Question Keyboard joystick research

[Charagma]

In another thread this was briefly touched, and figure that since it is not related to that topic it is still something (Hardware) that can shed some light on a few thoughts. The thread was about controllers and attachments to the keyboard.

When we press a button it closes the circuit, tell the system which button we pressed and TADA we have a character as shown on the keyboard. That is if your keyboard is set up correctly and you do not get Tilde when pressing the delete key. This is pretty much where my knowledge on keyboards end.

So here is where I need technical information that I cannot find on google. I am in specific referring to "Steering" on AWSD keys. If I take 2 potentiometers (Dual input), reverse it so that when in the middle they will both send the exact same current and then to left give more to A and to right more to D keys.

I do not know if a keypress can be regulated (first problem) and secondly, will a regulated "press" give a different character? Are the keys set to voltage detected, for the system to recognize which button is pressed or is it set to stone to a N/O or N/C setting or is it adjustable that the pressure of a button can have a different effect on it...............

Any ideas?

 

[Colif]

Not all keyboards use the same switches either.

or is it adjustable that the pressure of a button can have a different effect on it...............

its likely the cheaper keys have set reactions whereas if you throw money at a Hall Effect keyboard, or one with digital switches, they can have different reactions depending on how far you press key in
this one lets you set two actions to one key, depending how much you press key in... not cheap though

https://steelseries.com/en-au/gaming-keyboards/apex-pro-gen-3?connectivityType=wired&color=black&keyboardSize=fullSize&keyboardLanguage=english

Maybe someone here can answer the question:

KeebTalk

The community for people who love keyboards.

www.keebtalk.com

it is hard to get past the obvious. Perhaps people who mod them know the answers.

 

[Charagma]

Not all keyboards use the same switches either.

https://steelseries.com/en-au/gaming-keyboards/apex-pro-gen-3?connectivityType=wired&color=black&keyboardSize=fullSize&keyboardLanguage=english

That is a very nice keyboard. LMAO something I seriously would not take apart to "try" something.

Made me think of a story of the First RGB backlit keyboard and mouse set I bought.

After much reading and pondering and turning my money over 300 times, making sure I am doing the right thing, I order it and pay the fee's.

About 2 months later (Yeah, we have snail mail in our country. Depends on how much the products is because if it is a bigger product the carrot they dangle in front of the donkey cart is bigger and the donkey runs a bit faster. But that is a different story all together). But 2 months (local order) the package arrived. Very excited with my new "toys" I rip open the box and get it plugged into my PC. RGB, working great.

Later the evening I went to sit down to play a bit of games, and this was where the problems started. Keyboard backlight in RGB correct! but the keys are not visible since the light do not shine through the keys. Also had no control what colours I could use or change. Was just flashing in all different sequences (Like a Christmas tree that was missing its speaker) Mouse, well exactly the same but do not need to see the two buttons my fingers rest on and had a strip in the middle so could see the scroller in the dark (At least).

A month later my oldest daughter came to visit and mentioned that my grandson spilled some Cold drink on her key board so she is now on permanent Sticky-key settings. I unplugged my very pricey (not so fancy) keyboard and gave it to her. Back on my old Lenovo (Room-lit, not back lit) keyboard (still using the Lenovo btw) and my daughter thinks she won the lottery (till today). Still waiting for her to realise that it does not work so nice in the dark and she's been using it for about 4 years now.

 

[Colif]

if she can touch type she may not need lights

I could take my current keyboard apart completely as its fully customisable - its only 3 months old so it doesn't need any adjustments

https://nuphy.com/products/halo75-v2-qmk-via-wireless-custom-mechanical-keyboard

Hall Effect keyboards are great for gaming but no so great for typing, so depends what you do more. I chose normal mechanical switches on mine.

last time I bought a mouse/keyboard set was... 20 years ago. No rgb back then. It was wireless and it left a bad taste in my mouth regarding wireless that didn't wear off until recently.

 

[Charagma]

if she can touch type she may not need lights

Have no idea (just knows she kicks my butt in a few games although I personally would never admit that to her), but like I say she cheats a lot. LMAO.

I could take my current keyboard apart completely as its fully customisable - its only 3 months old so it doesn't need any adjustments

https://nuphy.com/products/halo75-v2-qmk-via-wireless-custom-mechanical-keyboard

Hall Effect keyboards are great for gaming but no so great for typing, so depends what you do more. I chose normal mechanical switches on mine.

last time I bought a mouse/keyboard set was... 20 years ago. No rgb back then. It was wireless and it left a bad taste in my mouth regarding wireless that didn't wear off until recently.

