NCR 80 plastic kit

It also appears they have an accompanying 87 key FR4 plate and hotswap/solderable/Bluetooth PCB, but the hotswap sockets are North facing.

1 Like

Darn. Thatā€™s a show stopper.

Itā€™s a truly bizarre hotswap/solderable combo where each switch can be soldered in south facing or hotswapped in north facing. Thereā€™s also a Bluetooth variant.

3 Likes

:man_facepalming: Iā€™ve seen this sort of thing too many times. Instead of just addressing shortcomings, they throw some wild stuff on top, turning a decent product into a cheap sideshow.

Is that beige or white? Whatā€™s the deal with these NCR colors?

1 Like

Will they finally be offering a proper ā€œcool grayā€ (NCR-3007) like they tried to do in R2?

This is kind of a dumb questionā€¦ but is the NCR-80 [like presumably all MK] compatible with Windows language settings?

The NCR-80 for my relative is going to be used for English / French work. So I guess they will be using software shortcuts within Windows to access special characters.

Thereā€™s no problem with this, right? The NCR-80 should be fully compatible with whatever OS-level language functions exist in Windows, and any software settings just like a normal keyboard?

1 Like

Yes, language is controlled by the OS, not the keeb.

3 Likes

Is there a way to buy the R3 yet? Iā€™d be quite interested in a WK ISO-compatible version of this.

https://deskthority.net/viewtopic.php?t=27498

The project owner posted last month about the NCR80 R3 and keycaps, it doesnā€™t seem thereā€™s been any movement since then. Perhaps a ZFrontier run at some point? Itā€™s difficult to say.

2 Likes

The R3 is now available to buy, btw:

1 Like

Welp, got mine today. Thereā€™s some issues unfortunately.

  • menu key would not work, despite the socket and diode looking fine. (pads donā€™t trigger with tweezers) and upon reassembly another key stopped working.
  • the LEDs are incredibly searingly bright. Had to stick small squares of tape to the case top to reduce the brightness. (also the Scroll lock LED, which you canā€™t in any way turn off or on is just permanently on. Not great.)
  • thereā€™s a bunch of screws missing inside, which I gather is the norm with these boards.

Overall Iā€™m not thrilled, because otherwise the board is exactly what I want from a keyboard. If it just worked right.

edit: Turns out Iā€™m a dumbass and solely responsible for my misfortune.
The menu key was mapped to Fn, which does not show up in key tester. Remapping it to anything else works. I did however manage to snap off a diode on the Right key, looks like.
Goddamit.

6 Likes

Your sacrifice is much appreciated. :sweat_smile:

1 Like

Quick question: I have an extra NCR-80 hotswap PCB lying around.

Using the supplied USB cable, is this something I could plug into a computer and use for testing switches?

I donā€™t see why not. As long as it isnā€™t sitting on / touching anything conductive thatā€™s a fine way to test switches.

4 Likes

Someone is selling a NCR80 kit for $60 shipped.

Iā€™d buy it in a heartbeat if I didnā€™t already own mine

https://reddit.com/r/mechmarket/s/FRq43XMoJC

3 Likes

Already sold. Whew. Dodged another impulse buy by luck.

3 Likes

Does anyone know what the typing angles of this board are?

Iā€™ll try to measure in a bit :triangular_ruler:

1 Like

Thanks! It has very good angles, so I wanted to know what they were.