deskthority

I figured I should probably document my collection somewhere, so here it is. I'll be posting these in the order I got them. It's going to take a while to take pictures of everything so this will be updated as time goes on.

Laser 2269
My first vintage keyboard actually, pretty great place to start if you ask me.
Switches: SMK 2nd generation clicky MX Mount. Very light and has a decently soft and high pitched click.
Caps: Thick doubleshot ABS made by VTech in it's OEM profile.
Mount / Plate: Plateless tray mount. I removed some of the screws in the alphas to give it a bit more flex.


Fujitsu FKB4700-101
It's a pretty underrated board for the price imo but besides that it's nothing amazing.
Switches: Fujitsu Peerless Type 2. Feels similar to IBM's Membrane Buckling Springs but as a dome with slider switch.
Caps: Thin PBT dye-subs made by Fujitsu in it's OEM profile.
Mount / Plate: Plastic barrel plate with a steel backplate.

Chicony KB-5301
Needs to be restored so I don't have my full thoughts on it yet.
Switches: Chicony Membrane Buckling Springs
Caps: Medium thick pad printed ABS. made by Chicony? in some sort of OEM profile.
Mount / Plate: Plastic barrel plate with a steel backplate.

Elektronika MC-7004N
I got lucky with this actually arriving, I paid my proxy in Russia for this the day before the invasion of Ukraine.
Switches: Elektronika Capacitive Buckling Springs. Feels pretty decent surprisingly, a bit lighter and less tactile than the real thing.
Caps: Medium thick something or other. Plastic can yellow so it's probably ABS but who knows since it's from the Soviet Union.. I think the printing is silkscreened? Caps are uniprofile with a curved assembly.
Mount / Plate: Steel barrel plate with a steel back plate.

IBM 1395158 Model M
Pretty late, it's from 97, but I got it for $45 so I'm not complaining.
Switches: IBM Membrane Buckling Springs. If you don't know how a Model M feels shame on you.
Caps: Thick PBT dye-subs made by IBM Greenock in IBM's OEM profile.
Mount / Plate: Plastic barrel plate with a steel backplate.

Heroic Branded Cantech TK-105M
Got this NOS a while ago but sadly it was shipped pretty poorly so there's some dirt and damage from that.
Switches: Cantech Membrane Buckling Springs. It feels and sounds pretty inconsistent sadly. A shame since the keys near the screws holding it together feel pretty great.
Caps: Thin pad-printed ABS made by Cantech in it's OEM profile.
Mount / Plate: Integrated plastic barrel plate.

Alps SM-102?
Since the ANSI version is called the SM-101 I'm assuming the ISO version is probably called the SM-102 but there's no evidence to support this.
Switches: Alps Membrane Buckling Springs. This still needs to be restored so I don't have my full thoughts on it yet.
Caps: Thin pad-printed ABS made by Alps in it's OEM profile.
Mount / Plate: Plastic barrel plate with a steel backplate.

IBM Model F XT
Sadly the internal springs for the feet have been damaged so no foot review this time.
Switches: IBM Capacitive Buckling Springs. My favorite clicky switch.
Caps: Thick PBT dye-subs made by IBM USA in it's Buckling Spring OEM profile.
Mount / Plate: Steel barrel plate with a steel back plate.

TI-99/4A
Well it's a computer instead of just a keyboard but the keyboard part is pretty cool and the switches are in very good condition.
Switches: Alps SKCC Cream. Very smooth and I don't even mind the weighting but it's just not my cup of tea for linears. In general I don't like pre-DIN linears.
Caps: Medium thick doubleshot ABS made by Alps in it's SKCC profile.
Mount / Plate: Top mounted steel plate.

Fujitsu N860-2500-T153
It's kinda wild how thin the case is.
Switches: Discrete Fujitsu Clicky FES-301e (FLS 3rd gen) Very light with a tiny tactile bump. It sounds like your typing on jar lids, if you've ever tried Futaba MA it's kinda like that but sounds less harsh. Sadly mine aren't in great condition so they are a bit scratchy but in good condition they are super smooth.
Caps: THICC doubleshot ABS made by Fujitsu in it's "Tombstone" profile.
Mount / Plate: Top mounted steel plate.

