Mounting holes for what?

[hanslenze]

I've finally received my PCB order and now I'm wondering what the various mounting holes on this PCB are designed to mount.
Are the two triangular positions meant for a tenting kit? The four holes around the Pico match the Pico itself so they are obvious.
Are the other five holes are for screwing a case to the bottom?

[camrbuss]

Wow, I'm honored you are taking the dive with the PCB order!

The 5 holes can be used for plate mounting or tenting, and the sets of three are meant to mount one of these nuts (https://www.mcmaster.com/nuts/surface-mount-nuts/)

I never used any of the mount points as I liked keeping it really thin.

Let me know how it works out! I'm happy to work software updates now that someone else has hardware.

[camrbuss]

@hanslenze Any update or pictures of your build?

[hanslenze]

I can share my current progress, sure!
Almost all the components have been gathered in a box and now I'm trying to gather enough courage to start the soldering :)
The Pico itself is a bit more SMD soldering than I'm used to so in my head that seems like the hardest part. I've got a temperature controlled soldering iron with a small tip, a fluxpen and 0,6mm resin core solder ready to go.

[hanslenze]

After a few days of use I can say I really like the shape and size of the keyboard but I'm not so sure about the keys themselves. They seem stiff. Maybe it will improve with use, maybe I'll have to remove the clickbar or lube them or something to get them smoother/lighter. Ringfinger and pinky could use a little lighter keys for improved typing comfort and less typing errors. The split feels great and the column stagger fits my hand very well.
With lots of help from a colleague I've set up the Rust build environment. My first attempt at a keymap can be found on this page: https://github.com/hanslenze/Pinci My main inspiration is the Miryoku keyboard layout that I use on an other keyboard already. I didn't feel like trying something new.
The thing I'm missing most is a "mouse mode" where I can move the mouse pointer and use the clicking and scroll keys of a normal mouse. I'm used to that from using a keyboard with QMK. I feel like it is somehow wasteful to use such a powerful chip to only register key presses and nothing else. Maybe I'll add a display or try something else with the pins, memory and processing power that is left on both the Pico's.
Right now it's boring black on black but I'm hoping the fancy coloured MBK keycaps are available at my favorite keyboard shop soon. I've made two of my colleagues happy with a set of PCBs each so they are going to make a Pinci keyboard too.

Your left/right side detection is briljant! No need for any configuration items or separate flashing of the keyboard halves is a nice touch.

[camrbuss]

Love the build! Hope it has been fun.

I also can't say I love the switches as far as feel goes. I took my click bars out and it honestly feels even more squishy.

There are some rust/keyberon firmwares out there with mouse emulation so there is opportunity for improvement. I'll try to get this repo updates with firmware with more features.

Have fun playing around!

[hanslenze]

Just a message to let you know I've made a QMK firmware for the Pinci. I've put a complete version in my Github repo: https://github.com/hanslenze/Pinci-QMK Feel free to copy, use, etc.
Still love the shape, size and features of it so I will be ordering a new batch of PCBs with Kailh Choc hot swap sockets so I can use "normal" low profile keys. Maybe I'll add an I2C header so I can connect a Cirque trackpad. We'll see!

[camrbuss]

Just a message to let you know I've made a QMK firmware for the Pinci. I've put a complete version in my Github repo: https://github.com/hanslenze/Pinci-QMK Feel free to copy, use, etc. Still love the shape, size and features of it so I will be ordering a new batch of PCBs with Kailh Choc hot swap sockets so I can use "normal" low profile keys. Maybe I'll add an I2C header so I can connect a Cirque trackpad. We'll see!

Awesome! Thanks for sharing! I'm so glad to see you having fun modifying it. It's lovely to to see some more pinci's in the world.