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A community member
Jun 30, 2020
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Received confirmation that the PCBA will support PCB-mount switches (5 pin). Orientation will still be north-facing though.
Jintachi_
3
Jul 3, 2020
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Cathoga
127
Jul 4, 2020
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Jintachi_Zeal stabs are top notch by a mile. Well worth 25 bucks. Even plate mount once, With gold plated wires. Fit is very tight , zero rattle, rock solid. Gateron white pre-lubed stabs are also great quality ( not much lube stock so its easy to clean and re-lube)
Hope it helps
P.S. Beware of obscene shipment rates on Zeals, id wait a bit till the covid dust settles.
(Edited)
A community member
Jul 4, 2020
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Jintachi_There are plate mount Cherry stabs. You will have to get plate mount, as this keyboard only accepts plate mount stabs.
Jintachi_
3
Jul 4, 2020
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Thank you man, appreciate how on top of this you are. Think im gonna give the Gateron White Pre Lubed Stabs a try though big ups to @Cathoga for the suggestion. You've both been a huge help
(Edited)
A community member
Jul 12, 2020
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PhlookeIt means inventory has been allocated for your order, but it has not yet been physically packed and shipped. Next time, rather than posting in an unrelated discussion, please post in the appropriate product discussion and tag me.
(Edited)
Phlooke
198
Jul 12, 2020
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Awesome, thank you! I think I just saw how thorough and detailed this GB was going, especially your prompt and precise responses so I figured I'd ask on here instead of submitting a ticket regarding a non urgent question. My apologies though I'll def tag you in the corresponding product next time, I honestly didn't even know I could tag people until you said something. I'll delete it if needed. (To tag you, do I just @ your name in whatever product discussion thread I need to ask a question if you aren't already in the comments?)
LilSmithers
11
Jul 22, 2020
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@Elbert Hey, from what I'm seeing, this uses a standard 60% plate and standoffs correct. So I should be able to make my own 60% tray mount plate correct? I just really want a full plastic board so particularly would want to use a polycarb plate for this build. If so, this is an insta buy for me. Thank you.
A community member
Jul 22, 2020
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LilSmithersReplied to your other comment. One tag is enough, btw :)
Mistah
75
Aug 7, 2020
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Please consider south facing for the future! Cherry profile keycaps are some of the most popular, and having north facing switches really limits what you can choose. NK65 entry sold out super fast partially due to this reason (and the fact that 65% hotswap is rare, and the acoustic dampener, but still)
(Edited)
A community member
Aug 7, 2020
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MistahWe hear you. It'll definitely make it in to future products and/or revisions to this one. Unfortunately, just not for this first run.
JohnW_25
166
Aug 8, 2020
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MistahReally? How? I thought north facing LEDs are the most compatible with all keycaps. South facing effectively eliminates all shine-through keycaps.
A community member
Aug 8, 2020
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Mistah
75
Aug 13, 2020
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JohnW_25North facing LEDS are incompatible with cherry profile keycaps. R3 makes contact with the top of the switch. Shine through is nicer with north facing though. However, since this kit is sold without keycaps (like ALT/CTRL that have OEM profile keycaps), most will likely choose non-shine through cherry options if we're judging it by keycap popularity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh93sXRh4x4
(Edited)
GeoSav
23
Aug 20, 2020
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MistahNot all cherry profile keycaps have this issue. Hades 68 has cherry profile keycaps and work perfectly well with North facing switches. What you are referring to are GMK keycaps. Polls don't always tell the truth, gamers prefer backlit keycaps, enthusiasts prefer solid. Lastly, think about this, if the manufacturers intended on using their switches south facing, they would have inverted their branding. North facing is the correct way, GMK and others need to fix their molding to avoid this type of clash - shouldn't be the other way around
Mistah
75
Aug 24, 2020
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GeoSavHades isn't doubleshot. It's laser etched, and that's why https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/d07s54/durgod_hades_68/ . A thin keycap won't have interference because it's too thin.
Thick, high quality cherry profile will always interfere with north facing LEDs unless they are modified. GMK keycaps are so good because they're using OG cherry molds and gear. While it's true what you're saying about "gamer" keycaps, most of the keycaps that are sold separately are not shine through. The "gamer" keycaps are usually stock (and these don't come with those).
There are very few shine through options from the leading keycap manufacturers, if any at all. Ducky (OEM) only has 2 shine through sets, GMK has none, Signature Plastics has none, EnjoyPBT (Gateron) has none, MaxKey has none, Infinikey has none, Keycreative has none. Taihao and other OEM manufacturers make up the bulk of shine through sets, and are not as popular as the previously mentioned ones in enthusiast boards like this Carina. Catering to shine through is not as important as catering to cherry for a $100 pcb+case combo.
