Definitely a mixed board bag for me. On the plus side:
I love the way it looks. The way the panel is laid out it definitely feels like you could be entering commands to spool up for a jump on the Starship Enterprise or something (sorry, I don’t know Star Wars that well).
It feels nice to type on
the Sagittarius constellation LEDs are amazing!
There are some glaring downsides, however:
As I mentioned before the firmware is somewhat lacking: it only supports 2 layers and from what I can tell it doesn’t support the rotary encoder in the left column at all.
It’s a little hard to go from using the Meridian to the Sag, primarily for the “N” and “M” keys which feel like they’re in a different spot from other ergo boards I’ve used.
The layouts are a little funky. It’s not a big deal but the 2.25u r-shift with a 1u Fn to the right of it takes some getting used to and the space bar options are a little funky too though again, not a huge deal.
The default via firmware being somewhat lacking is odd because usually restrictions are witnesses of memory constraints and it should not be the case here because the board is not that big and is equipped with STM32F072.
I can port it to vial if you would like, I am pretty sure given this mcu default vial firmware with 4 layers and full options is fine.@mwb
For via it should be the same, I never ported to via myself but I can look into it.
Tell me more! I’d absolutely be interested in it getting ported to VIAL. I’ve used VIAL a few times and it worked well for me.
The odd thing is, in the default keymaps in QMK (for VIA and non-VIA) there are only a two layers and the header files that I could find only specified 2 layers as well. I’ve gotten to using VIA and VIAL as a crutch so I haven’t really delved into QMK in a while, my takeaway though was that Upas and Gondo went out of their way to specify 2 layers for the board.
Alright I’ll focus on vial first since that’s what I know. Not sure if I have time tmr and I will have a busy week but I’ll put this on the side for next weekend.
Yes I saw that too. For basic qmk I think that’s just upas, from what I have seen he just default to two layers on his boards but it should not be an issue having a lot more (use qmk configurator to quickly build firmware).
For via/vial, idk I also went on the geekhack thread and gondo said
But that’s not my experience. My other pcbs with STM32F072 have way enough space for 4 layers, so what I think happened is that Upas just copied the default qmk keymap for the via keymap and did not bother adding two more.
So I’ll try that first; port to vial with hopefully 4 layers, it shouldn’t take me long and be relatively easy. If memory is an issue I’ll try to disable other options first before layers, eg tap dance, dynamic combos and key override…
I also noticed that they never provided encoder support. I never worked on a board with encoders before but from the documentation it should be fine. It might be tricky however to get it right on the first try since I don’t have the board to test myself.
I’ll send you a pm or report back here with firmware and vial files if you are ok to test it for me.
Today I put HG Black switches in my Jules board. Really impressed with them. They are clacky but really clean sounding. On slow press they are nothing special, other than fairly stable. But when you type it’s a very firm bottoming out. It’s another switch that, on initial impression, I thought needed some lube and tuning. However, once I got them in a build, I’m liking the snappy, poppy, clean stock feel.
Feel free to reach out if you run into any issues with getting the encoder working in QMK. I have a macropad with an encoder that I reprogrammed to work with layers so that the:
default layer is volume up/down and mute/unmute when pressed
second layer is RGB lights brighter/dimmer and on/off when pressed
Just a tip that had me scratching my head for a while, but the rotary encoder click function goes in the normal keyboard matrix as if it was a normal keyswitch, while the rotary aspect of the encoder needs to go in the encoder_update_user function/method.
Still the Pewters, I’m like you with bouncier/flexier builds. A light to mid tactile switch just feel better to me on them compared to my usual linears.
just as an update @gab.a toiled late into the night (I assume, I don’t know where he/she lives) last night working with me on the Sagittarius and was able to provide me with a working VIAL .bin that supports 4-layers. I tested the functionality and it works great, added bonus since VIAL supports a few more functions that VIA from what I can tell.
Just wanted to say thanks so much to them and once again I’ve been reminded of how generous with their time people here can be. I will do my best to pay-it-forward.
My new daily driver! Case design by yours truly! Firmware is ZMK so it’s wireless and the screen is Nice!View (Sharp LS011B7DH03). It only has a 2000mah battery but since the screen consumes little power battery should last for a long time (still tesing it though)
A tester focusing on browns, and a Mojo68 - itself full of Gateron G-Pro Browns. This is a great keeb for flipping back and forth between my phone and PC, and also a great comparison point for the Akko POM Browns I’ve been testing in a Portico the last couple weeks.
The Mojo68 is still my favorite commercial pre-built, and one of few I’d call good right from the box. When it comes to sound and feel in the realm of zero-effort keebs, I don’t think I’ve encountered better. Of course, it’s also quite stylish, inspiring many a clone of its stock keycap set. Now that’s something you don’t see too often!
Perhaps more than any I can think of (albeit incompletely), this keeb bridges the gulf in quality between commercial pre-builts and custom keyboards. You can easily find a keeb this good for less money - but you’ll have to build it.
This one’s kind of blursed. Despite the weird row stagger and the situation around the arrow keys, my GK64 still has a warm place in my heart as my first mechanical keyboard.
Within a few months of purchase, I upgraded and tuned the stabs, poured a silicone dampener, swapped out the Gateron Reds with Zilent v2s, and upgraded to some NP Crayon keycaps. I’ve gone through about a half dozen different switches on this board since then.
Freyr TKL by CherryB, with CRP dyesubs and diamond-polished MX Blacks on an UHMWPE plate. I know, I know, another MX Black build on a plastic plate, but I like what I like and you can’t stop me, so there! pouty face
Hehe in all seriousness, this is a really nice, simple top mount TKL. I’d love to get a brass weight for it someday (it has an alu ‘weight’), who knows if they’ll ever get around to making them though. Oh yeah the infill I did looks pretty cool too:
