IDENTIFY THE KEYBOARD thread

[rich1051414]

This is listed as an Eagle IV keyboard - does anyone recognize what the type of switches these are?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-Vintage-E ... SwpLdZzPgt

switches.jpg

If not, does anyone at least have a theory about the black gunk?

Is that gunk grease? It looks like high temp black gear grease to me. Gross xD

[OldIsNew]

They appear to be [wiki]Futaba sealed linear[/wiki]

Thanks for the analysis! Tempted to get it to check it out, but rather pricey - even more so considering the gunk on it.

[Keybug]

Hey guys,

Interested in the bottom one, which appears to have a Highscreen logo, but I've never seen this type from Highscreen.

Judging by the shape / curve of the case it could be RD. But are those Tai-Hao caps?

$_45.JPG (73.51 KiB) Viewed 5770 times

[snufflecat]

Anyone want to take a guess if this is rubber dome or not?

https://www.tradera.com/item/340827/267 ... rd-kb-9968

[davkol]

KB-9968 is a rubber dome. Rather nice and very quiet.

[snufflecat]

KB-9968 is a rubber dome. Rather nice and very quiet.

Thanks!

[TheAdmiralty]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Intergraph-Ter ... .l4275.c10

Think this thing is rubber dome? Never seen anything like it before.

[davkol]

> Intergraph Terminal Keyboard FTIS16603

I've had an Intergraph rubber dome (indeed) with very similar keycaps.

They've apparently rebranded NMB rubber domes too, but this one isn't one of these.

[snufflecat]

Does anyone know if this one's mechanical? Solidteck ACK-298.

61_680735091.jpg (94.36 KiB) Viewed 5680 times

[davkol]

Probably rubber dome over membrane, judging by the Windows keys and even an USB connector. I've found this page that claims:

* Switch life: 10 million life cycles

That's either rubber dome over membrane indeed, or some crappy switch over membrane.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

Some metal contact figures:

[wiki]Tokai MM9 series[/wiki]: 2 million
[wiki]Futaba ML series[/wiki]: 3 million
[wiki]Futaba MA series[/wiki]: 5 million (per Samducksa), 10 million (per Sejin), 50 million (per Sejin/Futaba)
[wiki]Alps SKBL/SKBM series[/wiki]: 10 million
[wiki]General Instrument Series S950[/wiki]: 10 million

10 M is also the rated lifetime of various Mitsumi types including KPQ Type "hybrid" and KFK Type rubber dome over membrane.

[davkol]

Yeah, and they magically appeared in an USB keyboard. Maaaybeee simplified Alps, but more likely some of their clones, such as the APC Tai-Hao semi-mechanical piece of poo.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

I'm simply correcting your fallacy that switch lifetime of 10 M is indicative of membrane. The Himake Alps clone switches that match up with what Ortek used were rated for 5 M, and 10 M for the better type that Monterey used. Membranes aren't inherently unreliable, which we already know from the Model M.

That keyboard does remind me a bit of the Ortek Mac keyboards with Alps switches (and the strange USB badge is where Mac keyboards had their power key), and it has the old pre-XP Windows logo, and combined with the hideous typography on the box it does look pretty old.

However, a peak force of (I assume they are trying to say) 60±15 g, puts it below that of tactile Alps at 70 g.

It probably is rubber dome. I'd expect the specifications to indicate clearly if it was metal contact (as "mechanical switch") but it is by no means certain.

[snufflecat]

_644641902.jpg (300.67 KiB) Viewed 5626 times

Does anyone recognize the top left IBM board?

[seebart]

Does anyone recognize the top left IBM board?

M2 ?

wiki/IBM_Selectric_Touch_Keyboard

[mike52787]

_644641902.jpg

Does anyone recognize the top left IBM board?

Rubberdome

[Keybug]

Can anyone tell if I've got myself a Hall effect board with this Rafi? I found photos of one and it had an almost identical case. Thanks!

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre ... 2742064157

[Daniel Beardsmore]

Can anyone tell if I've got myself a Hall effect board with this Rafi? I found photos of one and it had an almost identical case. Thanks!

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre ... 2742064157

That's from RAFI's Type B Series (full travel keyboards). The 2007 brochure I found gives B4 (keypad, metal contact), B6-C (standard layout, Hall effect), and B8-C (also Hall effect; narrower ad-hoc assembly design, like on eBay but with Windows keys and no LED area).

I don't know if there's a metal contact B6 or B8 — I can check later as I may have some more details stashed away. B8-C seems to be uncommon, too.

[Keybug]

If you could, much obliged...

[seebart]

Can anyone tell if I've got myself a Hall effect board with this Rafi? I found photos of one and it had an almost identical case. Thanks!

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre ... 2742064157

Very nice find!

[Daniel Beardsmore]

I've uploaded the March 2007 RAFI Standard Keyboards catalogue into [wiki]Category:RAFI catalogues and brochures[/wiki], but this is too new. Some muppet has set the wiki file upload limit to 8 MB (!!) so I can't upload the older catalogue from February 2001, but you can find it here: https://www.relayspec.com/catalogs/0144 ... ial_kb.pdf

From the two, you can see that the keyboard numbers don't seem to correspond to anything. The type in question could be metal contact or Hall effect, though.

RAFI don't seem to have keyboards listed on their website any more.

[Keybug]

Thanks very much for your input! I'm prepared to bet now it's not Hall, but we'll see. Still a nice find, I guess... Cheers, Seebart.

[invisiblefly]

what is this keyboard? do you think i can restored and used as usb?

[hansichen]

It's a Honeywell Micro Switch keyboard, a legendary piece of computer history and inspiration for many keysets like round 5. Sadly I don't know of any Honeywell board that is converted

[rich1051414]

It's a Honeywell Micro Switch keyboard, a legendary piece of computer history and inspiration for many keysets like round 5. Sadly I don't know of any Honeywell board that is converted

I assume that keycap set inspired sets like this one as well?

Kbdfans.png (2.89 MiB) Viewed 5518 times

[rymut]

what is this keyboard? do you think i can restored and used as usb?

Got the same keyboard a while back, it was modded to work with commadore/atari so converting to usb is possible.
Maybe in the middle of December I will check my board again, and see what I can do.

[snufflecat]

So I just got this IBM keyboard with buckling spring but I've never really seen the model before. Anyone recognise this one?

Spoiler:

IMG_20171118_172040246.jpg (4.03 MiB) Viewed 5454 times

IMG_20171118_172031147.jpg (4.29 MiB) Viewed 5454 times

IMG_20171118_172005187.jpg (3.35 MiB) Viewed 5454 times

Also, what about this switch type? It's on a board from an old receipt/calculator-thingy.

Spoiler:

IMG_20171118_164010033.jpg (3.21 MiB) Viewed 5454 times

Thanks!

[seebart]

Also, what about this switch type? It's on a board from an old receipt/calculator-thingy.

Thanks!

Mitsumi simplified:

wiki/Mitsumi_simplified

[mike52787]

So I just got this IBM keyboard with buckling spring but I've never really seen the model before. Anyone recognise this one?

Spoiler:

IMG_20171118_172040246.jpg

IMG_20171118_172031147.jpg

IMG_20171118_172005187.jpg

IBM Model M2

[Daniel Beardsmore]

Curious, so did Lexmark take over the Greenock factory?