Sunshine for 8088 & 80286 vintage clicky keyboard

User avatar
ledpoisoning

11 Nov 2012, 22:19

Hi everyone!
Today I bought this keyboard at the flea market...it is a Sunshine but there is no model.
I'm not a keyboard expert..but I bought it 'cause I think that is a mechanical keyboard with buckling spring key switches, if I'm not wrong, maybe you can tell me...I think that is a brand new keyboard, look at the cable...
It has a clicky sound...very loud, all keycaps are ok except one, but seller told me that I can find next time, 'cause it was lost in shipping from home to the flea market...anyway, is there anyone that sell this keycap on ebay?
And what is that switch on pcb??
Take a look at this pics and tell me if I did a good deal! 2 euro only...

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User avatar
webwit
Wild Duck

11 Nov 2012, 22:26

Some kind of Alps clone.
There's an ATW with "10" at the top here. Maybe you should post your ATW 15 there and drive him crazy. :evilgeek:

User avatar
Daniel Beardsmore

11 Nov 2012, 23:41

The only switch normally found on older keyboards is the XT/AT switch, as both XT and AT shared the same DIN connector. I am guessing that once you extend the feet of yours, the switch will become accessible from below?

User avatar
ledpoisoning

14 Nov 2012, 09:44

webwit wrote:Some kind of Alps clone.
There's an ATW with "10" at the top here. Maybe you should post your ATW 15 there and drive him crazy. :evilgeek:

Yep you're right!!! Do you know the difference between these atw 10 and mine atw15??

The switch is not accessible till you don't disassemble the keyboard...

User avatar
mbodrov

14 Nov 2012, 18:41

I have this keyboard (another brand, same OEM). All the switches have different numbers on them. Here I pulled a few random keycaps to demonstrate, and the numbers underneath are 54, 46, 57, 34, 64.

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User avatar
Daniel Beardsmore

14 Nov 2012, 23:23

mbodrov wrote:I have this keyboard (another brand, same OEM).
Any year on yours? I wonder who created the original four-tab case design that XM went on to copy? Something must account for it being far more popular than the two-tab Alps design. (Also, real Alps switches have little "thorns" sticking out of the corners, that no-one else ever copied.)

Now we need an ATW article on the wiki.
mbodrov wrote:All the switches have different numbers on them. Here I pulled a few random keycaps to demonstrate, and the numbers underneath are 54, 46, 57, 34, 64.
Anyone know why switch manufacturers would do this? Fukka and XM switches both do this. Maybe it's the batch numbers, for quality control?
mbodrov wrote:Image
Excellent caps!

User avatar
mbodrov

15 Nov 2012, 10:29

Daniel Beardsmore wrote:Any year on yours? I wonder who created the original four-tab case design that XM went on to copy
No date on the case or the PCB.
I know that the company whose logo is on it was in business around 1995-2000.

User avatar
Daniel Beardsmore

20 Feb 2013, 22:56

These might be hard to crack. Your board is from Royal Bright International Corp (a mistranslation of "Sunshine"?), who don't seem to be around any more. Alps.tw has these switches in a Strong Man-era Filco keyboard, and we know Strong Man passed off other people's switches as their own, so they wouldn't say who made them even if they were still around.

[Edit: Alps.tw's board is not a Strong Man-made Filco, it's a Hearst Foldable Keyboard, which sadly still tells us very little. No idea who Hearst are.]

FCC lists 1992 as the registration date.

Internals are here: http://kbtalking.cool3c.com/article/8366

Interestingly, the click leaf is the KPT design (or the other way around) and the contact mechanism is very similar to KPT, who themselves appear to have copied SMK (or NEC or Maxi-Switch ...) The only FCC entries for KPT are from 1991 and 1994, so they're definitely contemporary.

This one may take its secrets to the grave. KPT are also gone, I believe, so there goes our hope of finding out about the seeming KPT clones.

User avatar
calavera

22 Feb 2013, 19:00

mbodrov wrote:I have this keyboard (another brand, same OEM). All the switches have different numbers on them. Here I pulled a few random keycaps to demonstrate, and the numbers underneath are 54, 46, 57, 34, 64.

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I want that keyboard so bad.

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