Data General One Keyboard Module
Switches are the same as the N860-2500 so just refer to that on my thoughts.
Switches: Semi-discrete Fujitsu Clicky FES-301e (FLS 3rd gen)
Caps: Thick dye-sub PBT made by Fujitsu in some sort of special profile for Data General laptops.
Mount / Plate: Integrated plastic barrel plate.

Epson Q203a
The caps on this look amazing imo.
Switches: Fujitsu FES-370 (Lever Action). Medium weighted tactile switch with a tiny little bump that's a bit rounded feeling, I guess it's not that surprising since it's supposedly using a metal dome. I'll be taking it apart soon and documenting it since the pics for the switch that exist kinda suck. Nevermind Mandarbmax made a documentation video before I could make a post https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amH47ICdJEo
Caps: Thin PBT dye-subs made by Fujitsu and in it's OEM profile.
Mount / Plate: Steel plate held in by hopes and dreams.

Northgate Omnikey/102
I don't know how this was $50 cheaper than the Ultra back in the day given it's just a Ultra with a few keys removed. Layout is pretty weird too tbh, no practical purpose of removing the top F keys when it's not saving any space. Well hey at least they give you a template of the top F keys so you can pretend to press them.
Switches: Alps SKCM White (Pine)
Caps: Thin doubleshot ABS made by Focus in it's OEM profile.
Mount / Plate: Top mounted steel plate. It's only mounted with 4 screws (2 on each side) so it feels softer than you'd expect out of a steel plate. A lot of vintage boards are mounted like this but given the length of this it's a bit more noticeable here.

Amiga 1000
Shame the one I have is in the condition it's in since these boards are great.
Switches: Mitsumi KCT-2. Mitsumi KCTs and other Mitsumi horizontal spring switches are imo some of the best tactiles made and probably the most underrated thanks to the undeserved reputation Chyros has given Mitsumi.
Caps: Thin dye-sub PBT made by Mitsumi in it's OEM profile.
Mount / Plate: Steel plate held in by hopes and dreams.

IBM 93Y1131 MCANPOS
Switches: IBM Buckling Sleeves. They are stupidly good for the price and if you haven't tried them yet you should, you can get boards with them in the US for like $30.
Caps: Thick pad-printed ABS made by IBM in their buckling sleeve POS profile.
Mount / Plate: Integrated plastic barrel plate.

AT&T 56k 420 ADA.
I wish these were more common since AT&T Mag Sep boards are great.
Switches: AT&T Magnetic Separation. Switches that use magnets for tactility feel very different from any other switch so it's hard to describe. It's foam and foil but the foam is pretty thin so it has a soft bottom out that doesn't really feel mushy.
Caps: Medium thick dye-sub PBT made by AT&T in it's magsep OEM profile.
Mount / Plate: Aluminum plate held in by hopes & dreams.


Fujitsu N860-4747 module
I'd love to know which module this keyboard came from but since it was previously undocumented before the seller listed it I doubt I'll ever find it.
Switches: Fujitsu Peerless Type 1. I think they feel different from the more common Type 2 but I don't have enough examples to say for sure.
Caps: Medium thick dye-sub PBT made by Fujitsu in it's OEM profile. Well this is a mix between Tandy 3000 alphas and 4747 mods, the Tandy 3000 caps are pretty scuffed and the 4747 caps were in better condition so I just swapped them around. Didn't change the mods since the stabs are different.
Mount / Plate: Plastic barrel plate with a steel backplate.

NTC KB-5060N
Switches: HTK Switch. Originally this had NTC branded SMK vintage linear clones but I swapped in some HTKs from my Hottek 1PF101 since I prefer the AT layout. As you might notice the enter key is pretty high up and that's because it was originally a MX Black instead of a SMK vint linear clone, reason being there's a jumper directly below it that interferes with SMK switches. I might fix it one of these days by swapping in a Box Jade or something but for now it works and tbh it's kinda funny.
Caps: Thin pad printed ABS made by someone (idk who) in a OEM profile.
Mount / Plate: Top mounted steel plate.

