Alps Appreciation

[Chyros]

JAYSIS FOOKENCROIST

[lancre]

That's over 1,000 blue alps.

[Wodan]

When I had the most. I don't have this many now.

Spoiler:

DSC05434_-1.jpg

Best part about this dude is ...

Main keyboard:
Cherry MX Red (w/ 150g spring)
Favorite switch:
Futaba

[Hypersphere]

@arkanoid: If Futaba is indeed your favorite switch, there are folks here who would gladly take some of those blue Alps off your hands.

@Chyros: My accent/dialect recognition has gotten rusty. What were you speaking -- Mancunian perhaps?

[Chyros]

@arkanoid: If Futaba is indeed your favorite switch, there are folks here who would gladly take some of those blue Alps off your hands.

@Chyros: My accent/dialect recognition has gotten rusty. What were you speaking -- Mancunian perhaps?

Irish. Manc would've been closer to "Jesus Foockinchrist madferet" I think. Said in a very depressed manner :p .

[arkanoid]

@Wodan
You like my keyboard? Build one and try it, your fingers will get healthy.

@Hypersphere
I don't have that many now as I said. Mostly sold or used up. Futaba is good, but lack of custom pcbs and keycaps makes them hard to enjoy nowadays

[balotz]

I don't have that many now as I said. Mostly sold or used up. Futaba is good, but lack of custom pcbs and keycaps makes them hard to enjoy nowadays

Finally someone else who also appreciates the futaba switch. Sadly most people haven't experienced the switch as it was intended, - they degrade over time, even without use, as the rubber mat inside warps upwards and dulls the click. When restored they are very clicky and tactile.

[Lynx_Carpathica]

When I had the most. I don't have this many now.

Spoiler:

DSC05434_-1.jpg

Holllly fqin scheisse... Do you still have a kidney left? xD
Edit: I happened to have futaba clicky board. Wow that thing is great!

[fohat]

Finally someone else who also appreciates the futaba switch.

Can you list some keyboards in ANSI configuration with the good switches? I would try one out if I could find it.

[balotz]

Finally someone else who also appreciates the futaba switch.

Can you list some keyboards in ANSI configuration with the good switches? I would try one out if I could find it.

There are quite a few in ANSI layout, mostly made by Sejin Electron / Leading Edge. There's the AK-1012 and the EAT-1010, which sometimes pop up on eBay. I use a Leading Edge SKM-1030 as my daily driver but I've only ever seen two of these.

The problem is that the loss of click isn't due to overuse - I have a new in box EAT-1010, and most of the switches have very weak tactility, but there a few which click very nicely - which is obviously how the switches were supposed to work when they originally came out of the factory.

Fortunately it's very easy to restore the original function, permanently, without opening the switch. You simply remove the keycap and press down very hard on the slider with a cross type screwdriver. I've done this for every switch on my board and they now all click as they should. The difference is night and day.

You can also open the switch as described here:

keyboards-f2/futaba-clicky-switch-thoug ... ml#p338255

and flatten the warped rubber mat which hinders the plate spring.

Edit: I have an AK-1012 which has some kind of electrical fault - I cannot get it to work, though it's not completely dead as some of the LEDs light up. It's yours for the cost of postage if you like, you might have more luck with it.

[mike52787]

I know some of you have cracked the code in regards to the model serial numbers connected to the switch types in AEK and AEKIIs. So, I just bought a lot of 2 AEKIIs and an AEK, and I am interested in knowing what switches I got, and too impatient to wait to get them.

[emdude]

I saw the AEK you got, the serial number is in the 500Ks right? You have a decent chance for Orange Alps, I believe the cutoff for them is 500-750K.

[fohat]

I saw the AEK you got, the serial number is in the 500Ks right? You have a decent chance for Orange Alps, I believe the cutoff for them is 500-750K.

My experience is that there were about 1M made and the first half were orange and the 2nd half salmon.

Do you feel lucky, punk?

[seebart]

I actually don't prefer either one to the other really, in my Wang 725-3770 the orange Apls feel fantastic but I like the salmons in my M0118 equally.

[emdude]

I actually don't prefer either one to the other really, in my Wang 725-3770 the orange Apls feel fantastic but I like the salmons in my M0118 equally.

I like both as well, but as far as the M0116 is concerned and if all else is equal, then I think I prefer Salmons. For some reason there's a massive difference in the sound of my left Shift key, for some reason. My Salmon M0116's Shift sounds nice and thocky, while on my Orange M0116 it sounds very plasticky and not pleasant at all.

[seebart]

Sounds like normal Alps strangeness to me. Like I wrote the other day I have two Apple M0118's here both with cleaned non-lubed salmons and the difference is shocking. One must have seen way more action than the other. One feels fine and the other one is just horrible scratchy.

