The SurpriseBox Worldwide Trip 2

Muirium · 06 Nov 2015, 23:13

andrewjoy wrote: ↑Are they unicomp or genuine IBM ?

Ha! As if IBM ever made RGB mods!

(Waiting to see if Webwit or one of the other IBM guys can prove me wrong. I'd like to see the pics if so!)

The reason I only ordered blank RGB mods from Unicomp is that, yes, the legends suck. They are a nice splash of colour on my Kishy though.

Besides, the other pictures I shot today are pure spoilers! No sharing those in public…

guk · 06 Nov 2015, 23:44

Muirium · 06 Nov 2015, 23:44

White legends? The fuck??

andrewjoy · 07 Nov 2015, 00:05

Pad printed homie !

hoggy · 07 Nov 2015, 18:32

Kishsaver? No wonder the box was heavy

Muirium · 07 Nov 2015, 18:41

Actually, there is something a little like one in there…

chzel · 07 Nov 2015, 18:50

Stop the teasing already!

gogusrl · 07 Nov 2015, 18:52

I know what he's talking about

and you don't

andrewjoy · 07 Nov 2015, 19:04

I will get to see soon

Muirium · 08 Nov 2015, 18:37

Okay, going deeper, here's some more sweet goods I'm taking out the box:

: Model F Controller.jpg (350.62 KiB) Viewed 4794 times

Xwhatsit's 2nd generation Model F Controller: must have! I'm typing, as usual lately, on my Kishsaver which is powered by the prototype, 1st generation ancestor of this controller. Absolutely stunning piece of kit. I think the two changes Xwhatsit made after my input was to add a port — mine has a fixed USB cable while this one is Micro USB — and to increase the size of the matrix holes. That later addition makes installation a lot easier! Model Fs use a rubbery ribbon cable and soldering that into the original was quite hair raising.

Do I have a keyboard set aside for this controller? No, not yet. But there's still definitely room in my collection for more Model Fs, and many of the very best ones are the perfect home for a piece of kit like this. Thanks to whoever put it in!

: Blue Alps Closeup.jpg (220.55 KiB) Viewed 4794 times

Next up, a whole bag of Alps.

: Blue Alps Wide.jpg (313.94 KiB) Viewed 4794 times

Blue Alps! 102 of them to be precise. Score! Don't let the horrible yellow light put you off, they're the real clicky vintage deal. Just like the tantalising lonely one I had all this time in my Mr. Interface switch sampler.

: Have fun!.jpg (90.55 KiB) Viewed 4794 times

I will!

Someone already took 2 of them, but that's fine by me. I'm now armed with fine switches to go along with my Apple Alps caps for a bit of custom Alps goodness. Especially including these:

: Alps Stabilizers.jpg (308.26 KiB) Viewed 4794 times

So I guess I'm looking for one of Hasu's Alps PCBs and a case now! Thanks to whoever gifted these. Great surprise!

DanielT · 11 Nov 2015, 17:00

I've put a bag of Alps stabs in there too, it's not my label but who knows

andrewjoy · 11 Nov 2015, 17:26

Alps stabs are nice and easy to find.

Find a junker of a AT101

Muirium · 11 Nov 2015, 17:29

I loathe scavenging from old keyboards. Makes me feel like a butcher, harvesting their guts.

Karma rewarded me for my good behaviour with a bag full of blue Alps! So long as I don't think about where they came from…

Halvar · 11 Nov 2015, 18:04

These stabs are from the same keyboard as the switches. Daniel's should still be in there.

Do test the switches thoroughly. They all worked before I began desoldering, but there were a few that didn't feel as good as the others, and also I'm not the most experienced desolderer as you might have seen. There should be more than enough good ones for a TKL or smaller though.

Glad to see they're in the hands of someone who will put them to good use!

Muirium · 11 Nov 2015, 19:55

Thanks! I'll try. Need to find myself a PCB. My soldering gear just isn't up to hand wired matrix making. Not stuff that lasts, alas.

While playing parade soldiers with the switches for the photo, I did click all of them to check. Only one felt a bit wonky, so I opened it up (dead easy, thanks to Chyros video! So much nicer to get inside Alps than MX) and cleaned it. Feels just like the rest now. I think you did a fine job harvesting them. Though if you insist, I'll continuity test the lot of them!

scottc · 17 Nov 2015, 19:15

erm, just seen these recent updates. How much is it going to cost me to ship 12kg from London to the Isle of Man?

Muirium · 17 Nov 2015, 19:16

Welcome to the game of Everyone Else Names Your Shipping Costs! Fun for all, pain for one!

scottc · 17 Nov 2015, 19:18

Jokes aside, if it's very pricey I'm going to have to drop out (or take a ridiculous amount of stuff from it!). This isn't what I signed up for!

Also, I'm not due back in London until January. If not for the crazy delays (looking at you, Compgeke and 7bit) I'd already have gotten it and sent it back on. Argh!