Also, a nice keyboard. Saw Linus with a few of them (or similar) in his upgrade videos. Personally, would not break it.

If you want you can try but it is just a thought. I am wondering if it would be possible to create a "steering" for a keyboard using potentiometers.

I never went into the wireless scene. Still do full sized wired keyboards with the numpad since I use the num pad when I work, mouse, well it it has two buttons and moves the cursor then I am happy with it. Keyboard I am using now I bought about 7 or 8 years ago (Lenovo sk-8825 as per the label underneath) and it is going strong. Usual game keys "Shines bright like a diamond" but still works perfectly.

 

[Colif]

i used to like backlighting and then I got my last keyboard

And suddenly realised its way easier to just have black text on white keys to see the lettering without any. Keyboard could still do RGB but as it was also wireless its battery wasn't amazing with lighting on, so I just had it off.
I buy a kb called Halo that has an rgb strip around its edge and then turn off all the lighting... yep, that worked.

I would still be using that except I broke its USB port and its hard to charge them once that happens.
This new one I run as wired and can have the lighting on more.

I just wish its keycaps had black text and not grey. That does make it harder to find right keys sometimes.

I went 75 as I realised that I never used the keypad on my last one and long ago had used another keyboard without it and I used to like that.

Mouse is wireless but unlike in photo, I mostly run it with no rgb on as it can last 20 days on battery without it

upside to its design is its easy to get all the dirt that falls into it, out again. Its got a reasonably high dust resistance rating

 

[Zed Clampet]

That is a very nice keyboard. LMAO something I seriously would not take apart to "try" something.

Made me think of a story of the First RGB backlit keyboard and mouse set I bought.

After much reading and pondering and turning my money over 300 times, making sure I am doing the right thing, I order it and pay the fee's.

About 2 months later (Yeah, we have snail mail in our country. Depends on how much the products is because if it is a bigger product the carrot they dangle in front of the donkey cart is bigger and the donkey runs a bit faster. But that is a different story all together). But 2 months (local order) the package arrived. Very excited with my new "toys" I rip open the box and get it plugged into my PC. RGB, working great. Later the evening I went to sit down to play a bit of games, and this was where the problems started. Keyboard backlight in RGB correct! but the keys are not visible since the light do not shine through the keys. Also had no control what colours I could use or change. Was just flashing in all different sequences (Like a Christmas tree that was missing its speaker) Mouse, well exactly the same but do not need to see the two buttons my fingers rest on and had a strip in the middle so could see the scroller in the dark (At least). A month later my oldest daughter came to visit and mentioned that my grandson spilled some Cold drink on her key board so she is now on permanent Sticky-key settings. I unplugged my very pricey (not so fancy) keyboard and gave it to her. Back on my old Lenovo (Room-lit, not back lit) keyboard (still using the Lenovo btw) and my daughter thinks she won the lottery (till today). Still waiting for her to realise that it does not work so nice in the dark and she's been using it for about 4 years now.

I had a sort of similar situation recently. I had always wanted a keyboard that looked differently from all the black keyboards I've had through the years, so I bought one when I was doing my new build. It was light grey and had circular keys, and I thought it looked great. And then I tried to use it. The circular keys threw me off a little, but I'm used to barely having to hit the keys at all for them to register, and these felt like I had to press them for a mile before they hit. I just couldn't type on it at all. I gave it to one of my kids, and they love it.

As for the technical questions about keyboards, I really don't know anything about them except for how to type.

 

[Charagma]

I doubt I will go the Wireless route someday but will never say never. The RGB thing with millions of fans does not do it for me. Thats why I ended up with the m720q tiny. Small, discrete, silent and I can hide the pc anywhere.

Back in the day you needed HUGE cases to daisy chain your drives (Yes I was that guy that ran 7 drives on SCSI daisy Chain on an AMD dx 4/100 with 1 Meg RAM. But well that was years ago, I also remember buying my first HDD. Was a Western Digital 20Meg HDD (Large Adress) Showed it to my dad and he asked, "So what are you going to do with all that space?"

But time has changed. Or I changed somewhere, where larger is not better anymore. I had a SFF (Compaq) and a few laptops (Clevo and few HP's and 1 Lenovo) but the Mini PC range has fully grabbed my attention. Think I might have carried 1 too many full tower cases to a LAN Party. LMAO.

What kind of battery life do you get out of a Wireless keyboard? My keyboard is pretty much active from 9am till around 3am. Not sure if a battery would hold that but also not sure since I never looked into it.