deskthority

The nominees in the category Best relic/discovery 2013 are:

HaaTa's Cherry M11 keyboard • A truly special find, the HP 4953A Protocol Analyzer Keyboard is so far the only keyboard spotted in modern times with the Cherry M11 switch. A missing link was finally discovered.

HaaTa's Univac F-1355-00 electro-magnetic-clicky keyboard • A HaaTa find from 1971, the switches from the Univac keyboard predate both the buckling spring and beam spring mechanism, and are clicky. Very clicky. It uses magnets to achieve the tactility and obnoxiously loud clickiness.

Muirium's Honeywell hall-effect keyboard • Muirium's Micro Switch Honeywell Hall Effect keyboard has, on the inside, a striking similarity with the Space Cadet keyboard and is a really special find. It started the Round 5 keycap group buy.

Tinnie's IBM "Kishsaver" and Industrial SSK finds • Tinnie helped a lot of people get rare vintage keyboards such as the IBM Space Saving keyboard, "Kishsaver" and even the industrial Space Saver. Never before did we see such amounts of these wanted but rare keyboards emerge and being distributed!

And the Wingnut for Best relic/discovery 2013, as voted for by the members of deskthority, goes to...

It's a nightmare! It's the clickiest keyboard yet discovered! And I want one now! HaaTa wins with aplomb. Fantastic find!

I want one too, damn it. Great - now I have to spend the next decade scanning eBay for this thing.

I just somehow doubt that someone's going to find a cache of them for us to adapt to modern computers, sadly. I really do wonder how that switch feels.

Another year, another wingnut...

Might be fun to try for a different category next year, but I dunno.

HaaTa's current list of upcoming projects:

• Model F capsense controller (with dfj and Parak atm) -> Kishsaver replacement controller
• Kiibohd Force (Force curve measuring device)
• The Alps Kiibohd
• Recreating (and hopefully manufacturing):
  • Univac Magnetic Separation Switches (yep, the one above )
  • Burroughs Opto-Electric Switches
• HaaTa's custom keyboard switch (still a secret )
• More monthly Kiibohd meetups (skipping December because most people are pretty busy)
• Write more wikis
• Replace old crappy Google+ with better ones

Switch recreation right now is blocked mostly on drawing CAD diagrams of old switches. Once an accurate drawing is made, I can start figuring out the tooling (I have access to basic injection molding tools).

<shameless advertising>Anyone interested in helping out on any of the projects above...let me know </shameless advertising>

Don't worry guys. He really is working on Univac for the masses. And that secret project! My lips are sealed. But trust me: if you've got skills, get in touch with him. He's going for the big one!