:46

Wait, you added Bluetooth? Gord lord.

Muirium · 18 Jul 2015, 17:11

Yep, yep.

Why replace a wired controller with just another wired controller? As preparation for something better, that's why.

@Phosphor: I'm still in for a new one. Got the battery and EZkey etc. ready to install, and another SSK of course!

XMIT · 18 Jul 2015, 18:04

I'm still waiting for mine. Presumably phosphorglow is quite busy. I shouldn't complain with as many outstanding orders as I have.

Muirium · 18 Jul 2015, 18:12

Yeah, Phosophor said it himself in the OP as I recall. He shows up when he has something to show off!

Being a daily user of his USB controller on my SSK, I can vouch he has something well worth showing off, as Bluetooth will be amazing with an SSK. Just small enough to make a superb wireless mech!

scottc · 18 Jul 2015, 19:10

How much is it likely to cost someone to get the controller, EZKey, battery and all required bits and bobs?

XMIT · 21 Jul 2015, 04:59

Got mine at long last! Thank you so much phosphorglow! It is everything that I could have imagined it to be and more. I'm typing this response on an SSK right now. I had forgotten what wonderful little boards these are.

I ordered one for my Industrial M but when push came to shove I put the board in an SSK. Where do I find an SSK key map, and vice versa?

I'll test this for a little while but chances are good that I'm buying another one. Either that or switching the controller around.

phosphorglow · 22 Jul 2015, 05:27

Awesomeness! Glad you're liking it!

Alrighty, this page now has more goodies:
http://phosphorglow.net/2015/06/24/matrix-maps-charts/

You'll need to re-flash the controller with the 84 key TMK hex file on that page.

Side note, that page has the TMK keyboard directories now. Still haven't had the time to figure out github, so zip files are the way to go for now.

I switched up the number pad layer in TMK for the SSK, so it works like this now:

* Shift + scrl/num gives you the number pad layer.

* Pressing scrl/num without shift while in that layer toggles it as expected between the cursor keys and numbers.

* Pressing shift + scrl/num again brings you back to the regular keyboard.

(I like this better than the stock configuration, and it takes care of the previous problem of the number pad being dependent on the OS's current number lock status.)

phosphorglow · 22 Jul 2015, 05:30

scottc wrote: How much is it likely to cost someone to get the controller, EZKey, battery and all required bits and bobs?

Here's the cost breakdown:

Controller: $38
USB/charging sub-board: $10
Adafruit Bluefruit module: $19.95
Lithium Ion Battery: $9.95
Shipping to me from Adafruit: $10.81
Shipping (in the US): $6

So a total of: ~$94.71

Bluetooth gets pricey. If you're in Europe, it's probably cheaper to source the Adafruit stuff there and solder in the bluefruit module yourself.

phosphorglow · 22 Jul 2015, 05:33

Muirium wrote: Yeah, Phosophor said it himself in the OP as I recall. He shows up when he has something to show off!

Being a daily user of his USB controller on my SSK, I can vouch he has something well worth showing off, as Bluetooth will be amazing with an SSK. Just small enough to make a superb wireless mech!

Meow!
Once this week calms down I'll get down to assembling the remaining subboards. So let's see... Mu and Khers, I'll be getting back with you soon.

andrewjoy · 22 Jul 2015, 10:49

So its that price for a controller and bluetooth or just for the upgrade?

chzel · 22 Jul 2015, 11:51

Controller and Bluetooth stuff!

Khers · 22 Jul 2015, 16:02

phosphorglow wrote:
Muirium wrote: Yeah, Phosophor said it himself in the OP as I recall. He shows up when he has something to show off!

Being a daily user of his USB controller on my SSK, I can vouch he has something well worth showing off, as Bluetooth will be amazing with an SSK. Just small enough to make a superb wireless mech!

Meow!
Once this week calms down I'll get down to assembling the remaining subboards. So let's see... Mu and Khers, I'll be getting back with you soon.

