IDENTIFY THE KEYBOARD thread

Daniel Beardsmore · 27 Mar 2018, 09:23

Blaise170 wrote: ↑I have what appears to be a black version of NEC oval switches, but unlike the others I have, it uses Futaba inverse mount keycaps. Have these been documented anywhere before?

If you have to ask, the answer will be "no". NEC oval switches are not well documented.

Blaise170 · 27 Mar 2018, 14:25

Well I guess I should rephrase the question.

This switch appears to be a NEC Black Oval, is this actually a different switch that has already been documented before or should I add this to the NEC Oval page? I also have White Ovals by the way - I have had them before but since I was away for almost two years I never got around to adding it.

Daniel Beardsmore · 27 Mar 2018, 21:17

Naming and grouping is one of the mysteries in life. For example, as I noted on the Mitsumi nomenclature page, Mitsumi has both related series and split-joint series. So even though I know that miniature mechanical includes "KLT" and "KLM", I cannot tell for sure if this is KLT Type and KLM Type, KLT Series and KLM Series, KLT/KLM Series, or KLT/KLM/…/… Series, or none of those.

I use "Clare/Pendar high profile reed" to cover all of SF Series, SG Series, SI Series, SH Series and SK Series, as that is their overall description, and it's all we have that we can use to group them together, as they're all the same design.

Similar problem with Futaba. According the scant details left, MD-4P (some momentary type) and MD-7 (seems to be illuminated) are separate series, and I've invented "MD series" to cover both as we have nothing else to indicate how Futaba grouped them. "MD series" may not exist. Same split with MA41, MA42, MA71 and MA72.

I've never seen that black oval switch before, but since so little ever gets added to the wiki, the amount of things that are known is far higher than the amount of things documented. I can only say that it's not in [wiki]Category:NEC switches[/wiki]. Trying to determine if anything has been seen before is impossible.

From my perspective, that's just another oval switch, and all we can do is lump it under the oval page for now; even if we get details on one model of oval, we can't know if the other oval models are the same series or not! We can't even give the oval switches separate pages as they're not safe to disassemble :(

(Getting a BOM or service manual for any machine using them may provide switch details. It's rare, but it does happen.)

Another annoyance I have is the switches that are like SKFR/SKFS but taller. Are they part of SKFR? No idea — I've lumped them under SKFR even though the keycap mount is different, as we cannot know if they have a separate series or not. Same for SKFL Compact and SKCL Compact — could be the same series, but maybe not. (With SKFL Compact, the next series up is SKFM and that's used by octagonal linear. It could instead be something like SQFL though …)

Ivalop750 · 27 Mar 2018, 21:24

Could be a model F?

hansichen · 27 Mar 2018, 21:25

No, there is no IBM badge. This is most likely a foam&foil clone

Blaise170 · 27 Mar 2018, 21:34

Ivalop750 wrote: ↑Could be a model F?

No, foam and foil.

Blaise170 · 27 Mar 2018, 21:35

Anyone know what kind of switches would be in this? I'm guessing rubber dome but can't find any more information on it.

davkol · 27 Mar 2018, 21:41

Cherry G84-4400

mike52787 · 27 Mar 2018, 23:45

Blaise170 wrote: ↑Anyone know what kind of switches would be in this? I'm guessing rubber dome but can't find any more information on it.

cherry ML

Noobmaen · 28 Mar 2018, 18:52

Are these rubber dome or Siemens STB 21 or even something else entirely? https://www.ebay.de/itm/Trimodale-Tasta ... 2901646754

__red__ · 28 Mar 2018, 21:27

Okay, so I have a model number and I know it's foam and foil. Curiously I can't find any reference for the the model being foam and foil.

Is this likely to be of any interest to anyone or is this landfill fodder?

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

Blaise170 · 28 Mar 2018, 21:34

It's not that interesting, but you might find someone who wants it for historical reasons.

arvssynd · 30 Mar 2018, 21:23

Hi, what kind of switch is this? It feels like rubber but I prefer a confirmation from you. It's a Compaq model RT235BTWIT:

ScottPaladin · 30 Mar 2018, 21:25

arvssynd wrote: ↑Hi, what kind of switch is this? It feels like rubber but I prefer a confirmation from you. It's a Compaq model RT235BTWIT:

NMB dome with slider I think

arvssynd · 30 Mar 2018, 21:28

ScottPaladin wrote: ↑
arvssynd wrote: ↑Hi, what kind of switch is this? It feels like rubber but I prefer a confirmation from you. It's a Compaq model RT235BTWIT:
NMB dome with slider I think

Thanks!

