IDENTIFY THE KEYBOARD thread

[Keybug]

I'm getting it, immensely excited by the prospect of possible mocha ALPS! 30€ shipped - good for me and the nice old lady...

[Gyo]

Anyone know what this is? The feel was very unique, cushioned all the way through and it felt like a metal plate on the bottom.

I know it was made by Bell labs for comms machines around the 60s/70s and that the keyboard was attached to modular systems called something like the 'Model 40'.

[mwichary]

This is a Teletype Model 40, also called “Dataspeed.” Came out in 1979. AFAIR was supposed to be accompanied by a CRT.

I think HaaTa has one in his collection and could explain its mechanics better. It had a cool “press harder for autorepeat” mechanical functionality.

You can check out its huge manual:
https://archive.org/stream/bitsavers_te ... h/keyboard

[nightrow]

Any idea what this is, and if this is mechanical ? It looks a lot like a model m.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

Based on the colour of the surface behind the keys and the "R" in the FCC ID, I'm guessing it's rubber dome. (I'd expect an "M" for mechanical from Silitek, but this is not yet proven — we don't have enough examples of their model numbers and FCC IDs yet.)

(Then again, [wiki]Lite-On SK-0002[/wiki] is white Alps, so a beige colour behind the keycaps is not proof here.)

[Keybug]

post384511.html#p384511

Got it. It's ALPS SKCL Cream alright, in excellent condition!

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Haven't quite found the time to take it on an extended typing trip, but what from what I've written on it so far, it certainly tops MX black...

Many thanks to those who encouraged me to try my luck with this one!

[Myoth]

post384511.html#p384511

Got it. It's ALPS SKCL Cream alright, in excellent condition!

Image34061030.jpg

Image2093569915.jpg

Haven't quite found the time to take it on an extended typing trip, but what from what I've written on it so far, it certainly tops MX black...

Many thanks to those who encouraged me to try my luck with this one!

Damn ... those switches are rather rare, if you did pay 25€ for it, that's a REALLY good find, they heard they are pretty heavy, how are they compared to Mx Blacks ?

[alh84001]

Awesome find, congrats! How heavy are the switches?

[Berp123]

Its a Mac book

[mike52787]

Its a Mac book

wat

[unzer]

Hello! First post here.
Any clue of what kind of switch this keyboard uses?

[Daniel Beardsmore]

Allen keystems?!

It's going to be a membrane keyboard of some kind. If there was no spring under the keycap then it's sure to be rubber dome, too.

If you already own this keyboard, then it's another one to disassemble, document on the wiki. If you don't own it, it's probably not worth buying it unless it's very cheap!

[unzer]

Neither, just got a guy asking me if he had something valuable in his hands.
Thanks!

[Darkshado]

Keybug: what's the "clip" like device on the "System Request / Print Screen" switch?

[Keybug]

It's a sort of a locking mechanism. The cap of this key is blank and can't be depressed with that clip in place. I wonder what character it would produce if I was able to remove the clip.

I'll try that and weighting the switches with Euro / cent coins later today...

[Keybug]

That clip thing seems to be a specifically designed ALPS switch locking device! I think I may be the only one on the planet known to own such a thing??

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[Keybug]

This keyboard looks like it could be really good - I thought Monterey because of the legends on the cursor keys, but it's not in that section of the wiki. Can anyone place it (distinctive stepped modifiers, extra labels on keycap fronts plus thick cursor key legends etc.)?

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[Daniel Beardsmore]

It reminds me of Datacomp, along the lines of [wiki]Datacomp DFK515[/wiki].

[Keybug]

Thanks. I see your point. What about the bottom board - ALPSy?

[Daniel Beardsmore]

[wiki]NTC KB-6251[/wiki] series, switch lottery.