Can't wait!

snoopy · 22 Jul 2015, 16:09

so will there be a groupbuy for those kits or do I have to order it at phosphorglow?

wlhlm · 22 Jul 2015, 16:37

Can't wait!

Got all the parts except the actual controller.

: MControllerParts.jpg (317.64 KiB) Viewed 7875 times

andrewjoy · 22 Jul 2015, 16:49

you call that a battery ?

THIS is a battery

http://www.batteryspace.com/polymerli-i ... 59156.aspx

XMIT · 22 Jul 2015, 17:24

phosphorglow wrote: Alrighty, this page now has more goodies:
http://phosphorglow.net/2015/06/24/matrix-maps-charts/

You'll need to re-flash the controller with the 84 key TMK hex file on that page.

Side note, that page has the TMK keyboard directories now. Still haven't had the time to figure out github, so zip files are the way to go for now.

Ideally you could work with hasu to upstream these to TMK directly.

Muirium · 23 Jul 2015, 13:16

phosphorglow wrote: Meow!
Once this week calms down I'll get down to assembling the remaining subboards. So let's see... Mu and Khers, I'll be getting back with you soon.

Aye chief!

How much do you think it would cost to ship to Europe? I've got all the hardware over here now. Mind, I am paying my brother another visit in December, so either works.

XMIT · 23 Jul 2015, 15:08

phosphorglow needs to answer, but FWIW, envelopes under a pound are cheap to ship to Europe. Often less than 5 USD.

Muirium · 23 Jul 2015, 15:10

I wouldn't trust anything flimsier than a little cardboard box. I've even had caps stolen from envelopes over here! Quite besides the whole fragile PCB issue. If it can't be stood on by a clumsy postal worker: it's fragile.

hasu · 28 Jul 2015, 06:57

Got the controller the other day, thank you phosphorglow!
This works perfect with my '88 1391401 and I'm typing this on the board.

Really great job!

njbair · 28 Jul 2015, 20:54

Will this controller work with Unicomp boards? I'm particularly thinking of the PC-122, as I have a heavily-modded one that I'd like to reprogram with TMK. Thanks!

Muirium · 28 Jul 2015, 21:40

Good question. Anyone who has one of these controllers also have a Unicomp keyboard? I don't, so I've no idea. I reckon the membranes could well be the same, but the case…

XMIT · 28 Jul 2015, 21:44

Bug me again about this later. I got a whole bunch of pictures when I disassembled my Unicomp M122 Battleship that I still haven't posted on line. Unfortunately I don't have my camera with me at the moment.

But - so long as the membranes have connectors that fit in the board, with identical spacing and equal or fewer pins - everything will work, possibly pending a configuration change on the controller.

vivalarevolución · 29 Jul 2015, 00:54

(me wasting everyone's time by asking dumb and lazy questions instead of looking through the thread)

wlhlm · 29 Jul 2015, 00:57

phosphorglow wrote: Otay! After a ton of busy busy busy, here's an update!

Bluetooth testing has been going well. It managed to get 96 hours of being left on continuously and being used on my iPad before needing a recharge. Sweet.

phosphorglow wrote:
Khers wrote: 4 days, that's impressive! What size battery did you use?
It's the 1200mAh battery. Adafruit was out of the bigger one, but I looked at the dimensions and it was too big to fit in a SSK. This one fits nice and snug!

vivalarevolución · 29 Jul 2015, 12:49

Thanks. Now I just feel lazy and annoying.

wlhlm · 29 Jul 2015, 13:17

phosphorglow wrote: It's the 1200mAh battery. Adafruit was out of the bigger one, but I looked at the dimensions and it was too big to fit in a SSK. This one fits nice and snug!

Now that I read the quote again, I hope I can somehow manage to put my 2000mAh battery inside the SSK.

Need more battery life!

Muirium · 29 Jul 2015, 16:48

Probably not a problem. An extender cable ought to do the trick. There's plenty of room in the SSK, if a bit further away from Phosphor's controller.