Where from? Ive seen people mention the Pimoroni one but thats it.
1 Like
Pop out the black surround (two clips under the circuit board) and voila, a standard mech with improved ball to drop straight into your Uconsole. Note the mechs have two pins that locate in holes in the keyboard pcb. There seems no advantage which way round.
2 Likes
Update… ‘Pimoroni trackball breakout’ mech and ball lasted 2 weeks before needing a 5 second IPA clean (in situ).
Just tried a 5.5mm black nitrile rubber ball (in standard AliExpress mech). Too big so trying 5.0mm soon (probably slightly too small/soft). Various steel and brass balls soon too (light sanded)…
2 Likes
Even when I had a Blackberry phone I had to clean the trackball regularly with alcohol. I didn’t expect the uConsole to be any different. I just keep a few of those single use alcohol wipes with my uConsole stuff, and as needed I roll the ball around with the wipe for several minutes. I used to keep two wipes in my Blackberry case and do the same thing.
The only difference between the Blackberry and uConsole is the amount of time between wiping. The BB was about every month, the uConsole is about every two weeks.
2 Likes
Hey you say you have a first aid kit could you provide a list of everything in it. No problem if you cant im just curious of what I should bring with my uconsole.
screen protector, point #9: GitHub - cjstoddard/Clockworkpi-uConsole: 10 things to do after you get your ClockworkPi uConsole · GitHub
and you can check this post: Just received my uConsole, now what? A list of links of interest
It’s a literal, medical first aid kit, and I replace materials as I see fit depending on what I expect to be doing. Here are the contents in case you’re still interested:
- 70% isopropyl alcohol prep pads (usually something like 20)
- gauze
- wraps
- povidone iodine
- fishing line and hooks (unopened, thankfully)
- Band-Aids for small cuts
- Neosporin, one tube with acetaminophen and one without
- small pill bottles of ibuprofen, acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine
- Narcan-brand naloxone, expired since I don’t know any organization that gives it out here anymore
It all goes in nested plastic Zip-Lock bags for some semblance of waterproofing.
For computers and electronics I have a “multipliers” tool (multitool in the form factor of pliers) I found in some parking lot and the proper hex Allen wrench I purchased on Amazon. Sometimes if going over to a friend’s for a day or longer I’ll bring scissors and 3mm width kapton too, but not so often lately since I’ve performed the hyperlinked mod on many of the keys already.
Just a +1 on the Pimoroni trackball solution. I just received mine from PiShop today (it had been out of stock) and installed. The difference is night and day. Navigating the UI on my uConsole was unusable with the stock trackball, but now it works flawlessly. Thank you for the suggestion!
Not sure if anyone else has tried this, but the original trackball unit for the BlackBerry 8100/8300, etc. works perfectly alongside the QMK firmware. Been running it for the last few months without any degradation and the feel is great.
Snagged a couple units from eBay for around $12 that included a silver bezel which isn’t needed for the uConsole. Be sure to purchase the units with the WHITE ball, as there are other color options which may or may not perform as well as the original white version.