I attempted to begin the coding portion of this show, and it was at this  point that I discovered an issue: I have no idea what I'm doing!

In trying to get something to work, I looked at the GP I/O pins on the Pico--and realized that I did some strange things. One encoder shows some kind of output when I turn it, but nothing else seems to do anything. That could just be coding, but looking at the traces for the encoders, I seem to have connected them at random. 

Well, shit.

This definitely means a new PCB, which isn't that bad. I already had some things I wanted to change anyway (I forgot a control trace for the WS2812B; also, some mounting holes might be nice), so it's not the end of the world. I'm more embarrassed by the wiring. I mean, even as a beginner this thing doesn't make sense.

I found some code that should serve as a starting point for the code. But to do that, I need to figure out how to lay out the keys with the wiring so I can test it all before it is soldered down. Not sure if I can do that with breadboard. I'd really rather not. That means buying breadboard, wires, and 23 breakout boards. 

I think I can finagle some wiring to get them into a keymatrix without the diodes and work it out that way. 

Man--9 breakout boards for $13 (plus pins!). That comes to probably $60. If there was a use for the breakouts afterward I wouldn't mind so much, but as far as I can see, once I finish this I won't have any need for the breakouts. So that will be $60 tossed out the window. 

I don't know how I'm going to work this yet. I might be able to test the keys on the existing PCB (but not the encoders, of course) which would help. I'll try the code linked above tonight and see how it goes.