[Keybug]

Went and weighed the ALPS SKCL cream. Took 11 10 ct coins (around 45 grams) to start the key moving, 15 of them (just over 60g) to bottom out. If I haven't done anything wrong (this is my first attempt to do something like this), this puts them in a league with Cherry MX red, hence a very light switch, though I assume harder to bottom out than the Cherries. The wiki says these were used for spacebars in some keyboards, but 45g seems very light for that. Maybe those switches had different internals?

Overall, they are a joy to type on, but I've noticed that tab, numpad 2 and one or two function keys are dead - the old ALPS malady...

[Keybug]

Went and weighed the ALPS SKCL cream. Took 11 10 ct coins (around 45 grams) to start the key moving, 13 of them (around 53g) to actuate and 16 of them (just over 65g) to bottom out. This puts them right between Cherry MX red and black.

Overall, they are a joy to type on, but I've noticed that tab, numpad 2 and one or two function keys are dead - the old ALPS malady...

[E3E]

Weird, I've measured SKCL Browns and SKCL Cream both at 70g to bottom out. Maybe taping the coins up in stacks of certain weights added 10g? No way. Haha.

I wouldn't say these switches are light like MX Red, personally. They feel more weighty to me.

I use them regularly in this keyboard here:

[Keybug]

Measured again, a bit more carefully and updated the post above. Didn't expect such a quick reply or I would have double-checked before posting...

[E3E]

I just happened to catch it! Sorry. I've measured with stacks of US nickles, using pennies for 2.5g intervals. I've got nothing more fine-tuned than that! I taped up stacks of nickles for a few weight quantities. 50g, 25g, 20g, 15g, and 10g IIRC.

If I had a fine enough scale, I'd be able to be sure the weights are spot on, but my little shipping scale isn't capable enough.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

It's certainly possible that Alps may not have assigned distinct colours to every switch model, since there do seem to be discrepancies that crop up. However, we don't even know how many factories there were yet. It seems fairly likely that Gold Star Alps in Korea was making its own switches, but I don't know for example if Forward Electronics ever made early complicated Alps, or whether Alps Electric USA and Ireland ever made switches too.

Colours only need to be unique within any particular factory, although the 1994 Alps catalogue did specifically cite the colours of each type. Then again, we don't know that every switch type was ever advertised: Cherry gold crosspoint seemed to have been made in far more varieties than the catalogues ever offered, and the 1994 switch catalogue could easily have various omissions.

This is something where it would be useful to maintain a wiki page with examples and see if patterns emerge. For example, record the approximate weight, model of keyboard, date evidence, manufacturer (OEM and customer, e.g. Gold Star Alps for Packard Bell) and any identifying codes.

So many things seem random until you have enough data.

(53 g preload seems rather high though.)

[Polecat]

Board on ebay (Ukraine) which I don't recognize:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-XT-AT-M ... ht_695wt_0

[ohaimark]

KPT clone. Can be sorta nice.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

That is (as suspected) a Podworld keyboard. It's almost identical to [wiki]TTI TA-14[/wiki] but the raised area containing the LEDs is taller (raised higher) and the legend strip is missing. Those switches are common in Podworld keyboards. The keycaps appear to be the clones of Tai-Hao TI series — I'm still waiting for the Tai-Hao engineers to have a spare moment to state for the record how they differ from Tai-Hao, but the number of internal struts (eight versus four) seems to be a good guide. (I'm guessing that Tai-Hao's double-shot typeface comes from whoever made the engraving machine, and that some other factory has the same brand of engraving machine.)

I have a bag of those switches here (ivory, yellow and green) — smooth, and not all that consistent, and in some cases not terribly tactile either.

The fact that the TTI version and Podworld versions are different makes me wonder if they're related or whether one is a copy of the other.

[Aristarco]

Hello everyone!

I was doing late summer cleaning when I found this keyb in a box.
I dunno what system it belongs to, only that I got it back in '98/'99 when I was at uni.
Shift Lock glows when active with a tiny incandescent bulb under the cap.
Can you ID it?

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