My Gray Badge Model M collection

[Johnbo]

Shortly after I got my Model M (The standard one) and then the Screen Reader/2 pad, and using them both together, a thought popped into my head that I couldn't shake: "Hmm, it'd be pretty neat to have all the Gray Badge Model Ms together".

Well, here were are a little over a year later and I don't want to know how many hours spent scouring eBay for deals...

GrayBadgeGifCompressed.gif (2.49 MiB) Viewed 5561 times

M122.jpg (936.13 KiB) Viewed 5561 times

ModelM.jpg (906.53 KiB) Viewed 5561 times

SSK.jpg (1009.53 KiB) Viewed 5561 times

M50.jpg (1.05 MiB) Viewed 5561 times

SR2.jpg (1.17 MiB) Viewed 5561 times

20220729_094259.jpg (3.75 MiB) Viewed 5556 times

[Muirium]

Love the animation!

I hadn't even realised just how much more case up top there is on fullsize Ms compared to the SSK. (Been a long time since I last had any Ms bigger than TKL.) The 'lil IBM badge on SSKs is a clear hint, of course, but the animation makes it sing.

[Johnbo]

Same! There were a couple surprising size comparisons that I didn't realize until I had them all together.

Like you said, I didn't realize how much smaller the SSK is than the standard M due to the top portion of the case being smaller.

I also was kinda surprised at how much "less big" the M122 was over the standard M, if that makes sense.

Another thing that I thought was interesting was that, despite all being gray badges, the M50 is the only one that shares the bezel and lip design of the older style Type 1/2 M122s and F122.

[wobbled]

I used to have one of those numpads back when I had an IBM obsession problem (it's now a topre problem)
Did you manage to get it working?

[Johnbo]

Yeah, it speaks PS/2, albeit weirdly. Each key sends different scancodes for down and up. For example, key one sends scancode (decimal) 6 when you press it, and 134 when you release it. So I used a teensy and C++ to write my own converter / remapper for it.

[Muirium]

Care to share the code? How did you do it?

[Johnbo]

Yeah I can I suppose, but with a huge caveat: I'm just a lowly VFX artist who taught himself python to help with work, and then frustratingly stumbled my way through C++ to cobble together something that at the end of the day sent the right codes to the computer. I'm not a programmer and I have no formal training with C++ or even programming in general, so it's likely it's riddled with bugs, inefficiencies, no-nos, etc. Therefore, I accept no responsibility for it or any damage it may cause if used, nor will I provide any support for it. I'm sharing it for reference only.

The base code for this was originally written as a personal exercise for myself with my Deko Fast Action keyboard, then I modified it for use with the Screen Reader/2 keypad. Arduino / Teensy comes with a PS/2 library built in, but I quickly found limitations with it when I tried to use it for my Deko board. So, using it as jumping off point, I rewrote it entirely. I'm using it on a Teensy 2.0 BTW.

Now that my air-tight disclaimer is out of the way, I've attached the code here.

[Muirium]

I have read your EULA and agree to your terms.

I’m not a real coder either. Interested to see how a fellow lightweight went about it!

[thefarside]

Great collection! Do you have a favorite? I’m curious how much of the sound and feel differs between them.

[Johnbo]

My favorite would be the standard M, since it was made on my birthday! A very close second / sometimes tied for first is the Screen Reader/2 pad. It was the first rare / unique / special board I found that wasn't just a run-of-the-mill keyboard. Also, by an incredible coincidence, it was made either 2 days or 10 days before my birthday! (It's hard to tell for sure since there's unfortunately a hole in the label, but at the very least it was made in my birthday month).

[Muirium]

We should all prize keyboards which are near your birthday.

Beamsprings are only so high because they’re the only IBMs which match mine.

[inozenz]

i like your grey badge model m collection