Alps Appreciation

Chyros · 13 Dec 2019, 11:12

ntv242 wrote: 12 Dec 2019, 22:25 Overall, I f***ng love my board, the feeling is awesome. But sometimes the stiffness does make me miss letter, and that can be annoying. What is more annoying is that I no longer enjoy anything that does not have this kind of feedback to my fingers. I just wish that my switches can go a little smoother.
I got this NIB so im sure this is not the problem with the conditions, just how the switch is to my weak ass fingers!

Personally, I'd linearise bamboo blacks. Makes them much lighter, and generally, much smoother too. It's a reversible mod too, so if you don't like it, you can just undo it

.

4sStylZ · 13 Dec 2019, 11:26

I am so jealous about those Filco keyboards.

flowerlandfilms · 13 Dec 2019, 19:10

Polecat wrote: 13 Dec 2019, 06:14
flowerlandfilms wrote: 11 Dec 2019, 20:37 Been coveting this for my transparent Alps collection for a long time, finally got one for a sensible price.
It's the Macway version of the Filco Skeleton, and others, from the Strongman series.
Would prefer a PC version but just happy to have one at all.

Were the Filco/Macway transparent keyboards available in all the Mac jellybean colors? Apparently I don't have enough things to collect yet.

Yes I believe so.
The Macways have low profile caps, though whereas the Filcos gave full size. I think that's the difference between them but not confirmed. There is so little information about them.

latemodel24 · 16 Dec 2019, 00:29

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h.parks · 16 Dec 2019, 18:36

So, a couple of weeks ago, I took a chance on an Orange ALPS-equipped M0116. It had a chipped-out corner on its case, but it only cost me $65 USD including shipping. The board is dusty but the switches feel excellent, even before cleaning. Though oranges are difficult to compare to other switches, they somewhat remind me of Outemu Skies in much the same way that stunt boats in James Bond movies somewhat remind me of pontoon boats.

I enjoy Orange Alps so much that I decided to tweak a dactyl design to better accommodate ALPS switches (not impossible, after I realized how to properly space out the keycaps) and ALPS stabilizers (difficulty level: christ in a casket). I'm still trying to figure out how to mate the side bezel with the outermost column a little better, but the aesthetics are mostly all there.

One problem with dactyls is that their plates are typically 4mm in order to keep things tidy on a 3D printer. To work around this, on future versions of this design I plan to place a recessed notch on the sides of each keyhole for an ALPS switch to snap into, instead of using superglue or other sacrileges to secure them. The notch would create a 1.1mm ledge, per ALPS spec, but I need to decide how wide that ledge needs to be for the switch to snap in securely. 1.5mm would probably work, no?

OldIsNew · 17 Dec 2019, 01:05

I was recently able to pick up a NOS Zeos branded NTC KB-6251/2. Turned out to have pine white Alps. The switches feel VERY nice.

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I have another pine white Alps board that was moderately dirty. I opened and cleaned all the switches on that board, and while they do feel quite nice, the NOS switches are significantly better. Very pleased with this one!

Chyros · 17 Dec 2019, 08:09

Noice, good find! NOS pine Alps are just sublime

.

h.parks · 17 Dec 2019, 17:13

I think I got the plate cutouts just about right.

kshopper2084 · 17 Dec 2019, 20:43

h.parks wrote: 17 Dec 2019, 17:13 I think I got the plate cutouts just about right.

Looks very interesting. I'm loving my Ergo Pro with salmon ALPS switches installed.

There is something sublime in using a modern ergonomic keyboard design with 30-year old switches on it.

flowerlandfilms · 19 Dec 2019, 01:07

Grabbed a Zenith for cheap because I love laptops with mechanicals.
Turns out to to have Alps integrated Domes, beautiful double shots though.

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ppCircle · 19 Dec 2019, 14:45

I've never seen Fk-2002 blue alps one with the escom branding.

cli · 19 Dec 2019, 15:39

flowerlandfilms wrote: 19 Dec 2019, 01:07 Grabbed a Zenith for cheap because I love laptops with mechanicals.
Turns out to to have Alps integrated Domes, beautiful double shots though.

zenith1.jpg

zenith2.jpg

Nice keycaps...
Still regretting I haven't bought a similar Zenith laptop, the seller didn't want to send it and I was to lazy to pick it up.