Datacomp JMC-700a
Comes with a beeper! Amazing case and caps but the blacks aren't in that good of a condition so I'll probably swap clickies of some kind sooner or later.
Switches: Cherry MX Black
Caps: Thick doubleshot ABS made by Cherry in it's Cherry profile.
Mount / Plate: Top mounted steel plate.

Packard Bell M-8700
Packard Bell M-8700. Honestly one of the best looking AT boards.
Switches: Futaba MA.
Caps: Thick doubleshot ABS made by Seijin in it's OEM profile.
Mount / Plate: Top mounted steel plate

Zenith Z-150
Definitely in my top 3 favorite boards I own.
Switches: NOS White Alps with Amber Alps springs and clickleafs.
Caps: Mediumish thick doubleshot ABS made by Alps Electric in it's OEM profile.
Mount / Plate: Top mounted steel plate.

Tandy 3000
Switches: Discrete Linear Fujitsu FES-301e (FLS 3rd gen) Very light and smooth.
Caps: Medium thick dye-sub PBT made by Fujitsu in it's OEM profile. 4747 alphas and 3000 mods, see the 4747 post for why.
Mount / Plate: Top mounted steel plate.

Commodore PC-5/10 (Cherry G80-0499/1)
Switches: Cherry MX Black. These were broken in very well and feel pretty great.
Caps: Thick doubleshot ABS made by Cherry in it's Cherry profile.
Mount / Plate: Plateless tape mount (Hopes & dreams mount but the PCB is mounted to the top case by two pieces of tape lol)

Xerox 6085
Switches: SKCM Brown Alps. I like heavy rounded tactiles so you should be able to guess what I think of these.
Caps: Medium thick dye-sub PBT made by Alps in it's OEM Profile.
Mount / Plate: Steel plate held in by plastic clips.

Oki HMB-35957-14
Switches: Clicky Oki Gourd Springs. Honestly pretty mediocre switches, they feel a bit inconsistent and the sound isn't that great imo. I like the tactility though.
Caps: Medium Thick dye-sub PBT made by Oki in it's OEM profile.
Mount / Plate: Plastic Barrel Plate with a steel backplate.

Wyse AT Standard
Switches: Cherry MX Black. These are even smoother than the ones I have in my Commodore.
Caps: Thin ABS doubltshots made by Comptec in it's DCS profile.
Mount / Plate: Top mounted steel plate (It's held in by one screw so it's mostly hopes & dreams mount lol)

NMB 112083-005
Switches: NOS Clicky 5th Gen Hi-Tek 725 from the Space Invasion GB. (Originally they were 2nd gen white linears but I like SI clickies more so I swapped these in)
Caps: Medium Thick dye-sub PBT made by NMB in it's 725 OEM profile.
Mount / Plate: Top mounted steel plate.

Ardent Computer 130·00020·01 (Alps KC71CM0050)
Switches: Alps SKCM Blue
Caps: Mediumish thick doubleshot ABS made by Alps Electric in it's OEM profile.
Mount / Plate: Mount / Plate: Steel plate held in by hopes and dreams.

Cool collection so far Hopefully we will get to see more as you add to it.

Very nice stuff, i didn't know about that chicony board before!

i love threads like this, cant wait to see everything. already really cool stuff, especially the chicong and russian board

Great board if you like Blue Alps but I learned early on it wasn't for me.

was it the board or the alps you didn't take to? Either's a controversial take

browncow wrote: ↑

15 Jul 2023, 10:43

Very nice stuff, i didn't know about that chicony board before!

I'm going to do a full documentation post about that one sooner or later. Originally I was going to do it when it's fully restored but I've been putting it off since the membrane is cooked and fixing membranes is a fairly long process.

podgen wrote: ↑

15 Jul 2023, 13:50

Great board if you like Blue Alps but I learned early on it wasn't for me.

was it the board or the alps you didn't take to? Either's a controversial take

I don't like Blue Alps as a switch. the DC-2014 is a great board though.

CoolPenguin1 wrote: ↑

15 Jul 2023, 17:07

browncow wrote: ↑

15 Jul 2023, 10:43

Very nice stuff, i didn't know about that chicony board before!

