Classic Unicomp Speaker Hole?

[Falkenroth]

Took delivery of a new 104 Classic Unicomp Model M keyboard and I noticed the speaker hole has returned. Or has it always been there on the Unicomp model? Correct me if I'm wrong but I could have swore it was filled. By the way the typing feel and sound are awesome on this keyboard but the case plastic still isn't as good as the original. That's really where they drop the ball.

[Muirium]

It also serves as a drainage hole, I suppose, though the clips definitely point to its design intent for holding a speaker that’s been absent since the Reagan administration…

[Findecanor]

Keyboards for the IBM RS/6000 had a speaker. It was wired to the unused pins of the PS/2 connector.

The holes in the front of the case are supposed to be for drainage.

[Muirium]

When did the speaker get dropped? And has the case mold really not been tweaked since then?

[Falkenroth]

When did the speaker get dropped? And has the case mold really not been tweaked since then?

I have handled Unicomp and Lexmark Model M cases with the speaker hole filled in. I was surprised to see it in this case. But maybe this version never had it filled. I know they have offered many version over the years. Or did Unicomp update some tooling or something recently?

[sharktastica]

Or did Unicomp update some tooling or something recently?

The back case piece seems to be made from the moulds IBM and Lexmark used for 102/103-key InfoWindow terminal keyboards such as P/N 1394204 (example #1, #2) - you can tell by the larger than usual [Type II/III/IV M122 style] flip-out feet and cable router that most Enhanced Keyboards/Unicomp Classics lack. If I were to guess based on the fact the original Enhanced Keyboard tooling was quite far gone at this point (for example, the flip-out feet of Unicomp Classics used to be quite mangled), they switched to less used tooling or they found some NOS parts to use? At least from the photo, the quality looks quite fresh. I guess I could just ask them, and I shall.

case plastic still isn't as good as the original.

If it is a new manufacture, Unicomp products are now made of PC + ABS instead of PVC like most classic Ms. This change was made a while ago at this point, but with events like the EU seemingly soon banning all PVC, it's probably out of their control now.

When did the speaker get dropped? And has the case mold really not been tweaked since then?

1995 is when IBM/Lexmark introduced P/N 42H1292 and updated 13914xx that covered over the grille. However, this applied to PS/2 keyboards; their RS/6000 keyboards that were still manufactured for several more years were largely unaffected since those needed the speaker. So various tooling coexisted. The only noticable tooling tweak for Enhanced style keyboards since then I'm familiar with is was in 1999 when Unicomp made some college sports keyboards with a unique rounded 'squircle' badge. Although this was top case piece only and the style hasn't appeared since, I have no idea what happened to it.

[Falkenroth]

Thanks for the information Sharktastica. Defiantly seems like some changes have been made or this keyboard got a terminal case or something.

[daedalus]

I would bet good money that Unicomp found a couple of these old-style cases lying around the warehouse and wanted to use them up. There would be no good reason for them to reintroduce the cable routing slots which only work with the thin terminal cables and not USB or PS/2, unless, as suggested earlier, they have decided to reuse the tooling.

When did the speaker get dropped?

The fourth-generation (i.e. 42H1292 and the later Unicomp keyboards) dispensed with them. The slots for the cable only showed up on terminal keyboards.

[Falkenroth]

I would bet good money that Unicomp found a couple of these old-style cases lying around the warehouse and wanted to use them up. There would be no good reason for them to reintroduce the cable routing slots which only work with the thin terminal cables and not USB or PS/2, unless, as suggested earlier, they have decided to reuse the tooling.

When did the speaker get dropped?

The fourth-generation (i.e. 42H1292 and the later Unicomp keyboards) dispensed with them. The slots for the cable only showed up on terminal keyboards.

Haha, you're probably right about them using a case they just had available. Have to see if anyone else comes forward with the same case.

[stormcrash]

Tha does seem to be an entirely different bottom from the standard. The longer feet have already been mentioned, but it also has the cable coming out of the original left center (when viewed from typing position) like the original SDL cable instead of the top right like the later fixed cable Lexmark boards and normal Unicomp boards.

From past information it doesn't sound like Unicomp does case moldings continuously (and that they were having difficulty justifying ordering more of the pearl plastic resin hence why no Pearl Mini/New M yet). So maybe as speculated they switched the mold for a batch, or maybe these are extras from a business/custom order (I believe B2B still makes a majority of their sales), or perhaps the regular cases are running low and these were in the warehouse from some previous batch/order

Either way it's very interesting to see and unless this is a permanent change you might have a pretty uncommon board now

Also I didn't know there was ever a version of the Model M that had a cable guide/gutter on the bottom

[Falkenroth]

Tha does seem to be an entirely different bottom from the standard. The longer feet have already been mentioned, but it also has the cable coming out of the original left center (when viewed from typing position) like the original SDL cable instead of the top right like the later fixed cable Lexmark boards and normal Unicomp boards.

From past information it doesn't sound like Unicomp does case moldings continuously (and that they were having difficulty justifying ordering more of the pearl plastic resin hence why no Pearl Mini/New M yet). So maybe as speculated they switched the mold for a batch, or maybe these are extras from a business/custom order (I believe B2B still makes a majority of their sales), or perhaps the regular cases are running low and these were in the warehouse from some previous batch/order

Either way it's very interesting to see and unless this is a permanent change you might have a pretty uncommon board now

Also I didn't know there was ever a version of the Model M that had a cable guide/gutter on the bottom

Damn, I didn't even notice the cable being in a different location. Almost need to open the thing up and look at the internals at this point, seeing the cable is in a completely different spot. Interesting.

[Falkenroth]

Follow up on this strange speaker hole in my Unicomp keyboard. Finally opened it up. Defiantly appears to be a new old stock part (1399053). Apparently the bottom of a Model M Terminal Keyboard.

Labeled IBM inside and feels like PVC. Has a different feel than the top of the keyboard.

Here are some photos.

[Ulicesrmpel]

When was the speaker dropped? And has the case mold not been modified since that incident?

[Falkenroth]

When was the speaker dropped? And has the case mold not been modified since that incident?

Dropped long ago. What was strange is this board was purchased new just few years back from Unicomp and came with a 30 year old IBM bottom.

[NathanA]

When was the speaker dropped? And has the case mold not been modified since that incident?

Dropped long ago. What was strange is this board was purchased new just few years back from Unicomp and came with a 30 year old IBM bottom.

I think you're interacting with a spam account trying to establish itself with minimum posting requirements. I, too, responded to it earlier, summarizing the main points of this thread for him again, before I realized that the response was just a slight re-wording of Muirium's earlier response (probably AI-"massaged" ). In addition, the account was newly registered minutes before this singular post, and the account profile says his main keyboard is "Daryl Jacobs" & main mouse is "Brock Emmerich"

[kbdfr]

[…] interacting with a spam account trying to establish itself with minimum posting requirements. […]

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As the first post of any DT member is either deleted if it contains spam or else systematically blocked so it cannot be edited, spammers have to try again - and there we have several criteria helping to detect them nearly without failure (I won't elaborate on that).

Plus, of course, reports by DT members are always a great help.

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