Rockwell 80R [HI TEK Lamprey switches]

User avatar
zrrion

29 May 2021, 01:01

Got this in the mail today. Bought it entirely based on the looks, but can you blame me?
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As you can see, these switches bear a striking similarity to stackpole, and that would be because they were patented by HI TEK in the 70s. There's no branding on the module unfortunately which would have been cool. Calling them lamprey switches for now on account of how they look kinda like lampreys.

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this thing is clean too. unfortunately they aren't especially smooth. Not scratchy either though. they would likely take to lube well if one were so inclined.
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Nickel plated
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3 HTC 12? not sure what this could mean
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unlike the later HI TEK and stackpole switches, these sliders are entirely in tact. I have no idea why the slider was changed for the later switches as that is a serious downgrade. These are still communal switches, but instead of a PCB they are connected by a series of ribbons. This seems to be a not uncommon trait for calculators, not entirely sure why this is the case.

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as we can see here the chip is dated '74, which makes sense for this sort of machine.

and for anyone who doesn't want to click on a google link here's a mirror of the patent drawing:
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Last edited by zrrion on 12 Sep 2022, 08:11, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Redmaus
Gotta start somewhere

29 May 2021, 01:35

The theme screams 70's. Quite a fetching looking unit. Hopefully the lamprey switches feel better than actual stackpoles.

User avatar
zrrion

29 May 2021, 03:09

they're largely comparable honestly. I've only ever had NOS stackpole, IDK how it compares to average condition stackpole though. They sound pretty nice too, which is something this family of switches seems to be really good at, there's not much in the way of spring ping and it's pretty deep. I would love to see these in something other than a calc, but I doubt they are in anything except calculators.

Rayndalf

29 May 2021, 11:23

Those stems look some much stronger than the terribly brittle stackpole ones.

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