Support for Alternative Layouts
This is a summary of how alternative layouts have been supported by kits such as Colevrak and Homing. It is not a discussion of alt layout performance and development, but if that interests you I highly recommend starting with Pascal Getreuer’s A guide to alt keyboard layouts (why, how, which one?). It’s a concise and comprehensive overview with links to some great sites that go deeper. He also has a separate Links about keyboards page. The Keyboard layouts doc he recommends explains layout goals and metrics in detail, summarizing the alt layouts discussed here as well as more than one hundred others. Sculpted-profile The majority of custom keycap sets are sculpted-profile (Cherry, SA, MT3, KAT, etc. - more on profiles generally here) so let’s start there. Because each row has a unique keycap shape, alt layouts require a unique keycap for each legend that moves off its QWERTY row. At first there were two The Dvorak layout was patented in 1936 by August Dvorak & William L....
Apr 23, 2024
Will I be able to buy the Halo True and Halo Clear switches outside of this drop? Yes, there is a separate drop for the switches in the works.
Will the K-Type be shipped as a kit? The K-Type will only be shipped fully assembled. A new feature we included with the K-Type are the hot-swap switch inserts. These are special connectors to the circuit board that allow you to remove or replace the switches without a soldering iron. We chose to add this to the K-Type so it would be a new type of kit, customizable by anyone regardless of their soldering skills. We decreased the complexity of the K-Type in order to bring the price down. Adding a barebones kit would require more expensive and complex packaging as the design would need to hold more than just a single keyboard. We were able to fit a lot of really awesome features into the K-Type specifically because we reduced the complexity of packaging and shipping. Is the K-Type compatible with other Cherry MX compatible switches (Cherry, Zealio, Gateron, Outemu, etc)? Yes the K-Type is compatible with other Cherry MX compatible switches but please be aware that the switches included with your keyboard have a special light pipe that is designed to output maximum brightness. The LEDs on the K-Type are mounted on the circuit board, and if you put an opaque switch with a black housing over the LED the in-switch LEDs will not light up (the under-lighting will still be unobstructed).
Do I need PLATE mount Cherry MX style switches or PCB mount style switches? The K-Type is only compatible with plate mount Cherry MX style switches. If you only have access to PCB mount switches you can still use them but you need to clip the two alignment pins on the bottom of the switch in order for them to fit in the K-Type properly.
How do I program my keyboard with different layouts and/or lighting ? We host a configurator on our website at https://input.club/configurator/ . The K-Type will have two configurator settings, one to control the key layout and another to allow customization of the LEDs. Configuring the keyboard is point and click, though you can also make changes via the command line. Do you offer other layouts for the K-Type, such as European or Japanese layouts? The K-Type only supports the ANSI ten key-less layout. Some of our other keyboards have had multiple layouts but using RGB lighting and hot-swap sockets limits the layout available per PCB to one.
There are two USB Type C ports, what can they do? The two ports are for better cable management but the extra port can charge a device that is attached to it. The second port allows for future connectivity to Input Club devices (such as the Infinity ErgoDox).
Does the K-Type have USB pass-through or a hub? No, the K-Type does not support USB pass-through and is not a hub. We chose USB Type-C for its structural reliability and because it is the connector type of the future. The K-Type is still using the normal USB specifications so it will work with any USB port.
Does “K-Type” stand for anything? K is for Keyboards and keyboards are for typing.
Is there a plan to release a Bluetooth / Wireless version? The power drain from the LEDs on the K-Type make this not likely to happen on any timeline.
Will I be able to buy the Halo True and Halo Clear switches outside of this drop? Yes, there is a separate drop for the switches in the works.
EVEN WITH the the massive power drain, I'd still enjoy it. And, you know, mod in a pair of 2000mah batteries like I did for my anne.
Pretty please :)
Step 1. Make battery Step 2. Make battery smaller. Step 3. Profit
Anything that's only 3 steps can't be that hard. ;-)
Then again, I'm replacing the caps, so eh
But you can buy the new kailh box switches which are IP56 classified against dust and streams of water, it works underwater, but your keyboard pcb probably wont :)
If it's "only" an extra 45$ for VAT that I'll have to pay it's more doable. It would total 257$ that way (200 + 12 + 45). If there is one, an extra 34$ customs handling fee would also get taxed = + 7$ totaling 41$. 257 + 41 would make a 298$ keyboard xD. In perspective 257 is already 1/4th of what I've paid for university this semester. At the same time worth it and not worth it xD.
Again thanks for the help btw.
Edit: but they also mention: "For lighter and less expensive drops, our vendors sometimes use a shipping service that does not include tracking information. This is done to provide additional savings to our members." Which could still mean a "basic" postal service that hands things over to Bpost and without tracking, it's also not possible to handle customs yourself as far as I've read.
