Keyboard: done...done enough...not pretty but it works.

I got a great set of keys from All Electronics.  Small DPDT push on push off  switches ($.25 each).  I popped all but one of them open and removed a piece of wire, now they are momentary. They were smaller than I expected, so I decided to keep the keyboard as one piece, and add the mouse to the outside edge. I toyed with the idea of actually fabricating a pc board, but after looking at it, I knew it would take longer to build and populate a pc board than just wire it together...I could send my schematic in to be fabricated, but that would cost about $80 and wouldn't look any different once it was mounted. I haven't decided how I will mount the finished product, but I want it to go between the CB radio and center console, angling downward to the front...so I have room to shift ;). I will need to find (or make) some caps for the keys...or just label the area next to the keys...probably the second choice. Last note, it works great, and because it is just wired up I can always change it or add switches (I bought some extras...)

The layout, the gray wires at the top are from the keyboard controller...I like things organized if not neat.

The keyboard controller is at the left, a regular set of Leatherman Pliers is at the right for a size comparison.

Point to point soldering is not for the faint of heart;). Actually it was quite easy, because I spent the time beforehand making a clean schematic, and labeling everything. It did take some time, a few hours to draw the schematic on the perfboard, in reverse...I took about three or four days to solder it up - a few connections at a time. Patience payed off, when I plugged it in, two wires were reversed, and three points weren't connected, easy to find and fix.  (three keys of the bunch didn't work)

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