Try counting how many shine through sets are on the best selling page of kbdfans:
https://kbdfans.com/collections/keycaps?sort_by=best-selling
Also many switches have "inverted" branding:
https://novelkeys.xyz/products/the-silk-series
https://zealpc.net/collections/switches/products/zealio-switch-sampler-pack
https://novelkeys.xyz/products/gateron-ink-v2-switches
https://novelkeys.xyz/collections/switches/products/cherry-switches The only manufacturers that have "north facing branding" that I've found are Kailh, Outemu, and Drop's own holy pandas. Cherry, Gateron, and most enthusiast switches all have "south facing branding". Regardless, branding orientation really shouldn't be a factor in how you design your keyboard PCB. Take a look at leading hotswap PCBs/keyboards: https://cannonkeys.com/collections/pcbs/products/preorder-instant60-pcb?variant=27650551185472
https://kbdfans.com/products/dz60rgb-hot-swap-custom-keyboard-pcb
https://novelkeys.xyz/products/nk65-entry-edition
https://zealpc.net/collections/switches/products/zealio-switch-sampler-pack
https://novelkeys.xyz/products/gateron-ink-v2-switches
https://novelkeys.xyz/collections/switches/products/cherry-switches The only manufacturers that have "north facing branding" that I've found are Kailh, Outemu, and Drop's own holy pandas. Cherry, Gateron, and most enthusiast switches all have "south facing branding". Regardless, branding orientation really shouldn't be a factor in how you design your keyboard PCB. Take a look at leading hotswap PCBs/keyboards: https://cannonkeys.com/collections/pcbs/products/preorder-instant60-pcb?variant=27650551185472
https://kbdfans.com/products/dz60rgb-hot-swap-custom-keyboard-pcb
https://novelkeys.xyz/products/nk65-entry-edition
(Edited)
GeoSav
23
Aug 25, 2020
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MistahLet's stick to facts shall we;
"Catering to shine through is not as important as catering to cherry for a $100 pcb+case combo" - Based on what evidence?
HK Gaming has revised their models long time ago and come with cherry profile double shot PBT shine though - read the spec from their website or Amazon, not an outdated reddit thread.
Kbdfans are just one website and is not representative of what is happening in the world of mechanical keyboards. If you were to look at mechanicalkeyboards.com, they don't even bother stocking diy kits. They seem to be doing just fine selling out on all those north facing ducky keyboards.
"GMK keycaps are so good because they're using OG cherry molds and gear" - Quality is a personal choice, some people like GMK (and other makers of abs doubleshots), others don't. I personally couldn't care less about them for many reasons, but mainly because they are made from abs plastic.
"Take a look at leading hotswap PCBs/keyboards" - I did and the 60% ones are a great example of what happens when a pcb is designed to avoid clash with certain keycaps. Notice how "ESC" and "1" are north facing, whilst all others are south facing - not a good look and not something I am willing to compromise on.
Also, based on what evidence are they the "leading hotswap PCBs/keyboards"? Are Glorious, Geek Customized, Drop (ctrl/alt/shift, and now Carina) not leading or we're leaving them out because their HS keyboards are north facing and don't suit your argument?
I'll stick with north facing keebs and pbt shine through thanks.
(Edited)
JohnW_25
166
Aug 26, 2020
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GeoSavThat's a false equivalence though. If an individual is shopping for mechanical keyboards on Best Buy, NewEgg, or Amazon then you're pretty much only going to see pre-builts like Corsair, Razer, Cooler Master, Ducky, Logitech, Akko, Rosewill, Themaltake, etc. Yes, shine-through keycaps are the most common sold but that says nothing about any consumer outside the pre-build market.
When it comes to almost anything outside pre-built mechanical keyboards, you're talking about custom keycaps and in the custom-keycaps market, shine-through are very seldom.
Like it or not south-facing LEDs are in growing hot demand for consumers outside the pre-built market but I feel you if shine-through is your preference because that means you may get to miss out on some awesome keyboards.
GeoSav
23
Aug 26, 2020
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JohnW_25So by your reasoning, south facing leds are growing in demand in a market where nobody uses shine through keycaps, negating the point of having rgb leds in the first place. Makes as much sense as paying $300 for abs plastic keycaps.
Only thing I'd be missing out on from those supposidly awesome keyboards, is glare from south facing leds and oily keycaps.
JohnW_25
166
Aug 26, 2020
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GeoSavIt doesn’t “negate” anything and users do not experience the annoying R3 interference.
JohnW_25
166
Aug 26, 2020
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GeoSavIt's a problem with any Cherry profile keycap which accounts for most custom keycaps sold outside the prebuilt mechanical keyboard market and most users do not agree SMD LEDs on solid keycaps are "pointless", that's only your personal preference and not an objective fact that applies to all consumers.
GeoSav
23
Aug 27, 2020
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JohnW_25Ok I'll restructure your sentence so I can fully address it...
You are effectively saying - because cherry profile keycaps account for most custom keycaps, it therefore means that the interference problem is with all custom keycaps. - That's a Godzilla leap bro :)
Also, why is my opinion only mine, whereas yours is that of "most users" (which by your previous reasoning, means "all users" :p ).
Anyway, if you watch the full vid (you were link higher up in the discussion), it shows that if gmk/cherry profile keycaps are used with holy pandas or some kailh switches, then there is no interference with either north or south facing switches (due to slightly taller stem).
I have holy pandas, on a north facing TKL pcb with smd rgb - this combo gives me the freedom to use whatever keycaps I want, I'm enjoying the typing experience offered by one of the best tactile switches in the market, and also enjoying the benefits of north facing leds.
All I can do at this point, is wish you luck with you choice and I hope you get a great enjoyment out of it. Hopefully I've done enough to convince you to be in the north facing camp, where the backlits shine and the led's don't glare!
All the best.
(Edited)
JohnW_25
166
Aug 27, 2020
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GeoSavThat’s great you have a keeb that suits your personal preferences. That has nothing to do with market demand for south facing SMD LEDs.
JohnW_25
166
Aug 27, 2020
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GeoSavNot for new boards. South-facing for new boards is selling better. You can get any of the other Drop keebs with north facing SMD LEDs.
hdsharpe1
107
Sep 19, 2020
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Ekkolokation
0
Jun 29, 2021
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Hi @Elbert by PCBA are u referring to the one for Carina or the one for the ALT/CTRL, I saw a discussion earlier where u mentioned that Drop was in the works of updating the PCBA and possibly releasing a CTRL/ALT V2. I was wondering what the new changes to the PCBA would be?
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