I'm used to companies either shipping with "false" declared values below the minimum VAT value i.e. 20$ (no charges for items with a value below 22€), something which most Asian companies automatically do xD. And those who don't mostly ask for all-in shipping (including VAT and anything else customs related) during check-out. Therefore it's a rarity that I even have to think about customs.
One buyer on Massdrop was severely burned by this extra costs and is now compensating his/her grief on denouncing massdrop as fraud company, even though it was and still is her duty to know her countries inner works on importing foreign stuff.
9 years ago when I had gotten my first computer I ordered a way too expensive graphics card (800$, 520€ back then) from the US when the dollar was worth little, expecting just 21% taxes. The handling of the customs documents was done directly by seller (not by bpost - I'm certain of it because of communications with customs who had a beef with the declared value at first). The 520€ cost fell into the category of 75€ (115$ at that time - april 2008) customs handling. 115$ customs handling + 21% taxes on the handling = 139$, plus 21% on the item itself 168$, which totals 307$ plus an extra 12$ "payment fee" for the delivery man collecting the money (I had to pay 210€ in total). The customs handling fee was still asked since the item was still stored and handed over to customs by bpost. Which seems to be unavoidable, even if you handle the paperwork yourself, you still have to pay for "customs handling" (bpost storing it and physically offering it to customs). "Oddly" enough I haven't ordered anything else from the US ever since xD. I can't remember ever paying any extra fees on anything from Asia, like 90% of the time they just declare it as worth less than it really is xD or else it has been with pre-paid customs duties.
Now the "customs handling" fees bpost charges are: 15€ for items worth between 22-150€ and 30€ (34$) for more expensive items.
For some countries avoiding a fee is impossible, as a dane i have to pay 20$ on more or less anything from outside the EU, and this is merely for them looking at the papers telling them what the item is worth, along with the import tax to be added.
Care to share the sites where contradictions are presented?
A few months ago I had kinda "accidentally" ordered a fairly expensive item (not as expensive as this keyboard though xD) from Asia from a company where I had ordered cheap things before, having forgotten to think about taxes for more expensive items. I got worried after ordering when "oh shit I forgot about taxes" popped up in my head as I didn't expect such a large company to ship with a false declared value like small ones tend to do. Then I received the item...which had suddenly become a whole lot cheaper if you know what I mean.
"5. In Belgium, it is the principle of complete liberty of choice of a customs office for the completion of the formalities which is prevalent.This is applied in harbours and airports as well as inland, as close to the customer as possible. In both cases, a service provider (customs agent) can be called in to make the declaration." Bpost is doing that for your convenience for only $34.
"23. From 1.1.2008 on, the existing authorisation procedure has been supplemented with a certifi cation system based on security. Clients are certifi ed on process integrity, logistics, accounting, organisation and the staff employed. The level of certifi cation qualifi es the way in which clients are checked by the customs service.."
From the PDF what I quoted is similar to some other things I've been reading:
From another source (translated to English, "customs freight forwarding agent" might not be a perfect translation):
"...for import and export uit's necessary to turn to a customs freight forwarding agent to complete the necessary documents. As of 15 september 2007 this service is inevitable as the formalities can only be done through a computer program, which essentially made customs freight forwarding agents a must. The freight forwarding agent must be informed about the nature and intention of the transport to be able to submit the right document."
Access to the computer program seems to further require a license.
From a different source (again translated):
"A customs freight forwarding agents is essentially a tax adviser for the import and export of goods. The declarations made by customs freight forwarding agents are in fact tax declarations. To be allowed to create these for the client you need a license and therefore be 'accepted' as customs freight forwarding agent"
Thus as far as I can tell it's a "nope" on "really" declaring it yourself. Yes you can basically handle it yourself by providing the customs all documents and the shipping company doing nothing but storage and physically presenting it to customs, you seem to still have to pay up.
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/bluetooth-keyboard-adapter
Bash that request button. Get one of those and plug it into your keyboard when it arrives.
I'm keeping my rig light but visually striking because the last time I traveled to Montreal to do a music performance with a metal sculptor, we got detained at the border for hours because his sets looked vaguely like weaponry(!).
I'm guessing the K-Type will look cool onstage next to my Nord. Someone should make a Dave Smith-level synth that looks like the K-Type, only with RGB pots and sliders.
I want to audio spectrograph app. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSMCcSPRa4Q
Just the idea that you could make a kit --of any shape really, that mounted to the keyboard, such that the end result was still a single device, no dongle-- is really appealing to me, and would add potential value to its respective KB
Since today a drop for the "normal" Kaihua Kailh Speed Switches in Gold, Silver, Bronze and Copper is available but I missing the Halo True and Halo Clears.
When can we expect the drop for the True/Clears ?