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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : Anyone consider making a intagraed keyboard and case to for CMM2

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realbobele
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Joined: 09/07/2020
Location: Germany
Posts: 23
Posted: 10:15am 21 Jul 2020
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  bigmik said  …  I wonder why you would `want' a CMM2 mounted inside a kb? You would turn a pretty low profile keyboard into a thick, ugly chuck of plastic!...


Well... We all buy a little Computer booting to Basic just because it makes us feel as we did when we were 15 in the 80s. So we want nothing to interfere with this Retroflash. Just slamming some Hardware to your Monitors VESA-Mount would not be very heartwarming.

When I bought my TheC64 some month ago, I just could not stand plugging an USB-Stick into it to get my Disk-Images loaded. It felt so wrong. So I did build me a case for this Stick that does match the Machine much better:



Is this exceptionally handy or at least a little bit reasonable? No, of course not. But it makes me smile for the same reason as buying a remake of a 40 years old 8bit Computer does: It´s fun!



Greetings
Boris
Edited 2020-07-21 20:16 by realbobele
 
mclout999
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Joined: 05/07/2020
Location: United States
Posts: 489
Posted: 12:59pm 21 Jul 2020
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  bigmik said  Hi All,

I wonder why you would `want' a CMM2 mounted inside a kb? You would turn a pretty low profile keyboard into a thick, ugly chuck of plastic!

Why not mount your CMM2 on the back of a VGA monitor instead? You can use the VESA mounts that are generally on every one. If you have a USB on the monitor it could probably power the CMM2 as well.

Then you just have your kb which could be a wireless jobbie.

Just saying!!


Kind Regards

Mick


If you are removing the CMM2's case as you must for this kind of project it could be rather low profile.  The design goal would be to make it as slim as posable and it should look a much like a standard keyboard as you can make it.  I think that is the chalange.
 
Decoy
Senior Member

Joined: 02/08/2019
Location: Denmark
Posts: 109
Posted: 10:14pm 21 Jul 2020
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  bigmik said  Hi All,

I wonder why you would `want' a CMM2 mounted inside a kb? You would turn a pretty low profile keyboard into a thick, ugly chuck of plastic!

Why not mount your CMM2 on the back of a VGA monitor instead? You can use the VESA mounts that are generally on every one. If you have a USB on the monitor it could probably power the CMM2 as well.

Then you just have your kb which could be a wireless jobbie.

Just saying!!


Kind Regards

Mick



Well, that is a neat idea. Even with a wired keyboard. I have several 5:4 monitors that could be used for this. I never got into cases for the Maximite, so this would beat having the pcb lying in front of the monitor.


Thanks.
 
Grogster

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Joined: 31/12/2012
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 9592
Posted: 10:27pm 21 Jul 2020
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  Amnesie said  I really hate these 3d printers. It looks just stupid for me; I mean this ALWAYS looks like a toy. The filament, even with acetone smoothed, looks just awful. NOthing against plastic... but not this way. It should be a real case, I think. All those 3d-printer bullsh*** reminds me on all those youTube videos, kids putting their projects with some hot glue together...  


I hear that.  I have been tempted to buy a 3D printer from time to time, and my tech friends are always suggesting I get one, but just like you, I find the printed result to be sub-standard, and totally unsuitable for any finished commercial product - it just looks super cheap, and 'glued-together' as you say.

I also hear other members who commented after your post, that the printer must have been crappy, and I agree that probably is the case, as the ones they have on display in electronic stores often printing demos for people to watch as it does it, tend to be less then $500 now, and that probably explains a lot.  My guess is that you probably need to spend mega-bucks on a really good 3D printer, to get really good results - you get what you pay for, essentially.  But in that case, those ones are out of my price-range, and the cheap ones just produce crappy results, so I will remain 3D printer-less for the foreseeable future.

I really like Mick's idea of just mounting the CMM2 on a VESA plate, which you can then mount on the rear of just about any LCD monitor these days, and done.  I would go down that path before I would try to build a case for the CMM2.  
Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops!
 
mkopack73
Senior Member

Joined: 03/07/2020
Location: United States
Posts: 261
Posted: 11:11pm 21 Jul 2020
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Eh my Prusa was $750 for the kit if I remember right. Getting them working well is very much an art form (although i will say the Prusa was way way better and easier than the first one I built which was horribly inconsistent from one layer to the next.

Regardless, they aren’t meant to be “commercial Production” parts. They are for Rapid prototyping. For personal parts I don’t care if there are slight defects in the print. I’m more concerned with functional and correct sized parts. Also the selection of what filament you used can have a big impact on the finish quality.



Here’s a few things ive printed on my Prusa over the last couple years.

This is a dust collector mount that I designed for my Dremel CNC (which itself uses 3D printed brackets).


Case for the replacement power supply I built for my Amiga 500...


OpenRC mini quadcopter (frame and brackets, props are purchased)


OpenRC F1 RC car. Even the wheels are printed (using flexible filament)

Edited 2020-07-22 09:13 by mkopack73
 
vegipete

Guru

Joined: 29/01/2013
Location: Canada
Posts: 1129
Posted: 11:21pm 21 Jul 2020
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Given that the CMM2 needs a chunky VGA cable attached, plus power and audio, hiding it inside a keyboard seems a bit impractical. Instead, you should be hiding it inside the monitor.
Visit Vegipete's *Mite Library for cool programs.
 
bigmik

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Joined: 20/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 2949
Posted: 12:42am 22 Jul 2020
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G’day Lads,

I can understand the people who want a `retro’ look for their Cmm2.. And fantastic, It will fit the theme well.

But from my perspective, I don’t want a huge brick on my `valuable desk space’ ...  But of course that’s me..
I have been looking for the right monitor to fall into my lap so I can mount mine as I suggested..
You obviously need access to the SD card but a custom short VGA lead made from a couple of those short VGA to 16pin (14pin) leads that older PCs used to have to get the VGA onto the rear panel (circa early 2000’s) and USB could make this a very neat solution..
But I am of course ignoring the retro-ness of the project..

It’s `Horses for Courses’

Regards,

Mick
Mick's uMite Stuff can be found >>> HERE (Kindly hosted by Dontronics) <<<
 
bigmik

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Joined: 20/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 2949
Posted: 12:44am 22 Jul 2020
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Hi All,

Speaking of monitors...

Should we use a 4:3 ratio or a 16:10 ratio screen?

Mik
Mick's uMite Stuff can be found >>> HERE (Kindly hosted by Dontronics) <<<
 
KeepIS

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Joined: 13/10/2014
Location: Australia
Posts: 1872
Posted: 01:01am 22 Jul 2020
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I wouldn't limit myself to just looking for suitable VGA screens, some VGA to HDMI adaptors are really tiny when you remove them from the plastic case. Remove the VGA input socket and mount the board near the CMM2 VGA socket, only 6 short wires tacked to the underside of the CMM2 VGA SKT gives you access to numerous small HDMI bare monitors. I plan on switching the RGB and sync to an inbuilt adaptor giving me VGA or HDMI as an option, add a tiny ESP8266 inside the case and you have WIFI console access. With a good signal the file transfer speed is the same as a direct USB connection, 250k file in 12.3 seconds over WI-FI.
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