Beamspring USB controller

[wheybags]

So is anyone in here definitely bidding on this one?
If not I will (manually this time ;_;)

[mr_a500]

I have definitely already bid on this, but I will stop bidding if somebody begs me nicely. (beg must be sincere and include phrases like "pretty please!" and "with a cherry on top"... you know... that sort of thing )

[wheybags]

I want to beg you but I won't because I feel bad about what happened last time ;_;

[quantalume]

BTW: we might try and shift discussion over to here: http://deskthority.net/marketplace-f11/ ... t7993.html to avoid duplication between the different ibm-capsense-usb controllers.

Sounds good. We can leave now before the nasty slugfest over the Displaywriter keyboard gets any uglier. (Little do they know that I have entered a $500 snipe bid myself. )

[mr_a500]

I want to beg you but I won't because I feel bad about what happened last time ;_;

I'm kidding, of course. I won't bid again. I'll let others get a chance for clicky goodness.
(besides, I just foolishly bought a green screen terminal for some unknown reason and the shipping is a killer)

[nourathar]

I'm kidding, of course. I won't bid again. I'll let others get a chance for clicky goodness.
(besides, I just foolishly bought a green screen terminal for some unknown reason and the shipping is a killer)

Curious which one you bought !

[mr_a500]

It's not a very nice one, not even the older style that I like. It's a rather silly purchase really. I already have the keyboard and they were selling the terminal without keyboard, fairly cheap, and I thought, "Oh, I can finally use that keyboard."



It was only after I bought it and calculated the shipping + customs + exchange that I said, "Why the hell did I want that?"

[dorkvader]

I wouldn't mind a Displaywriter; the layout looks pretty good, and it's probably no wider than a 122-key Model F? Being the last beamspring IBM made it should either be the peak of quality or the cheapest and nastiest.

The Displaywriter is pretty small: it's only about 2-3 cm wider than an M.

As far as quality: it's mixed. It has a plastic case, but it's a really really nice plastic case. There's no solenoid, but it's a decent speaker instead.

So in some ways it's worse. In other ways it's better. I really like how they slayed out the sense/strobes. The key layout makes a lot of sense as well (and some aspects were later appropriated into the Wheelwriters and later IBM typewriters) I really like the layout of the funciton keys. The left ones were re-used in the PC and the right ones just "make sense".

[Muirium]

Sounds like my kind of Beam Spring! How does it feel?

[quantalume]

So who is the lucky bloke taking home the Big White Whale? Was anyone here crazy enough to pay $200?

[REVENGE]

Well Tom, congratulations(?) on making Hackaday!

[nourathar]

So who is the lucky bloke taking home the Big White Whale? Was anyone here crazy enough to pay $200?

Yeah, I'm very curious if it was someone from here too ! And that price, that's what they are going for these days, no ? With the current level of interest in beamspring boards, it is going to be hard to pick one up for a low price..

And it also shows that bidding at the last minute doesn't make things cheaper when there is more people interested ?

Well Tom, congratulations(?) on making Hackaday!

great ! this will drive prices up even further !

[Muirium]

Pound for pound, a great beast like that isn't so bad for the price, I guess.

(No, it wasn't me. This is one beam spring I've seen, and know I can't fantasise about being smaller so I'd actually use it!)

[Game Theory]

Wasn't me I resisted jumping in.

[quantalume]

Pound for pound, a great beast like that isn't so bad for the price, I guess.

(No, it wasn't me. This is one beam spring I've seen, and know I can't fantasise about being smaller so I'd actually use it!)

By that metric, those old boards ought to be worth three or four HHKBs, eh?

I think you've already got one of the most ideal keyboards in the Kishy. The more I type on the beamspring, the more I tend to prefer the Model F and M boards. There's a lot of side-to-side slop in the beamspring mechanism, and the let-off isn't as sharp and crisp.

[mr_a500]

The more I type on the beamspring, the more I tend to prefer the Model F and M boards. There's a lot of side-to-side slop in the beamspring mechanism, and the let-off isn't as sharp and crisp.

You don't like the side-to-side slop? Sometimes I just rest my fingers on the keyboard and shift back and forth to get the lovely rattle sound. (like "dice in a box")

I agree it's not as crispy as a Model F, but I prefer the solid feel of the keycaps on the beam spring. And of course, the look is so much nicer than the boring beige of the Model F.

[Muirium]

I think you've already got one of the most ideal keyboards in the Kishy.

Thanks, so do I! When Tinnie first announced his haul of them, I was sold on first sight. The wee thing is an absolutely killer package.

But then there's always someone out there who will have you outgunned:

Hmm, would it work with this 5251 66-key variant?

Compact beam springs! When will it end!

The great white that I've fondled a few times feels damn nice to type on, as far as I'm concerned. Beam springs have that swing to them, like a piano or indeed a manual typewriter, which buckling spring doesn't even try to replicate. They feel a bit like a Topre to me, oddly enough. So I'm still after one, someday.

Let's just browse Webwit's catalogue…

IBM beam spring 60%:


IBM 3741 Data Station

Space Cadet color style/IBM/60% for the win!


IBM 129 Combination Keyboard

None quite as tight as a Kishy, of course. But I do like the idea of mounting a chunky board inside a desk!

[stormbard]

I recently found a Beamspring in a bin at work. I posted over on the /r/MechanicalKeyboards subreddit, under the same username, and they pointed me to this thread. I was wondering if there had been any changes to the controller other than Firmware since the Rev4 board was released? If nothing has changed where can I find the BoM? Thanks in advance, I'll post pics one the process is finished.

[xwhatsit]

A beamspring in a bin! Some people have all the luck...

No changes to the hardware since Rev4 (although I've designed a solenoid driver board that plugs into the Rev4 to fire the solenoid in a loud and obnoxious fashion).

If you're going to build one yourself, you might want to take a look at the Kicad project so you can do a proper BOM (there are some old BOMs floating around from earlier revisions but there is newer stuff).

By the way, since doing controllers for the Displaywriter and Model Fs etc., I've combined all the separate threads to here: http://deskthority.net/for-sale-f55/xwh ... t7993.html . I'm also running a new batch-build/group buy thing so I can build a controller for you if you'd prefer.