Alps Appreciation

[hellothere]

Thx. I have no problems sharing both victories and defeats .

[Sturmtiger001]

That is a great board and looks to be in good condition, too. Dig the layout with capslock pushed to the right of the spacebar, so weird.

It's a very funky sorta "pre-model-m" kinda layout going on, I like to call it "Zenith-XT" despite it not really having an official name, I can see some benefits to the layout but yeah it really is a wonky thing. Though after using it for a little bit I have to say it isn't the worst thing ever.

[mode1ace]

DFK192 arrived today, it’s rather exellent! metal mounting plate, n-key rollover with individual switch diodes and the case is really solid. Condition is flawless, borderline NOS other than a scratch on the backspace and some superficial dirt.

[kelvinhall05]

Bought a Wang 725-3770 a few weeks ago for 80 USD + shipping (thankfully quite cheap because eBay GSP). It looked to be in alright shape, not too hard to restore. Sadly don't have any good pics of before restoration.

The day I got it I did all the work on it. Took me about four hours to clean keycaps, case, desolder switches, sand and repaint plate, and reassemble everything. Switches (SKCM Salmon) feel pretty clean (very smooth, no binding) and I peeked inside one and found almost no dust, so I didn't bother cleaning them. Keycaps were nasty but cleaned up nicely. Case wasn't too bad, but I think it's a teeny bit yellowed (won't bother fixing for now).

Pic of plate before paint (but after desoldering and cleaning in the sink):

Spoiler:

IMG_20200729_161736.jpg (3.39 MiB) Viewed 6106 times

Plate after painting and switches soldered:

Spoiler:

IMG_20200729_223419.jpg (3.74 MiB) Viewed 6106 times

Keycaps on (they aren't yellowed, my lighting just makes it look like that:

Spoiler:

IMG_20200729_232202.jpg (2.07 MiB) Viewed 6106 times

Finished board (also not yellowed, same shit lighting):

Spoiler:

IMG_20200729_232832.jpg (2.23 MiB) Viewed 6106 times

I really love the numpad, with the awesome amber lock LEDs (SKCL yellow, not green) and the calm blue sublegends. Very nice:

Spoiler:

IMG_20200731_131548.jpg (1.91 MiB) Viewed 6106 times

Built a converter with a cheap RJ12 cable and a Pro Micro running Soarer's firmware and it works great. Beeper is fun to listen to

[mode1ace]

Noice, I'd love the ISO version some day, I keep an ebay watch on it. The light blue legends on the numpad just look so nice.

[kelvinhall05]

Noice, I'd love the ISO version some day, I keep an ebay watch on it. The light blue legends on the numpad just look so nice.

Oh yeah, it's quite a pretty board I'd say.

[ddrfraser1]

Nice! I agree. I bought one of those last year. Mine’s got clickified black alps as the tactility wasn’t so hot with the stock switches. Feels great now. One of my favorite parts is the subtle beeper. It’s a nice unobtrusive thock.

C9A97B97-641B-41E2-A2CE-41CC68B3A5E6.jpeg (3.68 MiB) Viewed 6067 times

[kelvinhall05]

Nice! I agree. I bought one of those last year. Mine’s got clickified black alps as the tactility wasn’t so hot with the stock switches. Feels great now. One of my favorite parts is the subtle beeper. It’s a nice unobtrusive thock.

C9A97B97-641B-41E2-A2CE-41CC68B3A5E6.jpeg

Very nice

How is the Xerox going?

[ddrfraser1]

Nice! I agree. I bought one of those last year. Mine’s got clickified black alps as the tactility wasn’t so hot with the stock switches. Feels great now. One of my favorite parts is the subtle beeper. It’s a nice unobtrusive thock.

C9A97B97-641B-41E2-A2CE-41CC68B3A5E6.jpeg

Very nice

How is the Xerox going?

Thanks.

