IDENTIFY THE KEYBOARD thread

TheInverseKey · 10 Jul 2018, 00:55

Hi,

Just got this but there was little to no information on the Wiki about it.

Front of the Keyboard

Back of the Keyboard

Any information would be amazing.

fohat · 10 Jul 2018, 01:07

Is that the one with blue Alps?

TheInverseKey · 10 Jul 2018, 01:17

fohat wrote: Is that the one with blue Alps?

No idea it hasn't shipped yet but all I got from the Wiki was that it comes with ALPS.

Moosewing · 10 Jul 2018, 02:07

I was curious about that one too since I couldn't find any info on it. I messaged the seller and all he said was that it has Alps, but he didn't say what kind.

TheInverseKey · 10 Jul 2018, 02:22

Moosewing wrote: I was curious about that one too since I couldn't find any info on it. I messaged the seller and all he said was that it has Alps, but he didn't say what kind.

Yeah I will post pics to the Wiki when I get it.

mike52787 · 10 Jul 2018, 02:41

fohat wrote: Is that the one with blue Alps?

That would be the MCK-101. not sure about this one. Seems to be completely different.

warty · 10 Jul 2018, 05:23

I found this while helping out a friend with his Commodore repair shop (continuous operation since 198x!). I bought a few things from the owner over the years and now he's trying to get a handle on 30+ years of hardware and software. Most of it is Commodore/Amiga (he was a Commodore tech), but this is basically a small warehouse, and there is quite a variety of other stuff that turns up (Ohio scientific, IBM PCjr, Mattel, TRS80, Mac, etc. ).

This was in a box with some other stuff, and looked interesting so I took it home and cleaned it up. Here's what I think I know:
- Key Tronic
- Manufacture date is Feb 1978, serial # is 08754.
- 20 pin connector
- appears to have been part of some larger machine, but could have just been in a keyboard case, and half is missing. I suspect maybe part of an all-in-one terminal, the rest of which is lost).
- There is a wood grain veneer. I can't tell if it's factory or just somebody wanted to put that on.
- Keys are double shot, even some of the blank ones!
- For some reason, the springs on the numeric keypad appear to be a different strength.
- Foam and foil

Any ideas what it could be from? I looked at a lot of images in google, didn't turn up anything.

Is there anything like a Soarer for Key Tronics of this age/manufacturing style? The feel is definitely linear, but it's kind of fun. Has a lot of keys, and the numpad keys could be rearranged to allow for an inverted T cursor cluster (I do that with my Model F AT, and it makes it an excellent daily computer). Not that this has anything over an F

Key names include:
- "Clear Field", "Click", "Rev Tab", "Send", "Rept","Cur Ret","Delete Char","Reset","Clear Input", "Clear Screen"

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snufflecat · 10 Jul 2018, 07:02

I have a contact that on a regular basis sells me boards, the most recent loot looks promising but I need some help identifying some of them (other than the ASK M4-1) to see if they're worth paying anything for.

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xxhellfirexx · 10 Jul 2018, 09:45

snufflecat wrote: I have a contact that on a regular basis sells me boards, the most recent loot looks promising but I need some help identifying some of them (other than the ASK M4-1) to see if they're worth paying anything for.

Going from memory, the Acer has Acer membrane switches and the Datacomp may have Blue Alps.

snufflecat · 10 Jul 2018, 10:07

xxhellfirexx wrote:
snufflecat wrote: I have a contact that on a regular basis sells me boards, the most recent loot looks promising but I need some help identifying some of them (other than the ASK M4-1) to see if they're worth paying anything for.
Going from memory, the Acer has Acer membrane switches and the Datacomp may have Blue Alps.

*breathing intesifies*

Edit: Did of course mean SSK, typing on mobile is hard.

mike52787 · 10 Jul 2018, 14:15

Acer is Acer switches (hammer over membrane)

AT&T is obviously a cherry g83 rubberdome

Datacomp is most likely SMK 2nd gen Alps mount

davkol · 10 Jul 2018, 15:21

ball00n · 10 Jul 2018, 15:34

davkol wrote:
mike52787 wrote: AT&T is obviously a cherry g83 rubberdome
Yeah, it's written on the sticker. Without that information, I don't think it's possible to distinguish those old G83s from G80s or G81s. There's a thread about it on Geekhack.

I got one. Hopefully, the case is G80-compatible at least.

I thought that there is a way to distinguish them, in my experience G83 always has bars for homing on numpad.

Keybug · 10 Jul 2018, 17:16

What's this Tandon (Tandy 1200) board? My guess is Fujitsu 3rd gen. LS or Peerless, but the caps might suggest something else I can't quite put my finger on...

mike52787 · 10 Jul 2018, 17:20

davkol wrote:
mike52787 wrote: AT&T is obviously a cherry g83 rubberdome
Yeah, it's written on the sticker. Without that information, I don't think it's possible to distinguish those old G83s from G80s or G81s. There's a thread about it on Geekhack.

I got one. Hopefully, the case is G80-compatible at least.

barred homing as well as in the right light you can see white plastic between the keycaps.

