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Xerox 820 II Keyboard (928-900451) Teardown
Posted: 25 Nov 2014, 07:46
by hwood34
Just recently got this board thanks to a bunch of help from nubbinator, thought I'd take it apart and post some pics.
This may have been the hardest case I've ever opened. The tabs that hold it together were insanely thick and hard to push in
For how incredibly big the case was, the PCB was actually relatively normally sized
Cap profile:
Stem Angling:
4 types of switches:
Black: on most keys, the lightest of the four
Brown: Heavier than black, lighter than pale blue; used for L/R shift and enter
Pale Blue: Heaviest, used for spacebar, del, esc, and feed.
Lock: used for Caps Lock; a modified black switch
Switch Internals:
From left to right: MX, Maxi, ALPS
The spacebar stab was insanely thick
Posted: 25 Nov 2014, 10:15
by robturneranimation
very cool! so are those caps cherry compatible?
Posted: 25 Nov 2014, 14:01
by mr_a500
Ah, Maxi Switch. That's not a bad switch. I've got some Kaypro Maxi Switch keyboards and I like them. I thought the Xerox 820 had Stackpole switches. Maxi Switch is way better.
It's strange that there are two date stickers on that PCB - one with a 1982 date, crossed out - and another with 1984.
Where's the the beauty shot, keyboard all cleaned and re-assembled?
Posted: 25 Nov 2014, 16:29
by hwood34
robturneranimation wrote: very cool! so are those caps cherry compatible?
Unfortunately not, the stem is too thick
mr_a500 wrote: Ah, Maxi Switch. That's not a bad switch. I've got some Kaypro Maxi Switch keyboards and I like them. I thought the Xerox 820 had Stackpole switches. Maxi Switch is way better.
It's strange that there are two date stickers on that PCB - one with a 1982 date, crossed out - and another with 1984.
Where's the the beauty shot, keyboard all cleaned and re-assembled?
Well, I'm all outta H202 and I have 2 projects in front of it
But I'm on break this week so expect and update soon
Posted: 25 Nov 2014, 20:00
by hwood34
Posted: 29 Nov 2014, 19:23
by dorkvader
Update it with your firsthand info!
Posted: 29 Nov 2014, 19:44
by hwood34
dorkvader wrote:
Update it with your firsthand info!
oh my god I'm an idiot I needed to also log in on the wiki
Posted: 29 Nov 2014, 20:02
by hwood34
Alright, updated with the info. One question: how do I add in pictures? I've tried just adding the file and the imgur link, but I'm just not really sure about the code
Posted: 29 Nov 2014, 20:17
by dorkvader
http://deskthority.net/wiki/Help:Uploading_images
Fortunately for us, Mr Beardsmore made an easy guide.
Posted: 29 Nov 2014, 22:32
by hwood34
Ah, thanks. Pictures added
Posted: 30 Nov 2014, 02:06
by hwood34
Posted: 30 Nov 2014, 06:51
by jacobolus
I take it there are no photos with the board fully put together and all the keycaps on (except those from the ebay seller)? If you get around to fixing it up, getting it working, and putting it all back together, an "after" shot would be great.
[e.g. in the
http://deskthority.net/wiki/Xerox_928-900451 wiki page, the “keycap profile” picture is somewhat misleading for someone who can’t see that the keycaps mount at an angle.]
In any event, thanks for making / adding to the wiki pages here!
Posted: 01 Dec 2014, 04:43
by hwood34
jacobolus wrote: I take it there are no photos with the board fully put together and all the keycaps on (except those from the ebay seller)? If you get around to fixing it up, getting it working, and putting it all back together, an "after" shot would be great.
[e.g. in the
http://deskthority.net/wiki/Xerox_928-900451 wiki page, the “keycap profile” picture is somewhat misleading for someone who can’t see that the keycaps mount at an angle.]
In any event, thanks for making / adding to the wiki pages here!
Yeah, I'm finishing up a few other projects, but I'll try and get some H202 and clean this thing up this week, probably a long ways away from getting it working
But if anyone wants to take a stab at getting it working be my guest (your pay will be in gratitude
). And I'll try and add a picture of the keycap profile while mounted tomorrow
Posted: 02 Dec 2014, 13:37
by mr_a500
Nice. That page looks so much better now.
Re: Xerox 820 II Keyboard (928-900451) Teardown
Posted: 02 Dec 2014, 17:42
by hwood34
mr_a500 wrote:
Nice. That page looks so much better now.
Thanks! Hopefully I can contribute more eventually.
Posted: 13 Dec 2014, 00:54
by donyn
That's so awesome. How much did you get it for?
These older keyboards with weird caps are super interesting
Posted: 19 Oct 2015, 13:47
by terrycherry
I found Xerox 820-II with this X928 keyboard on ebay.
Who can buy it if necessary need it.
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Rare-Xerox-820-I ... 2c9fdbeb8b
Posted: 19 Oct 2015, 13:51
by seebart
We had our little chat about "expensive" keyboards recently terrycherry, remember? US $1,156.99 ?!?!
Posted: 19 Oct 2015, 14:02
by terrycherry
Posted: 21 Oct 2015, 19:07
by snuci
I have a Xerox 820-II and a Xerox 8/16 but sadly, the 8/16 is missing the keyboard . Do you need better pics of the 820 II keyboard? The ones posted looked pretty good already.
Posted: 22 Oct 2015, 06:27
by terrycherry
snuci wrote:
I have a Xerox 820-II and a Xerox 8/16 but sadly, the 8/16 is missing the keyboard . Do you need better pics of the 820 II keyboard? The ones posted looked pretty good already.
Yes, I need more pictures about the keyboard. Your photo quality is better.^^
And the author assembled the pule blue switch only...
Posted: 01 Nov 2015, 03:50
by hwood34
If anyone is interested in this board I'm willing to let it go
Posted: 02 Nov 2015, 03:28
by terrycherry
Welcome home!!
If you give it to me for free ,I'm willing to pick it on.
You didn't try to make it work on PC?
Posted: 02 Nov 2015, 12:41
by snuci
hwood34 and I worked out a deal. I'm almost sure it will work with my Xerox 16/8 computer so it will be put to good use.
Thanks hwood34.