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Halcyon Corne

Halcyon Corne

SKU HLC-CRN-BMK-020-RP
€61,94 - €61,94
€74,95
€61,94 excluding sales tax
€61,94 - €61,94
€74,95
€61,94 excluding sales tax
List price includes 21% Dutch sales tax. It will be adjusted to your local tax rate during checkout.
Switch Compatibility: MX
Carbon-neutral shipping on all orders

The Halcyon Corne is a redesign by splitkb.com of the Corne keyboard by Foostan. With its moderate stagger and 42 keys, it provides a good middle ground between learning curve and keyboard size.

This product includes only the pre-soldered, fully tested PCB assembly. For a complete keyboard kit, use the Composer. It is the recommended way to configure your Halcyon keyboard and select compatible components.

About the Halcyon Series

The Halcyon Series is a series of keyboards that combine what we've learned about split keyboards since 2019 into a unified premium range. That means that you can depend on great quality, complete documentation and shared features such as hot-swappable switches, per-key RGB and RGB underglow, USB C interconnect, and much more.

Unique to the Halcyon Series are its modules, which enable you to add functionality to your keyboard without having to solder. You can choose from a color LCD TFT display, rotary encoder or even a Cirque trackpad! All keyboards in the series use the same standard, so modules can be reused across them, and more modules will be released as we expand the series, which will be backwards compatible.

The Halcyon keyboards can be equipped with wired controllers based on the RP2040 chip, which support QMK and Vial firmware. They can also be equipped with wireless controllers based on the nRF52840 chip, which supports ZMK firmware. They are cold-swappable so they can be reused, replaced or upgraded in the future. You can read all the specifications further down this page.

Features

The Halcyon Corne offers various features: those that are unique to itself, and those shared with all keyboards that are part of the Halcyon Series.

Halcyon Corne Features

The Halcyon Corne sports the following unique features:

  • A medium-sized layout with 42 keys:
    • A three-key thumb cluster shaped like an arc, which follows the movement of your thumb.
    • Mildly staggered columns for the pinky fingers, placing the keys where your pinky finger naturally rests.
    • A nice balance between the size of the keyboard and its learning curve. Without a number row, you'll have to use layers to access the numbers, but you won't be required to resort to features such as homerow modifiers to be able to use the keyboard, making it relatively easy to get used to.
  • Optionally solder up to one encoder per half.
    • Choose from one of two locations per half.
  • Powered by various firmware options.
    • Choose Vial for wired keyboards and be able to modify your keyboard layout without having to recompile firmware.
    • Choose QMK for wired keyboards and be able to tweak advanced settings: very powerful, though with a higher learning curve.
    • Choose ZMK for wireless keyboards, and be able to either modify your layout using ZMK Studio for an easy experience, or compile your own firmware for advanced control over your keyboard.
  • Compatible with cases made for the Aurora Corne as well as the original Corne keyboard.

Halcyon Features

The Halcyon Corne is part of the Halcyon Series. As such, it sports the same features as every Halcyon Series keyboard:

