Great/Interesting Finds

[seebart]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Zenith-Data-Sys ... SwB-1Y0z~5

Gonna guess green alps on this ZKB-2. How'd I do, Chyros?

Could be yellow Alps also,either way it looks nice. That's a good price provided it's undamaged. Chyros isn't the only member at DT. Here's mine:

wiki/Zenith_ZKB-2

[//gainsborough]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Zenith-Data-Sys ... SwB-1Y0z~5

Gonna guess green alps on this ZKB-2. How'd I do, Chyros?

Could be yellow Alps also,either way it looks nice. That's a good price provided it's undamaged. Chyros isn't the only member at DT. Here's mine:

wiki/Zenith_ZKB-2

Lol - I'm just teasing. He's always guessing at the switches in these with some theory of his (is it by date?).

Yours is the one in the wiki? Looks super clean! It's interesting to me that the lock light switches are green on a board with green alps. I always thought they were the other variant. For example on both my yellow ZKB-2s they have green alps for the lock light keys - I just assumed they'd be yellow for the green alps boards. Seems I was wrong!

[seebart]

Lol - I'm just teasing. He's always guessing at the switches in these with some theory of his (is it by date?).

Zenith moved to yellow Alps pretty early with the ZKB-2, but don't ask me when exactly.

Yours is the one in the wiki? Looks super clean! It's interesting to me that the lock light switches are green on a board with green alps. I always thought they were the other variant. For example on both my yellow ZKB-2s they have green alps for the lock light keys - I just assumed they'd be yellow for the green alps boards. Seems I was wrong!

Yes that's mine. Hmm...not sure about the lock light theory? No, I don't think so. That would be wild though. Share some pics when you get yours!

[//gainsborough]

[seebart]

Haha OK fine. Still nothing proven. So this is your third ZKB-2? Nice.

[//gainsborough]

Haha OK fine. Still nothing proven. So this is your third ZKB-2? Nice.

Lol, no silly! It's yours!

[seebart]

Haha OK fine. Still nothing proven. So this is your third ZKB-2? Nice.

Lol, no silly! It's yours!

Errr...not even if you're color blind. But your photoshop job is pretty good...

wiki/File:Zenith_ZKB-2_Alps_SKCL_Green_ ... eycaps.JPG

Unbenannt.PNG (812.81 KiB) Viewed 5884 times

[//gainsborough]

[Chyros]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Zenith-Data-Sys ... SwB-1Y0z~5

Gonna guess green alps on this ZKB-2. How'd I do, Chyros?

Yes, I'd say green as well. Again, if someone gets it, let me know if I was right or wrong, please.

Model M with strange sublegends http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-Model-M-Key ... SwCU1Y0dvz

Edit: I guess those are just french. They're still cool tho

The layout is known as Canadian French, to be specific.

It's a very distinctive layout and it's often ridiculed for the E where the question mark is xD .

[Wodan]

This is _NOT_ a Nixie board:
http://www.ebay.de/itm/122410037899?ul_noapp=true

[gnmar2723]

This is _NOT_ a Nixie board:
http://www.ebay.de/itm/122410037899?ul_noapp=true

What switches then? Just normal vintage blacks? On a side note, what is that layout called? It's what all nixdorf boards seem to use for a layout.

[seebart]

This is _NOT_ a Nixie board:
http://www.ebay.de/itm/122410037899?ul_noapp=true

What switches then? Just normal vintage blacks? On a side note, what is that layout called? It's what all nixdorf boards seem to use for a layout.

Haha it's the same one the original buyer is now selling because he did not comprehend it would not have Nixies.

Those are magnetic Nixdorf switches like these gnmar2723:

keyboards-f2/nixdorf-sm-8890-t14370.html?hilit=nixdorf

[Honthro]

Is this worth it? Never tried Peerless, but a big fan of Model M and Model F XT switches

https://toronto.craigslist.ca/tor/sop/6054664154.html

[seebart]

Is this worth it? Never tried Peerless, but a big fan of Model M and Model F XT switches

https://toronto.craigslist.ca/tor/sop/6054664154.html

NO! Ask anyone.

[Chyros]

Is this worth it? Never tried Peerless, but a big fan of Model M and Model F XT switches

https://toronto.craigslist.ca/tor/sop/6054664154.html

Peerless are fairly polarising, but I think the overall consensus is negative. They feel like rough and less tactile MBS to me, although the type of feeling is similar. I once described Peerless as "the clicky switch whose greatest virtue is that it's not very clicky".

