What's happening over at Amiga On The Lake? (AOTL)

[attic636]

@qzd3fwd / Well, then the difference to AOTL is, that you can "pre-order" the RastPort KA59 keyboard from Amiga-Shop (Alinea), which means you contact Alinea by e-mail and have yourself put on a waiting list with your desired version. This it what I did. You do not have to pay anything in advance to the shop. Just a painless chance to once get a sturdy MX A1200 keyboard. (hopefully during my lifetime)

... however, if RastPort does not take/get any money in advance from pre-orders/waiting lists, I wonder how they pay their suppliers for keyboard parts. Seems to be a business secret.

Onto existing keycaps:
The MX-style keycaps suggested by Aeberbach in this thread look well done, but US layout only, thus not an option when European versions are needed - in my case the German layout.

 

[Aeberbach]

I have not seen a KA59 in person but it looks like a great product, I would not discourage anyone from buying one.

However I now have in my hands a set of A600 keys from @steveed and they are excellent; I have just submitted a new design for A600 to a PCB manufacturer and it will be available soon. He has sent me an A1200 set too, and when they arrive I will get onto the new A1200 keyboard design. With these there is the possibility of using a laser-cut metal top plate meaning a better feel, better mounting options and more space under the keyboard for your accelerators. Depending on interest it may be possible to do a larger group order for either or both. Quantity is the important thing in bringing the price of the laser-cut plates down.

(Now I just need to find an A600 main board for testing. I have a case and I am not changing the schematic of the old design apart from some LED enhancement, but I can’t call it finished until fully tested!)

 

[steveed]

There is no reason we can't get other languages ordered or language add-ons. I am willing to give it a try, if someone can provide me with a high resolution image of another Amiga keyboard layout they want I can get pricing.

I can create a modified version of the one I have for the A1200 (it's based on Aeberbach's original layout, just modified a bit for the US) or someone can make there own and let me know.

Keyboard Layout Editor

Prices are cheaper the more you order. The cheapest way (still expensive) would be to order a full set instead of an add-on, but then you would need to order a minimum of 25 sets.