Loewe TBT04S (white+ULTRA-blue MX switch)

Tarkoon · 20 Mar 2012, 13:10

Hi, today I had a really great find!!!

It is a brand new keyboard from the German company Loewe - model "TBT 04 S".
It is ultra heavy built with platemounted clicky Cherry MX switches.
The standard keys have white clicky switches, the space bar a grey clicky switch and the RESET key has a kind of blue clicky switch I never saw or felt before!
It is ULTRA hard to press!!! I do not have enough coins here to do a precise test, but the weight of my digicam (265g) didn't even move the switch a mm!
All switches are plate mounted and enter and space have plate mounted stabilizers.
Whether the caps are PBT, ABS or something alse I can not define. They are not double shots but the labels have a nice contrast.

Enough talking, here are some first pictures:

sixty · 20 Mar 2012, 13:41

Very awesome. I guess the blue switch is a variant of the super-strong black MX.

webwit · 20 Mar 2012, 13:52

I know you want it.

Mrinterface · 20 Mar 2012, 13:56

What's the use of these extremely heavy switches? If the keycaps would be bigger I'd think about operating with a glove or something...

Icarium · 20 Mar 2012, 14:13

Well, it's a reset button..obviously to avoid pressing it accidentally, I assume.

Tarkoon · 20 Mar 2012, 14:23

sixty wrote:Very awesome. I guess the blue switch is a variant of the super-strong black MX.

It can't just be a different colored version of the super strong black, because it has still tactile feedback with click!
I also think it should avoid clicking RESET accidentally.
I will try to measure the weight needed to press this switch later!

Icarium · 20 Mar 2012, 14:33

I don't see any reason why just putting a stiffer spring in a blue or black shouldn't just work.

sixty · 20 Mar 2012, 14:39

Thats what I thought.

PS: If you ever want to sell this... hit that PM button to me

Tarkoon · 20 Mar 2012, 14:41

Icarium wrote:I don't see any reason why just putting a stiffer spring in a blue or black shouldn't just work.

Did anyone say that it is much more than that?

But of course the color code etc. is important for identification and reproducibility!
But it could be necessary to change more of the switch if you use a lighter or heavier spring to get a good overall feeling!
For example the small tactile bump of a brown switch would be nearly undetectable with a much harder spring. So the heavier tactile switches got a bigger tactile bump...

Mrinterface · 20 Mar 2012, 15:46

Icarium wrote:Well, it's a reset button..obviously to avoid pressing it accidentally, I assume.

Doh...

I need to train my Forum Post Scan Mechanism( read better ). I thought most of these keys were hard to press...

rindorbrot · 20 Mar 2012, 17:21

These keycaps look really cool.

Izza · 20 Mar 2012, 18:26

I love this board. Beautiful.

Kurk · 20 Mar 2012, 20:37

Interesting keyboard there, Tarkoon. I know Loewe only from upper-segment televisions. By the looks of the special keys of the num-pad it seems that this keyboard was indeed designed to be connected to a TV. So, what kind of connector does it have?

sixty · 20 Mar 2012, 20:56

Kurrk wrote:Interesting keyboard there, Tarkoon. I know Loewe only from upper-segment televisions. By the looks of the special keys of the num-pad it seems that this keyboard was indeed designed to be connected to a TV. So, what kind of connector does it have?

This is a BTX keyboard. BTX was kinda the commercial version of BBS that German Telekom tried to push in the 80s. It worked by a combination of telephone + tv teletext.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bildschirmtext

rindorbrot · 20 Mar 2012, 23:27

sixty wrote:
Kurrk wrote:Interesting keyboard there, Tarkoon. I know Loewe only from upper-segment televisions. By the looks of the special keys of the num-pad it seems that this keyboard was indeed designed to be connected to a TV. So, what kind of connector does it have?
This is a BTX keyboard. BTX was kinda the commercial version of BBS that German Telekom tried to push in the 80s. It worked by a combination of telephone + tv teletext.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bildschirmtext

I'm too young to know this stuff... although I would have guessed that this board has to do something with TVs as that's the olny thing I know Loewe from.

Kurk · 21 Mar 2012, 00:14

Ah, Bildschirmtext ... I should have known that.

If it exists, there is someone who collects it (rule #???):
http://btxmuseum.de/Hardware/sammlung.asp

The_Ed · 21 Mar 2012, 07:11

Is that spacebar the famed grey 36 - MXSUPERGREY?

Tarkoon · 21 Mar 2012, 09:30

How do I find that out?
It is a tactile switch with click sound...

The_Ed · 21 Mar 2012, 13:34

Measure the force required to make it actuate. It should be 105cN.

ripster · 21 Mar 2012, 16:20

I'm confused. Just how would he do that?

JBert · 21 Mar 2012, 16:26

With weights?

The_Ed · 21 Mar 2012, 17:47

ripometer, witometer, whatever. If it's 105cN its the infamous grey 36 that 7bit didn't include in the phantom switch GB. I want a few so I'll have to hold 7bit to his word that he'll include it in the next switch GB.

Kurk · 21 Mar 2012, 20:12

Tarkoon wrote:How do I find that out?
It is a tactile switch with click sound...

The_Ed wrote:Measure the force required to make it actuate. It should be 105cN.

105cN = 1.05 N almost exactly equals the force that a wrapped chocolate bar (Milka brand for instance) exerts in the earth's gravitational field. More precisely, you'll need a mass of 1.05 N / (9.81 ms^-2) = 107 g.

edit: mass is not the same as weight

The_Ed · 21 Mar 2012, 20:21

107.07020204998746 grams is what google gives me. If the spacebar switch activates at roughly 107g it is the infamous grey 36 that I want a few of.

Tarkoon · 22 Mar 2012, 18:45

I did the testing with coins a few minutes ago. Here are the results:
- the unknown white switches have about 75cN = ???
- the grey space switch has about 105cN = rare MXSUPERGREY
- the unknown blue switch has about 350cN!!! = ???

So this keyboard uses a very rare but known switch for space and until now unknown white switches and a really crazy unknown blue one!

ripster · 22 Mar 2012, 19:19

NIce, thanks for the test results. I'll be adding to my peak force wiki.

Tarkoon · 22 Mar 2012, 19:38

Does anybody know something about the white switches?

sixty · 22 Mar 2012, 20:12

Probably identical to the new whites.

Tarkoon · 22 Mar 2012, 21:53

Are the "new" ones also 75cN?
If so, they could be much less new than everyone thought. My Loewe keyboard is about 20 years old...
The click sound seems less loud compared to standard blue switches...

The_Ed · 22 Mar 2012, 21:55

Europeans find all the best boards... 3 rare switches in a single board... It'll probably be next year by the time the second switch GB will come around so I can get me some MXSUPERGREY...