IBM Model F AT Accidentally bought for... $5!

[Tatlyn]

Soooo... I may have accidentally bought an IBM Model F AT for... $5!
By accidentally I mean it was a Focus FK-5001 box and listed as such on OfferUp.

I had no idea just how good of a deal I was going to get when I headed there on my way to hanging out with friends... He ran it out to me in the car super quickly and back inside. I opened it in the car and was so shocked I dropped my knife and practically ignored my girlfriend for the rest of the ride. I still feel a little bad about that but I think she kinda understands how good of a find this was now! I was out for another 4 hours so I couldn't really get a good look or feel of the keyboard for a while couldn't focus on anything felt a little obsessed. I'm still totally glowing and shocked a couple of days later.







I'm pretty new to the community and to luck out something this early is incredible.... I only owned 3 vintage keyboards and a typewriter before this so this is by far my best piece. This just feels like the sort of thing that doesn't happen to me kinda incredible. Hopefully help me get out of a depressive episode I was in.

He probably didn't open it and had no idea what was in it? I doubt even someone clueless would list something with an IBM badge for $5. I kinda like to think maybe he was someone getting rid of his collection for some reason and wanted to give it to an actual enthusiast knowing that only someone that's into it would go for a Focus board where as everyone knows IBM and would buy it for a high price... Almost definitely the former just something that sounds cool in my head.

Also, another neat thing is there was a PS/2 to serial adapter in the box too, and a power cord that was labeled for use with IBM AT computer. Not that I think it's in particular to that since I think that was already standardized. Does anyone know what the (286) means?





https://youtu.be/OAOgEaFuwtc


Also, does anyone have experience modding one of these? I'm scared to try myself with just one the forum posts about it because I have no experience with this sorta thing except building my PC if that counts for anything. I'm still not sure one what sort of layout I want to go for, but I definitely want to lighten the space bar, and also need to get the stabilizer back on it since that's not quite connected to it now. I've seen ANSI mods for it, but would I be able to get a focus layout with like a split right shift for the backslash key? If anyone can help I'd so appreciate it.

[depletedvespene]

Envy, envy, envy!

Enjoy your F AT!

[SalkinvonBach]

Man this makes me jealous

[Tatlyn]

Envy, envy, envy!

Enjoy your F AT!

Thanks!
Can I start calling it the Fat? lol

[depletedvespene]

Envy, envy, envy!

Enjoy your F AT!

Thanks!
Can I start calling it the Fat? lol

No. It's an FU+0020AT.

(also, look up the size of the F122 keyboards! )

[Tatlyn]

Envy, envy, envy!

Enjoy your F AT!

Thanks!
Can I start calling it the Fat? lol

No. It's an FU+0032AT.

(also, look up the size of the F122 keyboards! )

I've seen it. I've seen like all of Chyrosran's videos. lol This thing is still pretty massive compared to my other stuffs; Just amusing to call it that.

[SalkinvonBach]

Envy, envy, envy!

Enjoy your F AT!

Would be a great nickname -how come I didn't have that idea the first time I saw the thing?
And if we call the AT Model F "the Fat" then we just call it the F122 "the american average body type"

[Tatlyn]

Envy, envy, envy!

Enjoy your F AT!

Would be a great nickname -how come I didn't have that idea the first time I saw the thing?
And if we call the AT Model F "the Fat" then we just call it the F122 "the american average body type"

l0l

[SneakyRobb]

Envy, envy, envy!

Enjoy your F AT!

Would be a great nickname -how come I didn't have that idea the first time I saw the thing?
And if we call the AT Model F "the Fat" then we just call it the F122 "the american average body type"

Whats wrong, your European desk isn't up to the task of supporting all this American steel?

really queen.jpg (104.52 KiB) Viewed 22049 times

[Tatlyn]

Envy, envy, envy!

Enjoy your F AT!

Would be a great nickname -how come I didn't have that idea the first time I saw the thing?
And if we call the AT Model F "the Fat" then we just call it the F122 "the american average body type"

Whats wrong, your European desk isn't up to the task of supporting all this American steel?


really queen.jpg

My desk is pretty big. It could handle it.

[Redmaus]

Nice. Scored one of the rarer model F variants too.

[Rauha]

Also, does anyone have experience modding one of these? I'm scared to try myself with just one the forum posts about it because I have no experience with this sorta thing except building my PC if that counts for anything. I'm still not sure one what sort of layout I want to go for, but I definitely want to lighten the space bar, and also need to get the stabilizer back on it since that's not quite connected to it now. I've seen ANSI mods for it, but would I be able to get a focus layout with like a split right shift for the backslash key? If anyone can help I'd so appreciate it.

Both barrrel and PCB capacitive sensor layout do not support proper Focus layout.

The closest you could get would be 1U + 1,25U. Here is me clumsily trying to show it. (Model M horizontal stabiliser is on my layout where the flipper for 1U would go).


