Going to space on a high-speed rail——TTC Neptune Axis and Venus Axis experience

The TTC high-speed rail shaft is a series of new shafts in 2023. It does not mean that the name of the shaft is high-speed rail, but that the slide rail structure of the shaft body is more stable when sliding at high speed like a high-speed rail. This time I have the opportunity to get the Neptune axis and the Venus axis to share my feelings and disassemble the axis body to see its internal structure.

The blue housing shaft is the Neptune shaft, and the yellow housing shaft is the Venus shaft. According to the name, there may be 6-7 astral shafts in the future.

The Neptune axis and the Venus axis adopt a one-piece direct insertion to the bottom and a long track structure on the upper cover. TTC officially refers to the axis of this structure as the high-speed rail axis. Most of the ordinary Cherry MX shafts or MX-like shafts adopt the bottom shell slide rail structure, and the upper cover only acts as a limiter. The shaft needs to be completed by three parts: the shaft center, the upper shell, and the bottom shell. The upper cover of the high-speed rail shaft has a long slide rail, and this slide rail can be directly inserted into the bottom of the bottom case, so the shaft body only needs the shaft center and the upper case to complete the sliding operation. Of course, the bottoming of the axis that is limited to sliding is still inseparable from the role of the bottom shell.

The top covers of the Neptune and Venus switches adopt some personalized designs. The nearly round top covers make the switches more recognizable, and the bottom shell is hard to deviate from the fixed-size square specification. On the whole, it is a traditional Chinese sky. The design language of the round place.

The upper cover of the TTC Neptune shaft is made of blue material, and the shaft center and bottom case are made of transparent material. This is a linear shaft body, the total stroke of the key is 3.8mm, the trigger stroke is 2.0mm, the trigger pressure is 41gf, and the key life reaches 100 million times. The light-transmitting part of the shaft body is equipped with a condenser lens to increase the penetration effect of the light. The terminals and shrapnel are silver-plated, and the contacts are still gold-plated. On the one hand, the silver-plated terminals and shrapnel can increase the oxidation resistance of the metal part, on the other hand, it can increase the hardness of the pins, which is very suitable for installation on hot-swappable keyboards.

Neptune Axis Parameters

Neptune axis close-up

The Neptune axis is a 5-pin axis.

Shaft disassembly close-up

Cover slide rail close-up

Shaft spring

The end of the transparent material axis is a hemispherical design.

The upper cover of the TTC Neptune shaft is made of blue material, and the shaft center and bottom case are made of transparent material. This is a linear shaft body, the total stroke of the key is 3.8mm, the trigger stroke is 1.8mm, the trigger pressure is 45gf, and the key life reaches 100 million times. The light-transmitting part of the shaft body is equipped with a condenser lens to increase the penetration effect of the light. The terminals and shrapnel are silver-plated, and the contacts are still gold-plated. The trigger stroke of this switch is a little shorter than that of the Neptune switch, and the trigger force is stronger.

Venus Axis Parameters

Venus axis close-up

The Venus axis is also a 5-pin axis.

Shaft disassembly close-up

Cover slide rail close-up

Shaft spring

The axis of the Venus axis is a hemispherical design at the end of the transparent material.

Detailed structure diagram of the high-speed rail shaft

Schematic diagram of the shaft structure, the left side is the Cherry MX shaft, the middle is the MX-like shaft with a dustproof wall, and the right side is the high-speed rail shaft. There is a certain gap between the top of the shaft cover of the first two shafts and the slide rail, while the high-speed rail shaft has no gap throughout the slide rail, and the natural stability is self-evident. From my personal experience, it is difficult to experience the difference of different slide rails when using the three axles in the slow trigger state, but the stability of the high-speed iron axle will be better under the high-speed multiple trigger state, and the seamless slide rail Minimize the vibration of the shaft center of the high-speed rail shaft.

It can be seen from the schematic diagram that the length of the axis slider of the standard MX axis is 5.2mm, and the axis slider of the high-speed rail axis is 6mm. The contact area of ​​the long slider with the guide rail of the upper shell will be larger, so the stability will be better. .

It is worth mentioning that the plan of the upper cover slide rail is quite controversial. Kaihua specially issued a document saying that the BOX axis adopted the upper cover slide rail structure in 2015, and then TTC also issued a document explaining that it was designed in 2013 and mass-produced in 2014. Developed in cooperation with Lenovo. Cover slide low shaft structure. In my opinion, there is no need to argue about who comes first, and the scheme of structural upper cover slide rail is also very common on other switches. Judging from the official information, both the Brazilian iron shaft and the BOX structural shaft adopt the upper cover slide rail scheme, but there are slight differences in details. It can be seen from the schematic diagram that TTC’s high-speed rail shaft is slightly superior in the length of the upper cover track and the length of the shaft center slider. During the high-speed movement of the shaft body, the micro-runout and micro-vibration of the shaft core will be very small. I'm sure about this design.

The condenser of the high-speed rail axis can bring brighter lighting effects. Although the axis is also transparent, it is relatively dim. This requires a light source under the axis to make the axis completely bright. If there is a supporting plan in the later stage, it is a good innovation.

Here I need to talk to you about the feel. The triggering force of the Neptune axis is lighter than that of the Venus axis. The difference in the triggering force between the two can be seen in the parameters of the article. The up and down movement of the shaft is very smooth. When disassembled, it can be seen that there are traces of light lubrication on the shaft, but this lubricating oil will have white paste deposits on the bottom of the shaft, especially at the end of the spring, which seems to be the same as the previous TTC shaft. Unsuitable for a type of lubricating oil. The moment the axis hits the bottom, there is a gentle feeling, and the sound of bottoming is slightly muffled. This is directly related to the hemispherical design at the end of the axis. The different shapes of the end of the axis and the shape of the bottom shell will directly affect the axis. The feeling of bottoming out. In foreign countries, some netizens even insert iron nails into the shaft, and directly let the end of the iron nails touch the bottom case to obtain a more amazing percussion feeling.

Summary: The Neptune axis and the Venus axis are two types of axes with a long trigger distance. The former has a lighter trigger force, while the latter has a stronger trigger force, and the trigger distance is also slightly different. Differentiated designs can add more choices for peripheral players. The shaft body adopts the scheme of long slide rail on the upper cover, and the sliding stability of the shaft body is well guaranteed. Both the bottom shell and the axis of the two high-speed rail switches are made of transparent materials, but it is difficult to obtain a better light-transmitting effect of the axis with the current hot-swappable keyboard solution or customized solution. The terminals and shrapnel of the shaft body adopt a silver-plated scheme. Generally, TTC will only use this scheme on its own high-end shaft body. After all, this will increase part of the cost. The hardness of the silver-plated pins will be better, it is not easy to cause the pins to bend when the shaft body is hot-swapped, and it can also increase the corrosion resistance of the pins. The most reassuring thing is that the key life of the switch body can reach 100 million times, and there is definitely no need to say anything about durability. Can the TTC high-speed rail axis replicate the success of the gold powder axis and the fast silver axis? This also needs to be checked by the player.