Chyros · 19 Dec 2019, 16:39

cli wrote: 19 Dec 2019, 15:39
flowerlandfilms wrote: 19 Dec 2019, 01:07 Grabbed a Zenith for cheap because I love laptops with mechanicals.
Turns out to to have Alps integrated Domes, beautiful double shots though.

zenith1.jpg

zenith2.jpg
Nice keycaps...
Still regretting I haven't bought a similar Zenith laptop, the seller didn't want to send it and I was to lazy to pick it up.

AID are horrible though, and not pin-compatible with SKCM/SKCL xD .

abrahamstechnology · 19 Dec 2019, 22:01

The blue Alps integrated domes are less mushy than the white ones.

Muirium · 19 Dec 2019, 22:42

Yup. I’ve got a Zenith laptop board with the blue ones, which aren’t stellar but there’s plenty worse out there, besides: the caps are wonderful!

ppCircle · 20 Dec 2019, 22:21

ntv242 wrote: 20 Dec 2019, 22:04 I have read that some type writers have alps compatible keycaps right? If yes do we have a list of those exact models somewhere?

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=90232.0

flowerlandfilms · 21 Dec 2019, 08:38

Chyros wrote: 19 Dec 2019, 16:39
cli wrote: 19 Dec 2019, 15:39
flowerlandfilms wrote: 19 Dec 2019, 01:07 Grabbed a Zenith for cheap because I love laptops with mechanicals.
Turns out to to have Alps integrated Domes, beautiful double shots though.

zenith1.jpg

zenith2.jpg
Nice keycaps...
Still regretting I haven't bought a similar Zenith laptop, the seller didn't want to send it and I was to lazy to pick it up.
AID are horrible though, and not pin-compatible with SKCM/SKCL xD .

Very true, I would not want to type on these for any real length of time.

flowerlandfilms · 21 Dec 2019, 08:39

Muirium wrote: 19 Dec 2019, 22:42 Yup. I’ve got a Zenith laptop board with the blue ones, which aren’t stellar but there’s plenty worse out there, besides: the caps are wonderful!

They are great caps, I prefer the grey ones from my Toshiba laptop aesthetically, but quality wise they are top notch.

Chyros · 22 Dec 2019, 11:08

ntv242 wrote: 22 Dec 2019, 11:05 Saw this on the Vietnamese mech market. Bamboo white alps it seems, looks very very very attractive to me, I badly want this now.
Spoiler:

ppCircle wrote: 20 Dec 2019, 22:21
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=90232.0
Great, thanks man.

Those are not Alps.

Also, I wouldn't settle for bamboo, the pines are definitely better. Of course you can swap the switches though

.

ppCircle · 22 Dec 2019, 17:42

ntv242 wrote: 22 Dec 2019, 11:11 I generally just love something that looks classic and unique so that clicks with me instantly. Luckily xmas has taken away all my money so I have not made any purchase yet. How do you know that is not alps? Because of the letters on the housing?

Markings and slider color wiki/Xiang_Min_KSB_series

E3E · 22 Dec 2019, 18:39

ntv242 wrote: 22 Dec 2019, 11:11 I generally just love something that looks classic and unique so that clicks with me instantly. Luckily xmas has taken away all my money so I have not made any purchase yet. How do you know that is not alps? Because of the letters on the housing?

The most obvious give-away is the four tabs on the switch housings. Genuine alps only has two tabs total, one long tab on each side.

yuchipashe · 23 Dec 2019, 16:56

I'm too lazy to recreate the post with proper image ordering and select the correct images so ill just dump all photos in a spoiler tab, got an nginx error when submitting the post.

