IBM 5576 keyboard with Alps Plate Spring

[snacksthecat]

[//gainsborough]

gorgeous. I wonder why there is such a big blank space for the lock light bank - seems disproportionately giant. Maybe a nametag? =P

[Delirious]

That is a very healthy cable, mine was too short so I had to splice it to add some length.

[snacksthecat]

That adds like 10 cool points. Is it AT protocol? I haven't gotten mine to work yet.

[snacksthecat]

PCB (?) is very flexible and thin.

[Delirious]

That adds like 10 cool points. Is it AT protocol? I haven't gotten mine to work yet.

Yea it's AT, you will be disappointed when you convert the thing, very lazy engineering. Also the pcb has to curve hence it's so thin.

[snacksthecat]

Typing demo

[kakan]

getting some Vietnam flashbacks

[Darkshado]

Wait a minute, do regular Model M keycap tops fit on this? I'm getting crazy ideas of a five angle Alps-mount switch plate with a curved or segmented PCB design...

[snacksthecat]

Wait a minute, do regular Model M keycap tops fit on this? I'm getting crazy ideas of a five angle Alps-mount switch plate with a curved or segmented PCB design...

Your comment had me cracking up so I decided to try it. They kind of fit but don't clip on quite right. That fact coupled with the difference in profile makes them supremely wobbly.



By the way, I love the feel of these APS switches but they bind pretty badly if you hit the keys off-center. Do you think it would be possible to lube them without taking the switches apart? I'm wondering if I could just spray some PTFE on the exposed bits of the sliders but not sure which parts I want to cover exactly.

[//gainsborough]

What about the other way around? It would be cool to have a model M, for example, with these legends!

[snacksthecat]

What about the other way around? It would be cool to have a model M, for example, with these legends!

Nah, the profile of the model M caps is too high so it just sits on top like a sad looking party hat.

gorgeous. I wonder why there is such a big blank space for the lock light bank - seems disproportionately giant. Maybe a nametag? =P

Today I show you what's behind door #1 (spoiler alert: it's not exciting)

[SneakyRobb]

I somewhat regret getting my alps plate spring board. the PCB mount switches actually have a different upper housing and cannot clip into a metal plate. It has been a challenge to get them into the 60% form factor.

[Jacobalbertus1]

there currently is a MCU replacement firmware for this made by herbal Neko tea he is still working on it to make the LED\s work and the speaker work, but i bought the one that was in that photo with the plastic on it and it is being used to type this

[jsheradin]

there currently is a MCU replacement firmware for this made by herbal Neko tea he is still working on it to make the LED\s work and the speaker work, but i bought the one that was in that photo with the plastic on it and it is being used to type this

Sounds neat, do you have any more info about it? Is it just firmware replacement for the stock controller or is the controller itself being replaced?

The latter is pretty straight forward thanks to the handy ribbon connector that the stock controller used. All rows/columns are directly exposed. LEDs are common anode with the limiter resistor on the same PCB as the switches. You just need to tie anode to 5V and configure the 3 LED lines as active low.

If anyone wants my Soarer's Controller config let me know. The board works great with a Teensy++ 2.0 and a generic ribbon cable.

Spoiler:

[Jacobalbertus1]

Similar to what you did but my upper pcb is just a dummy board with led so it's a full replacement controller