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kiiid

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Joined: 11/05/2013
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 671

Posted: 03:29am 29 May 2016

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People keep asking me about the keyboard and how it feels, so I shot this small video small video demonstrating it.

http://rittle.org

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bigmik

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Joined: 20/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 2949

Posted: 03:35am 29 May 2016

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Very impressive Kon,

A very innovative design concept.

Kind Regards,

Mick

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

robert.rozee
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Joined: 31/12/2012
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 2430

Posted: 04:25am 29 May 2016

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my one concern from the video is that the 'enter' key may be a weakness due to the bridge design of the supports. it may be safer (less risk) to use a single-height enter key with a top-hinge like all the other keys on the keyboard.

just my opinion, mind you!

cheers,
rob :-)

viscomjim
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Joined: 08/01/2014
Location: United States
Posts: 925

Posted: 01:27pm 29 May 2016

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Excellent Job kiid! I for one am very impressed!!!!!

isochronic
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Joined: 21/01/2012
Location: Australia
Posts: 689

Posted: 08:53pm 29 May 2016

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looks good !

Quote the plib will be "upgraded" to support MZ (work currently ongoing, results in about a month from now)

Is the plib upgrade a Microchip product, ie will it be available for
other MZ users ?

kiiid

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Joined: 11/05/2013
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 671

Posted: 10:23pm 29 May 2016

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chronic said Is the plib upgrade a Microchip product, ie will it be available for
other MZ users ?

No, the plib upgrade has no affiliation with Microchip. I am doing in internally (with the valuable help from some other very good developers) for the ELLO project. Once ready I will synchronise that with Geoff and will send him the package so he can release future MZ-based mites without having to rewrite MMBasic. But it is originally done for the ELLO and to make it possible to have MMBasic on its upgraded board.

http://rittle.org

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kiiid

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Joined: 11/05/2013
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 671

Posted: 10:34pm 29 May 2016

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This is how the prototype area is internally routed

http://rittle.org

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paceman
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Joined: 07/10/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 1329

Posted: 04:37am 30 May 2016

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I watched your video too Kon - this is an excellent piece of work, very innovative. Like Robert though, I also wondered how the RETURN key would hold up because it twists the two 'bridges' rather than just bending it slightly like the other keys. Does there seem to be any likelihood of that to you? I guess it would be easy to change if you needed to.

Greg

kiiid

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Joined: 11/05/2013
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 671

Posted: 10:34am 30 May 2016

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Actually the keyboard panel in my video is the older revision in which the Enter key is a whole copper block. There is absolutely no problem with the twisting because the stroke is really small (about 1mm) and the panel is very flexible. However there is another small problem which I have solved since, and if you download the sources from GitHub, you will see the Enter key is two copper areas now just like it used to be initially. The reason for that is because when it is a single panel, it is not flexible enough and when you press the bottom, the top goes up and vice versa. Not a big problem, but nevertheless, I have fixed it already.

http://rittle.org

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damos
Regular Member

Joined: 15/04/2016
Location: Australia
Posts: 74

Posted: 12:41pm 01 Jun 2016

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Congratulations on the write up on The Verge. It has hit the big time:

Ello 2M DIY computer gets back to BASIC

palcal

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Joined: 12/10/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 1982

Posted: 10:39pm 01 Jun 2016

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Hi Kon,
Does "Just The Bare Boards" include the prototyping space, if not can it be added later. I'm interested in this option.
Paul.

"It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all"

kiiid

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Joined: 11/05/2013
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 671

Posted: 11:24pm 01 Jun 2016

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palcal said Hi Kon,
Does "Just The Bare Boards" include the prototyping space, if not can it be added later. I'm interested in this option.
Paul.

Yes, it does. The boards are always the same, it is what is soldered on them that makes the different configurations.

http://rittle.org

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Bill7300
Senior Member

Joined: 05/08/2014
Location: Australia
Posts: 159

Posted: 12:55pm 02 Jun 2016

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Something seems wrong with that link to The Verge, damos. Every time I try to bring it up, it bombs out.

Bill

Bill

damos
Regular Member

Joined: 15/04/2016
Location: Australia
Posts: 74

Posted: 03:45pm 02 Jun 2016

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Bill7300 said Something seems wrong with that link to The Verge, damos. Every time I try to bring it up, it bombs out.

Bill

Yes, it seems to add a double http://. First time trying to post a link. Here is the raw link:

http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2016/6/1/11829996/ello-2m-retro-computer-crowdsupply

vegipete

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Joined: 29/01/2013
Location: Canada
Posts: 1129

Posted: 09:21am 03 Jun 2016

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kiiid said This is how the prototype area is internally routed

A very nice creation, and elegant use of circuit boards.

Not to be picky, plus it's probably too late to change, but that proto area routing looks strange. For example, I can't see any way to position a 28 pin MX170 Micromite. A layout more along the lines of standard breadboard would seem more flexible, even if broken into 4 mini-boards.

None the less, nice work!

Visit Vegipete's *Mite Library for cool programs.

kiiid

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Joined: 11/05/2013
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 671

Posted: 10:59am 03 Jun 2016

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That is correct. I have noticed that too and planning to edit the connections these days. Will post the updated layout soon.

http://rittle.org

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kiiid

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Joined: 11/05/2013
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 671

Posted: 11:11pm 03 Jun 2016

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A possible alternative which I think is much better and still has the orbital bus traces.
Anyone with opinion?
Thanks

http://rittle.org

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vegipete

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Joined: 29/01/2013
Location: Canada
Posts: 1129

Posted: 07:42am 04 Jun 2016

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What connections to the Ello's processor are provided on or around the proto area?

Visit Vegipete's *Mite Library for cool programs.

kiiid

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Joined: 11/05/2013
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 671

Posted: 09:05am 04 Jun 2016

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vegipete said What connections to the Ello's processor are provided on or around the proto area?

None. The connections are made through jumper wires from the proto space to the expansion port next to it. This is intentional. I want to minimise the risk of someone frying the whole board with a wrong prototype circuit.

http://rittle.org

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SteveP
Newbie

Joined: 21/03/2013
Location: United States
Posts: 19

Posted: 02:46am 17 Jun 2016

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Sparkfun now has pi-top:
KIT-13896, $266

The pi-top (also available in gray) is a laptop you build yourself that helps you start learning how to code, create awesome devices and take your knowledge to the next level. This Raspberry Pi-powered laptop is an excellent resource for any budding hobbyist, student, or intrigued user wanting to learn more about the capabilities of the Raspberry Pi development board.

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