IDENTIFY THE KEYSWITCH thread

[inozenz]

This is my philosophy - except I forget to sell things on. I’m stock-rich but money-poor. There’s no liquidity in my operation: good news for the keyboards at least.

I feel you

Just bought the board, it looks fancy enough and the seller gave me a price cut. 30 bucks including shipping is not too bad for an interesting board.

plz post a few pics later, here and discord

[TNT]

Will do

[Palatino]

(Might want to sell some of that stock of yours then…)

Oh, I do indeed want, but I forgot to mention I’m also time-, energy- and organisation-poor, which is easy to blame on having young children, so yeah, it’s their fault.

[John Doe]

Is this kinda Hirose Cherry unknown switches? Really need help, guys.

C7C5CD2A-2FF6-46A8-8477-5E60F0A3EC73.jpeg (304.08 KiB) Viewed 60258 times

[timw4mail]

Looks like it's some sort of foam and foil switch with a buckling rubber sleve for tactility.

[4_404]

Any ideas?

[zrrion]

That's an interesting looking switch, no idea what it is though. How do they feel?

[4_404]

That's an interesting looking switch, no idea what it is though. How do they feel?

Fairly standard 1980s linear switch. Pretty smooth, but quite short travel for the switch height. I thought they felt a bit like Cherry M7.

[BeauxGnar]

This thing was pretty weird, all metal case, seemed to be manufactured by the same company as branded. Couldn't get a good picture of the back label without taking off the wrapping and employees were walking past me frequently. Would have bought it if not for the laughable price tag. Might go back next week and offer $20.


Any knowers?

[inozenz]

This thing was pretty weird, all metal case, seemed to be manufactured by the same company as branded. Couldn't get a good picture of the back label without taking off the wrapping and employees were walking past me frequently. Would have bought it if not for the laughable price tag. Might go back next week and offer $20.


Any knowers?

looks like a fujitsu keycap, either pearless or leaf spring?
But i might be wrong since this looks a little different.

But considering the buildquality i wouldve bought it instantly!

[zrrion]

not peereless or leafspring, that's for sure. slider is all wrong for that sort of thing.

[BeauxGnar]

Ended up spending way too long on the wiki and found what it is.

wiki/Oak_Full-Travel_Membrane

[Shorle]

Can you help me find out what switches the Olivetti s20 Laptop uses?
Probably Olivetti Snap Action or more likely their cheapyfied Dome with slider version but I want to be sure.

[EibeAxxt]

I got this retro pc from a flea market (2$) called "GALAKSIJA" - which means galaxy. The keyboard that i have is a commercial use, that was used in schools, etc. The problem is i don't know what switch this is. Someone told me it's a Cherry m7, but i really can't tell if it's a clone or not. What do you think? Thank you!

[zrrion]

that is for sure not M7. looks like it says "IEVT" on the top or something, that might be branding from the company that made it but I do not recognize it

[Muirium]

Aye. Doesn’t look right for Cherry M7. How do they feel? A bit scratchy?

Can’t argue with the price though. Nice white on black spherical doubleshots which could well be MX compatible.

[EibeAxxt]

Aye. Doesn’t look right for Cherry M7. How do they feel? A bit scratchy?

Can’t argue with the price though. Nice white on black spherical doubleshots which could well be MX compatible.

Really scratchy linears. I tried the keycaps on my other keyboards but they don't fit sadly.

[hellothere]

that is for sure not M7. looks like it says "IEVT" on the top or something, that might be branding from the company that made it but I do not recognize it

Possibly https://artsandculture.google.com/asset ... gqiHL5mNbg. "Inštitut za elektroniko in vakuumsko tehniko."

Google Books says that they made reed switches and "end magnetic switches."

[hellothere]

That was actually a fun read. Basically, the Galaxy PC was a kit computer available in Yugoslavia (when that existed) and IEVT was one of the manufacturers that supplied switches for it.

[EibeAxxt]

That was actually a fun read. Basically, the Galaxy PC was a kit computer available in Yugoslavia (when that existed) and IEVT was one of the manufacturers that supplied switches for it.

Yup! Also i found one listing for a documentation for these switches: They have interesting names so i will translate them for you.

"Switches series TZ, TY, TC
Keycaps type Z, Y"

"Low profile switch series TZ"
"Terminal switch series TY"
"Switch with hermetic contact, series TC"

From the looks of it, i would say mine are series TY but i can't be certain.

[hellothere]

Xerox 928-041413 for the 820 II terminal. The wiki has the 928-900451 model, which uses Maxi-Switch Vintage Linear switches. These are obviously different. Just wondering, because this has beautiful caps.
*

Spoiler:

s-l1600 (1) - Copy.jpg (142.08 KiB) Viewed 59126 times

[Muirium]

The square mount looks kinda RAFI. Not something I know much about, but.

wiki/Square_post_mount_recognition

[hellothere]

The sorta circular bottom part of the slider looks a bit different from the Rafi, but I do think that's a good guess.

[jsheradin]

Xerox 928-041413 for the 820 II terminal. The wiki has the 928-900451 model, which uses Maxi-Switch Vintage Linear switches. These are obviously different. Just wondering, because this has beautiful caps.
*

Spoiler:

s-l1600 (1) - Copy.jpg

I think this is the same board which has ITW/Cortron branding inside. They look similar to the Cortron 80-604 only instead of foam & foil they're a leaf spring setup similar to Fujitsu. Looking a little closer at the PCB photos I think they're indeed capacitive switches.

I'd bet they're an ITW/Cortron switch that isn't on the wiki.

[hellothere]

Oooooh. Can I name it, then? "George" would be my pick.

Anyhow, I think you're definitely closer to correct, jsheradin. The sorta circular "base" looks very close.

[jsheradin]

Oooooh. Can I name it, then? "George" would be my pick.

Anyhow, I think you're definitely closer to correct, jsheradin. The sorta circular "base" looks very close.

George is catchy but I think they have an official name: https://telcontar.net/KBK/ITW/#CP-4550

Looks like they've popped up on DT before but were misidentified as ITW Mag Valve.

[hellothere]

I was initially thinking ITW magnetic valve, too, but the sliders, as a whole, are dissimilar. So, Cortron CP-4550 metal leaf capacitive. Nice ID, jsheradin!

While I think this keyboard is very nice looking and not obscenely expensive ($125 + $30 shipping), I'm going to pass on it. Not enough modifier keys for my taste. Well, maybe if I remap the Lock key ...

[jsheradin]

Well, maybe if I remap the Lock key ...

One of the patents listed on the label is about host configurable repeat rates. Safe to say the protocol probably doesn't send up/down codes let alone shift/ctrl states. For anything more than simple typing you'd be stuck doing a controller swap if you want to use it with a modern PC.

[Muirium]

the kind of simple typing that doesnt even include capitalisation/

[hellothere]

i can live without capital letters