Ortek 142-pro restored!

Pumaeggs · 05 Oct 2018, 16:03

Got this old ortek board for a reasonable price and restored it to mostly its original glory. Cleaned out the switches and reshaped the click leaves(Alps SKCM white). I'm loving all the programmable function keys on this board, its supplanted my soarers converted terminal model M as my daily driver. Luckily for my custom 60% there's no way i could use this as my mobile laptop board! if you guys can find one sub-80USD or so i'd recommend you pick it up. TBH i'm not huge on white alps, i don't like the high bump, i prefer it lower on the actuation like buckling spring. That being said, complicated white alps are pretty fucking nice. first post on deskthority, hope you all enjoyed!

fohat · 05 Oct 2018, 18:10

Whoa!

I have never seen one of these before. Can we please see the label?

//gainsborough · 05 Oct 2018, 20:26

Isn't this an ortek-142?

photos-f62/ortek-mck-142-pro-t17462.html

Either way, nice work on the board! Welcome to DT!

Engicoder · 05 Oct 2018, 20:51

Very nice an clean. I love battleships with status leds.

Pumaeggs · 05 Oct 2018, 21:55

//gainsborough wrote: ↑Isn't this an ortek-142?

oh man sorry i feel like an idiot, a typo on my first post! yeah its an ortek, i was just looking at an omnikey on Ebay when i was making this post.

Pumaeggs · 05 Oct 2018, 22:02

fohat wrote: ↑Can we please see the label?

of course! sorry i forgot to include it in the original post, but i just updated it with a picture of the backtag.

Hypersphere · 06 Oct 2018, 00:16

I like the look of these boards. A downside for me is the ISO-type Enter key arrangement. If it were US-ANSI, I would definitely want one.

Are the white Alps in this board bamboo (no slits) or pine (slits in the top housing)?

Chyros · 06 Oct 2018, 08:29

fohat wrote: ↑Whoa!

I have never seen one of these before. Can we please see the label?

I did a review on one of these not too long ago, if you're interested

.

Pumaeggs · 08 Oct 2018, 16:04

Hypersphere wrote: ↑I like the look of these boards. A downside for me is the ISO-type Enter key arrangement. If it were US-ANSI, I would definitely want one.

Are the white Alps in this board bamboo (no slits) or pine (slits in the top housing)?

It seems like bamboo alps based on the lettering on the top housing, but i'm still not 100% sure what you mean by slits. also, the ISO arrangement really isnt that bad at all, it took very little getting used to.

Chyros · 08 Oct 2018, 17:11

These ar some of my favourite vintage boards, they have a very high likability factor

.

Pumaeggs · 08 Oct 2018, 17:34

Chyros wrote: ↑These ar some of my favourite vintage boards, they have a very high likability factor .

absolutely man, i saw your review and thought the Programmable Function keys were the coolest thing i'd ever seen. i saw one posted on ebay for 100 bucks which is obviously overpriced, but i dropped in a much lower offer and they took it. oh also your video on restoring alps switches helped me reshape the click leaves a lot, so thanks for that.

Chyros · 08 Oct 2018, 19:50

Pumaeggs wrote: ↑
Chyros wrote: ↑These ar some of my favourite vintage boards, they have a very high likability factor .
absolutely man, i saw your review and thought the Programmable Function keys were the coolest thing i'd ever seen. i saw one posted on ebay for 100 bucks which is obviously overpriced, but i dropped in a much lower offer and they took it. oh also your video on restoring alps switches helped me reshape the click leaves a lot, so thanks for that.

$100 is not that bad a deal for one of these if in good condition. They've never been cheap. Glad you found the video useful though

.

DaOver · 10 Oct 2018, 10:59

You reshaped the click leaves?
Were the switches worn out and uneven in sound and feel?
I have a couple of used SKCM White ALPS and I plan to restore them. I wonder how can I re-bend the click leaves in a uniform way across the board to restore the click and tactility.

Pumaeggs · 10 Oct 2018, 15:08

DaOver wrote: ↑You reshaped the click leaves?
Were the switches worn out and uneven in sound and feel?
I have a couple of used SKCM White ALPS and I plan to restore them. I wonder how can I re-bend the click leaves in a uniform way across the board to restore the click and tactility.

yeah i was able to get them pretty close to feeling brand new. I used a chopstick and a protractor and bent them all to like 35 degrees.

Hypersphere · 10 Oct 2018, 21:15

Pumaeggs wrote: ↑
Hypersphere wrote: ↑I like the look of these boards. A downside for me is the ISO-type Enter key arrangement. If it were US-ANSI, I would definitely want one.

Are the white Alps in this board bamboo (no slits) or pine (slits in the top housing)?
It seems like bamboo alps based on the lettering on the top housing, but i'm still not 100% sure what you mean by slits. also, the ISO arrangement really isnt that bad at all, it took very little getting used to.

Here is a diagram of the top switch housings from "pine" (slits) and "bamboo" (no slits) versions of Alps switches taken from the excellent DT wiki article on "Alps SKCL/SKCM series":

: Alps_pine_bamboo.png (26.48 KiB) Viewed 4252 times

wiki/Alps_SKCL/SKCM_series

The slits make a substantial difference in the sound and feel of the switch. They have a damping effect that reduces rattle.