Information about Lynwood Keyboard

Kristoffer · 22 Oct 2015, 19:57

Hello

I found this keyboard on a local market site and it looks pretty cool. Anyone have some infomation about it?

Added some pictures.

Chyros · 22 Oct 2015, 20:06

I can't zoom in enough to read the legends so I'm not exactly sure what type of work it was used for but it looks like foam and foil or maybe dome with slider. Very nice keyboard, looks cool!

Kristoffer · 22 Oct 2015, 20:09

Here is a zoomed picture.

I am buying something else of him, and i can get this for 100dkr(about 13.5 Euro) so i think i will just take it for the fun of it

Kristoffer · 22 Oct 2015, 20:14

http://www.vt100.net/lynwood/
this is the only information i could find of it..

Findecanor · 22 Oct 2015, 20:24

I know only one thing about Lynwood: It is the little town that Weird Al comes from.

: lynwood.jpg (84.74 KiB) Viewed 6151 times

keycap · 23 Oct 2015, 04:58

Those are definitely Foam and Foil switches. IIRC they don't age well at all. I've seen the foam all torn up in numerous old keyboards.

terrycherry · 23 Oct 2015, 05:53

It's the linear of Mitsumi hybrid switch which I could see your Mitsumi mount and the external spring!
It's rare to see the linear one.
Try to get it and take much more high quality pictures for wiki!

t8c · 23 Oct 2015, 12:18

would love the alpha lock if you'd like to sell some of the caps.

Scarpia · 27 Feb 2016, 15:08

Sorry for digging up an old post, but I bought this board earlier this week. I assume the deal fell through before, because the board (clearly the same one) has been up for sale on the danish site DBA since sometime last fall, with nobody picking it up until now. I paid a bit more than the price Kristoffer quoted, around €40 / $44, which I think is fair for a rare and interesting board, even with less-than-desirable switches.

The Lynwood keyboard is heavy (weighs 4.8 kgs or a bit over 10 lbs) so there was no way the seller was going to ship it anywhere. It's an all metal frame, ostensibly due to TEMPEST shielding (it's spy proof!), and it looks every bit as fabulous as its picture. I'll post better pics for the wiki when I get home.

I also got an IBM 122-key Model M Terminal version and the Telerate board (see Kristoffers post from last fall in the Great Finds thread: other-external-f66/great-interesting-fi ... te#p260892), or more accurately one of them, as she has another one just like it still for sale.

Anyway, I thought I would share the fate of the Lynwood board, seeing as there was a thread about it already.

Scarpia · 28 Feb 2016, 16:54

Picture goodness (album):

terrycherry · 04 Mar 2016, 05:04

Thanks there for the high quality. Could you shot inside the case about the switch?
I hope to know what the difference about linear and clicky.
And what switch is that TELERATE keyboard? It's a XT layout. The box said that K104-AA6T was stand for which one?
http://www.dba.dk/tastatur-telerate-081 ... 017902944/

Scarpia · 11 Mar 2016, 13:06

@terrycherry: The Telerate uses unbranded Key Tronic mount linear switches. I have posted more pics here: http://imgur.com/a/0zNmM

The Lynwood is a beast, and I don't know how easy it will be to take apart, but if I manage, I'll definitely take more pics.

0100010 · 11 Mar 2016, 17:12

Daniel Beardsmore · 04 Jun 2017, 23:25

Scarpia wrote: ↑@terrycherry: The Telerate uses unbranded Key Tronic mount linear switches. I have posted more pics here: http://imgur.com/a/0zNmM

The Lynwood is a beast, and I don't know how easy it will be to take apart, but if I manage, I'll definitely take more pics.

Considering that it's made in England, I'm guessing that it's made by Alphameric. Possibly capacitive, as a result.

Scarpia · 06 Jun 2017, 16:07

@Daniel Beardsmore: Interesting! In light of that I had to get this out and have a look inside - and you are spot on!

Full teardown gallery

Of course, I already suspected it would be foam & foil, so I don't know why I was surprised to find capacitive pads. Capacitive or not, it's still F&F, meaning not terribly desirable in most people's eyes.

Still, I love the board for the colour scheme and the military history.

Daniel Beardsmore · 06 Jun 2017, 23:55

Ah, two plates. I was wondering why it seemed not to have discrete modules, but indeed it does, as one would expect it to.

BPX-926 · 07 Jun 2017, 13:37

Scarpia wrote: ↑Of course, I already suspected it would be foam & foil, so I don't know why I was surprised to find capacitive pads. Capacitive or not, it's still F&F, meaning not terribly desirable in most people's eyes.

Still, I love the board for the colour scheme and the military history.

May I ask why foam and foil are undesirable? I do not think I can remember ever using a keyboard with this kind of switch.

It is very interesting to see another British made keyboard. I had not realised we ever made more than just the Model M in the UK.

seebart · 07 Jun 2017, 14:18

BPX-926 wrote: ↑
Scarpia wrote: ↑Of course, I already suspected it would be foam & foil, so I don't know why I was surprised to find capacitive pads. Capacitive or not, it's still F&F, meaning not terribly desirable in most people's eyes.

Still, I love the board for the colour scheme and the military history.
May I ask why foam and foil are undesirable? I do not think I can remember ever using a keyboard with this kind of switch.

It is very interesting to see another British made keyboard. I had not realised we ever made more than just the Model M in the UK.

Very good question BPX-926. I'd say most users here have tried one variant of foam and foil that actually did feel pretty horrible and then they assume that all foam and foil are identical to each other and hence equally horrible. I can tell you that's not the case, the switches in my Alphameric actually feel pretty nice. Don't get me wrong it's not my favorite switch but still Alphameric foam and foil is far from horrible.

Alphameric Type 140-1595:

keyboards-f2/alphameric-keyboards-type- ... Alphameric

wobbled · 07 Jun 2017, 14:48

My Btc5100 with foam and foil is honestly one of my favourites to type on. It's just a shame it wont feel that good forever. Much like Alps, they can only be enjoyed for a certain length of time.

Scarpia · 07 Jun 2017, 15:25

What keyfeel do those boards have? I understand that foam degrades badly over time, but my switches feel linear with zero bump, mush or indeed resistance of any kind other than the spring. I guess I don't see the purpose of the foam in a capacitive linear switch - but then I'm not entirely sure I understand how f&f switches work in the first place (even after reading the wiki page)

Daniel Beardsmore · 07 Jun 2017, 18:50

BPX-926 wrote: ↑It is very interesting to see another British made keyboard. I had not realised we ever made more than just the Model M in the UK.

The main keyboard manufacturer in Britain is Devlin, who are still around, and who bought out Alphameric. The best-known Devlin keyboard is the Cherry ML–based Datalux Spacesaver: Devlin were the OEM for the internals.

Scarpia wrote: ↑I guess I don't see the purpose of the foam in a capacitive linear switch …

Capacitance works well with an air gap, but foam and foil seems to be calibrated such that the foil disc physically touches the PCB at the point of actuation (why, I don't know; maybe something to do with limiting interference). The issue this causes is that you'd have to fully depress a key to make it register, so the overtravel is provided using a foam pad. That is, at the point that the foil reaches the PCB, you can press the key further if you wish (or not) and the foam pad is compressed as a result.

The wiki is still waiting for clear, simple, well-illustrated explanations of electromagnetic sensing types.