Well my powder coat guy is moving his shop so that has put things on hold for a bit. my next step is to assemble the innards but can't do it until the plate gets powder coated. I also took the time to build a workbench. Now that that's done I can figure out the case.

However, on that note, The case is warped in places and broken in one spot. It's SUPER difficult to work with such a large piece of aluminum. So I'm either going to make due, or start from scratch and build it out of walnut. Haven't decided yet.

[kelvinhall05]

Nice! I agree. I bought one of those last year. Mine’s got clickified black alps as the tactility wasn’t so hot with the stock switches. Feels great now. One of my favorite parts is the subtle beeper. It’s a nice unobtrusive thock.

C9A97B97-641B-41E2-A2CE-41CC68B3A5E6.jpeg

Very nice

How is the Xerox going?

Thanks.

Well my powder coat guy is moving his shop so that has put things on hold for a bit. my next step is to assemble the innards but can't do it until the plate gets powder coated. I also took the time to build a workbench. Now that that's done I can figure out the case.

However, on that note, The case is warped in places and broken in one spot. It's SUPER difficult to work with such a large piece of aluminum. So I'm either going to make due, or start from scratch and build it out of walnut. Haven't decided yet.

Either way I am looking forward to an update and to see it done

[hellothere]

I've looked up the Focus FK-8000 and it nowhere says that it has white Alps. Just curious.
wiki/Focus_FK-8000
Anyways congrats, i'm also an official Alps owner, waiting to arrive in the mail.

I did see a pic and it did look like white Alps. I definitely have been wrong before, but it was inexpensive and I think I could resell for the same amount or higher.

Let's hope you get White Alps, was just curious.

I can say that I'm the owner of a keyboard that has Alps switches. Well, three of them. SKCL yellow for the three lock keys. The rest of the keys are quite probably wiki/Alps.tw_Type_OA2. It does also have the Futaba lock switch for the calculator.

It's not much, but I'm happy .

[amigastar23]

Got my ARC - Monterey K102 Keyboard today, very nice with white alps.

Although it's a little bit hard to press since i'm used to lighter switches i like it , it even has 6key rollover.
very nice.
i just don't know if the keys are stiff because they are used or if the white alps are really that hard to press.

[mode1ace]

Got my ARC - Monterey K102 Keyboard today, very nice with white alps.

Although it's a little bit hard to press since i'm used to lighter switches i like it , it even has 6key rollover.
very nice.
i just don't know if the keys are stiff because they are used or if the white alps are really that hard to press.

Could well be condition. I test new boards by pressing a large unstabbed key, like ctrl or capslock off centre. Does it bind at all?

[amigastar23]

Got my ARC - Monterey K102 Keyboard today, very nice with white alps.

Although it's a little bit hard to press since i'm used to lighter switches i like it , it even has 6key rollover.
very nice.
i just don't know if the keys are stiff because they are used or if the white alps are really that hard to press.

Could well be condition. I test new boards by pressing a large unstabbed key, like ctrl or capslock off centre. Does it bind at all?

Ctrl is a little bit stiff and slightly jammed, other keys like F,G and K are alright.
I'm planning to buy some switches from here:
https://www.ebay.de/itm/1-x-SKBM-White- ... Sw19dcaJoL
and replace the used keys with new parts. Is that possible? I think yes. You know just the springs and tactile leafs.

Edit: oh i just saw that the ebay Replacment keys are SKBM not SKCM.
Does anyone know where to buy SKCM white alps replacement switches?

[amigastar23]

so you're saying that a jammed key is dirty only?

[amigastar23]

Idk but whenever I encounter any problem with alps switch I always open and inspect it closely, might help, and it is fairly easy to do so

ok, will do, thx.

[mode1ace]

Cleaning is def the way to go before buying replacement switches. If the board is not terrible, then it'll probably clean up alright. You just can't make a board that feels flat out awful good. Cleaning up light dirt usually has pretty good results.

