4 ms·

Ultimate hacking keyboard has modules that include a track point, touchpad or a trackball. I’ve been eyeing it for a while: https://uhk.io/ https://uhk.io/ Kan

by tra3 5mo ago

Ultimate hacking keyboard has modules that include a track point, touchpad or a trackball. I’ve been eyeing it for a while: https://uhk.io/ https://uhk.io/ Kanata has mouse emulation so you can drive a mouse using arrow keys: https://github.com/jtroo/kanata/blob/main/docs/config.adoc#mouse-actions https://github.com/jtroo/kanata/blob/main/docs/config.adoc#m...

nine_k 5mo ago
Any keyboard can drive the mouse pointer. But trackpoint is an acceptable drawing device, while a keyboard is sadly not.
Zetaphor 5mo ago
The UHK also supports mouse keys. I own both the 60v2 and the newer UHK 80 (I was a beta tester), these keyboards are my final destination. The only reason I would consider a change is if they released an ortholinear layout.
- tra3 5mo ago
  Yes, of course. I’ve accidentally fallen down the split keyboard rabbit hole and now I can’t get out. UHK seems like it’s got everything that I might ever need but I’m going to stick with my Aliexpress Corne for a bit longer before I take the plunge.
  - TightFibre 5mo ago
    I have a tented split scissor switch that is quite wide, and it still annoys my shoulder with the inward pivot. Plus I seem to do reasonably well two fingering a smart phone so, well, what is the point? We can put a SOC in an interface with reasonable speed these days. I would love to see a radical departure. A glove interface surely could be better?
  - 1dom 5mo ago
    I went the opposite way: I started with UHK, then went for a ZSA moonlander, but settled on a kbdcraft Israfel, which is a relatively cheap, split ortholinear. I felt most of the extra functionality and polish that I guess makes up the massive costs of UHK and ZSA wasn't actually necessary. It was cool and fun and useful to try a bunch of different stuff, but then over time, I wanted things to be simple and small which UHK and ZSA Moonlander aren't (ZSA voyager wasn't at the time). All I'm saying is if you've got comfortable with a cheap Corne, I think you might feel underwhelmed if you spend a lot on something a lot fancier.
delusional 5mo ago
There's an Israeli guy selling some sick mouse enabled splits too https://holykeebs.com/collections/keyboards https://holykeebs.com/collections/keyboards. I have a crkbd with a trackpoint from him and love it. Beekeep has a version too that I'm waiting to take delivery of https://shop.beekeeb.com/products/toucan-wireless-piantor-wireless-split-keyboard-with-touchpad https://shop.beekeeb.com/products/toucan-wireless-piantor-wi... It was however stuck in customs for quite a while, but I guess that's what I get for ordering custom electronics from Israel right after those pagers blew up.
jcgl 5mo ago
I originally bought the touchpad for my UHK. But, much to my surprise, I have gravitated towards the keyboard's built-in mouse layer over time! Now I scarcely plug in the touchpad (or even key cluster) modules at all. As a sidenote, I love my UHK. Just a joy to use, and it's so easy to customize. I don't have any experience with competitors like the ZSA Voyager, but the UHK's configuration software and macro language do make it quite pleasant to bend to your will. For instance, I do some funky stuff with macros and lighting here: https://www.cgl.sh/blog/posts/wnl.html https://www.cgl.sh/blog/posts/wnl.html
- 1dom 5mo ago
  I had a UHK for a few months before refunding it because the shielding wasn't good enough to stop it becoming unreliable when my mobile phone was within about 30cm of my keyboard. I contacted support and the solution was to move the phone away from the keyboard, which is kind of irritating for such an expensive piece of kit. But, just wanted to share that I was similarly surprised to land on mouse keys as a preference. I tried most of the UHK modules which were also pretty good and have since tried various other trackballs and pads, but since trying UHK mouse keys, they're what I keep coming back to most, even since switching to new keyboards. One issue I have with mouse keys is fear of using them in front of others though: every so often, if I need to click something particularly small and don't have a keyboard shortcut memorised (vscode panel resizing is one) it can sometimes take me a fair few embarrassing seconds drawing small squares around my target before I resort to actual mouse hardware. For the amount of time and thought and effort people have put into alternative mice, I feel mouse keys are massively overlooked and probably have a lot of room for software/firmware innovation without hardware costs.
  - tra3 5mo ago
    You bring up a good point -- I have the same issue with mouse keys. I wonder how the track point gets around this. Is the tracepoint "progressive" in that it allows various speeds depends on deflection from center?
    - 1dom 5mo ago

by tra3 5mo ago

nine_k 5mo ago

Any keyboard can drive the mouse pointer. But trackpoint is an acceptable drawing device, while a keyboard is sadly not.

