deskthority

Picked this up at a thrift store the other day for the large sum of 97 cents. It seems to be a generic OEM keyboard with the name "Tandon" stuck on the case. On the PCB, it says "HI-TEK Series 725".

This certainly isn't a buckling spring keyboard, but it's not a rubber dome keyboard either. I'm leaning towards foam disc keys myself. Basically, the only reason I got it was because it is an XT protocol keyboard which as far as I know, are pretty rare these days. Anyone got ideas?

As a random note, this keyboard was made in 1985 and when I bought it, it looked like it hadn't been cleaned in as long...

Well, pull a cap!

That's a surprise, it uses springs. It's not IBM buckling springs though, and the spring is easily removed from the keyboard.

neko2k wrote:
That's a surprise, it uses springs. It's not IBM buckling springs though, and the spring is easily removed from the keyboard.

NMB "Space Invader" switches.

Tandon was a hard drive manufacturer, surprised they made keyboards. I have got to get an NMB board on of these days.

Are these clicky, tactile or linear?

Also, if you feel up to it, what colour is under the spacebar?

So far, pairings include black/cyan (clicky) and grey/neon yellow (tactile).

Daniel Beardsmore wrote:Are these clicky, tactile or linear?

Also, if you feel up to it, what colour is under the spacebar?

So far, pairings include black/cyan (clicky) and grey/neon yellow (tactile).

Apologies for the bump.

Now. Under the spacebar, the key switch is white like what is pictured above, only it also has a small dot of red paint on it.

Hello again.

Could I trouble you please for a photo of what's under the LED keycap keys?

I am assuming that the LED is separate from the switch, so it would be nice to have a clear demonstration of a keyboard from before Hi-Tek integrated the LEDs into the keycaps (those have been found in a 1986 model, and yours is a year earlier).

My good camera has stopped working so here's the best I can do with my phone. You can use it on the wiki if you want.

Thanks!

Looks similar to my Philips keyboard:

http://deskthority.net/photos-videos-f8 ... t4798.html

@neko2k/Kurk — would Sandy be permitted to use your photos on his NMB pages? This is his new chronological switch page, which is why I was specifically interested in confirming that the earliest boards didn't have the LED-integrated switches:

http://sandy55.fc2web.com/keyboard/nmb_hitek_sw.html

Yes of course.
BTW, I really need to wiki this thing.

Daniel Beardsmore wrote:@neko2k/Kurk — would Sandy be permitted to use your photos on his NMB pages? This is his new chronological switch page, which is why I was specifically interested in confirming that the earliest boards didn't have the LED-integrated switches:

http://sandy55.fc2web.com/keyboard/nmb_hitek_sw.html

Sure, you can use it there too.

Thanks!