[Coco] Mechanical keyboard upgrades for the CoCo

[Mark J. Blair]

> On Aug 21, 2015, at 10:41 , Zippster <zippster278 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> OK… lol..  :)
> 
> 
> I looked around a little, and this might be of help, Gateron makes Cherry Keyswitch clones, you can get them for a lot less.
> 
> <http://www.amazon.com/Gateron-KS-3-Mechanical-type-Switch/dp/B00YKLP9PQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1440178452&sr=8-2&keywords=gateron+switches <http://www.amazon.com/Gateron-KS-3-Mechanical-type-Switch/dp/B00YKLP9PQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1440178452&sr=8-2&keywords=gateron+switches>>
> 
> Gets the cost of the keyswitches down to $20 or so.

I think that the sheet metal and PCB would cost enough that it wouldn't really help much to cheap out on the keyswitches. At >1000 piece quantity (i.e., for a run of 20 keyboards), genuine Cherry MX blues would cost around $50 per keyboard.


> Keycaps
> <http://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Mechanical-Keycaps-Keyboards-RIKC-13004/dp/B00K8CDSVS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1440178660&sr=8-1&keywords=rosewill+keycaps <http://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Mechanical-Keycaps-Keyboards-RIKC-13004/dp/B00K8CDSVS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1440178660&sr=8-1&keywords=rosewill+keycaps>>

The issue with keycaps made for PC keyboards is that the CoCo's layout is different. A-Z and a few other keys are the same, but 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0, :, ;, and - and all have different shifted functions, and then there are the CoCo's BREAK, CLEAR and @ keys. So, custom legends are necessary. That's why I'll be contacting a keycap manufacturer to see if semi-custom keycaps are financially practical at this small quantity.

-- 
Mark J. Blair, NF6X <nf6x at nf6x.net>
http://www.nf6x.net/