I've made two extensions to the QMK steno code. I haven't updated this in ages so for the source code openstenoproject/qmk may be a better place: sammdot was collecting a bunch of different hobbyist mods to the steno firmware. But my source tree is also available.
One sends the chord when you release its first key, allowing you
to hold down common keys in between chords. So you can (for
instance) fingerspell by holding down *
and tapping the letters
with the left hand. Add #define STENO_1UP
to your config.h
to
enable this feature.
The other is auto-repeat: double-tap and hold a chord, and it'll
repeat (currently) 4x as fast as your double-tap (currently capped
at 50 chords per second). You can also repeat sequences up to
(currently) 8 chords long. Write the sequence, then press and hold
the first chord again. For instance, write SUD/-PB/HREU
, then
hold SUD
to repeat "suddenly". For multi-chord outlines you have
to write the chords at an even pace: if you hesitate or speed up
too much it'll break the sequence. Add #define STENO_REPEAT
to
your config.h
to enable this feature.
I have now built firmware for all four QMK-based hobbyist steno boards. The EcoSteno firmware is still untested but the others seem to work. The TinyMod doesn't use QMK, so porting it to that would be a whole other project.
This is my daily driver, so I'm using the out-1up-repeat
variant, and can confirm that it works. Not sure I've tried all
seven (!) other variants, but they should be fine.
These should be basically the same version as the 1.1 "ClayM" firmware from the gBoards page.
The Georgi has two configurations for the thumb home position
between the vowel keys: thumbs spread out
or thumbs tucked in
.
Aerick checked the 1up-repeat
version briefly and said it seemed
to work.
Peter tried out the repeat (and helped me squash a bug), so these seem to work now.
These built without errors but haven't been tested.
Tested all 8 variants and are all working as intended.
Like the Georgi, the Multisteno has two configurations for the
thumb home position between the vowel keys: thumbs spread out
or thumbs tucked in
.
The TinyMod has custom firmware that is not based on QMK: I may port my extensions over at some point, but don't hold your breath...
I do own a StenoMod hinge, and I originally wrote these extensions
as a full custom
firmware
for that. So if you own a StenoMod (they've been discontinued for
several years), grab the Arduino IDE and tell it to build/upload
the linked .ino
file.