I would not be too afraid of modding. Model Fs are really easy to mod. Just get the needed amount of barrels + flippers and Model M stabilisers. Then open it and place them where you want them and modify Soarer´s converter as needed. Plenty of really good threads and blog posts about Model F modding. Just use google those up.

The only really scary bit is opening it up for the first time:

It feels like it is going to break.
It sounds like it is breaking.
It should break.
But it will not.

The magic of IBM plastic.

[Tatlyn]

Also, does anyone have experience modding one of these? I'm scared to try myself with just one the forum posts about it because I have no experience with this sorta thing except building my PC if that counts for anything. I'm still not sure one what sort of layout I want to go for, but I definitely want to lighten the space bar, and also need to get the stabilizer back on it since that's not quite connected to it now. I've seen ANSI mods for it, but would I be able to get a focus layout with like a split right shift for the backslash key? If anyone can help I'd so appreciate it.

Both barrrel and PCB capacitive sensor layout do not support proper Focus layout.

The closest you could get would be 1U + 1,25U. Here is me clumsily trying to show it. (Model M horizontal stabiliser is on my layout where the flipper for 1U would go).


I would not be too afraid of modding. Model Fs are really easy to mod. Just get the needed amount of barrels + flippers and Model M stabilisers. Then open it and place them where you want them and modify Soarer´s converter as needed. Plenty of really good threads and blog posts about Model F modding. Just use google those up.

The only really scary bit is opening it up for the first time:

It feels like it is going to break.
It sounds like it is breaking.
It should break.
But it will not.

The magic of IBM plastic.

Thanks for the help.
I found some people on the MechKeys Discord to help too. I think \ on the left of shift like that should be doable. I need to keep the big ass enter to honor the Focus board I thought I was getting, and I miss it on my Packard Bell. And, It definitely has to be magic; I'll keep that in mind because it really does sound scary.
I'm waiting on a cheap adapter I had already ordered before I got this board with stupid shipping time before I spend any money to mod it. I'll update here when it gets here, and how I end up modding it.

[fohat]

Does anyone know what the (286) means?

The IBM AT was based on the 80286 chip. The original IBM PC ("XT") was based on the 8086 chip.

The 80286 was quickly replaced by the 80386 which was much more powerful (my first computer was an AT "clone" with the 80286) so I remember this sequence well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Personal_Computer/AT

[Polecat]

The IBM AT was based on the 80286 chip. The original IBM PC ("XT") was based on the 8086 chip.

Actually the IBM PC and PC/XT used the 8088, which was a "cheapened" version of the 8086 (8 bit external bus instead of 16 bit).

But yes, the dividing line for keyboard compatibility was between XT and AT, with the AT setting sometimes labelled "286" (short for 80286) on very early examples (before the 386, PS/2, 486, Pentium, etc. came out). The PC and PC/XT setting would have been labelled "88" (short for 8088) on those early keyboards.

[Tatlyn]

The IBM AT was based on the 80286 chip. The original IBM PC ("XT") was based on the 8086 chip.

Actually the IBM PC and PC/XT used the 8088, which was a "cheapened" version of the 8086 (8 bit external bus instead of 16 bit).

But yes, the dividing line for keyboard compatibility was between XT and AT, with the AT setting sometimes labelled "286" (short for 80286) on very early examples (before the 386, PS/2, 486, Pentium, etc. came out). The PC and PC/XT setting would have been labelled "88" (short for 8088) on those early keyboards.

Neat. Now that you mention it I do recall seeing the settings labeled as that in some of Chyrosran's videos.

[Tatlyn]

The adapter did get here like a week earlier than the shipping time said, and the keyboard does work!



Also, cleaned it up a fair bit.

[zzxx53]

Can you let me know where you got your adapter? I tried a few from Amazon and none of them can supply enough current, and the keyboard light blinks.

[Tatlyn]

Can you let me know where you got your adapter? I tried a few from Amazon and none of them can supply enough current, and the keyboard light blinks.

I had the same issue plugging it into the ps2 port and ended up just using a converter to usb on top of the adapter and that worked. Also, I didn't know that's why that happened. lol

[Ander]

I realize this thread is a few years old, but when I stumbled across it just now I was so amused I had to say something. What incredible luck! These are going for around ~$400 US now, I think... No doubt you're still enjoying typing on it, as most of these all-time great keebs would last virtually forever.

[Muirium]

Aye, $5 is a nice deal. I got mine for $25 in the day (and a same priced SSK) but that’s like 5× too much.

To save our resident Cherry defender the effort: I’ll mention Model F’s crumbly foam. If it weren’t for that, these keyboards would be as long lived as early Cherry MX stuff, before they embraced the cheap. Foam can be replaced, though, restoring the F back to its glory. And I’d take an F over MX, hard, any time of day. Best clicky feel of them all.

[AndyJ]

When the stupid "surfboard" 101-key boards came out with the PC/AT, there was a mass migration to that layout. Real IBM PC/AT keyboards were already hard to find by the late 1980s. I bought a (used) spare circa 1989, off the old RIME For Sale echo, for $100 1989 dollars. That was a pretty good deal at the time.