QL keyboard mod

[tetroid]

Hi Tetroid, happy to read you again, your disappearance from Sellmyretro had worried me.
Great work Tetroid. I want one too. I find very intesting the system that you had use to connect the keyboard to the QL motherboard. It looks like the solution of the old SPEM system 2. Only this single piece could be interesting to connect PS2 keyboards (with a bit of work) directly to the QL motherboard, if you don't have Aurora or superhermes or any other inteface.
Currently I use a superhermes to connect a PS2 keyboard to my QL system but I'am afraid that sooner or latere It will break.

Yes, I use the solution of Schon keyboard ( possible SPEM too ).
Today easy to make 0.4 mm or 0.6mm thick PCB.

[nikosdoykas]

wow nice thing.....

[bixio60]

Absolutely great job! Will you sell this? Can german key caps be used as well?

I think, all QL are mechanical the same, it's just the ROM, which defines the keys.

BTW: Is that an Aurora board, where the "Aurora Interface" is plugged into?

Yes, I have restored Aurora board now.

Great news !

The QL keyboard was always a weak point for me, at the moment I use a Spem keyboard and I hope soon to have the new Keyb from Tetroid !

Aurora interface, I think that this is one of the long awaited product for the QL user and it is more than welcomed

Is the Aurora clone a ready finished product ? and when do you think we could have these products?

regards

Fabrizio

[tetroid]

Is the Aurora clone a ready finished product ? and when do you think we could have these products?

regards

Fabrizio

I have working board.
But I haven't MACH chips firmwares.
I use chips from original Aurora, I need to return this chips.

[bixio60]

Is the Aurora clone a ready finished product ? and when do you think we could have these products?

regards

Fabrizio

I have working board.
But I haven't MACH chips firmwares.
I use chips from original Aurora, I need to return this chips.

So, if I understand well the matter, even if the HW prototype is ready, at the end you miss the Aurora firmware because it is copy(rights?) protected and without this new Aurora clone will never be produced.
I don't know the status of copyright if it is again commercial or PD. I let someone more informed than me to discover this.

Fabrizio

[Peter]

Only this single piece could be interesting to connect PS2 keyboards (with a bit of work) directly to the QL motherboard, if you don't have Aurora or superhermes or any other inteface. Currently I use a superhermes to connect a PS2 keyboard to my QL system but I'am afraid that sooner or latere It will break.

Also very intersting would be a way to connect Tetroid's keyboard mod to a Q68. Several persons are already using the Q68 inside a QL case, but the way from original QL matrix keyboard to the Q68 PS/2 input is complicated (first Matrix-USB conversion, then USB-PS/2 conversion).

Could support for PS/2 or I2C be added to this keyboard?

Maybe one of the ongoing projects on Q68 matrix to PS/2 conversion could be combined with this board?

[Derek_Stewart]

Hi,

I would like to pictures of the Q68 in the QL Case.

Tetroid adapter looks like the circuit described in the Aurora manual, to connector Aurora to a QL Keyboard.


I must admit to not thinking of using the circuit to connect a better keyboard to the QL. I was trying to adapt the Schon keyboard.

Looks like all the work had been done just needs a keyboard PCB.

[handyandy69]

Am I right in thinking this would be a direct replacement for the original QL membrane keyboard, so no additional hardware would be required? If so then I too would be interested, depending on cost.

My old Spem keyboard no longer works and i was hoping to connect a PS2 keyboard via an Arduino Nano to the Spem motherboard connector as a replacement. As my knowledge of both the QL and Arduino is limited, this may be easier said than done. I've just watched and interesting video on Adrian Black's Youtube channel where he did the same to connect a PS2 keyboard to a Tandy 1000 computer. Does anyone have details of what combination of pins on the motherboard connector related to which keys? Is it that simple?

Regards,


Andy.

[NormanDunbar]

This might help: https://www.microchip.com/wwwAppNotes/A ... e=en591263


Pdf plus code. The code looks written for Atmel Studio as opposed to Arduino IDE.

HTH

Cheers,
Norm.

[Pr0f]

This pdf has some great info for ps/2 / AT keyboard and how it works:

https://stardot.org.uk/forums/download/ ... 442fe09dab

This is from the following article:

https://stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=9461

Attempting to get a PS/2 keyboard from original Atom keyboard for an FPGA implementation