[mike52787]

I saw the AEK you got, the serial number is in the 500Ks right? You have a decent chance for Orange Alps, I believe the cutoff for them is 500-750K.

My experience is that there were about 1M made and the first half were orange and the 2nd half salmon.

Do you feel lucky, punk?

Helly yea, I feel lucky now that I know the statistics Has the same information been discovered about the m3501s? I know the chances of getting salmons is very slim.

[emdude]

If they have the boxed S on the bottom right corner of the back label, then they have dampened Alps.

[fohat]

If they have the boxed S on the bottom right corner of the back label, then they have dampened Alps.

I don't know, I think that was disproved.

My experience is that 1989 copyright might/probably has salmon, 1990 copyright almost surely has dampened cream, and 1995 copyright almost surely has dampened white, but there may be numerous exceptions of course.

[emdude]

Oh, I did not know. I thought the notion was that those without the S had Salmons (or Mitsumis?).

EDIT: I should have looked at the wiki first:

If the label has a symbol in the bottom right corner of a 'S' within a square, then that is an indicator that the keyboard has dampened switches. These have only been spotted on M3501s made in the USA or Mexico with cream damped or white damped switches. Keyboards made in Ireland (of which all had cream switches) have not been spotted with the symbol.

[mike52787]

Possible new discovery here, Black switchplate SKCM brown switches.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

Black switchplate is no surprise. However, the slits are something I don't recall seeing before. They're long, like SKCL Green, but, they're a design closer to that of later switches. Very odd. I didn't think that long slits existed in tactile switches, because all tactile (and that includes clicky) switches seen so far have the short slits. That is, if Alps changed that shell from long to short slits, why was the linear shell (with the LED cutout) left with long slits until 1989?

Very strange!

[Chyros]

The mould numbering also appears to be incomplete.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

What do you think the mould numbering means, anyway?

My theory is this:

Top right is the cavity number. It's normally a letter and number, which gives the mould assembly ID and cavity number within that mould. That's Tai-Hao practice, and it makes perfect sense.

The number in the circle, is the shift/batch identifier. I think it's a shaft into which a rod is inserted with a letter stamped into it, and this is changed periodically. The fact that the letter is often on its side could be that they increased the granularity using orientation, but it may just be that nobody cared which way up it was inserted. As production levels increased, a second such shaft/rod pair was used (the lower circle seen from the late 80s onwards).

It's all just a theory, and it doesn't explain the situations where the circle is empty — what's taking up that space? Simplified Alps Type III was, so far as I can tell, made from discarded shells where someone had forgot to indicate the shift numbers (just like the photo above) — those are later switches and both circles are empty.

[Chyros]

I honestly haven't thought about it much, although that makes sense. Maybe I should ask the guy from Alps, he might know more about it.

[Menuhin]

When I had the most. I don't have this many now.

Spoiler:

DSC05434_-1.jpg

Best part about this dude is ...

Main keyboard:
Cherry MX Red (w/ 150g spring)
Favorite switch:
Futaba

Is there any difference between MX red stem and MX black stem except their colors?
They're no longer 'red'...

[E3E]

When I had the most. I don't have this many now.

Spoiler:

DSC05434_-1.jpg

Not much diversity there.

I've probably had around this many or so across the different blue Alps boards I've owned, let's see...

NTC 6151N - I killed it accidentally

Tai Hao FAME TH-5539

Leading Edge DC-2014 - desoldered for NOS SKCL Green trade, which I feel was kind of naive of me

(this is where it gets a little hazy)

Focus FK-555

Leading Edge DC-3014

Monterey K103 (K101) - sold

Datapoint Acer KB101A

NTC 6153EA

Junked Focus FK-2001 - switches restored and sold

And an additional 101 from a trade for my 62 SKCM Ambers.

You certainly had quite the Omnikey collection though! Nonetheless impressive! I could've owned more SKCM Blue boards myself, but I just don't feel the need to really hoard them. I've let a lot of them pass. It's just money going into something unnecessary for me atm.

The Focus FK-555 is one of the darlings of my collection though and a very close relative to your Omnikey 102s, it would seem. It's one of the best sounding keyboards in my collection, I think.

[Chyros]

Ah yes, that instantly recognisable, divine typing sound of Alps SKCM blue. Hmmmm ^^ .

[arkanoid]

Is there any difference between MX red stem and MX black stem except their colors?
They're no longer 'red'...

No difference except the color.

It's just money going into something unnecessary for me atm.

Yes, it's not right spending money to something unnecessary, but we (or at least me ) are still always tempted whenever there is a chance to get something cheaply.

[seebart]

Not much diversity there.

Agreed, I'd never buy that many of one switch unless indeed it was a very temping offer. In your case arkanoid, I'm curious if you encountered any differences in all those Alps SKCM blue switches of yours, and if so which?