Building a Keyboard: Part 2

#1

Post by flapjack » Sun, Dec 09, 2012, 7:31 PM UTC

Building a Keyboard: Part 2
blog.fsck.com

Re: Building a Keyboard: Part 2

#2

Post by shabble » Sun, Dec 09, 2012, 8:10 PM UTC

Part 1 (from yesterday): http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4893457

Re: Building a Keyboard: Part 2

#3

Post by gambiting » Sun, Dec 09, 2012, 8:29 PM UTC

He's really lucky he wasn't arrested by the TSA, like that guy who had a custom-made watch and got arrested for "possessing all elements needed to make bomb". Namely - a few wires and a battery. He was arrested and put under $10k bail. A Keyboard that was opened and soldered on the inside? That could earn you some nice jail time in the Uncle Sam's land of freedom.

Edit: But yeah, the project looks really cool, something that each one of us uses every day and yet is so complicated internally. Well done.

Re: Building a Keyboard: Part 2

#4

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Dec 09, 2012, 8:30 PM UTC

gambiting wrote: post #3

He's really lucky he wasn't arrested by the TSA, like that guy who had a custom-made watch and got arrested for "possessing all elements needed to make bomb". Namely - a few wires and a battery. He was arrested and put under $10k bail. A Keyboard that was opened and soldered on the inside? That could earn you some nice jail time in the Uncle Sam's land of freedom. Edit: But yeah, the project looks really cool, someth…

[deleted]

Re: Building a Keyboard: Part 2

#5

Post by sbierwagen » Sun, Dec 09, 2012, 8:32 PM UTC

- Poking holes in a plastic project box with a soldering iron isn't something you'd do in production, but it's fairly common when screwing around with a hobbyist project.

- Twisted-pair cable either requires either grounding one wire in the pair (in 100baseT) or fancy differential-signalling tricks. (in 1000baseT or HDMI)

- Sounds like the biggest problem was solder joint failure as a result of inadequate strain relief. In satellite design, where repair is, of course, impossible; the rule is to never use a solder joint as a mechanical connection. The component is secured to the frame, and the wire coming off the component is separately secured.

If you're not building a satellite, the method of accomplishing this is usually hot-glue, copious amounts of it, on everything. (As seen in cheap hand-assembled electronics. Expensive electronics are robot-assembled and use SMD components, which usually don't need strain relief unless you're doing something really exciting.)

Re: Building a Keyboard: Part 2

#6

Post by obrajesse » Sun, Dec 09, 2012, 8:43 PM UTC

gambiting wrote: post #3

He's really lucky he wasn't arrested by the TSA, like that guy who had a custom-made watch and got arrested for "possessing all elements needed to make bomb". Namely - a few wires and a battery. He was arrested and put under $10k bail. A Keyboard that was opened and soldered on the inside? That could earn you some nice jail time in the Uncle Sam's land of freedom. Edit: But yeah, the project looks really cool, someth…

Part of the trick is that I was aware of what I had with me and was careful to actually open its case so the TSA agents could easily see what it was. I was friendly and engaged and prepared to talk their ears off about ergonomics ;)

Flying out of DCA a week later, the TSA agent was astonished that I wasn't _selling_ keyboards -- "People will buy anything. You should make some money on that shit."

Transiting Narita and flying out of Taipei a week after that, I just put it through the X-Ray. Nobody said a thing.

Re: Building a Keyboard: Part 2

#7

Post by obrajesse » Sun, Dec 09, 2012, 8:45 PM UTC

sbierwagen wrote: post #5

- Poking holes in a plastic project box with a soldering iron isn't something you'd do in production, but it's fairly common when screwing around with a hobbyist project. - Twisted-pair cable either requires either grounding one wire in the pair (in 100baseT) or fancy differential-signalling tricks. (in 1000baseT or HDMI) - Sounds like the biggest problem was solder joint failure as a result of inadequate strain reli…

Thanks!

In a bunch of the cases, the problem was "hysterically bad solder joints." It wasn't so much that the joints would fail when put under pressure as that they'd fail when you looked at them funny.

Re: Building a Keyboard: Part 2

#8

Post by thinker » Sun, Dec 09, 2012, 8:51 PM UTC

What!? How do you not like Modern Family. I think you need to give it another chance.

Re: Building a Keyboard: Part 2

#9

Post by obrajesse » Sun, Dec 09, 2012, 8:53 PM UTC

thinker wrote: post #8

What!? How do you not like Modern Family. I think you need to give it another chance.

I know that many people love it. It...just doesn't work for me. Ah well.

Re: Building a Keyboard: Part 2

#10

Post by Kliment » Sun, Dec 09, 2012, 9:17 PM UTC

obrajesse wrote: post #7

sbierwagen wrote: post #5

- Poking holes in a plastic project box with a soldering iron isn't something you'd do in production, but it's fairly common when screwing around with a hobbyist project. - Twisted-pair cable either requires either grounding one wire in the pair (in 100baseT) or fancy differential-signalling tricks. (in 1000baseT or HDMI) - Sounds like the biggest problem was solder joint failure as a result of inadequate strain reli…

Thanks! In a bunch of the cases, the problem was "hysterically bad solder joints." It wasn't so much that the joints would fail when put under pressure as that they'd fail when you looked at them funny.

Please don't melt holes into that material with a soldering iron. The plastic you are using appears to be nylon, and nylon releases highly toxic fumes when melted. In addition to the nasty smell, there are some things in there that can kill you before you notice them. I highly recommend using a drill and a small file to make access holes like that. It's faster, safer, and looks better in the end.