Keyboard Adapter |
Keyboard Adapter |
Jan 12 2003, 04:38 PM
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#1
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Antarctica Traffic Control Group: Dark Templar Posts: 1823 Joined: 10-December 02 Member No.: 1 |
Info taken from PSO World with permission from Layrinn.
"Hey, I thought I would bring this to your attention. With the help of a friend, I have developed a fully functional PC keyboard adapter for use with GC PSO. I have posted further details in the Keyboard Information thread in the general forum. My partener and I have an informative web site in the works. You can view what we have so far here: http://www.pantsofevilgamers.com/kb/ Please feel free to contact us through our web site if you have any questions or comments. Sincerely, Eric Konizer - Layrinn " |
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Jan 12 2003, 06:02 PM
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#2
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Grand Armor Group: Associates Posts: 534 Joined: 12-January 03 Member No.: 15 |
Heya, everyone... here's a little more info for ya.
Right now, the project is in a testing phase. I have sent about a dozen devices to my friends in order for them to help me thoroughly test it. I'd like to give them a week or two to really put it through the wringer and make sure the design is solid. In the mean time, my partner and I will be working hard to come up with a distribution scheme. We've been contacted by a few people willing to lend their assistance, but right now a do-it-yourself kit seems to be the most likely solution. Each adapter takes me well over an hour to build, and that's with lots of practice! Since Adam and I both have very busy lives apart from this project, it is not feasible for us to produce any kind of significant quantity. Don't hold me to this, but right now I think we would be selling DIY kits for about $20 each plus shipping. Each one would contain all the component needed to make an adapter, including the pre-programmed PIC microcontroller. The kits would require basic soldering skills and a few simple hand tools to assemble; it should take an amateur 2 - 3 hours to complete. We would also try to offer fully completed adapters for a higher price, but right now we have no estimate on that cost. Our primary goals are to reach as many players as possible and to keep the cost as reasonable as we can. Keep watching our web page as we will be constantly updating it as our project moves forward. |
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Jan 12 2003, 07:28 PM
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#3
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OpSec Group: Dark Templar Posts: 1324 Joined: 13-December 02 From: Roseburg, OR Member No.: 2 |
hey there, first of all, allow me to bid you welcome to the AT Forums.
second thanks for the first hand information about your incredible project. hats off to you for taking things into your own hands and comming up with something invaluable to the PSO community. i will be following your proggress carefully and will most likely invest in one of your kits. thanks again! -Sav/Grenade |
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Jan 13 2003, 11:17 PM
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#4
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Grand Armor Group: Associates Posts: 534 Joined: 12-January 03 Member No.: 15 |
Here's an update from Adam and myself:
Greetings all, First off, I want to thank all of you on behalf of the two of us for your amazing response. In just about 48 hours, we have received over 140 emails about the project. We knew that word would travel quickly, but it's still amazing that so many people from around the world play PSO and have the same problem we did. Because a lot of you asked specific questions, mostly about pricing and availability, I will be doing a huge update to the FAQ on our webpage. I am also planning on implementing a news page so that people can see both progress on the project and when major page updates occur. This should happen by late Weds. or early Thurs. of this week. That will save me some of the trouble of trying to keep up with the swelling email list, and also make info more quickly available to you. Those of you who have expressed interest in building kits, doing web work, etc. will be contacted directly to discuss options. I know the big questions are when and how much? Right now, we have about a dozen units shipping to testers around the country that should be arriving late this week. After the testers run them through the gauntlet, we will enter the kit assembly phase. At this point, it seems likely that we will have some sort of ordering plan in place by the end of the month, hopefully (but no promises) sooner. We're looking at about $25 US maximum per kit, with shipping via USPS priority mail for $6 US; this will cover shipping within the United States. Orders outside of the US will be dealt with on a case by case basis to determine the most cost-effective way to get the product to you. Our plan is to accept payment through PayPal once the ordering is available. DO NOT SEND ANY MONEY BEFORE THE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT THE KITS ARE AVAILABLE! It will *not* guarantee you an adapter and will give us a giant, giant headache. We need to get our ordering and distribution lined up before anything else gets going. Trust me, we want to get this to you as soon as we can. The kit does require basic soldering skills, screwdriving skills and the ability to strip the insulation off of wires. It will also help you a great deal to if you can read English. It should take the average person about 2.5 hours at the most to build one. We cannot sell a completely assembled unit because frankly, we don't have the time to make them. Eric is a full-time student at Virginia Tech, and I work full-time and have a family. Luckily, a good number of people have stepped up to offer their services for assembly. We will likely allow anyone who wants to sell an assembled kit to do so, as we will only be offering the kit. Hopefully, this will allow people to get the kit in the form they want it. You guys have really reminded us why we started this project, and any work we can do to further support for the PSO community is worthwhile to us. I will send an announcement to this list when the new FAQ and news page are ready. Again, we humbly thank you for your enthusiasm and look forward to providing a solution to you to help you further enjoy your PSO experience. -Adam Cook Woo! That's m'boy! I doubt any of you know Adam since he doesn't post here... but I just want to say that I couldn't be doing this without his help. For all of my technical efforts, he has matched me every step of the way with PR, organizational, administrative, and moral support. I couldn't ask for a better partner or a truer friend right now. By the way, Tuesday is his birthday, so wish him a happy one. The only thing I'd like to add to his statement is to stress that we are trying to make arrangements with interested individuals to make a finished adapter available through them. What that means is if you want to build it yourself and save a little money, we'll sell you a kit for as cheap as we can. (and still stay in the black, of course ) If you're not a technically-inclined type, we will hopefully be able to offer a completed kit for a little extra money. We are still working on the details, so I can't really say how much more it would be... But we do intend to reach as many PSO players as we can, and we're not going to leave anyone out of the loop just 'cause they can't solder. Thanks again, everyone, for your wonderful support. YOU are the reason we're doing this. _________________ 'Rinn |
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Jan 14 2003, 07:35 AM
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#5
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Holding these random memories Group: Magister Posts: 3465 Joined: 14-December 02 From: Utah Member No.: 8 |
Congrats on all the interest your adapter has created. You guys will probably be elevated to PSO gods now or something
And happy berfday to your bud Adam too! -------------------- |
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Jan 14 2003, 09:18 AM
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#6
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Antarctica Traffic Control Group: Dark Templar Posts: 1823 Joined: 10-December 02 Member No.: 1 |
Hey we really appreciate you taking the time to give us the details on the kits and keeping us informed. I know that this will be a huge success and I think I speak for everyone in saying thank you once again.
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Jan 15 2003, 08:59 AM
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#7
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Antarctica Traffic Control Group: Dark Templar Posts: 1823 Joined: 10-December 02 Member No.: 1 |
Well we received our test adapter yesterday and it has worked great so far. At the moment I only have 2 ps/2 keyboards to test it on and the only problem I have had is a key sticking on occasion, but it's easily fixed by hitting the key once more.
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Jan 15 2003, 04:37 PM
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#8
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Grand Armor Group: Associates Posts: 534 Joined: 12-January 03 Member No.: 15 |
Glad to hear it, Dive. The sticky key problem is rearing it's ugly head more often than I'd like. I only had that problem with one of the eight or so different keyboards I tried here at home. But it seems like everyone else is getting nailed on the first model they try! And for some folks, the problem has been pretty severe. I would like to arrange a time for all of the testers to meet up in a lobby some time this weekend so we can discuss how things are going. Please let me know when you and Bryn could make it.
And don't forget! Please write down the model number of each keyboard you test out and your observations of its performance and send the info my way! Thanks again for helping me out with this project. See you all soon! |
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