Blaise170 · 30 Mar 2018, 21:28

ScottPaladin wrote: ↑
arvssynd wrote: ↑Hi, what kind of switch is this? It feels like rubber but I prefer a confirmation from you. It's a Compaq model RT235BTWIT:
NMB dome with slider I think

Correct.

ramnes · 31 Mar 2018, 19:21

What's that battle cruiser?

Edit: apparently SFENA means "Société Française d'Équipements de Navigation Aéronautique", which would be roughly translated to "French Company of Aeronautic Navigation Equipements", so yeah… that might really be a "battle cruiser" part.

Noobmaen · 31 Mar 2018, 19:34

Has the same keycap profile as this one, so ICL Ericsson RMD 973 switches?

ramnes · 31 Mar 2018, 19:46

Yeah, looks like it, thank you! Interesting…

Daniel Beardsmore · 31 Mar 2018, 19:50

Those are likely not RMD 973 (similar, but not the same). We don't know what they are. Loewe also used Cherry MX, but not with those exact keycaps (especially not with corner LED windows).

ramnes · 31 Mar 2018, 23:57

Daniel Beardsmore wrote: ↑Those are likely not RMD 973 (similar, but not the same). We don't know what they are. Loewe also used Cherry MX, but not with those exact keycaps (especially not with corner LED windows).

Do you have any similar keyboard in mind?

Ivalop750 · 01 Apr 2018, 12:43

What switches could it have? I have no idea about the model or brand of this keyboard

Findecanor · 01 Apr 2018, 13:28

Noobmaen wrote: ↑Has the same keycap profile as this one, so ICL Ericsson RMD 973 switches?

BTW, the same really weird keycap profile is also found on the Phillips P2000. I have wondered what was underneath the keys was since I saw one of those. Thanks!

mike52787 · 01 Apr 2018, 14:15

Ivalop750 wrote: ↑What switches could it have? I have no idea about the model or brand of this keyboard

Likely some variety of 4 tab clicky alps clones, with linear alps clones for the led switches.

Daniel Beardsmore · 01 Apr 2018, 14:33

ramnes wrote: ↑
Daniel Beardsmore wrote: ↑Those are likely not RMD 973 (similar, but not the same). We don't know what they are. Loewe also used Cherry MX, but not with those exact keycaps (especially not with corner LED windows).
Do you have any similar keyboard in mind?

There are two similar switches, Ericsson RMD 973 (for which I found the patent), and the ones found in the Loewe keyboard mentioned in the topic. It's curious that Philips got mentioned, because they're known for a different switch that they patented, only found to date in a small number of BBC Micros.

I just rummaged though all Philips patents with "keyboard" in the abstract, and found this:

https://worldwide.espacenet.com/publica ... KC=A1&FT=D#

Same keycap mount, same keycaps, similar switch.

So they're not Loewe switches and keycaps but rather they appear to be Philips.

(The patent may be there — the patents for the switch I had in mind did not come up in the search, so there are definitely ones yet to be checked.)

Ivalop750 wrote: ↑What switches could it have? I have no idea about the model or brand of this keyboard

There is a specific term associated with those, but I forget what it was — but they are Alps clones as I recall, and some may have simplified Alps.

Blaise170 · 01 Apr 2018, 17:22

wiki/Acme_KB-108

Ivalop750 · 01 Apr 2018, 22:49

Model M? 1391405 manufactured united kingdom copyright IBM 1985 print 13b build 53b 1168592f 528771

Is it worth for 40€?

hansichen · 01 Apr 2018, 22:54

The space bar is yellowed so this is more modern model M. 40€ isn't bad for a model M, even if it's a newer one. If you don't have one yet I'd go for it. And chances are high that you also have the right localisation so if you change for a model F one day you can exchange the caps from the model M to the model F.

Chyros · 01 Apr 2018, 23:29

hansichen wrote: ↑The space bar is yellowed so this is more modern model M. 40€ isn't bad for a model M, even if it's a newer one. If you don't have one yet I'd go for it. And chances are high that you also have the right localisation so if you change for a model F one day you can exchange the caps from the model M to the model F.

Nothing to do with being a modern M, it's just something that the Greenock plant did for a while.

Noobmaen · 02 Apr 2018, 14:39

Is this Genigraphics SG2 keyboard some sort of SKCC like this similar looking Bondwell?