Olivetti KBD 2812

Olivetti KBD 2812
Model no.	KBD 2812
FCC ID	GDD5YOG81-3000
Branding	Olivetti
Manufacturer	Cherry
Layouts	ISO
Keyswitches	Cherry MX Black; Cherry MY
Interface	AT?, PS/2
Years of production	1990s

This article requires additional photographic illustration — full detailed evidence of all the different variants

KBD 2812 is a model of Olivetti keyboard. Two versions exist, one having Cherry MY switches and one having Cherry MX Black switches.

Description

All KBD 2812 keyboards appear to have FCC ID GDD5YOG81-3000, which makes them Cherry MY keyboards. Many KBD 2812 keyboards are indeed based on G81-3000, but some are instead based on G80-3000. Both types have unusual keycap colours in common: the legends are dark blue, and the keycaps a slightly darker grey instead of ivory. Also, the grey of the modifier keys is darker than usual. These colours differ again from the colours used for NCR keyboards. Both double-shot and dye sublimated keycaps have been found.

Article number G99-1180BAU has been sighted in an MY version with date code C21 (1990) and label code "HBI".^[1] The keycaps of this example are dye-sublimated, so "HBI" (Italian double-shot) is also incorrect. Code "BAU" is not recognised: "B" is not a known legend method. In most examples of MY-based KBD 2812 keyboads, photos of the internal parts are not available, so it's impossible to determine if this article number is found in all of the MY KBD 2812 keyboards.

Article number G80-3011 HBI, shown below, appears on the MX assembly of another keyboard with label code "HBI" and date code C20 (1990). This assembly uses Cherry MX Black switches and has Italian ISO layout.

This would initially suggest that the MX-based keyboard is the result of exchanging parts (putting MX internals inside a KBD 2812 case), but this theory has been refuted.^[2] The fact that the internal module dates given above are only a week apart also suggests that there is some legitimacy to the idea that Cherry were themselves mixing G80 and G81 parts in the factory.

The MY version is reported to exist in two versions.^{[Citation needed]} The older version is reported to use black MY switches and dye-sub keycaps with a non-standard font. The lettering is blue on beige/grey. This version is reported to have been found with Italian and German layouts. This was apparently followed by a newer version with white MY switches with MX-compatible stabilizers. Keycaps of this latter version are double-shot with the standard Cherry font, with blue lettering on beige/grey. So far this second version is only known to have appeared in Italian layout.

Disassembly

Pop open the 4 clips on the rear. It is a bit tricky to get the cover up on the front. The clips are similar to those at the G80-2100 and 25xx cases: see How to disassemble Cherry terminal keyboards.