I'm going to do a full documentation post about that one sooner or later. Originally I was going to do it when it's fully restored but I've been putting it off since the membrane is cooked and fixing membranes is a fairly long process.

i have succesfully repaired membranes on model m's with a bit of "silver glue" (stuff orginally advertised for repairing of tv remotes, it's basically some sort of glue/paint with a bit of silver powder in it, worked wonders for me)

browncow wrote: ↑

15 Jul 2023, 17:39

CoolPenguin1 wrote: ↑

15 Jul 2023, 17:07

browncow wrote: ↑

15 Jul 2023, 10:43

Very nice stuff, i didn't know about that chicony board before!

I'm going to do a full documentation post about that one sooner or later. Originally I was going to do it when it's fully restored but I've been putting it off since the membrane is cooked and fixing membranes is a fairly long process.

i have succesfully repaired membranes on model m's with a bit of "silver glue" (stuff orginally advertised for repairing of tv remotes, it's basically some sort of glue/paint with a bit of silver powder in it, worked wonders for me)

Thanks for the suggestion. I plan on using one of those but this membrane has a ton of broken traces which is why I've been putting it off.

CoolPenguin1 wrote: ↑

15 Jul 2023, 17:59

browncow wrote: ↑

15 Jul 2023, 17:39

CoolPenguin1 wrote: ↑

15 Jul 2023, 17:07

I'm going to do a full documentation post about that one sooner or later. Originally I was going to do it when it's fully restored but I've been putting it off since the membrane is cooked and fixing membranes is a fairly long process.

i have succesfully repaired membranes on model m's with a bit of "silver glue" (stuff orginally advertised for repairing of tv remotes, it's basically some sort of glue/paint with a bit of silver powder in it, worked wonders for me)

Thanks for the suggestion, I plan on using one of those but this membrane has a ton of broken traces which is why I've been putting it off.

I had success with this sort of paint:

The graphite based paints didn't work for me, they require hardening under light, maybe i just didn't do it correctly but the silver paint is much easier to use. I just checked around with my multimeter with the buzzer enabled to make sure the trace was bad in that place, removed any oxidation with a pencil eraser, they work great for cleaning up the darkened traces. then paint over with that paint, let it dry, check again and usually it all worked nicely i wish you good luck! would love to see that board working

CoolPenguin1 wrote: ↑

15 Jul 2023, 17:28

podgen wrote: ↑

15 Jul 2023, 13:50

Great board if you like Blue Alps but I learned early on it wasn't for me.

was it the board or the alps you didn't take to? Either's a controversial take

I don't like Blue Alps as a switch, the DC-2014 is a great board though.

oh?
do tell

podgen wrote: ↑

15 Jul 2023, 21:25

CoolPenguin1 wrote: ↑

15 Jul 2023, 17:28

podgen wrote: ↑

15 Jul 2023, 13:50

was it the board or the alps you didn't take to? Either's a controversial take

I don't like Blue Alps as a switch, the DC-2014 is a great board though.

oh?
do tell

I just don't like how it feels. I like my rounded switches on the heavier side and I find Blue Alps too light for me.

And with that I've taken a picture of everything in my collection that's in a state to be photographed. There's still some stuff that needs to be restored so I'll be posting those whenever I'm done restoring them and I'll also update it when I get new stuff.

that nmb board is a real beauty

The Xerox is the one that makes me jelly.

We should all make show and tell threads like this. I'll see about doing mine, instead of linking to ancient pictures all the time. CoolPenguin's format is very good: one pic each, all with similar lighting, and a little description in one thread's first post. The idea is to present them all sequentially. Best to keep editing that same post as each one gets pulled out for picture time.

I'd advise a slightly quieter background for the shots, though.

Oh, cool, so many AT boards. Datacomp the best. I have noname blue alps kb in same case (pcb branded as interchip). Is this Datacomp have Cherry pcb? It seems it’s really cherry keycaps, not Taihao TH clones…

mikhail wrote: ↑

10 Sep 2023, 02:32

Oh, cool, so many AT boards. Datacomp the best. I have noname blue alps kb in same case (pcb branded as interchip). Is this Datacomp have Cherry pcb? It seems it’s really cherry keycaps, not Taihao TH clones…

The PCB was made by Datacomp so I'm assuming only the switches, stabs and keycaps were made by Cherry. And yes the caps are genuine Cherry doubleshots.

Added a pretty interesting board today.