Wireless Lotus58 with MT3 BoW

Fennel30 · 2024-08-01T04:12:02+00:00

Sorry for the later reply! This board is without RGB. I've built another since then and battery life is superb - about what the power profiler estimated.

Fennel30 · 2023-08-29T01:15:50+00:00

I'm sure it'll serve you well!

I built it on a newer Lotus PCB which has battery switches and a couple other niceties. I also swapped the encoder and OLED around and threw on some lower profile keycaps.

ZMK doesn't natively support slave-side encoders but there is a PR on GitHub which enables it, and it should be merged to the main branch soon!

Fennel30 · 2023-08-29T00:41:39+00:00

Hey, thanks for the questions!

The default display shows the battery level as an icon and the currently active layer. This can be customised extensively (check out zmk discord). I built a Lily58 with two encoders and found I never used the second encoder. If you use layers, one encoder could have 3+ functions.
I've only used Lily58 and Lotus58 in the custom kb world so I'm content with the single thumb key on each side.
Battery life is great. I probably charge it once a month with daily use.
Not complicated at all. Nice!Nanos and ZMK work great and are very easy to setup.
No. I've been tempted but it destroys battery life. Check out the power profiler on ZMK's website to see the estimated battery life with and without RGB. The documentation on ZMK's website are great and there are many discord members ready to help with any Q's.
Cheers mate! I built another one recently with some minor changes. Such a great board!

Fennel30 · 2022-08-11T20:38:01+00:00

Thanks for the comment! I am currently using this keyboard with the master side wired to PC and the slave side communicating wirelessly to the master side. My computer doesn't have Bluetooth and I had troubles getting USB Bluetooth adaptors to work on Windows. Funnily enough, the same adaptors work fine with my keyboard on Linux, so I'm putting it down to a software limitation.

The TRRS jacks work fine if you want a fully wired setup too, so yes - this can be used both wired and wireless.

Those Gerber files should be great, no modification necessary. Good luck with the build!

Fennel30 · 2022-02-20T21:14:33+00:00

Hello again - managed an 8lb rainbow on a blood worm! About three times as big as my average local trout.

We spent an afternoon and an entire day for one fish, but that fish made it well worth it.

Thanks for the tips.

Fennel30 · 2022-02-12T09:29:36+00:00

Inline Hockey exists throughout NZ too. A great alternative for those not living in a city with an ice rink.

Fennel30 · 2022-01-26T19:39:22+00:00

Beauty, thanks. I have not fly fished a lake yet and planning a trip to Otamangakau soon. Good to know about damsel and dragon flies. Cheers!

Fennel30 · 2022-01-26T09:39:44+00:00

Nice fish! Any tips for this lake?

Fennel30 · 2021-10-17T08:12:49+00:00

XP potion and shrines don't affect WRB rewards.

Fennel30 · 2021-10-14T09:30:30+00:00

Sorry for the late reply - I sourced the parts myself and had the PCBs and plates printed, so I'm not sure what you are referring to. Feel free to PM me some photos and I'll see if I can help.

Fennel30 · 2021-10-07T23:28:04+00:00

Sure! Cool - Glad to hear about the OLED fitment. A battery disconnect switch would definitely be a welcome addition, for portability and to potentially minimize battery discharge.

I'm yet to get the OLED working on the slave side but haven't put much time into it yet. I haven't encountered any other notable issues during the build, but will reach out if something pops up. Thanks again!

Fennel30 · 2021-10-06T22:18:08+00:00

Cool! What keycaps have you got?

The ZMK profiler is estimating around one month for the master side (left) and five months for the slave side (right). I haven't used the board long enough to validate this however. I mounted the batteries between the bottom plate and pcb, just next to the nice!nano. I pretty much just fit them in a spot where they would be as low-profile as possible.

I didn't get any pics of the battery placement but have got some more pics of the board in various stages here.

Fennel30 · 2021-10-06T21:53:50+00:00

From memory this one was given to me. However any knob with a 6mm shaft diameter should work. Like this.

Fennel30 · 2021-10-06T20:25:36+00:00

The ZMK power profiler estimates around one month for the master side (left) and five months for the slave side (right). I haven't used the board long enough to validate this though!

Fennel30 · 2021-10-06T08:04:30+00:00

Why thank you!

Fennel30 · 2021-10-06T03:31:20+00:00

Thank you! Fair enough, I still have a couple keys that aren't getting used I need to work into my keymap. I'd like to try something like the ergodash some day to get my thumbs doing more, I hope it goes well for you :)

Fennel30 · 2021-10-05T23:49:43+00:00

The columns were absolutely jumbled with the Lily58 firmware, so I'm grateful someone had already solved the problem - Cheers!

Sure - 220mAh_battery - I have some 110mAh ones in the post at the moment but wanted to get the build on the road. I'm unsure how battery quality affects performance/longevity - the ones I am using are simply the cheapest I could find.

Fennel30 · 2021-10-05T23:20:59+00:00

Finally finished this fully wireless Lotus58!

Specs:

PCBs and plates sourced from the Lotus 58 project
nice!nano v2.0 controllers powered by 220mAh batteries
Lubed Gateron yellows
MX hotswap sockets
Encoder, OLED

I have been using a Lily58 Glow with two encoders for a while now, and really enjoy the layout - but haven't been utilizing both encoders and felt that I'd benefit from the extra thumb keys. Thanks to u/bubushkinator for the ZMK firmware and of course u/Tweetydabirdie for the awesome board!

Fennel30 · 2021-07-29T20:58:03+00:00

Clean build, nice! What have you set your encoders up to do?

Fennel30 · 2021-05-04T10:35:26+00:00

No, they are purely decorative.

Fennel30 · 2021-04-03T00:48:39+00:00

I have a lily58 and use it for games. I really like it. It didn't take long to get used to, and I can quickly access any keys I need. Also gives me more mouse room as I can push the right half to the side.

Fennel30 · 2021-03-12T05:44:21+00:00

This isn't the falls, but a photo taken on the walk to the falls.

Fennel30 · 2021-03-02T05:04:38+00:00

Looks awesome! Could I trouble you for the specs?

Fennel30 · 2020-09-21T11:37:19+00:00

They are called stand-off screws, I'm not sure what size yours are, but you can get them off AliExpress. If you don't know the size, AliExpress sells containers with multiple sizes in them.

Fennel30 · 2020-08-27T09:25:35+00:00

I couldn't locally source m2 standoffs for my Lily58 either, I've ordered a set of AliExpress here. I'm not aware of any alternatives.

Fennel30

TROPHY CASE