Great/Interesting Finds

flowerlandfilms · 28 Nov 2018, 06:53

What is the deal with this thing?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Creative-Visio ... :rk:7:pf:0

And why does it have a lock light in the up key?

zrrion · 28 Nov 2018, 07:06

It looks like it was made by northgate, seing as the FCCID is GT6OMNIKEY. I don't know about the light though thats weird

Gamuholic · 28 Nov 2018, 07:11

I just picked up an OmniKey 101 and it has the light in the up key as well. It's an SKCL Yellow and feels really out of place.

kakan · 28 Nov 2018, 08:49

Gamuholic wrote: ↑I just picked up an OmniKey 101 and it has the light in the up key as well. It's an SKCL Yellow and feels really out of place.

Maybe OmniKey want's to tell us to look up at the light for jesus? Or from the Yellow paper at the buttom from the ebay listing it says that you can change layout and perhaps record macros up to 20 characters?... probably is used to indicate when the sequence is activated.

orihalcon · 28 Nov 2018, 15:28

I think the lock LED in the up key is for programmable macros as mentioned by kakan. You could always desolder just that switch and LED and put a regular up arrow keycap there instead. The reason it's a yellow switch is because the presence of an LED makes it so that there's no place for click leaves, so the switch has to be a linear, so All you'll see in integrated LED switches are greens or yellows for ALPS.

Hypersphere · 28 Nov 2018, 17:15

Gamuholic wrote: ↑I just picked up an OmniKey 101 and it has the light in the up key as well. It's an SKCL Yellow and feels really out of place.

That's odd. I have several Northgate Omnikey 101 boards spanning quite a range of serial numbers, and all of them have SKCM White Alps throughout -- no yellow Alps with an LED on the up-arrow key. However, mine are all US ANSI (with a horizonal Return/Enter key). Does your Omni 101 have the BAE layout?

fohat · 28 Nov 2018, 18:25

That is a GT6OMNIKEY aka "101P" ("programmable") as discussed previously:

f-o-r-s-a-l-e-f58/northgate-omnikey-101-t16060.html

Gamuholic · 29 Nov 2018, 03:32

You're right, it's the programmable one. Neat!

Polecat · 29 Nov 2018, 05:12

Nice to see some good info on the Northgates! Basically they break down into four generations. The programmable ones with Windows keys are what I call Gen4, and those were sold under both the Northgate and Avant brand names. By that time the switches were simplified Alps or clones, and the keycaps on most of the Gen4 boards were pad printed, with a blob of clear paint over the printing that looks like it was done by an untrained chimp. The case and plate were still high quality, so the Gen4 boards are easily upgraded to better switches. Some of the Avants came in black, if that appeals to anyone, but I haven't yet seen an Avant Prime (the "Omnikey 101" version) in that color, only the Avant Stellar (the Omnikey Ultra layout). I now have 179 Northgates documented, including 23 Gen 4 versions.

cloudhax · 30 Nov 2018, 02:14

I assume you've all seen this already? I want it, but not for $2800

https://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-keyboard-3 ... :rk:2:pf:0

Elrick · 30 Nov 2018, 03:43

cloudhax wrote: ↑I assume you've all seen this already? I want it, but not for $2800

Any time I see a single keyboard being sold at that amount of money, I hug my refurbished 4.2 L 1HD-T I6 turbo diesel.

zrrion · 30 Nov 2018, 04:35

No keyboard is worth that much tbh. That's more than I bought my truck for! Even if I ever have the kind of walking around money for something like this I could never do it. Hopefully I find one in a haul or something.

bronz · 30 Nov 2018, 10:19

Well if someone wants to buy it ... then it worth that much

Don't get me wrong, I would not buy it from Ebay also...

AJM · 30 Nov 2018, 11:44

That's the first beamspring with German keycaps, I've seen. And - coming from Bulgaria - there wouldn't even be any import taxes.
Tempted, but the price is just far too high.

hansichen · 30 Nov 2018, 12:12

There were quite a lot of beamspring finds in Germany with german layout over the years. The price of this one isn't too bad if you consider that people pay up to 1800$ for a standard one

ekeppel · 30 Nov 2018, 12:28

That keyboard is a thing of beauty, for sure.

AJM · 30 Nov 2018, 13:19

hansichen wrote: ↑There were quite a lot of beamspring finds in Germany with german layout over the years....

That's good to hear! (I'm quite new to all this.)
At the moment I'm waiting for a 5251 with my beloved XT layout. It's 1250$ + 240$ import tax. For the 1300$ "saved" I will happily be content with its American keycaps.

bronz · 30 Nov 2018, 13:39

You can always visit Bulgaria

Khers · 30 Nov 2018, 13:40

AJM wrote: ↑
hansichen wrote: ↑There were quite a lot of beamspring finds in Germany with german layout over the years....
That's good to hear! (I'm quite new to all this.)
At the moment I'm waiting for a 5251 with my beloved XT layout. It's 1250$ + 240$ import tax. For the 1300$ "saved" I will happily be content with its American keycaps.

I'll let you buy the German caps off my 5251 for a mere $1299.

AJM · 30 Nov 2018, 13:56

@bronz
Hmmm, that still only saves 80 € for shipping. I'm not convinced.

@Khers
That's terribly kind of you. I'll think about it.

(But honestly: Should you prefer American to German keys in Sweden, please let me know.)

madrobby · 30 Nov 2018, 15:47

Received my Model F XT that I got of eBay for $11.50! All keys working fine, and only minuscule amounts of mouse poop, lol.

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zrrion · 30 Nov 2018, 17:09

Nice stickers and even nicer price! Nice find.

depletedvespene · 30 Nov 2018, 18:50

Model F XT keyboards clean up nicely. Be sure to post a "before and after" pic.

Hypersphere · 30 Nov 2018, 18:58

It is true that German beam spring keyboards are powered by qwertz crystals?

$11.50 for an XT on eBay! It's like going back in time to an era when actual bargains could still be found there. What great luck!

bronz · 30 Nov 2018, 19:05

Nice find !
Waiting for my first ebay score

seebart · 30 Nov 2018, 19:06

Yes, that's a really good price for that XT.

bronz · 30 Nov 2018, 22:15

Look at this AST-SK-1200
I am not sure if it is mechanical, but condition is nice
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AST-SK-1200- ... rk:21:pf:0

Touch_It · 30 Nov 2018, 22:39

bronz wrote: ↑Look at this AST-SK-1200
I am not sure if it is mechanical, but condition is nice
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AST-SK-1200- ... rk:21:pf:0

seems its rubber dome.

reference post on DT.

keyboards-f2/zenith-sk-2000re-t8236.html

digital_matthew · 01 Dec 2018, 00:11

Fun restoration project for not too much dough:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1980s- ... :rk:5:pf:0

JP! · 01 Dec 2018, 02:34

Interesting looking keyboard. That backspace is so tiny though. I guess these old keyboards with odd implementations of the backspace key makes things less convenient and thus reinforces proper typing behaviors. Just like typing on old typewriters where any mistake not only leads to minor frustration but also costs money.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Perkin-Elmer-V ... :rk:7:pf:0

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