Finally got my Omnikey gold badge from the post, just a week after I decided to quit this hobby. Might as well post info since I got it.
It came with the serial key sticker with the date. Inside the keyboard there is a blue sticker stating "QUALITY CERTIFICATION BY F.E.". There is also a date on the PCB cut, PCB traces, and plastic. This is probably the manufacturing timeline of the keyboard

PCB cut => Feb 4, 1988 (19980204)
PCB traced/assembled => April 27, 1988 (19980427)
Plastic Case moulded => June 13, 1988 (13-6-88)
Keyboard is assembled => June 29, 1988 (06-29-1988)

Serial: 109976 (9976th Omnikey?)

The blue hue of the slider looks more brighter/vibrant than the Leading Edge DC2014 and OEMAX ones that I've seen personally, got 2 blue sliders from the OEMAX board to confirm that the switch seems bluer than it really is. Also the switches are clean, and it's satisfying to type on, but for some reason it's still not as perfect as the DC2014 one (then again the DC2014 board was close to NOS and was barely used).

Image dump:

Spoiler:

fohat · 23 Dec 2019, 17:21

yuchipashe wrote: 23 Dec 2019, 16:56
The blue hue of the slider looks more brighter/vibrant than the Leading Edge DC2014 and OEMAX ones that I've seen personally,

The only blue Alps that I have ever had were LE 2014s and those colors were always wildly inconsistent. Perhaps it was getting toward the end of the run and they were running low on blue dye?

Polecat · 24 Dec 2019, 05:32

yuchipashe wrote: 23 Dec 2019, 16:56 I'm too lazy to recreate the post with proper image ordering and select the correct images so ill just dump all photos in a spoiler tab, got an nginx error when submitting the post.

Finally got my Omnikey gold badge from the post, just a week after I decided to quit this hobby. Might as well post info since I got it.
It came with the serial key sticker with the date. Inside the keyboard there is a blue sticker stating "QUALITY CERTIFICATION BY F.E.". There is also a date on the PCB cut, PCB traces, and plastic. This is probably the manufacturing timeline of the keyboard

PCB cut => Feb 4, 1988 (19980204)
PCB traced/assembled => April 27, 1988 (19980427)
Plastic Case moulded => June 13, 1988 (13-6-88)
Keyboard is assembled => June 29, 1988 (06-29-1988)

Serial: 109976 (9976th Omnikey?)

The blue hue of the slider looks more brighter/vibrant than the Leading Edge DC2014 and OEMAX ones that I've seen personally, got 2 blue sliders from the OEMAX board to confirm that the switch seems bluer than it really is. Also the switches are clean, and it's satisfying to type on, but for some reason it's still not as perfect as the DC2014 one (then again the DC2014 board was close to NOS and was barely used).

That's a beautiful keyboard; thanks for sharing the photos and details. My blue Alps FK-2001 from about the same time has the bright consistent blue sliders like your Northgate. Got to keep in mind *why* they were blue. It wasn't because they were trying to match the color to a Pantone chart. Presumably it was to distinguish the various Alps keyboard switches being made in the same factory. Can you imagine what they would have thought if someone had told them some keyboard collectors would be discussing these details thirty years later? Sorry to hear you're quitting the hobby. Best wishes on your future pursuits!

4sStylZ · 28 Dec 2019, 23:00

Some of my recents 3d print for M0116 and M0118 Apple Standard keyboard

More pics : https://imgur.com/a/pi0b2r3

latemodel24 · 29 Dec 2019, 00:11

What was it printed on

4sStylZ · 29 Dec 2019, 01:39

Raw glass with hair spray, not sanded.

I am not sure to understand your question.
Also it's PLA.

latemodel24 · 29 Dec 2019, 03:21

What printer did you use?

4sStylZ · 29 Dec 2019, 03:35

Oh. A very cheap FDM printer Alfawise U30…

I need a larger one for having only 1 piece.

ollir · 09 Jan 2020, 21:34

Finally got some of these, can't wait to have them in an actual keyboard! But I didn't get to get my soldering iron out right away so I settled for taking some photos instead.

These will probably get mounted on an Acer 6012 that originally has some white SKCMs once I get the time to get it done. The problem is I've only got 80 switches so I'll be left with some pine white Alps in the board while I get the missing blues from somewhere.