TrueStrike42

TrueStrike42 is a columnar staggered unibody split Hall-effect keyboard designed to maximize performance¹ and minimize finger fatigue.

Layout

How to build

Refer to the build guide for detailed instructions.

Firmware

Warning

MCU will behave very erratic (e.g. sending random keypresses rapidly) right after flashing the firmware, before soldering all the components on the board. This is because MCU's analogue pins are connected to nothing, resulting in noise sensor values.

Disconnect the MCU from the PC as soon as possible after the successful firmware flash to prevent chaos.

Use Precompiled Binary

Flash fw/truestrike42_via.uf2 to your RP2040 microcontroller in bootloader mode.

Build on Your Own

Option A

Copy the fw/truestrike42 folder into your cloned QMK Firmware repository's keyboards folder, then run qmk compile -kb truestrike42 -km via.

Option B

• QMK Firmware fork
• VIA QMK Userspace fork

The branches above are from my fork of the QMK Firmware/Userspace repository which supports firmware compilation for TrueStrike42.

Follow this guide for External QMK Userspace to build it yourself.

Using VIA HE Configurations

You can access the following tools in VIA by selecting HE TOOLS in the menu next to LIGHTING.

Load VIA Definition

Open fw/truestrike42.json in VIA's DESIGN tab to enable VIA support for TrueStrike42.

Calibrations

Make sure to run the calibration at least once before using the keyboard!

Bottoming Calibration

Calibrates Hall-effect sensor values for each switch when it is fully bottomed out.

Toggle on, fully bottom out each switch, then toggle off.

Noise Floor Calibration

Calibrates the ambient magnetic flux fluctuation detected by the Hall-effect sensors.

Click once while leaving the keyboard untouched for a brief period. The firmware samples the noise baseline.

Show Calibration Data

Prints out current calibration data to the debug console.

Clear Bottoming Calibration Data

Resets Bottoming Calibration Data to prepare for recalibration. Use this when replacing your Hall-effect switches.

Actuation

Mode

Choose between APC and Rapid Trigger.

APC works like a traditional digital switch, but you can change where actuation/release occurs.

Rapid Trigger tracks the switch's height to determine whether the key is being pressed down or released.

Offsets

Sets the offset values for the selected Mode.

The value ranges from 1 (Topmost) to 255 (Bottommost).

Copyright Notice

True-Strike-icon.kicad_mod was created by modifying an icon image for True Strike in the game Baldur's Gate 3, a game by Larian Studios. I used it in accordance with the Larian Fan Content Policy.

Footnotes

1. specifically on rhythm games ↩