Page 17 of 31. Version 1.03 September 2012
Microbee Premium Plus+ | Construction Manual
8. Completing the Baseboard.
The final steps in completing the construction of your Microbee Premium Plus baseboard
involve completing the installation of the key switches, fitting the key tops, fitting the
socketed components and wiring up the speaker.
Installing the rest of the key switches
Start from the front most row when
fitting up the remaining key switches.
This enables you to look down through
the keyboard frame from the rear so
that you can see the pins of the key
switch and line them up with the holes
in the pads on the PCB. Note that the
front most row only has 5 keys and has
2 spare switch positions closest to the
space bar. As you solder the key
switches in, remember to apply just
enough heat to melt the solder and
form a decent joint on the PCB.
Applying prolonged heat to the key
switch pin will melt the solder on the
switch adapter and if excessive heat is
applied, the pin may lodge itself in the
underside of the key switch.
Fitting the key tops
Fitting the space bar requires several steps :
Two white space bar support mounts have
been included in the keyboard kit. These fit to
the bottom of the space bar & have slots in
them to take the ends of the torsion bar.
This arrangement helps to keep the space bar
level when pressed somewhere off-centre.
Fit one of these to one side of the space bar as
shown in the top picture to the right.
Slide that end of space bar with the support
onto the torsion bar, add a support to the
other end of the torsion bar & then fit the
support into the bottom of the space bar.
Now that the space bar & mounts are fitted to
the torsion bar, the space bar can be pushed
down onto the key switch and fitting the space
bar is done.
