The Really Old-School Company Limited
rosco_m68k Keyboard (PCB Only!)
rosco_m68k Keyboard (PCB Only!)
5.0 / 5.0
(1) 1 total reviews
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A beautiful mechanical keyboard for all your retro projects!
The rosco_m68k keyboard is a specialised TTL Serial-compatible mechanical keyboard for your rosco_m68k - and it will work with other UART-driven retro and single-board computers too!
Please Note: This is the printed circuit board and surface-mount components only - populated board images purely for illustration! You will need to obtain switches and keycaps yourself.
This keyboard cannot be used with a modern computer (i.e. PC or Mac) without additional hardware and drivers - we do not support this configuration.
Note: actual PCB colour may vary.
This is one for the early adopters - we've tested it, it works well, but it's brand new - to get the most out of this you'll be comfortable sourcing your own keyboard switches and caps, wiring things up yourself and hacking on hardware and software to figure out what it can do! If you are into 3D printing, all the better - this has no case right now (but we're working on it!)
Features
- 67-key all mechanical keyboard with TTL Serial interface
- Designed for Cherry MX or Gateron switches (we like browns, you do you!)
- Full NKRO (in scancode mode)
- TTL Serial interface (supports 115200 and 9600 BPS, with jumper config)
- Switchable between ASCII Serial and make/break scancode modes
- Built-in firmware support in rosco_m68k - plug in and go!
- LEDs controllable with software commands
Who can build this?
The rosco_m68k Keyboard is designed to be easy to solder, and no special skills or equipment are needed! Simply grab a regular (ideally temperature-controlled) soldering iron, some solder (we like lead-free 0.6mm diameter) and have at it!
- All SMD components come pre-mounted and programmed
- Through hole components (not supplied) require only basic soldering skills
- Plenty of space around components, no fiddly bits
- High-quality solder mask and tented vias reduce the risk of hard-to-spot bridges
All boards and components are the very highest-quality and we only deal with reputable manufacturers and component wholesalers.
What else do I need?
In addition to the base PCB and components and soldering gear, we recommend the following:
- 6-way female-female Dupont cable for connection to your rosco_m68k
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This came together surprisingly quickly. I put this together with Mill-Max 0305 sockets (about 20 USD for a full set from Mouser), Gateron Milky Yellow switches, basic screw-in stabilizers, and a cheap XDA profile keycap set from Amazon. XDA keycaps work well because all rows have the same height, so you don't have to find a kit with the UK left shift and tilde keys and the function keys on the right don't stick up. My left shift is sitting on the ~ switch because that's the stem that lined up well, so I'll end up remapping that key eventually.
The keyboard worked right away with programs sent via kermit, but the versions on the provided microSD card must have been slightly older because they wouldn't accept keyboard input. That was an easy fix—there's even a script to update the SD card in the rosco_m68k repository.