GH60 programmable keyboard
Posted on :: Source Code

GH60 is a custom programmable mechanical keyboard designed for the geekhack community.

A github repository with all the design files is here: komar007/gh60.

GH60 rev B

Geekhack threads

Articles

Downloads

  • Revision A PCB gerbers, renders and schematic: gh60_reva (license: CC BY-SA 3.0)
  • Revision B PCB production files (gerbers, component placement, BOM): pcbcart_gh60_rev_b_v2 (license: CC BY-SA 3.0)
  • Revision C PCB and assembly files (package includes board renders and 3d model): gh60_revC_plain (license: CC-BY-SA 3.0)
  • Revision C schematic: gh60_revC_2016-06-02

Pictures

The pictures present only examples of what can be built using GH60. GH60 itself is just electronics, the choice of keycaps, switches and case is up to you!

rev A

GH60 with Cherry MX Red 2 GH60s with upcoming GHPad GH60 controller GH60 USB connector

rev B

1 4 2 3

Archived comments

georgian — June 24, 2013 at 11:20 am

hy my name is georgian and i found your keyboard project have some ask if   i may ,how mutch it cost one if  i whant one ?i am from romania ,what case of  keyboard do i need to use if try to make one ? best regards

komar — June 25, 2013 at 8:16 am

Hi, please check out this thread on geekhack: http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=41464.0 We're organizing a group buy for the keyboard, there are also various case suggestions there. Unfortunately it's too late to order, but there will be leftovers in the end of this month, so watch closely.

悬壶济世 — November 14, 2013 at 1:58 am

Hi I can't find atmega32u4-aur, you can use atmega32u4-au instead of?

komar — November 18, 2013 at 5:42 pm

Yes, it's the same part.

László Monda — December 11, 2013 at 7:15 pm

Hi Michał,

First of all mad props to you for designing GH60 and writing all the related blog posts!  Being the main developer of the Ultimate Hacking Keyboard (http://ultimatehackingkeyboard.com/) I have an idea how challenging it could be.

It occured to me that you used 0805 diodes.  I currently use SOD-123 packaged 1N4148 diodes (http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/1N4148W-TP/1N4148WTPMSCT-ND/717311) because Digi-Key doesn't seem to supply such diodes in a 0805 or maybe a 1206 package.

Could you give me a pointer of where to get such diodes?

Thanks in advance!

Laci

komar — December 11, 2013 at 7:43 pm

Hi, thanks for the comment.

In GH60, we're currently using Crownpo CD4148WS for D01-D70. The manufacturer sources these for us, so I don't really know where to buy them, but I think they should be easily available in China.

Good luck on your keyboard project. I've subscribed and I'll be waiting.

László Monda — December 11, 2013 at 10:40 pm

Thanks for the quick reply! Yeah, I could see the diode part number in the BOM but couldn't find it at the popular catalog distributors. I guess we'll rather stick with the existing diode because this way one can easily get the exact same part for repair purposes.

Glad you're interested in our keyboard. You'll be notified!

500_pts — December 31, 2013 at 2:02 am

Hey, just wondering where the blue/grey keycaps were sourced from!

komar — January 1, 2014 at 3:20 pm

I bought them here: http://aikb.taobao.com/ (http://aikb.taobao.com/)

Joseph Le Brech — January 6, 2014 at 11:10 am

Do you have any GH60s left over for kbc poker?

This default fn layer is killing, but i love this keyboard 🙂

komar — January 6, 2014 at 10:24 pm

No, sorry. Please check geekhack for leftovers.

Niko Lepka — March 21, 2014 at 7:24 pm

Where'd you get the keys used in the last image (the one with the orange spacebar)? I love the font and colours used

komar — March 21, 2014 at 11:55 pm

These are "Round 3" style keys from Deskthority group buy 4;)

Niko Lepka — March 22, 2014 at 2:12 pm

I take it these can't be bought anymore..

komar — March 23, 2014 at 3:45 pm

They pop up on geekhack and deskthority from time to time. If you're lucky, someone will sell them to you;)

Zed — March 29, 2014 at 5:08 am

How can I get a new GH60? I wanna build a keyboard by myself

komar — March 29, 2014 at 9:14 am

When the final production files are released (soon), you can send the gerbers to a PCB company (for example OSH Park), buy the parts in the BOM file and you're good to go.

bukulin — June 30, 2014 at 7:55 am

Hi!

First of all, thank you for all your job. To be honest, I am a bit confused about the "final production files". Are the rev B is the final one? Will there be a rev C for the fixes? Thank you for the answer in advance.

bukulin

komar — July 2, 2014 at 9:23 pm

Yes, there will be rev. C with a minor fix.

bukulin — July 4, 2014 at 7:23 am

Ok, thank you for the answer. I'm looking forward to see the rev. C version.

