C.ITOH Alps Buckling Spring board (possible to convert)

[snacksthecat]

I recently got a really cool Alps bucking spring board. The badge on it says C.ITOH.

With some help on reddit, I was able to figure out the pinout of the 6p6c connector. I tried to build a Soarer's converter but unfortunately it did not work. I was wondering if anyone had any information about this board or possible ways to convert it over to usb?

[Daniel Beardsmore]

That's really odd — the PCB is branded C-ITOH and doesn't have any Alps codes on it.

Has anyone ever seen the membranes in these? Maybe those are Alps branded. Certainly the Alps-made AppleDesign Keyboard has an Alps-branded PCB and Alps-branded membranes.

[Chyros]

It looks just like a rebranded SM-101 tbh, but yeah, it's weird to have the name even on the PCB. And the plug is different.

Is there a label at the back?

[Arakula]

Based on the images, the cables should carry the following:

Red, Yellow -> Vcc
Green, Blue, Thick White -> Gnd
Thin White - Clock/Data (presumably)

Is this what your Reddit fellows told you? If not, what did they tell you?

If so ... whatever that is, it's not PS/2 layout (which has separate Clock and Data lines), and thus not Soarer Converter compatible.

[snacksthecat]

It looks just like a rebranded SM-101 tbh, but yeah, it's weird to have the name even on the PCB. And the plug is different.

Is there a label at the back?

Just watched your video on the SM-101 and yes, it looks identical besides the badge and the cable. (great videos by the way!)

The label on the back of the board simply says "BRITISH"

I have the original box and it says "C.ITOH CIT324/CIT324E". I'm not sure if that's the model number of the board or the terminal (or both?).

Based on the images, the cables should carry the following:

Red, Yellow -> Vcc
Green, Blue, Thick White -> Gnd
Thin White - Clock/Data (presumably)

Is this what your Reddit fellows told you? If not, what did they tell you?

If so ... whatever that is, it's not PS/2 layout (which has separate Clock and Data lines), and thus not Soarer Converter compatible.

Yes, /r/askelectronics told me the pinout exactly as you described. I'm not sure what voltage it is expecting. I tried the following:
• 5V -- no lights
• 7V -- all lights come on and stay lit
• 9V -- all lights come on and stay lit. The board lets out a constant "beep"
• 12V -- all lights come on and stay lit. The board lets out a brief "ray gun"/"pew" noise when I plug it in.

Bummer that it's not Soarer's compatible. I'm not sure where I even start trying to communicate with the board

[macboarder]

I’ve got one of those recently myself, I was worried USB conversion won’t be easy I think I’ll try looking into replacing the controller, but if I manage to avoid it, I’ll let you know.

[Arakula]

I'm not sure what voltage it is expecting. I tried the following:
• 5V -- no lights
• 7V -- all lights come on and stay lit
• 9V -- all lights come on and stay lit. The board lets out a constant "beep"
• 12V -- all lights come on and stay lit. The board lets out a brief "ray gun"/"pew" noise when I plug it in.

Do you have a voltmeter? If not, get one. Got one now? Good. The right upper pin of the various chips (74LS06, 74LS145, Intel P8049AH; "right upper" referring to "the pin right to the notch in the chip". If you're unsure what I mean look up their pinout, their data sheets are freely available in multiple versions on the 'net) should receive +5V. Don't apply an input voltage that leads to a higher voltage on their Vcc pins.

[snacksthecat]

Do you have a voltmeter? If not, get one. Got one now? Good. The right upper pin of the various chips (74LS06, 74LS145, Intel P8049AH; "right upper" referring to "the pin right to the notch in the chip". If you're unsure what I mean look up their pinout, their data sheets are freely available in multiple versions on the 'net) should receive +5V. Don't apply an input voltage that leads to a higher voltage on their Vcc pins.

Thanks for this breakdown! I'm going to move forward making a teensy controller instead of messing with conversion but I'll try this and post back what I find in case anyone finds the information useful.

[snacksthecat]

That's really odd — the PCB is branded C-ITOH and doesn't have any Alps codes on it.

Has anyone ever seen the membranes in these? Maybe those are Alps branded. Certainly the Alps-made AppleDesign Keyboard has an Alps-branded PCB and Alps-branded membranes.

