Alps Appreciation

fohat · 13 Apr 2016, 18:08

keycap wrote: ↑
Is there any way to differentiate between the Orange Alps and Salmon Alps version other than model number?

Do you mean serial number? My experience is that the switchover from orange to salmon happened around 500K.

alh84001 · 13 Apr 2016, 18:25

I don't know if I've seen Orange Alps AEK with serial over 500K, but there are ones with over 400K.

As for m0116, I've seen Orange Alps with serial number well over 600K, I didn't notice ones with bigger number, but I don't know if I noticed any at all between 650K and 1M for that matter.

guster11 · 13 Apr 2016, 20:13

Got these three AEK's today along with 2 cream damped AEK2's, can't wait to start cleaning them. I'm pretty sure they are all orange switches, so I'm thinking about doing something with the switches from one of them.

jacobolus · 13 Apr 2016, 20:27

Orange Alps AEK with serial 737566: http://www.ebay.com/itm/182091194891

alh84001 · 13 Apr 2016, 21:00

Attack of the orange switches!

Has someone here tried click-modding them (and putting them back together without issues), and can they give a short overview and comparison with other clicky switches?

emdude · 15 Apr 2016, 01:55

So I just got my DC-2014 today, and boy, it sure does feel and sound pretty amazing! The smoothness and the satisfying thockiness of the complicated blue Alps is fantastic!

It is woefully incomplete though, most of its keycaps are missing and is without a cord. I will probably end up salvaging its switches for a custom build. In any case, I sure am glad I was lucky enough to stumble upon that eBay listing.

keycap · 15 Apr 2016, 04:45

More Alps Integrated Dome pictures

Spoiler:

Redmaus · 15 Apr 2016, 04:46

Huh neat its got crucifix mount just like alps SKCC

How do they feel compared to other dome boards, such as topre?

keycap · 15 Apr 2016, 04:57

Redmaus wrote: ↑How do they feel compared to other dome boards, such as topre?

Not anything like a regular rubber dome at all. No tactile bump, just a smooth yet stiff linear switch. It also actuates before it bottoms out. The rubber dome in the switch only serves as the bridge over the two contacts; it doesn't make a tactile bump or anything, just collapses in the middle of the keystroke so you don't have to bottom out. It's pretty clever because there's no switchplate or actuator leaf that causes friction to the switch, just a slider going through the switch housing over a spring that compresses a dome, which makes the key press. Very smooth.

Touch_It · 15 Apr 2016, 05:32

guster11 wrote:Got these three AEK's today along with 2 cream damped AEK2's, can't wait to start cleaning them. I'm pretty sure they are all orange switches, so I'm thinking about doing something with the switches from one of them.

Are these from Goodwill?. The auction that went for super cheap?

Touch_It · 15 Apr 2016, 05:40

jacobolus wrote:Orange Alps AEK with serial 737566: http://www.ebay.com/itm/182091194891

Bidding on this. Thanks

Blaise170 · 15 Apr 2016, 05:49

Dyesubs.

guster11 · 16 Apr 2016, 03:10

Touch_It wrote: ↑
guster11 wrote:Got these three AEK's today along with 2 cream damped AEK2's, can't wait to start cleaning them. I'm pretty sure they are all orange switches, so I'm thinking about doing something with the switches from one of them.

Are these from Goodwill?. The auction that went for super cheap?

Don't be spreading that name around haha, its my secret shop for keyboards. But yeah, I got all 3 for 80. Perfect too, I can keep one and sell the other two and get my money back!

Hypersphere · 17 Apr 2016, 22:33

I wish I could take credit for building this 60% board with brown Alps, but I cannot. I bought the board on eBay from another keyboard enthusiast. He got the brown Alps switches from a Videowriter 250 keyboard and originally populated it with dye-sub PBT caps from an SGI board. However, I decided to add some finishing touches of my own.

: Alps60a.jpg (85.75 KiB) Viewed 6450 times

The SGI caps are excellent, but I wanted the alphas to be whiter and in a non-Italic Helvetica font, so I switched the caps with alphas from an IBM 5140 and added a red Esc from SP. I got the blank black mods from Matias -- they are ABS, but I find this okay for modifiers. Matias didn't have a stepped Caps Lock, but they did have a 7-unit spacebar along with 1.5- and 1-unit keys for the bottom row.

: Alps60b.jpg (197.5 KiB) Viewed 6450 times

I tweaked the spacebar stabilizer to smooth out the action, and I added some rubber pads under the spacebar stabilizer mounts to quiet the downstroke. I also put some rubber foam strips inside the spacebar to improve the sound a bit.

Finally, I changed the case from stock plastic to a TEX aluminum case. The TEX case came with nice aluminum feet, but these are too short to elevate the board to an angle that I find comfortable for typing. I needed something that would raise the rear of the board by 0.75 inches. It proved difficult to find self-adhesive feet that were 0.75 inches tall -- hemispherical ones would each look almost as large as half of a golf ball. Finally, I located some self-stick conical feet that look and work just fine.

