Great/Interesting Finds

[//gainsborough]

"never been used" omnikey 101

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-New-Nor ... SwImRYV0Id

[al.c]

HaaTa made some conversion code for it

thank you!!

[al.c]

yup, i'm sure. if you google "lcd portable computer" you'll find lots of different versions of this machine...

Everyone knows that.

i didn't and found it a little weird.

So far we know the highscreen branded one comes with blue cherrys, as well as the "coffee" one. i've seen a few with black cherrys as well.

Really, so you have several sources as proof of that!?

well, um..no. not hard keyboard science proof.

but to not go completely off-topic, here is one from highscreen for 68€:
https://www.willhaben.at/iad/kaufen-und ... 182473974/
might have blue cherry switches..

[seebart]

i didn't and found it a little weird.

I tried to find out as much as I could about them when I got my Unitech K959, some of our fellow DT users helped me here is the thread:

keyboards-f2/unitech-k959-rev-2-1-t1084 ... it=unitech

I asked because I am still trying to find out for our wiki but obvioulsy it's not easy as there were quite a few of these portable computers manufactured in different variations. Like I said before after now seeing yours with Omrons it would not suprise me to see one with Alps SKCM. Patience.

[Chyros]

hey,
remember my crazy dumpster find last week, that cyan omron board?
well, today i went back there to see if i can snap some pictures of the computer it originally came with.
not much in terms of model name or even brand, seems like these things were cloned all over the place by different manufacturers:

front view

Spoiler:

the lcd display was already gone

rear view with serial

Spoiler:

made in taiwan

top

Spoiler:

not very exciting, but no text anywhere else on the case

but!!

if you look closely to the right in the first image, you can see part of yet another 80s machine (an epson qx-10):

Spoiler:

connectors for monitor and.. light pen??

so i thought, hmm.. maybe..
and after some more digging i found it!

Spoiler:

i guess it really is a magic dumpster

it uses fujitsu leaf spring switches (second generation i guess):

Spoiler:

with some seriously massive keycaps:

Spoiler:

the white part is solid plastic, the cap is quite heavy

however, i haven't yet figured out how to connect this thing to my teensy, it has a strange 8-pin din connector:

Spoiler:

any advice on how to wire it up would be appreciated

Yup, second-gen Fujitsu leaf spring. Really nice board, great find . Do the switches feel good?

[al.c]

Yup, second-gen Fujitsu leaf spring. Really nice board, great find . Do the switches feel good?

you know, it's really hard to tell, the spherical caps totally throw me off. and i wasn't able to convert it yet, which makes it even harder to judge. what i can say is that the switches feel pretty much the same over the board, so it's either in good shape or uniformly worn down..

[zuglufttier]

Not really sure, but aren't these worth something? https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anz ... 1-225-5751

[Menuhin]

Not really sure, but aren't these worth something? https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anz ... 1-225-5751

This AEKII (with cream / white dampened Alps) is a nice deal with such a clean Maus.
I would take it if I have not yet acquired both of these two already separately, on eBay its also around this price, sometimes lower, sometimes higher but with such condition + Maus / Kabel can go up to around 30+€.

You can't use it though unless you have a Mac with ADB sockets, or that you have one of those ADB to USB converter (e.g. Griffin 2001-ADB iMate), or that you convert it in some other ways externally or internally using Teensy or something similar.

[E TwentyNine]

Industrial SSK with the raised silver on black badge: http://www.ebay.com/itm/232180389172

[Chyros]

Yup, second-gen Fujitsu leaf spring. Really nice board, great find . Do the switches feel good?

you know, it's really hard to tell, the spherical caps totally throw me off. and i wasn't able to convert it yet, which makes it even harder to judge. what i can say is that the switches feel pretty much the same over the board, so it's either in good shape or uniformly worn down..

Fujitsu used weird protocols, the only FLS board I know that is easily convertible is the Tandy 3000 keyboard which is XT.

[alh84001]

Somewhat interesting (and too expensive) SGI rubberdome
http://www.ebay.com/itm/291977729273

PBT caps?

[zuglufttier]

This AEKII (with cream / white dampened Alps) is a nice deal with such a clean Maus.[...]