MasterControl90 — April 2, 2014 at 9:08 pm

In the future, will be possible again to order this keyboard?

komar — April 3, 2014 at 2:22 pm

Sure! Check geekhack.org from time to time.

Reese — May 19, 2014 at 3:01 pm

Is it possible to have a pads version or can export to pads files?

komar — May 20, 2014 at 7:44 pm

I'm afraid I don't know of a converter from kicad to pads.

Tiramisuu — October 11, 2014 at 2:22 am

Where are the Rev c files posted?

komar — October 14, 2014 at 8:36 pm

They're not posted yet. But will be.

Jay — December 1, 2014 at 2:41 am

Dear Komar,

Don't know what happen, by accidently, my GH 60 lost all all key function. I tried to re-map the key, but somehow it doesn't work. On libusb, there isn't ay device with vid = 16c0 and pid = 047c. All my device are vid= 0xFEED and pid = 0x6060. I tried to choose the device with name " Interface 1 " however when I hit the program on guy.py, the cmd said " Run Time Error: no device found ".

Is there any advice ? Please help me.

Thank you for your time.

Jay

komar — December 10, 2014 at 9:55 pm

The discussion on this problem starts here: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=37570.msg1550676#msg1550676

Jay — December 1, 2014 at 5:45 pm

Dear Komar,

I already got all my key on my GH60 working again by using vitual machine with Win 7 32 bits.

However, now I faced another problem. After click " Programming" button, on cmd said " no backend avaiable " and my GH60 doesn't function as I wish.

Is there a way to overcome this situation? Thank you for your time.

Jay

Nurmukhamed Artykaly — December 31, 2014 at 4:03 am

Hello Komar. may you help to build own gh60 keyboard. i will order pcb-plate at china. and i need to order other parts at digikey.com. do you have list of electronic components for digikey.com???

komar — January 3, 2015 at 9:03 pm

Hi, yes, the list of components is in bom.xls in pcbcart_gh60_rev_b_v2.zip

Nurmukhamed Artykaly — January 6, 2015 at 9:57 am

Hello. thanks for reply. in xls chart i cant find same diodes at digikey.com store. may be you can write other diodes that analogs for used one.

komar — January 6, 2015 at 7:03 pm

Hi, unfortunately, these diodes are not available at digikey. You can substitute them with any 0603 signal diode or try alibaba.com

Nurmukhamed Artykaly — January 9, 2015 at 12:59 pm

Hello. i found this diodes on digikey.com http://www.comchiptech.com/cms/UserFiles/CDSSC4148N-G%20RevA272973.pdf are they compatible and can be used in gh60 keyboard???

komar — January 10, 2015 at 3:18 pm

Hi,

yes, these diodes should be OK. Sorry, I meant 0805 in the previous comment of course.

nlnjnj — January 18, 2015 at 9:43 am

Hi, Komar

Could you tell what open-source license you used for this project?

Thanks, Kyo

komar — February 9, 2015 at 9:42 pm

Hi,

sorry for the long delay. the design is CC BY-SA 3.0, and the firmware code - GPL. Just added the info to the OP.

Best regards,

Michał

vordep — January 27, 2015 at 6:21 pm

Hi

im planing on building a gh60+ghpad on the same case, wich module should we use for the leds.

any plans for the revc files release.??

Thank you

komar — February 9, 2015 at 9:56 pm

Hi,

so far you have to use a 3rd party module if you need backlight, in the future there might be an expansion module for gh60 which will offer independent per-LED backlight, but that will cover only the gh60 board. Backlighting ghpad will require a separate solution.

According to our settlements with geekhack, the rev. C files will be released when the group buy ends, and it has been delayed.

Best regards,

Michał

Sean — April 12, 2015 at 1:12 am

What PCB manufacturer did you go to for the GH60?

ab — September 23, 2015 at 4:51 pm

Yea, I have the same question as sean, where did you get the PCB made? what company? I haven't seen white anywhere, but have wanted to do white for a while! and the matte black on the top is a good look.

komar — September 23, 2015 at 4:55 pm

Hi,

I used PCBCart and liked it.

The white soldermask is indeed rather sleek. Matte black seemed pretty cool at first but after a while I don't like it any more. It's very easily scratched, it catches all the fingerprints and lots of dirt which is then hard to clean because of the slightly rough surface.

ab — September 25, 2015 at 9:20 am

awesome! Thanks for a quick reply! I am looking at there site right now, I think I'm going to go with these guys, 5 prototype boards and comes with a free stencil for $100, i'm sold! did you go with the HASL or the Immersion gold as the finish on the white one?

komar — September 25, 2015 at 7:43 pm

The white board was ENIG, I think. I don't remember now, but that seems the most likely. It does look gold, but the layer is very thin. Still very easy to solder.

The stencil is a new service, I think. I'm curious how good it is. I think they make a reasonable size for like $15, pretty nice.

okuteur — September 30, 2015 at 10:24 pm

Hi Komar, Does the new version, rev.C, will soon released?