Just removed all the plastic rivets and I'm seeing the membrane is indeed branded Alps

[Daniel Beardsmore]

Very sneaky — maybe C-Itoh had a reason to make their own PCBs? It's always good to have proof, although I hope the keyboard didn't suffer too badly in being forced to give up its secrets!

[snacksthecat]

Here's the membrane wiring mapped out. I'll post the key matrix in a table format once I get a bit more time to work on this. Hopefully this will help someone from having to cut the rivets on theirs.

[snacksthecat]

Do you have a voltmeter? If not, get one. Got one now? Good. The right upper pin of the various chips (74LS06, 74LS145, Intel P8049AH; "right upper" referring to "the pin right to the notch in the chip". If you're unsure what I mean look up their pinout, their data sheets are freely available in multiple versions on the 'net) should receive +5V. Don't apply an input voltage that leads to a higher voltage on their Vcc pins.

5v - too low
9v - regulated down to 5v on each of those chips
12v - regulated down to 5v on each of those chips

those are the only voltages I can try but it at least confirms that the board requires something more than 5v

[snacksthecat]

Now that I've got the membranes mapped out I bolt modded her back together again

didn't want to get any little flecks of nasty plastic in the switch holes


ground down the rivet bumps with my cheap little Dremel


I'm lucky the plastic was so flimsy because this thing runs on double-A batteries!


The cutouts on the plate were 1/4" so I had to find some extra wide washers


starting to come together


almost done


good as new!


used the following materials:
https://www.mcmaster.com/nav/enter.asp? ... =91116A240 (washers)
https://www.mcmaster.com/nav/enter.asp? ... =92000A013 (screws)
https://www.mcmaster.com/nav/enter.asp? ... =90591A265 (nuts)

[//gainsborough]

Wow, dude! You're doing some really great work on this thing! How's it feel with the bold mod done?

[Chyros]

Wow, that's quite impressive. This is the first Alps buckling spring bolt mod I've heard of =o .

[snacksthecat]

Wow, dude! You're doing some really great work on this thing! How's it feel with the bold mod done?

Feels fantastic! I just hope I don't have to take all ~60 screws out for any reason

Wow, that's quite impressive. This is the first Alps buckling spring bolt mod I've heard of =o .

Down the rabbit hole I gooooooooo....

[snacksthecat]

Here's where I landed with the matrix.

I was able to program my Teensy++ 2.0 with QMK firmware and all of the keys work.

I haven't a clue how to get the num/scroll/caps lock LED indicators to work though.

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H/I

J

K

L

M

N

1

Left

Pause

NEnter

N+

(led scroll)

(led caps)

(led num)

(leds ???)

(???)

Home

End

Up

2

RAlt

Scroll

(led scroll)

(led caps)

(led num)

(leds ???)

(???)

Print

LAlt

3

Z

A

Q

(led scroll)

(led caps)

(led num)

(leds ???)

(???)

`

1

Tab

Esc

4

X

S

W

(led scroll)

(led caps)

(led num)

(leds ???)

(???)

F1

2

Caps

5

RCtrl

(led scroll)

(led caps)

(led num)

(leds ???)

(???)

LCtrl

6

RShift

(led scroll)

(led caps)

(led num)

(leds ???)

(???)

LShift

7

B

V

F

R

(led scroll)

(led caps)

(led num)

(leds ???)

(???)

5

4

T

G

8

C

D

E

(led scroll)

(led caps)

(led num)

(leds ???)

(???)

F2

3

F3

F4

9

N

M

J

U

(led scroll)

(led caps)

(led num)

(leds ???)

(???)

6

7

Y

H

10

/

\

;

P

(led scroll)

(led caps)

(led num)

(leds ???)

(???)

-

0

[

'

11

Down

Num

N1

N7

(led scroll)

(led caps)

(led num)

(leds ???)

(???)

Del

F11

N4

12

Right

N\

N2

N8

(led scroll)

(led caps)

(led num)

(leds ???)

(???)

Ins

F12

N5

N0

13

,

K

I

(led scroll)

(led caps)

(led num)

(leds ???)

(???)

=

8

]

F6

14

.

L

O

(led scroll)

(led caps)

(led num)

(leds ???)

(???)

F8

9

F7

#

15

N*

N3

N9

(led scroll)

(led caps)

(led num)

(leds ???)

(???)

PgUp

PgDwn

N6

N.

16

Space

Enter

(led scroll)

(led caps)

(led num)

(leds ???)

(???)