[seebart]

What we need is be able to test NIB Peerless but I bet they're still mediocre at best.

[Honthro]

Thanks gents

[Chyros]

What we need is be able to test NIB Peerless but I bet they're still mediocre at best.

There was one on eBay very recently that I posted in the Finds thread, but I don't know if someone bought it.

[seebart]

What we need is be able to test NIB Peerless but I bet they're still mediocre at best.

There was one on eBay very recently that I posted in the Finds thread, but I don't know if someone bought it.

I vaguely remember someone mentioning having tried almost unused Peerless switches and it amounted to the same scratchy and inconsistent feel. Fujitsu is one of the few companies that made one of the smoothest switches with Leaf Spring third gen. and then Peerless. W T F ?!?

[Harshmallow]

Thanks gents

Hey Honthro - if you want to try Peerless in what seems to be NIB condition, try this ad. This guy's had this board up for a while. I considered buying it a few times but never did. $30 CAD isn't too steep if you just want to test them lol.

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-mice-keyboards-w ... nFlag=true

[Harshmallow]

Haha OK fine. Still nothing proven. So this is your third ZKB-2? Nice.

Lol, no silly! It's yours!

Errr...not even if you're color blind. But your photoshop job is pretty good...

wiki/File:Zenith_ZKB-2_Alps_SKCL_Green_ ... eycaps.JPG

Unbenannt.PNG

Can y'all just tell me when a ZKB-2 pops up before building up a personal office fleet of them? All I want is one, one little keyboard with nice Green Alps

[seebart]

Can y'all just tell me when a ZKB-2 pops up before building up a personal office fleet of them? All I want is one, one little keyboard with nice Green Alps

I only have one myself.

[Honthro]

Thanks gents

Hey Honthro - if you want to try Peerless in what seems to be NIB condition, try this ad. This guy's had this board up for a while. I considered buying it a few times but never did. $30 CAD isn't too steep if you just want to test them lol.

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-mice-keyboards-w ... nFlag=true

Thanks! Are you a fellow Canadian/Torontonian?

[Harshmallow]

Thanks gents

Hey Honthro - if you want to try Peerless in what seems to be NIB condition, try this ad. This guy's had this board up for a while. I considered buying it a few times but never did. $30 CAD isn't too steep if you just want to test them lol.

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-mice-keyboards-w ... nFlag=true

Thanks! Are you a fellow Canadian/Torontonian?

Yessir - I was a Scarberian and now I am a...Markam-ian? Markhamite? Martian, that sounds better lol.

[Menuhin]

A predecessor of the Optimus keyboard.
http://www.ebay.de/itm/192132505557





Each function key has its own digital display.

...
theBoard
When we were in the middle of the production, I've learned about the German inventor named Reinhard Engstler who was inspired by the IBM paper and designed the LCD-keys keyboard in 1984. Keyboard was on sale under different no-name brands. For example, last summer one Russian from Germany sent me a model branded simply 'theBoard' as a gift. Here is is side by side with Optimus Maximus:

It turned out that this keyboard (under the 'HOHE Electronics' and 'K-E-T TheBoard' brands) was on sale even in USSR. Here's an ad from the 'Business contact' magazine (#3, 1990).
...

Source from Optimus keyboard project old website: http://optimus-project.livejournal.com/52831.html

May not have the best switches to harvest from but is definitely an interesting keyboard for qualified engineers and skilled enthusiasts to bring it back to life.

[kbdfr]

A predecessor of the Optimus keyboard.
http://www.ebay.de/itm/192132505557





Each function key has its own digital display. […]

[…]is definitely an interesting keyboard for qualified engineers and skilled enthusiasts to bring it back to life.

Halvar has one and posted pics of it long ago:
photos-f62/not-just-any-board-this-is-t ... t5726.html

I have one with its original box and LCDs even in the alpha keys as well.
And I have a bunch of technical documentation about it, which of course I will gladly contribute if someone buys this one.

[Menuhin]

Human-form forum indexing agents are everywhere!
A nice read.

This new one has also two columns of function keys on the left hand side, bigger than those on the older posts.

Are those instructions in German or in Russian?

[kbdfr]

In German.

[Wodan]

The big problem with that keyboard seems to be the software. Someone had them on 5.25" floppies but couldn't even read them with a proper drive

[Menuhin]

It looks super cool, the form is like a design from the older series of Star trek.
Star trek people don't really use "mechanical keys' and in keyboard if I remember correctly...