Cherry DCA Irmakey

[Jesseg]

Thought I'd share my recently completed Irmakey.
Don't know a whole lot about these.. made by Cherry USA for DCA in the early to mid 80s and are a 2.7kg tank. the case is seems to be the exact same design as the early G80-2100s
Originally came with the early MX White switches and dye-sub keycaps. These were replaced with gateron yellows and 2551HAD keycaps.(I received the board without switches)
Despite being Cherry made this keyboard is unlike most other cherry boards. It has a heavy steel back panel, steel mounting plate, NKRO, brass screw sockets and a FR4 PCB rather than the compressed paper type ones.
After many failed attempts to get it to talk to a modern PC I opted to controller swap it, this way it's fully programmable too.
Enjoy!

[Ascaii]

Nice looking board, but I've got to say I personally find it wrong to swap modern switches into what is clearly a collector's wet dream if left in it's original condition.

[kbdfr]

Nice looking board, but I've got to say I personally find it wrong to swap modern switches into what is clearly a collector's wet dream if left in it's original condition.

It is not just wrong, it is fully insane.
Destroy an antique and rare piece of history to make it fit your preference of the moment.
Next step would be painting it black because, oh well, that old beige stuff is so outdated...

[Muirium]

Deskthority: no crabby, ultra-conservative, vintage fetishist grouches here!

I’d rather see people make use of their classic kit with sympathetic modifications like this than hoard them, virgin sealed in their shipping boxes, in loveless storage*, any day. There’s more than one way to show your love!

*to be ultimately discovered upon their death by uninterested relatives who really don’t care which kind of landfill all this meticulously gathered junk winds up in.

[Bjerrk]

Yeah, if the switches were in bad condition or uninteresting, I would probably have swapped them as well. But those particular ones, I would probably have kept (given that they were working).

As a rule of thumb: Better used with joy than stuck in a closet.

With certain limitations, of course. No matter how much you prefer gateron browns over IBM beamsprings, I'd hate to see that mod happening

Very cool keyboard, by the way!

[Damonskv]

Nice looking board, but I've got to say I personally find it wrong to swap modern switches into what is clearly a collector's wet dream if left in it's original condition.

It is not just wrong, it is fully insane.
Destroy an antique and rare piece of history to make it fit your preference of the moment.
Next step would be painting it black because, oh well, that old beige stuff is so outdated...

if I'm not mistaken, he found this keyboard in the form of a chassis, from which another person harvested switches and keycaps, so in fact, he got a result much more authentic than what he originally found

[Jesseg]

I bought this without switches, and even if I didn’t I can, and will do as I please. I am a huge advocate for the preservation of old keyboards and I cringe when I see them painted and chopped.. but not sure if swapping switches counts as ‘destroying’ anything either.. + mx whites suck ass anyway IMO.

[Muirium]

if I'm not mistaken, he found this keyboard in the form of a chassis, from which another person harvested switches and keycaps, so in fact, he got a result much more authentic than what he originally found

Fair enough: he just confirmed it. But the OP doesn't say who took out the originals, so our estimable elders weren't wrong to point fingers.

[Jesseg]

if I'm not mistaken, he found this keyboard in the form of a chassis, from which another person harvested switches and keycaps, so in fact, he got a result much more authentic than what he originally found

Fair enough: he just confirmed it. But the OP doesn't say who took out the originals, so our estimable elders weren't wrong to point fingers.

Thou who shall not be named the fact he practically gave it to me rids him of any ridicule from me

[Muirium]

This was done by the devil, you say? Kbdfr was right!

[kbdfr]

This was done by the devil, you say? Kbdfr was right!

kbdfr is always right.

[Wodan]

kbdfr is always right.

One of the principle beliefs of Deskthority

[ZedTheMan]

Hi!
We looking for a witch-hunt? I'm the witch!
You might think: why remove the original switches of this piece of history? 'Tis blasphemy!
I was curious because they seemed unlike other mx whites I had seen before. They looked to be the "soft clicks". I took many pictures of them and decided that due to the rarity of the switches, they might be better to distribute to collectors who might not otherwise get the chance. The board also had some mx super blacks, and some of the switches were heavier, denoted by red paint on the switch bottom. "Why isn't it on the wiki?" -because I haven't and probably won't get around to it. If I want to contribute to the wiki, I want to do it damn right, and I don't think I'm up to stuff in either ability or effort to do so.

The condition of the switches was also, well, probably not the best, I have to be honest, and, as Jesseg's experience can show, this is not something I could just convert to test out. (Granted I believe I used a multimeter to test the switches individually, but that was a while ago, I tend to forget.)

Jesseg put a hell of a lot into this board to get it working and nice, it turned out great and will find more use and love this way than it ever would sitting as a cherry oddity in my collection.

Flagellate me for these sins I have committed, but spare thee who makes use of the carcass I left in my wake.
I did quite like the original keycaps though, haven't seen anything like them before. I did not harvest the caps though, those went to Jesseg. But I think the new caps suit the board just great as well.

[zrrion]

If I want to contribute to the wiki, I want to do it damn right, and I don't think I'm up to stuff in either ability or effort to do so.

It is way better IMO to get a halfassed start on the wiki than nothing at all. Anyone can clean the page ul later after all, but no one can document stuff then don't have.