When I first joined the Mech Keys community, I really wanted to try out an ortholinear board. But the prices were just too expensive! It was $70 for an item I wasn't sure I would like.
This is my solution to that problem - the Ortho75.
The Ortho75 is a 15x5 ortholinear keyboard kit, similar to other offerings. It has almost everything you need to build out a keyboard- just add switches and keycaps!
The board also supports RGB underglow, per-key LED backlighting with south facing LEDs, and is powered by an STM32 Blue Pill board running QMK. It is fully programmable with QMK, and can be flashed with dfu-util.
The Ortho75 kit comes with:
- 1 Ortho75 PCB
- 1 Ortho75 Plate Set (top and bottom)
- 1 STM32 based Blue Pill
- 75 diodes
- 75resistors
- 1 USB Mini Port
- 1 MOSFET
- 1 Resistor for MOSFET
- 1 Right angle reset switch
- 24 M2 screws
- 12 15mm M2 standoffs
Note: As of May 2020, this kit no longer includes the USBLC6-4SC6 ESD protection chip, as most customers did not use it. You can source it at DigiKey, Mouser, or any other local electronics suppliers.
The Ortho75 has 19.05mm spacing, and is compatible with any cases that support it, such as the XD75 case from KPRepublic.
You will need some tools to put the kit together. There is a full build guide available on our documentation site.