CF19 keyboard project

This is a teaser. IF OOPS ever finds my roll of black mylar tape, I will finish the mod and post it.
Just to add to the OOPS fiasco, they lost it in the distribution center that is less than 10 miles from my home.

Here is a photo of the lighting from a rubber keyboard.
It is lighted by 4 LED's on a FPC.

There is no waterproofing of the LED's themselves..



I started the investigation 2 days ago and have not heard back yet...

 

Who's on first? What's on second?

Hey Moe!

Sheesh....

 

Some photos of my first attempt......
The backlight is not perfectly even, but it's not as bad as it seems in the photos. Probably not ready to be on a CF19 you are trying to sell for top dollar. For personal use though, It's OK.

I will have to get out my real camera and get a more accurate photo.
Thanks to 2 members who donated damaged rubber keyboards.
I have less than $50.00 invested not including rolls of tape.
This is not a mod for the timid...It takes lots of patience and a gentle touch. Keyboards are fragile.

 

Does everything fit flat? Looks like the rubber keyboards are really well glued together?
Pains in the proverbial places to get them apart?!

 

Looks like it turned out good, good job.

 

Thanks guys.

Yes it fits flat..
The rubber keyboards are easy to get apart....The other ones are difficult to disassemble without damage. Removing the old adhesive is time consuming detail work..

 

I would think running an X-Acto blade around the edge would help greatly! Maybe not remove... Just split it?

 

Yes the Xacto splits things nicely.
But imagine that super sticky tape they use to hold down keyboards? Now figure a sheet of it covering the entire keyboard. That's what holds some of the layers together. Once you separate it, then you need to remove the leftover adhesive.

 

what do you remove it with, the sticky layer, mechanical or solvent?
Mechanical gives a lot of force, one drop of acetone/solvent and you could also do a lot of damage!

 

Top secret...

First round was gentle controlled heat then peel away the layer as much as possible.
Second round was my fingers and a small plastic tool designed for separating cell phone cases..

 

Shawn... I know that pictures can be deceiving... How do you like the lighted keys? Are they more evenly spread in person? (Similar to a CF-30) The picture you posted shows most of the light in the center... Are all the keys illuminated in the dark?

 

In photographic terms, they are center weighted some...
All the keys are lighted, but not as even as a CF30. or CF52 It's not as bad as the photo shows, but not as good as an original keyboard.
But I take into consideration that $45.00 is a lot less than $272.00 for the real deal..
I don't think it's perfected enough to be sold on a unit that you're asking top dollar for....But it is good enough for me or someone to use on their personal CF19.

I am going to try one more keyboard...That's why I wanted a couple broken CF30 emissives..I want to see what Panasonic does differently on an emissive vs a rubber keyboard..I can't afford to do any more than one more.

I thought about a EL panel....I wanted to try and avoid the power converter and case modifications needed for a EL panel. An EL panel would give even light. I'm not sure how bright they are though. This first attempt is still plug and play with any CF18 or CF19.

I spent a lot of time trying to even them out better without losing most of the light..I could not find a diffusion filter that worked perfectly. As I look at it now...Maybe I could have tried a white filter just in the center of the keyboard.....It's taped together with 3M VHB tape. I'm not sure I can get this one back apart if I wanted to.

 

Here's a photo using a Nikon D80 with a 55mm F1.8 lens and no flash...It's a better representation but still not exact...It's was difficult to get a photo of a white on black keyboard. and get accurate lighting.. The color temperature is off in photo.

 

Maybe use the backpanel from an old LCD-Display (upgraded with LED)

 

Do you mean one of the semi clear diffuser panels?

 

Yes, there u can add a small stripe of LEDs or if u want to go really cheap put only 1 LED on every side and ur done. It would be an advantage, if u glue some aluminium foil on the bottom of the panel.
This panels are are also used on cheap photo frames with 5V LED-backlight....