  • No soldering required!
    • All parts come already soldered. All you need to do is select the parts you want, and click them together - only a simple flathead screwdriver is needed.
    • We've ensured A-grade quality control. Each keyboard and controller combination is semi-automatically tested and has its own serial number.
  • Uses USB C ports.
    • Use a USB C to C cable to connect both halves. You can unplug and plug in either half at-will, and it'll be picked up by the other half and just work!
    • Use a USB C cable to connect the keyboard to the device you'd like to use it with.
  • Hot-swap your switches with Kailh hot swap sockets.
    • Comes with presoldered sockets, so you can simply plug in your switches to get a working keyboard.
  • Shine bright with per-key RGB and RGB underglow.
    • Each half comes with six WS2812B RGB underglow LEDs, providing plenty of glow when combined with a transparent or translucent bottom plate.
    • Each key comes with its own SK6812MINI-E RGB LED, shining through the switch and keycap.
    • Of course, if you dislike RGB, it can be turned off just as well.
  • Supports tenting by using Tenting Pucks.
    • Get a pair of tenting pucks to adjust the angle at which your keyboard sits by using any common camera tripod.
  • Support for Halcyon Modules.
    • Upgrade the functionality of your keyboard without soldering!
    • Support for current and future Halcyon Modules, with more modules to be released over time. For example, choose from a color TFT LCD display, rotary encoder or even a Cirque trackpad!
    • Use and reuse your modules across all keyboards in the Halcyon Series, both those available today as well as those to be available in the future.
    • Halcyon Modules adhere to the VIK standard by Sadek Baroudi, meaning they can be used with other keyboards supporting VIK. Halcyon keyboards, too, support the use of VIK modules.
  • Powered by a custom-designed Halcyon controller, based on the RP2040 or the nRF52840.

Parts and buying guide

Want to get a complete kit? We recommend using the Composer. Use the temporary new Canary version of the Composer to configure your Halcyon keyboard.

The current Composer will be replaced soon by the new version, once all functionality has been ported over.

What's included?

Your Halcyon Corne includes:

  • A set of printed circuit boards.
  • A printed Halcyon Quick Start Guide, covering the basics of assembling and using your new keyboard.
    • It's small, made from recycled agricultural waste, and printed only in black. Next to that, we reuse as much packaging material as we can to reduce our footprint.

What's required?

The following parts are required to use your Halcyon Corne:

  • Controllers: the Halcyon Corne requires 2 controllers, as well as a module connection kit. It is compatible with both the wired controllers as well as with the wireless controllers.
  • Switches: the Halcyon Corne requires 42 switches.
    • The MX version of the kit requires 42 MX-compatible switches.
    • The Choc version of the kit requires 42 Kailh Choc Low Profile switches. Choc v2 switches are not compatible, at our shop we only stock the v1 version.
  • Keycaps: the Halcyon Corne requires 40 1u keycaps and 2 1.5u keycaps.
    • The MX version of the kit requires 40 MX-compatible 1u keycaps, and two 1.5u keycaps.
    • The Choc version of the kit requires 40 Kailh Choc Low Profile-compatible 1u keycaps, and two 1.5u keycaps.
  • Host connect cable: use a USB C cable to connect the keyboard to your device of choice.
    • The cable needs to support the transfer of data as well as power. A USB 2.0 cable meets these requirements.
    • Our cable is a USB C to C cable, and you can choose to get an accompanying USB C to A adapter if your device uses an USB A port.

What's optional?

The following parts are optional, but may be recommended for a good experience:

  • Interconnect cable: use a USB C to C cable to connect both halves.
    • The cable is required if you build a wired keyboard. It needs to support the transfer of data as well as power. A USB 2.0 cable meets these requirements.
  • Case: We recommend using a case to protect your keyboard. Follow the instructions on the case product page to complete your kit, or use the Composer.
  • Halcyon Modules: You can choose to use up to two Halcyon Modules, one for each half. Please read the modules' product pages to read what they do and how they interact with one another.
  • Tenting: You can choose to use a pair of Tenting Pucks to be able to tent and tilt your keyboard at any angle. We recommend using Manfrotto Pocket Tripods to start out with, as they're small, take up little space yet offer a wide range of angles to use.

Documentation

The Halcyon Series keyboards come with documentation, including:


Read more

You can learn about how the Halcyon Series came to be in the Winter 2024 update over at our blog.

Remarks

  • The Halcyon Corne is compatible with cases made for the Aurora Corne as well as with cases made for the original Corne keyboard. You can read more about case compatibility in our documentation.
  • This product is incomplete on its own. Please refer to the buying guide above or follow the steps in the Composer to select all the parts needed. The case, keycaps, cables and modules shown in the product pictures are not included by default and need to be purchased separately.