TinyMod5 is Here

There is a new version of the TinyMod. TinyMod5 is nearly the same as TinyMod4. The difference is that there are two more slide switches for choosing a communication protocol, and new firmware to take advantage of the new switches.

What's new?

Each TinyMod5 comes with four protocols that can be chosen by moving the slider switches. You no longer need to reboot the TinyMod to have the change recognized.

NKRO

This is a protocol meant to be used with Plover. The TinyMod pretends to be an NKRO keyboard and Plover treats it as such. No drivers are needed. Very simple. Unfortunately in this mode your regular keyboard is also treated as a steno keyboard, so you need to toggle Plover off and on to be able to switch between your regular keyboard and your TinyMod.

 

Gemini PR

 A serial protocol meant to be used with professional CAT software also works with Plover. Depending on your operating system, you may have to install a serial driver to get this to work. But this mode allows you to move back and forth from TinyMod to regular keyboard without having to change anything in Plover. This can be pretty handy for a beginner, or really anybody. This one works with Eclipse CAT software, I'm told.

TX Bolt

Another serial protocol for professional CAT software. This one works with CaseCAT, I'm told, but otherwise you probably won't need it.

A to Z

There is a class given by the NCRA (national court reporter's association) to introduce beginners to the steno alphabet. The A-Z mode is meant to be used with this class. Its output is a line for each stroke that looks like the paper tape on a professional steno machine. Write into a word processor or text editor in this mode to see the "paper tape".

The Rest

With three switches there are, of course, 8 possible positions. That would mean 8 possible protocols. So far I only have those four, so the last switch is mostly unused for now. There is one switch setting that puts the keyboard into a test mode, but you wouldn't get much out of that mode.

Pricing

I'm making the sale prices permanent now. $140 for the stock model, $180 for the quiet model with the light springs swapped in.

Everything else is the same. Email me if you want to buy one. Tell me which model and give me your shipping address so that I can know how much to charge for shipping. If you're not in the USA then please also give me a phone number for the customs form. I'll send you a PayPal invoice then. I'll try to keep you informed by email about how long it'll take to make and test your keyboard and get it in the mail.

Please let me know in comments if there is anything else you'd like to know about TinyMod.

Thanks!

TinyMod is on Sale

For the time being I'm taking $20 off the price of a TinyMod. That's $140 for the stock TinyMod and $180 for the quiet model.

New Options for TinyMod

 

Stock TinyMod

I will still be offering the TinyMod4 as it's been for the past year or so. It has 35cN Gateron clear switches which are reasonably light but a little bit noisy. This is a good keyboard for a steno beginner. It will still cost $160 plus shipping.

.

Quiet TinyMod

The new option is the quiet version of TinyMod4. The only difference is that it has Durock "silent" switches and the springs have been changed to 20cN. Though they're called "silent" switches I would say rather that they're very quiet. They have a solid feel to them and a pretty light touch. It took me a long time to like the feel of 20cN, but now I'm very happy with them. You might find that you press a lot of keys by accident for awhile because of the light touch. Because the switches and replacement springs cost more and it's extra work swapping springs, I'll be charging $200 plus shipping for the quiet model.

Shipping

Shipping in the United States is USPS Priority Package with tracking and delivery time of several days. The cost is $8.30 $9.20.

Shipping out of the States has been flaky lately it seems. I lost one 1st Class Package to the UK all together several months ago, and another one took over a month is to arrive. This is without tracking. So since then I've been encouraging people to choose USPS Global Express Package. This has tracking and gets there in a matter of a few days. No problems with it yet, except of course that it costs in the range of $140. I'm not willing to guarantee delivery of the cheaper 1st Class Package, so that would be entirely your risk. I'm sorry, but that's how it is. 1st Class Package International costs about $25.

We've had success lately with the USPS Priority and USPS Priority Express as well as the more expensive Global Express Guaranteed options. Priority costs somewhere around $40 USD to most countries.

To Order

Email me. You'll find my address in the upper right corner of this page. Tell me which version you want and give me your shipping address. I'll send you a PayPal invoice which you can pay with a PayPal account or with a credit card. Of course you can just email me with questions at any time.

Back in Business

I have parts now. I've caught up on backlog, so I should be able to get you a TinyMod pretty quickly now.