Halvar · 17 Nov 2015, 19:32

To quote myself:

Halvar wrote: ↑So what do the people think who really shall have to send it internationally? Should the weight be reduced, and what weight would be acceptable? Opinion-wise, I hear a lot of Mu and relatively few other voices of people affected by this down the road in this thread so far. Speak out if you don't want to send 12 or more kg across Europe. Or if you "don't want to miss a thing".

wheybags( Ireland ) ( PONGED )
HzFaq ( UK ) ( PONGED )
urbancamo ( UK ) ( PONGED )
Andrewjoy ( UK ) ( PONGED )
Muirium( UK ) (PONGED)
scottc( UK ) ( PONGED )
hoggy ( Isle of Man ) ( Able to ship across atlantic ) ( PONGED )
JotaCe ( Portugal ) ( PONGED ) ( First 3 weeks of november not available )
chzel( Greece) ( PONGED )
flopix ( BE ) ( Can collect in Ireland ) ( PONGED )
GOING HOME ( The Netherlands )

Speak out everyone! This is not an easy situation, and the whole thing only works if the chain isn't broken anywhere ...

What everyone did sign up for was to follow this thread!

chzel · 17 Nov 2015, 19:48

In answer to Halvar's quoting himself I'll quote myself:

chzel wrote: ↑I'm OK with it, as long as it doesn't grow too much from now on, or I'll have to keep a bunch of stuff for myself!!

Muirium · 17 Nov 2015, 19:58

How about everybody chips in some money and helps those of us with the costly bits?

Or just everybody in places where shipping is significantly cheaper than over here. Like, oh, Germany?

DanielT · 17 Nov 2015, 20:55

I've chiped in the past when the package entered EU grounds I can do it again, it's for a good cause

Halvar · 17 Nov 2015, 20:55

Here's an idea:

How about someone (not necessarily Mu, read on) splits the box into a 3 kg "best of box" part that does the rest of the journey and sends the remaining stuff straight back to MrInterface?`I would be willng to help with the shipping costs for the part that goes back to MrInterface.

Everyone who's still on the remaining list could decide if they want to receive and send a huge 12kg "see it all" box or rather a 3kg "best of" box, and we can plan the remaining route accordingly. First the "big box people" get the box, then it is split up, and then the "small box people" get it.

Muirium · 17 Nov 2015, 21:00

Nice plan. I am absolutely in favour of that!

Having been through the box, there's easily many kilos that can be cut. 3 kg will need careful picking, but is entirely practical.

As it happens, I'm shipping the Surprise Box down to Andy next, with a keyboard included that I'm gifting to him anyway. So he can be the one to make the split if he likes.

How do people feel about the split idea?

scottc · 17 Nov 2015, 21:44

Halvar, I did indeed sign up for notifications on this thread, but the signal-to-noise ratio has been so low that I've let it slip recently! I've also been much less active on DT in general (as you might've noticed) for personal reasons, hence why I've not been quite up-to-date.

I think we need to determine what crap has been added to the box and try to trim it, if possible. If someone's added 6kg of screws for Model M bolt mods, they need to go!

I've just checked ParcelForce prices for London to the Isle of Man, and it's looking like it'll be manageable enough for me after all. I may have to trim the fat to get it to a certain weight, however!

DanielT · 17 Nov 2015, 22:01

I don't know what was added but when it left Romania the box had a decent weight. Some people broke the rules, I'm sorry to say that

If I were one of the people in the list I wouldn't want to get a "censored" version of the box...

chzel · 17 Nov 2015, 22:08

DanielT wrote: ↑If I were one of the people in the list I wouldn't want to get a "censored" version of the box...

^That^
I'm prepared to pay the cost, but I can absolutely understand anyone who is troubled by it. Halvar's idea is good, but it would probably mean a less optimized route. And I wouldn't want to be the one to split the box.

Muirium · 20 Nov 2015, 16:46

The Surprise Box — all 15 kilos of it — is now on its way down to Andrewjoy in Liverpool. I took out more weight than I put in, honest! It's so big I had to weigh everything individually (by the various bags and boxes inside) and work out what I could fit with a spreadsheet! Complex.

Still cost me less to ship than the little 3 kg box across the Atlantic last year. Phew. Lesson learned: avoid Parcelforce.

andrewjoy · 23 Nov 2015, 23:39

Its arrived safe and sound, I must say i have never seen so many caps. So far i have selected a few caps from the grab bag ( F1-F12 in green and a DT round 5 cap in white! I will put some caps back in to top up the grab bag

. As for my main selection, well , there is so much to chose from. But i will let you know.

In other news i managed to coax Mu's Cherry MX 6.0 review sample back to life. Need to do a proper long term fix, but a bodge wire is doing the business at the moment.

scottc · 23 Nov 2015, 23:41

It's all about the art of the bodge, andrewjoy!