Thanks for the info! I'm happy with my SSK

[al.c]

Fujitsu used weird protocols, the only FLS board I know that is easily convertible is the Tandy 3000 keyboard which is XT.

haata has successfully converted it, there is even a picture of his wiring, but no text unfortunately:

Spoiler:

quite funky setup with that additional ic and external power supply (?), but kinda fitting for the keyboard .. i'd really like to test this keyboard, maybe i can reproduce his work. i want to see these pretty leds in action! i've already sent him a pm earlier, i hope he responds..

[Norman_]

F122 with APL legends

He has two others listed without APL caps

http://www.ebay.com/itm/351938139327?ul_noapp=true

[E TwentyNine]

F122 with APL legends

He has two others listed without APL caps

http://www.ebay.com/itm/351938139327?ul_noapp=true

If anyone's wondering, that is a legit APL F-122, p/n is correct.

[Chyros]

F122 with APL legends

He has two others listed without APL caps

http://www.ebay.com/itm/351938139327?ul_noapp=true

If anyone's wondering, that is a legit APL F-122, p/n is correct.

Can someone please explain what this APL is that everyone's on about?!

[alh84001]

Not sure if trolling , but https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APL_(prog ... _language)

(look at that promo logo )

[Chyros]

Not sure if trolling , but https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APL_(prog ... _language)

(look at that promo logo )

I had no idea, I'm not a programmer or IT person at all :p .

[fohat]

F122 with APL legends

He has two others listed without APL caps

http://www.ebay.com/itm/351938139327?ul_noapp=true

This is one of Cindy's suppliers. He churns through literally tons of gear per month.

[Muirium]

I'd love me some authentic IBM APL caps someday. (Hideous programming language, but playfully nerdy legends!) Trouble is there's no cheap way in time or money…

The bastards are onto us!!

[larryniven]

F122 with APL legends

He has two others listed without APL caps

http://www.ebay.com/itm/351938139327?ul_noapp=true

No sure if this has been discussed here or not. I had a pretty bad experience buying keyboards from him.

I purchased a keyboard advertised as having APL keycaps. He sent a regular Model F, and did not reply emails for more than two weeks that I had to open a case on ebay against him. He then said he is willing to do an exchange, and then disappeared for another two weeks, citing that he had asthma, and had a hard time breathing. He also mentioned he is a good friend of Cindy, etc... In the end, the exchange never happened.

I'm not sure how true him claims are. Just beware...

[Norman_]

F122 with APL legends

He has two others listed without APL caps

http://www.ebay.com/itm/351938139327?ul_noapp=true

No sure if this has been discussed here or not. I had a pretty bad experience buying keyboards from him.

I purchased a keyboard advertised as having APL keycaps. He sent a regular Model F, and did not reply emails for more than two weeks that I had to open a case on ebay against him. He then said he is willing to do an exchange, and then disappeared for another two weeks, citing that he had asthma, and had a hard time breathing. He also mentioned he is a good friend of Cindy, etc... In the end, the exchange never happened.

I'm not sure how true him claims are. Just beware...

I remember this guy now, I've heard sketchy stuff about him from the past.

Good thing i don't have 240 plus dollars to blow right now.

[Darkshado]

convert it in some other ways externally or internally using Teensy or something similar.

You can make a an ADB-USB converter with an Arduino Pro Micro or an inexpensive clone off eBay using TMK. (Using one of those: PD0 is pin 3.)
I supplied hasu with a bugfix for the ISO detection problem and it's been merged a few days ago.

[//gainsborough]

What is this?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBI-Systems-Tra ... 1653382861

edit: it was only $22...so I bought one...no idea what to expect

[marinedalek]

Buy the other one, quick! List is $535.00!

EDIT: Price list, the model above is KT-1000-PS2-3-SP
http://www.ibi-systems.com/pdf/pricelist2010.pdf

[Ir0n]

It looks like it has a HAL eye.. Lol

[alienman82]

removed.

[Harshmallow]

No Idea about the worth of the keyboard, but it uses SDL to SDL?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Burroug ... Sw5cNYWweA

Oh that's another ITW Magnetic Valve Keyboard. Guess it was used in a terminal - looks like the same low profile, rack mount style keyboard as the Heath Zenith SWA4300 I just got, but the switch tops are red on this one instead of white.

The K2 version of that board is a ProtoTopre dome keyboard.

[mike52787]

Very interestng. looks like magnetic reed switches.

[//gainsborough]

some weird alphabetized board

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-Vintage-Qu ... 2692969225