I’m totally new to PCB design & hardware in general. As a first project I’m trying to create a PCB for a split keyboard. I’m using a typical matrix setup, however with the addition of a 5 way switch. My goal is to have each of the 4 directions register as a regular key input using a software called QMK.
However what I don’t understand is how to wire the 5-way switch to the rest of the keyboard matrix. From my understanding we use diodes within the matrix to avoid ghosting, but I cant for the life of me figure out how to handle this for the 5-way switch. for a regular keyswitch you have 2 separate pads per switch, 1 wires into the column and the other into the diode which connects the rows.
As a new user I can only post 1 image but if needed I can also share my PCB design in a follow up comment
Any help or resources would be greatly appreciated!
Connect the “switch” in the same way as all the other push buttons.
If you look at a column of the push buttons, then one side of each button is connected to the column wire, and the other side is connected to one of the rows via a diode. If you want the switch to be a part of the keyboard matrix, then connect it in the same way. Connect the “common” of you 5-way switch to a column wire, and connect the other connections to each of the rows though a diode.
Hey man thanks a lot for the explanation, that makes total sense the way you explain it!
Would it be possible to “flip” my matrix so that I could connect a row wire to common and the other pads to the columns? That way I’d have an even 5x6 matrix (with the 4 directions being 1 key each). That’ll make things easier to set up on the firmware side.
