deskthority

Hi everyone!
Today I bought this keyboard at the flea market...it is a Sunshine but there is no model.
I'm not a keyboard expert..but I bought it 'cause I think that is a mechanical keyboard with buckling spring key switches, if I'm not wrong, maybe you can tell me...I think that is a brand new keyboard, look at the cable...
It has a clicky sound...very loud, all keycaps are ok except one, but seller told me that I can find next time, 'cause it was lost in shipping from home to the flea market...anyway, is there anyone that sell this keycap on ebay?
And what is that switch on pcb??
Take a look at this pics and tell me if I did a good deal! 2 euro only...

Some kind of Alps clone.
There's an ATW with "10" at the top here. Maybe you should post your ATW 15 there and drive him crazy.

The only switch normally found on older keyboards is the XT/AT switch, as both XT and AT shared the same DIN connector. I am guessing that once you extend the feet of yours, the switch will become accessible from below?

webwit wrote:Some kind of Alps clone.
There's an ATW with "10" at the top here. Maybe you should post your ATW 15 there and drive him crazy.

Yep you're right!!! Do you know the difference between these atw 10 and mine atw15??

The switch is not accessible till you don't disassemble the keyboard...

I have this keyboard (another brand, same OEM). All the switches have different numbers on them. Here I pulled a few random keycaps to demonstrate, and the numbers underneath are 54, 46, 57, 34, 64.

mbodrov wrote:I have this keyboard (another brand, same OEM).

Any year on yours? I wonder who created the original four-tab case design that XM went on to copy? Something must account for it being far more popular than the two-tab Alps design. (Also, real Alps switches have little "thorns" sticking out of the corners, that no-one else ever copied.)

Now we need an ATW article on the wiki.

mbodrov wrote:All the switches have different numbers on them. Here I pulled a few random keycaps to demonstrate, and the numbers underneath are 54, 46, 57, 34, 64.

Anyone know why switch manufacturers would do this? Fukka and XM switches both do this. Maybe it's the batch numbers, for quality control?

mbodrov wrote:

Excellent caps!

Daniel Beardsmore wrote:Any year on yours? I wonder who created the original four-tab case design that XM went on to copy

No date on the case or the PCB.
I know that the company whose logo is on it was in business around 1995-2000.

These might be hard to crack. Your board is from Royal Bright International Corp (a mistranslation of "Sunshine"?), who don't seem to be around any more. Alps.tw has these switches in a Strong Man-era Filco keyboard, and we know Strong Man passed off other people's switches as their own, so they wouldn't say who made them even if they were still around.

[Edit: Alps.tw's board is not a Strong Man-made Filco, it's a Hearst Foldable Keyboard, which sadly still tells us very little. No idea who Hearst are.]

FCC lists 1992 as the registration date.

Internals are here: http://kbtalking.cool3c.com/article/8366

Interestingly, the click leaf is the KPT design (or the other way around) and the contact mechanism is very similar to KPT, who themselves appear to have copied SMK (or NEC or Maxi-Switch ...) The only FCC entries for KPT are from 1991 and 1994, so they're definitely contemporary.

This one may take its secrets to the grave. KPT are also gone, I believe, so there goes our hope of finding out about the seeming KPT clones.

mbodrov wrote:I have this keyboard (another brand, same OEM). All the switches have different numbers on them. Here I pulled a few random keycaps to demonstrate, and the numbers underneath are 54, 46, 57, 34, 64.

I want that keyboard so bad.