Zetaphor 5mo ago

The UHK also supports mouse keys. I own both the 60v2 and the newer UHK 80 (I was a beta tester), these keyboards are my final destination. The only reason I would consider a change is if they released an ortholinear layout.

tra3 5mo ago
Yes, of course. I’ve accidentally fallen down the split keyboard rabbit hole and now I can’t get out. UHK seems like it’s got everything that I might ever need but I’m going to stick with my Aliexpress Corne for a bit longer before I take the plunge.
- TightFibre 5mo ago
  I have a tented split scissor switch that is quite wide, and it still annoys my shoulder with the inward pivot. Plus I seem to do reasonably well two fingering a smart phone so, well, what is the point? We can put a SOC in an interface with reasonable speed these days. I would love to see a radical departure. A glove interface surely could be better?
- 1dom 5mo ago
  I went the opposite way: I started with UHK, then went for a ZSA moonlander, but settled on a kbdcraft Israfel, which is a relatively cheap, split ortholinear. I felt most of the extra functionality and polish that I guess makes up the massive costs of UHK and ZSA wasn't actually necessary. It was cool and fun and useful to try a bunch of different stuff, but then over time, I wanted things to be simple and small which UHK and ZSA Moonlander aren't (ZSA voyager wasn't at the time). All I'm saying is if you've got comfortable with a cheap Corne, I think you might feel underwhelmed if you spend a lot on something a lot fancier.

delusional 5mo ago

There's an Israeli guy selling some sick mouse enabled splits too https://holykeebs.com/collections/keyboards https://holykeebs.com/collections/keyboards. I have a crkbd with a trackpoint from him and love it. Beekeep has a version too that I'm waiting to take delivery of https://shop.beekeeb.com/products/toucan-wireless-piantor-wireless-split-keyboard-with-touchpad https://shop.beekeeb.com/products/toucan-wireless-piantor-wi... It was however stuck in customs for quite a while, but I guess that's what I get for ordering custom electronics from Israel right after those pagers blew up.

jcgl 5mo ago

I originally bought the touchpad for my UHK. But, much to my surprise, I have gravitated towards the keyboard's built-in mouse layer over time! Now I scarcely plug in the touchpad (or even key cluster) modules at all. As a sidenote, I love my UHK. Just a joy to use, and it's so easy to customize. I don't have any experience with competitors like the ZSA Voyager, but the UHK's configuration software and macro language do make it quite pleasant to bend to your will. For instance, I do some funky stuff with macros and lighting here: https://www.cgl.sh/blog/posts/wnl.html https://www.cgl.sh/blog/posts/wnl.html

1dom 5mo ago
I had a UHK for a few months before refunding it because the shielding wasn't good enough to stop it becoming unreliable when my mobile phone was within about 30cm of my keyboard. I contacted support and the solution was to move the phone away from the keyboard, which is kind of irritating for such an expensive piece of kit. But, just wanted to share that I was similarly surprised to land on mouse keys as a preference. I tried most of the UHK modules which were also pretty good and have since tried various other trackballs and pads, but since trying UHK mouse keys, they're what I keep coming back to most, even since switching to new keyboards. One issue I have with mouse keys is fear of using them in front of others though: every so often, if I need to click something particularly small and don't have a keyboard shortcut memorised (vscode panel resizing is one) it can sometimes take me a fair few embarrassing seconds drawing small squares around my target before I resort to actual mouse hardware. For the amount of time and thought and effort people have put into alternative mice, I feel mouse keys are massively overlooked and probably have a lot of room for software/firmware innovation without hardware costs.
- tra3 5mo ago
  You bring up a good point -- I have the same issue with mouse keys. I wonder how the track point gets around this. Is the tracepoint "progressive" in that it allows various speeds depends on deflection from center?
  - 1dom 5mo ago