In the last post I mentioned my journey of attempting to learn the Colemak DH keyboard layout on the Moonlander keyboard.
I am now about one week into this journey.
Here is a little snapshot of my progress and overall thoughts.
Slow but consistent progress
I’ve committed to doing 30 minute sessions daily (not super strict on the weekends) on Keybr. You can configure the settings to prefer home row keys first. This is super useful for getting comfortable with which finger should rest on which key.
Since starting I’ve invested about 3.5 hours achieving an average accuracy of 94% (see figure 1). Not too terrible.
Figure 1: Keybr statistics
As you progress, Keybr tracks your speed and accuracy of specific keys. If you achieve a certain speed or accuracy Keybr unlocks the next key (see figure 2).
Figure 2: Key progress
I found that the introduction of a new key decreased my speed and accuracy of my previously learned keys. Which I guess is to be expected. See figure 3. Especially this super annoying S key!
Figure 3: Typing speed
What about QWERTY?
I am happy to report that I have not forgotten how to QWERTY just yet. Switching back to a standard QWERTY keyboard takes a second or two to orient myself before muscle memory kicks in.
Configuring the Moonlander
I’ve purposefully refrained from going too crazy with the mapping of keys and layers on the Moonlander.
Besides the mapping of the a - z keys, I spent a long time debating on the best placement of the SPC and BACKSPACE key. I settled on using the right thumb cluster for these keys. My reasoning simply being that I seem to favour my right thumb for hitting the SPC key on a conventional keyboard.
I opted for using the left thumb cluster for the RETURN and SHIFT key.
Holding the RETURN key activates my layer 1, which for now just allows me to press a TAB key on the same key as SPC. Not sure how ergonomic this will really be in the end, but time will tell.
On layer 2 I mapped the Moonlander reset key to one of the corner keys. Whenever you need to flash a new configuration to the Moonlander you need to either press this key or use a paper clip to press the super tiny reset button. I seem to always misplace the paper clip on my desk so consider this a hot tip!
I also started exploring the idea of mapping CMD+ to the letter keys when held. For example, holding in the z key includes the CMD modifier equating to CMD+Z which would trigger an UNDO operation. Seemed exciting at first glace, but I’m not super happy with how it works in practice. For instance, if I copy something to my clipboard and hold in the v key, but don’t let go fast enough, the key repeats and ends up pasting multiple times. I’m not sure yet if this can be configured on the Moonlander firmware settings or on the global key repeat settings on MacOS.
For learning these “custom” key mappings or macros, somebody from the ZATech Slack Community recommended the Whack-a-Key mode on the offical Keymapp app from ZSA. I’ve only tried this once since I do not have many custom mappings just yet, but I do see the appeal.
If you’re interested in checking out my configuration (but really, nothing exciting going on there yet), you can see it here.
Physical setup
Typing on the Moonlander still feels a bit weird. As per the recommendation from the ZSA folks, I’m keeping the Moonlander flat (no tenting) on the desk. From time to time, my wrists start to feel a bit uncomfortable causing me to have to pause and shift the Moonlander around a bit. My shoulders also feel a little bit strange when standing and typing. I’m attributing this just to lack of familiarity at this point though.
Annoyingly, the cable that connects the two halves of the Moonlander is far too long. At some point I’ll probably end up getting a neater coiled cable. Something like this.
Conclusion
The journey is still very much in its infancy, but I’m quite satisfied with the progress made thus far.
See you in the next one!