Waiting on Parts

I did manage to make and sell a few TinyMods in July, but due to some bad timing on my part, plus not discovering that my internet provider had a spam folder that I could only access via webmail, I'm out of keycaps and won't be able to get more until mid-September. I'll be using the time to build up an inventory (everything but the keycaps) so I can be ready to ship keyboards quickly when the parts arrive. If you already have appropriate keycaps and want to order a TinyMod without them, for say $20 off, then email me. Otherwise I really don't want to take money until I'm sure of having a product to ship. I'm happy to make a waiting list for people who want a TinyMod and are willing to wait however.

I want you to know that I'm frustrated by this. I really like being the vendor who can get you a steno keyboard ASAP. I'm hoping that I can plan better in the future and make that be true again.

Taking a Short Break

I'm waiting on some parts and just generally need a break. It's been so busy lately! So I won't be able to ship any keyboards until close to the end of the month (late July). I'll still be reading my email though, so feel free to ask questions. Thanks!

A Pattern for Stroking Symbols with Plover

Unless I use them on a very regular basis, I have trouble remembering the strokes for many of the symbols and punctuation. I figure that if they follow a pattern they should be easier to remember. Awhile back on the Plover Discord Elzed suggested such a pattern for (), [], and {}. I've extended it to include many more symbols.

The idea is that each symbol has a pair of strokes. The first stroke of a pair has -FPLT in the right hand, and the second stroke has -RBGS in the right hand. The -FPLT strokes allow a leading space before the symbol but supress the trailing space. Strokes with -RBGS supress the leadings space but allow a trailing space. This make it easy to do such things as (this) without having to fiddle with spaces. The left hand part of each stroke is either mnemonic or has a memorable shape to help me remember it. Here is the JSON file to show how it's done.

{
"KPH-FPLT": "/{^}",
"KPH-RBGS": "{^}/",
"KW-FPLT": "{\"^}",
"KW-RBGS": "{^}\"",
"KWHR-FPLT": "{=^}",
"KWHR-RBGS": "{^=}",
"P-FPLT": "%{^}",
"P-RBGS": "{^}%",
"PHR-FPLT": "+{^}",
"PHR-RBGS": "{^}+",
"PR-FPLT": "({^}",
"PR-RBGS": "{^})",
"PRAFPLT": "<{^}",
"PRARBGS": "{^}>",
"PW-FPLT": "|{^}",
"PW-RBGS": "{^}|",
"PWR-FPLT": "[{^}",
"PWR-RBGS": "{^}]",
"SKP-FPLT": "&{^}",
"SKP-RBGS": "{^}&",
"SKWR-FPLT": "_{^}",
"SKWR-RBGS": "{^}_",
"STRAFPLT": "*{^}",
"STRARBGS": "{^}*",
"T-FPLT": "'{^}",
"T-RBGS": "{^}'",
"THR-FPLT": "~{^}",
"THR-RBGS": "{^}~",
"TK-FPLT": "${^}",
"TK-RBGS": "{^}$",
"TKPW-FPLT": "@{^}",
"TKPW-RBGS": "{^}@",
"TPH-FPLT": "#{^}",
"TPH-RBGS": "{^}#",
"TPR-FPLT": "{\\{^}",
"TPR-RBGS": "{^\\}}",
"TW-FPLT": "`{^}",
"TW-RBGS": "{^}`",
"TWR-FPLT": "{\\^}",
"TWR-RBGS": "{^}\\",
"WR-FPLT": "-{^}",
"WR-RBGS": "{^}-"
}

Here's the logic behind the left sides of the strokes:

KPH the shape looks a bit like /
KW q for quote "
KWHR eQuaL for =
P Percent for %
PHR PLus for +
PR PaRen for parentheses ( )
PRA the shape looks a bit like < >
PW the shape looks a bit like |
PWR BRacket for [ ]
SKP the Plover brief for "and ", for &
SKWR the shape looks a bit like _
STRA STAR for *
T Tick for '
THR TiLda for ~
TK Dollar for $
TKPW the shape is reminiscent of @
TPH Number for #
TPR FRench bracket for { }
TW the shape looks a bit like `
TWR the shape looks a bit like \
WR the shape is reminiscent of -

I'm not saying this is the final word, just that it's what I'm using right now. The file is available at  https://github.com/CharleyShattuck/Plover-Dictionaries  and is called symbols.json.

See  https://github.com/openstenoproject/plover/wiki/Dictionary-Format  for help understanding the JSON file above.