With the steel frame and aluminum case, this is a very solid and rigid board, which seems to accentuate the definitive tactility of the brown Alps switches. The switches are intrinsically non-clicky, but I cannot help bottoming out, so with me typing, the board sounds as if it had clicky switches. When I first tried the board, I thought the switches were too heavy, but I have been typing on them all day, and I like them very much.

Another bonus to this board is that it is fully programmable via Hasu's firmware. I haven't programmed it yet, but I am using ATNsoft Key Manager to give it a HHKB layout.

Overall, this keyboard is a joy to look at and use.

Scarpia · 17 Apr 2016, 22:49

Nice Alps

I nearly bought that one.

Hypersphere · 18 Apr 2016, 00:13

@Scarpia: Is that a Viewmaster in your avatar pic? The slide viewer with the circular slides and stereoscopic views? I recall enjoying one of these during childhood visits to my grandparents' house. They had a collection of Viewmaster slides from trips to places like Banff National Park -- spectacular 3D portrayals of gorgeous scenery.

Back to the keyboard -- I have little experience actually typing on genuine Alps-switch keyboards. Before acquiring the brown Alps board, my closest encounters were with my Matias-switch V60s (Click and Quiet Click). Unlike the Matias-switch boards, the keys on the brown Alps do not wobble, although I do not find the wobble of the Matias keys to be objectionable at all -- it is just different.

seebart · 18 Apr 2016, 00:22

I really disliked the wobble on the Matias Ergo, other than that a great Ergo keyboard. I was also suprised at how different the Matias-switches are to Alps SKCM since Matias based their switch on Alps SKCM.

emdude · 18 Apr 2016, 00:28

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't Matias switches based on simplified Alps?

Redmaus · 18 Apr 2016, 00:42

Yeah they are. That also makes putting them back together a huge pain in the ass.

fohat · 20 Apr 2016, 13:50

It had to happen.

Party On!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/leading-edge-ke ... 934966798?

seebart · 20 Apr 2016, 14:42

fohat wrote: ↑It had to happen.

Party On!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/leading-edge-ke ... 934966798?

Meh GREEDBAY at it's best.

Blaise170 · 21 Apr 2016, 06:28

Now that I finally got my desktop running again, I needed a new board to use with it. Chose one of my Sharp X68000s and I have to say that SKCL Greens grow on you the more you use them. I've never been much on linear but these are great and they are so much quieter too. Unfortunately I'm missing a key so I had to use one of my Tai Hao caps until I find a more suitable replacement.

Bonus PC picture:

hammelgammler · 21 Apr 2016, 18:13

Great CPU cooler, I have it myself. Better then any liquid cooler in my opinion.

Nice cable management too, I like it!

Oh and those Greens look great too, maybe I will get some someday with all it's smoothness.

guster11 · 22 Apr 2016, 06:02

Bought this focus fk2000 on ebay today. It looks like its in great condition and the switches weren't shown or marked, I'm hoping they might be blue alps? Probably white which is fine too for the price.

I need to stop buying keyboards for a little....

Blaise170 · 22 Apr 2016, 06:04

Blue Alps is very unlikely, most likely it will be white.

guster11 · 22 Apr 2016, 06:13

Blaise170 wrote: ↑Blue Alps is very unlikely, most likely it will be white.

I know, but hey I can hope! I don't have a white alps board atm and I can't get an omnikey ultra from bob right now, so this will make do for a little while.

Plus if it was blue it would mean I wouldn't have to keep working on my mess of a blue alps board

Chyros · 22 Apr 2016, 10:12

I think I saw that one on eBay, nice one! They're such good looking boards, and that one is obviously in very good condition

.

keycap · 22 Apr 2016, 13:55

Chyros wrote: ↑I think I saw that one on eBay, nice one! They're such good looking boards, and that one is obviously in very good condition .

I know right? I love the Alps Bigfoot case design but the Focus FK-2001 looks absolutely amazing on any desk and I love the layout. The only problem is the huge variation in switches that were used.

Tuntematon · 22 Apr 2016, 18:35

guster11 wrote: ↑Bought this focus fk2000 on ebay today. It looks like its in great condition and the switches weren't shown or marked, I'm hoping they might be blue alps? Probably white which is fine too for the price.

I need to stop buying keyboards for a little....

Definitely not blue Alps. I almost bid on this one because I need a dust cover, but I put it off for another time. Unfortunately, I think you're getting white Alps clones (alps.tw Type OA2) with this one.

guster11 · 22 Apr 2016, 18:46

Tuntematon wrote: ↑
guster11 wrote: ↑Bought this focus fk2000 on ebay today. It looks like its in great condition and the switches weren't shown or marked, I'm hoping they might be blue alps? Probably white which is fine too for the price.

I need to stop buying keyboards for a little....
Definitely not blue Alps. I almost bid on this one because I need a dust cover, but I put it off for another time. Unfortunately, I think you're getting white Alps clones with this one.

Hm well it doesn't have Windows keys and it was made in Taiwan, so I'm hoping it's not clones. If it is I might just end up swapping blues into it.