F9

F10

Backsp

F5

[macboarder]

Amazing work, well done!

[Razerban]

Here's where I landed with the matrix.

I added the N- key (Numpad Minus) as it was missing in the matrix definition:

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H/I

J

K

L

M

N

1

Left

Pause

NEnter

N+

(led scroll)

(led caps)

(led num)

(leds ???)

(???)

Home

End

Up

2

RAlt

Scroll

(led scroll)

(led caps)

(led num)

(leds ???)

(???)

Print

LAlt

3

Z

A

Q

(led scroll)

(led caps)

(led num)

(leds ???)

(???)

`

1

Tab

Esc

4

X

S

W

(led scroll)

(led caps)

(led num)

(leds ???)

(???)

F1

2

Caps

5

RCtrl

(led scroll)

(led caps)

(led num)

(leds ???)

(???)

LCtrl

6

RShift

(led scroll)

(led caps)

(led num)

(leds ???)

(???)

LShift

7

B

V

F

R

(led scroll)

(led caps)

(led num)

(leds ???)

(???)

5

4

T

G

8

C

D

E

(led scroll)

(led caps)

(led num)

(leds ???)

(???)

F2

3

F3

F4

9

N

M

J

U

(led scroll)

(led caps)

(led num)

(leds ???)

(???)

6

7

Y

H

10

/

\

;

P

(led scroll)

(led caps)

(led num)

(leds ???)

(???)

-

0

[

'

11

Down

Num

N1

N7

(led scroll)

(led caps)

(led num)

(leds ???)

(???)

Del

F11

N4

12

Right

N\

N2

N8

(led scroll)

(led caps)

(led num)

(leds ???)

(???)

Ins

F12

N5

N0

13

,

K

I

(led scroll)

(led caps)

(led num)

(leds ???)

(???)

=

8

]

F6

14

.

L

O

(led scroll)

(led caps)

(led num)

(leds ???)

(???)

F8

9

F7

#

15

N-

N*

N3

N9

(led scroll)

(led caps)

(led num)

(leds ???)

(???)

PgUp

PgDwn

N6

N.

16

Space

Enter

(led scroll)

(led caps)

(led num)

(leds ???)

(???)

F9

F10

Backsp

F5

[Razerban]

Update:

After waiting several weeks for the parts to arrive and for myself to find some time to work on my C.ITOH keyboard, I was able to convert it using the details available across the post.

Thanks to the work done by snacksthecat who decoded the matrix, I was able to write the QMK firmware using the following matrix definition:

Screenshot 2021-05-17 at 23.33.55.png (558.66 KiB) Viewed 12328 times

ROWS:

rows.jpg (485.76 KiB) Viewed 12328 times

COLUMNS:

cols.jpg (582.56 KiB) Viewed 12328 times

I was also able to make the locklights work by wiring the I and H columns to VCC on the Teensy++ 2.0 controller and assigning LED_NUM_LOCK_PIN, LED_CAPS_LOCK_PIN and LED_SCROLL_LOCK_PIN respectively to F0, F1 and F2 in QMK.

Please note that the J column doesn't need to be wired to any pin.

I'm sharing the QMK firmware code along with the pictures and the resources I used to convert my keyboard.
Hoping that this would save some time to any person wanting to convert this keyboard to USB

c.itoh.zip

(1.33 MiB) Downloaded 152 times

[Hypersphere]

@snacksthecat: Great work on this C.ITOH board! I've been looking for one of these for some time, but no luck.
@Razerban: Likewise, kudos for writing the QMK firmware and sharing it.

Regarding the keycaps on this board -- What kind of plastic and which method of printing?

[snacksthecat]

@snacksthecat: Great work on this C.ITOH board! I've been looking for one of these for some time, but no luck.
@Razerban: Likewise, kudos for writing the QMK firmware and sharing it.

Regarding the keycaps on this board -- What kind of plastic and which method of printing?

They are definitely pad printed. You can see a small transparent outline around each letter.

I'll have to get back to you on the type of plastic as I can't recall off-hand. I'll take a close-up pic as well.

[snacksthecat]

@snacksthecat: Great work on this C.ITOH board! I've been looking for one of these for some time, but no luck.
@Razerban: Likewise, kudos for writing the QMK firmware and sharing it.

Regarding the keycaps on this board -- What kind of plastic and which method of printing?

Now I'm not sure about the caps.

[snacksthecat]

Here's a typing video I made today