[ppCircle]

Bought today for quite cheap. C.ITOH CIT324/CIT324E with polish sublegends. Sadly it apears to be non convertable in easy way.
But man, what a fantastic feeling.

[mode1ace]

Alps bucking spring?

I'm curious what kind of stabs it uses, I couldn't tell from other photos of that board.

[amigastar23]

Hey there,

today i wanted to clean my SKCM White Alps Keyboard but the Keycap broke inside and now i need a new white slider, can i use the slider from SKBM White Alps, like here or are they different?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-x-SKBM-Whi ... Sw19dcaJoL
I don't need the spring nor the tactile leaf just the white plastic slider.

[ppCircle]

Hey there,

today i wanted to clean my SKCM White Alps Keyboard but the Keycap broke inside and now i need a new white slider, can i use the slider from SKBM White Alps, like here or are they different?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-x-SKBM-Whi ... Sw19dcaJoL
I don't need the spring nor the tactile leaf just the white plastic slider.

You can just push out keycap mount element from slider and glue it back to keycap, if you can't then you can use that slider. They are the same.

[amigastar23]

Hey there,

today i wanted to clean my SKCM White Alps Keyboard but the Keycap broke inside and now i need a new white slider, can i use the slider from SKBM White Alps, like here or are they different?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-x-SKBM-Whi ... Sw19dcaJoL
I don't need the spring nor the tactile leaf just the white plastic slider.

You can just push out keycap mount element from slider and glue it back to keycap, if you can't then you can use that slider. They are the same.

If you say they are the same you mean the SKBM slider is compatible with my SKCM Slider?
I really need an answer to this, guys.

[hellothere]

Hey there,

today i wanted to clean my SKCM White Alps Keyboard but the Keycap broke inside and now i need a new white slider, can i use the slider from SKBM White Alps, like here or are they different?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-x-SKBM-Whi ... Sw19dcaJoL
I don't need the spring nor the tactile leaf just the white plastic slider.

You can just push out keycap mount element from slider and glue it back to keycap, if you can't then you can use that slider. They are the same.

If you say they are the same you mean the SKBM slider is compatible with my SKCM Slider?
I really need an answer to this, guys.

amigastar23, are you saying you broke the slider for the switch or breaking the key stem from the key cap inside the slider or the slider itself?

Sorry to say, but I'm not a high enough Alps master to tell you if SKBM sliders are compatible with SKCM switches, though. If you did just break the key stem off the key cap, then what ppCircle said is correct: fish the broken part of the stem out of the slider and glue it back onto the broken key cap. Pic of a broken key stem below.

p21vdlf1fet21.jpg (43.78 KiB) Viewed 6000 times

[amigastar23]

Hey Hellothere,

thank you for the answer
thats excatly what happened like in your Picture. But it's a complete mess, i can't use it anymore thats why i need a new slider since the stem sits deeply in the switch.

[//gainsborough]

If you remove the top housing and take out the slider, you should be able to poke the stem through from the bottom of the slider

[amigastar23]

i had similar situation before and even taking out the slider, it was very very difficult to poke out the remaining keycaps stem due to how tightly fit it was to the slider. end up throwing away the slider haha

yes, thats what happened to me also.

If you remove the top housing and take out the slider, you should be able to poke the stem through from the bottom of the slider

doesn't work, unfortunately. It's not open at the bottom, from what i've seen.

Edit: i just bought 5 SKBM Switches, maybe the sliders will fit into my White Alps.

[raptorzoz]

s-l1600.jpg (200.11 KiB) Viewed 5858 times

newest ebay pickup, looks almost NOS, getting delivered next week.

[-Space-NATO-]

Can you led mod an alps SKCM switch?

[Myoth]

Can you led mod an alps SKCM switch?

no, unless you take out the leaf

[zrrion]

you have to linear mod them, and then you are free to LED mod them. it might be possible to stick an SMD LED to the top of a switch housing and run wires down the side, but that would really depend on the clearance allowed by your cap