 

I disassembled a Cf30 emissive keyboard today.
I was surprised to find the lighting is exactly the same as a rubber keyboard. 4 leds in the center.
I already have a diffuser in my CF19 keyboard.
I will have to try some aluminum foil under the lighting panel. If that is not satisfactory, I may have to add an led on each side.

Other than lacking the silver metal under the lighting panel, my setup is the same as the factory one. I am puzzled by the light and dark spots on my keyboard.
Maybe the aluminum foil is the answer. It will surprise me if it solves the problem.

I am preparing for a second attempt at a backlit keyboard for my CF19. I don't want to keep taking this one apart. They are too fragile.

 

My 19 emissive has quite a bit of bright and darker areas. Not nearly as even as full size emissives on 30, 31, 53 etc. May be something about the size or fit of the smaller keys.

 

Ken,
That is really interesting news. It would be great if you could post a photo of the keyboard in the dark...
Maybe I did not do as bad a job as I thought I did.

 

Now that is something I never noticed but I have only used it a few times at night. I will check it out later.

 

Shaun, it may be way off in left field but possibly build a test rig you can take apart easily ( non functional keyboard ) more of an experiment idea here. I have seen a few micro photographers use an LED and a few strands of that very cheap plastic fibre optic thread from a light to act as a backlight to cover a wider area. would it be worth putting a few strands next to those leds and then having them run underneath in conjunction with a reflector?

just my dumb idea of the day.

 

Here you go Shawn, just got it installed in my new 19MK5

 

Not a dumb idea. Panasonic already does this sort of. The 4 LEDs are aimed sideways. They sit inside a 1/16 inch thick sheet of clear plastic that transmits the light across the rear of the keyboard.

I did test the keyboard many times before I taped it together. I knew it was less than perfect, but I hoped once it was fully assembled the lighting would improve. I will test the second attempt many MORE times before I tape it.

The lighting is not even at all. It is not as pronounced as mine is, but it is uneven. If I can tame the center hot spot some, I will have an acceptable clone.

My project continues.

 

Anyone have a busted LCD to send me? I am running out of diffuser panel pieces..Prefer 15 inch or larger..

 

At the villa in Bahrain, I think I have some saved in the parts box. I will let you know when I get state side again some time on the 9th.

 

Thanks Paul.

 

I never really noticed it before but the left side has less light.

 

Well,
I completed #2..
It is an improvement over #1. Neither one is that bad.
#2 is as close to the original as I can get without major reconstruction. I used a different diffuser and used aluminum tape as a final reflector.
I used the flexible deflector/key contacts sheet from the rubber keyboard. It tamed the center hotspot enough to make it acceptable.
It is not as even lighting as a CF30 keyboard, but neither are the $275.00 ones from Panasonic.


Shawn

 

Here are the photos from my second keyboard. I did not take any of it lit up yet.

Here is the original deflector sheet from the rubber keyboard. I trimmed the connector off.







The aluminum tape on the finished product.

 

Sent you a pm Shawn of some of the parts I dug up today in the shed. Also got two dead screens if you need me to strip anything out them.

Parted out a Motion Computing M1400 today (digitizer size that looks like it will fit a CF-29/30. Haven't tried it yet) Kept the screen, digitizer, wifi, ram and screws)

Also parted out to Mk1/2 CF-73's. Found some cool looking speakers. They are flat and under the screens lid, never seen any like them before. May try to figure out the wiring on the chip next to them and try them in another project. And when I say flat, they are credit card flat. https://www.flickr.com/photos/safjist_nipnog/15140022037/

 

Yes the speakers on a CF73 are interesting............

Motion Computing M1400 ...screen is 12.1".............. CF29, CF30 is 13.3"....No joy according to the specs.....
I was excited for a minute.....Drat!

 

Crap, I knew it looked close.

On the speakers I messed up one getting it out, they are glued in GOOD. There is board going to them, not sure if it's some kind of booster or not. They have a small airgap between the outer cover and speaker on the lid. I will see how much I can get out of that one I have left to see if they are worth anything.