Also I dont believe the case is compatible, atleast not the bottom case. possibly the top part.

Blaise170 · 10 Jul 2018, 17:26

Keybug wrote: What's this Tandon (Tandy 1200) board? My guess is Fujitsu 3rd gen. LS or Peerless, but the caps might suggest something else I can't quite put my finger on...

The LED cutouts suggest foam and foil in my opinion. Definitely not peerless, could be leaf spring but I don't think so.

snufflecat · 10 Jul 2018, 19:14

mike52787 wrote: Acer is Acer switches (hammer over membrane)

AT&T is obviously a cherry g83 rubberdome

Datacomp is most likely SMK 2nd gen Alps mount

Thanks. All in all I have a feeling the loot is definitely worth getting with 3/4 interesting boards.

TheInverseKey · 10 Jul 2018, 19:19

Keybug wrote: What's this Tandon (Tandy 1200) board? My guess is Fujitsu 3rd gen. LS or Peerless, but the caps might suggest something else I can't quite put my finger on...

I am thinking possibly NMB because of those caps and the layout. Also the LED on the lock light is to the far left side of the cap.

Chyros · 10 Jul 2018, 23:39

TheInverseKey wrote:
Keybug wrote: What's this Tandon (Tandy 1200) board? My guess is Fujitsu 3rd gen. LS or Peerless, but the caps might suggest something else I can't quite put my finger on...

I am thinking possibly NMB because of those caps and the layout. Also the LED on the lock light is to the far left side of the cap.

I'm thinking NMB too. The centred arrows are very NMB, as well, as is the PBT spacebar. Moreover, Tandon have a history with NMB, as my XT one shows.

mark201200 · 11 Jul 2018, 10:24

Hey, i got this keyboard alongside some (original) apple boards. Considering that it's an AEK Clone, and that green ALPS have the LED hole, I'm pretty sure that those are probably ALPS clones. Can simeone identify them? Is the keyboard worth restoring? Also, how do you remove that piece of keycap stuck in the slider?

I don't have better pics, I'll post them when i get it in the mail, if necessary.

Keybug · 11 Jul 2018, 10:31

So that should mean yummy space invaders? Mmmmh...

Chyros wrote:
TheInverseKey wrote:
Keybug wrote: What's this Tandon (Tandy 1200) board? My guess is Fujitsu 3rd gen. LS or Peerless, but the caps might suggest something else I can't quite put my finger on...

I am thinking possibly NMB because of those caps and the layout. Also the LED on the lock light is to the far left side of the cap.
I'm thinking NMB too. The centred arrows are very NMB, as well, as is the PBT spacebar. Moreover, Tandon have a history with NMB, as my XT one shows.

Chyros · 11 Jul 2018, 10:41

mark201200 wrote: Hey, i got this keyboard alongside some (original) apple boards. Considering that it's an AEK Clone, and that green ALPS have the LED hole, I'm pretty sure that those are probably ALPS clones. Can simeone identify them? Is the keyboard worth restoring? Also, how do you remove that piece of keycap stuck in the slider?

I don't have better pics, I'll post them when i get it in the mail, if necessary.

The only green-slider Alps clones I can think of off the top of my head are Tai-Hao APC and Xiang-Min KSB. So get rid of that piece of plastic, just push it out from the other side with tweezers (Alps sliders have holes there).

mark201200 · 11 Jul 2018, 10:51

I'm leaning towards APC, as according to the wiki the KSB series is relatively modern. I'll see when I get them in the mail.

Blaise170 · 11 Jul 2018, 15:13

It looks like the Tai Hao switches I have, so I'd assume those.

Felima · 12 Jul 2018, 14:29

Hello can anyone help me identify these switches? The keyboard is Chicony KB-5191 from mid 80s

mike52787 · 12 Jul 2018, 14:33

Futaba MA MX mount

Felima · 12 Jul 2018, 14:36

Thank you very much for help. The keyboard feels amazing and it just needs a little bit of retrobriting

Keybug · 12 Jul 2018, 15:59

Two better pictures of the mystery Tandon board. Keycaps could indeed say NMB (Space Invaders)? I do have another Tandon board with them... Sadly the bottom re-label appears to be useless. Thanks for all your input so far!

Anakey · 12 Jul 2018, 16:20

Keybug wrote: Two better pictures of the mystery Tandon board. Keycaps could indeed say NMB (Space Invaders)? I do have another Tandon board with them... Sadly the bottom re-label appears to be useless. Thanks for all your input so far!

shame about that spacebar, looks like someone tried to get it off previously without much success

TheInverseKey · 12 Jul 2018, 16:29

Anakey wrote:
Keybug wrote: Two better pictures of the mystery Tandon board. Keycaps could indeed say NMB (Space Invaders)? I do have another Tandon board with them... Sadly the bottom re-label appears to be useless. Thanks for all your input so far!
shame about that spacebar, looks like someone tried to get it off previously without much success

Yup the stab inserts broke the pbt right off. They should have pried the space bar towards the bottom of the board so that the spacebar doesn't break.