I'm interested in buying one.

Br, okuteur

Jeremy — May 11, 2016 at 3:19 am

Hi,

Great work! What software are you using for CAD? The .wrl files are importing well into SolidWorks for me. May I suggest using STEP file? It's more common for 3D modeling.

Thank you!

komar — May 12, 2016 at 8:54 pm

Hi,

I exported the wrl files directly from KiCad. It's good to know they work. If you can convert to step and share, I'll gladly post it here.

Thanks!

z4k — May 21, 2016 at 5:57 am

What is the difference between version B and C version? C version currently have any serious bugs, stable version?

komar — May 21, 2016 at 7:48 pm

Version C has a few improvements, changed logo and 1 bug fixed.

There are no known bugs in version C right now.

z4k — May 22, 2016 at 4:17 am

Thank you for your reply, ready to make a pcb on your design version C, I want to add leds to the pcb board，so which size led is better?

komar — May 25, 2016 at 5:59 pm

z4k,

the cherry mx switches are designed for 3mm LEDs, so I recommend those.

StormBard — July 5, 2016 at 4:29 am

Are the UART pins broken out or used by the matrix?

komar — August 17, 2016 at 6:14 pm

StormBard,

The TxD and RxD pins are used for matrix rows, so they can be used as USART between matrix scans. They are broken out on the right side (top view) of the rev. C PCB as R4 and R3, respectively (labels on the underside).

Best, Michał

Priyadi — July 8, 2016 at 3:42 pm

How about a hole for trackpoint, and all the relevant circuitry for supporting Trackpoint in the next release? Maybe even add 4 M2 screw holes for mounting Trackpoint board directly on the PCB.

komar — August 17, 2016 at 6:04 pm

Priyadi,

I think it's a great idea, provided that I manage to find a decent trackpoint module/sensor and communicating with it is not too much hassle. I'll definitely consider adding trackpoint support in rev. D.

Thanks, Michał

Max Whittingham — July 13, 2016 at 8:57 pm

Have there been any progress towards designing the expansion slot to support either bluetooth or full switch backlighting?

komar — August 17, 2016 at 6:03 pm

Hello Max,

I have a prototype of a backlight module, but I haven't had the time to get it running. As for bluetooth, I guess it's theoretically possible, but I am not planning any support.

Best, Michał

Richard Gomes — November 2, 2016 at 4:36 pm

Everytime a new keyboard appears on Massdrop I have a look and get a bit dissapointed thinking: "Oh... just another keyboard... they are all the same.".

Not very fair, because there's alway something different... but, from a certain specific perspective, they are really all the same.

Which perspective?

The space bar.

All keyboards have a big space bar. I cannot stop asking myself why a 60% keyboard or even a reduced %40 keyboards have a big space bar??? Maybe people are not able to find it if it is smaller????

But, what would be the benefits of a shorter space bar?

Well, you can have one more key on each side, for example.

And why on Earth anyone would require more keys on the bottom row?

Well... Emacs users would love. And people willing to access additional layers would love. And... not by coincidence... I belong to both groups.

For this reason, I'm considering a HHKB Japanese layout. They do have smaller space bars with additional keys on both sides.

But still... I bet that something with such layout would be a winner and something definitely distinct from the ocean of lots of keyboards looking all just the same.

Thanks

komar — November 23, 2016 at 9:02 pm

I've seen a couple of such keyboards, but never considered them something I'd like to have myself. Maybe it's worth to check the options out someday. You're right that the extra keys would sometimes be useful, especially on a 60% or 40%. Certainly as one of the layout options. One thing though, on a keyboard like this there must be some space for the controller and below the long space is the perfect place. If that place is taken by tightly crammed switches, integrating the controller gets a lot harder...

Thanks for your input, Michał

aizigao — February 17, 2017 at 3:12 am

Great project, I can't wait for new GH60 with trackpoint, :

Rahul Gaindwal — September 3, 2017 at 4:15 pm

Hey! I love this guide and I'm just getting started (so a noob, obviously) My question is that I can't find Atmega32u4-au. Is there any alternate IC that I can substitute it with? I found all the other parts needed.

This is an awesome PCB btw! Yay!

Thanks 🙂

Nurmukhamed Artykaly — September 19, 2017 at 3:08 pm

Hello dear Komar

i've build two keyboard, and i found that one of them simultancy reset computer. i changed to other usb-keyboard (genius), so now my computer not reset anymore.

how to check/test keyboard to find why keyboard reset computer?

Nurmukhamed — November 18, 2017 at 12:26 pm

so i have some problem with my two keyboards, for week when i plug to computer, windows appear error usb descriptor failed. is anybody know how solve this problem?

XiaoMing — February 2, 2019 at 10:24 am

Hey!

I am a student.I love this Pro. Can i use Atemga32 pin 8 and pin 42 to rebuild a 84% keyboard ?

Anything will better for me!

Thanks!

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