commodore pc5

Zeppelin · 05 Mar 2013, 13:42

today got new keyboard

today i'm baying one more model m, so i will clean them together and retrobright them next week if i manage to.

7bit · 05 Mar 2013, 13:56

Wow!

Welcome to the Commodore PC-5 and PC-10 club!

We already had, German, French, US and Swedish layout.

Now comes Swiss* layout.

It does not look yellowed at all (at least to me). Please notice that they are in a darker color scheme than normal Cherry keyboards.

--------------------
*) I thought it's Italian but now I see it is Swiss layout:

Findecanor · 05 Mar 2013, 14:03

Mine is Swedish.

Commodore's colour scheme was a bit beige to begin with, so the keyboard could look more yellowed than it really is. Just compare top and bottom.

mr_a500 · 05 Mar 2013, 14:08

That doesn't look yellow to me. I wouldn't bother trying to "retrobright" it.

Does that have Cherry switches? I foolishly bought a Commodore PC-20 keyboard (only $10 though) and it has crappy Mitsumi "rubber dome on stick". It's the worst Mitsumi keyboard I have.

Zeppelin · 05 Mar 2013, 14:10

i think the case is yellow by default, because it's yellow on the back (bottom part), but the modifiers, enter, caps etc, that are yellowed a bit, so i think i will try to bright it.

p.s. yes, it has cherry black switches

7bit · 05 Mar 2013, 14:27

PC-5 and PC-10 are the ones to get.

It comes with n-key rollover and is really a nice layout.

kbdfr · 05 Mar 2013, 14:36

I wouldn't try retrobrighting the caps, as other said before by default they are darker than usual.
To be sure, just compare the top colour of a cap with the inside (stem) colour of another one.

And yes, welcome to the club

7bit · 05 Mar 2013, 15:34

Color comparison:

HaaTa · 05 Mar 2013, 15:42

I picked up one of these the other day. I'll take some pics when I get some time (US ANSI pretty sure).

Peter · 05 Mar 2013, 17:12

OMFG !
What a nice score You made there !!

Could you post a few pics of the backside of that Big-Ass Return-key ?

What I really like about some of the pre-ISO/ANSI standard boards is the fact that
they tried to make something useful !, instead of just pretending to be a typewriter !!
(With the extra characters thrown in, more or less randomly

)
Where is Tilde Trut-Mundt ??

Nice spacebar btw .. Pretty much IMPOSSIBLE not to hit it right !

IvanIvanovich · 05 Mar 2013, 17:44

Nice one, it does look only maybe a little dirty and is certainly not yellowed as far as it appears in the photo. Everything has a more creamy beige and khaki color tones specific to Commodore.
The Cherry slim J return has same mounting and upper width as numpad enter and usually just empty space under the leftmost part on the 2x lower width though sometimes there is a post stabilizer on plate keyboards. Generally you would want to avoid pressing the key on that section.

If you open it, see if it is also G80-0499 label on pcb or something else?

kbdfr · 05 Mar 2013, 17:54

By the way, here is how to prevent a Commodore keyboard from yellowing:

Spoiler:

Peter · 05 Mar 2013, 18:38

It IS 'yellowed' !
ALL Commodores keyboards 'yellow' to some degree,
if they have ever seen The Light of Day !

@ kbdfr :
Your picture somehow disproves Your claim ?
Clearly, the Cover is 'whiter' than the actual Keyboard ??

kbdfr · 05 Mar 2013, 18:44

Peter wrote:[…] @ kbdfr :
Your picture somehow disproves Your claim ?
Clearly, the Cover is 'whiter' than the actual Keyboard ??

I should have written: from further yellowing

Peter · 05 Mar 2013, 19:47

kbdfr wrote:
Peter wrote:[…] @ kbdfr :
Your picture somehow disproves Your claim ?
Clearly, the Cover is 'whiter' than the actual Keyboard ??
I should have written: from further yellowing

Those covers where always stored under the couch or something -

They only ever hid the keyboard under the following circumstance :

A : There was a Woman in The House .
X
B : She had The Power to declare a 'cleaning-day', usually Saturday ..

So, the keyboard WAS protected , for a few hours !

Exactly
like
She
'requested'

:HART: :HART: :HART:
(non-available smileys)

Zeppelin · 05 Mar 2013, 22:10

I've noticed that upper part ond bottom part of keyboard are in same colour, so if it's yellowed, bottom part would be whiter than upper, but it is not. In reality, keyboard is yellower than in picture, it's more creamy.

i took a picture with mobile phone, so white balance is shity. Colour is same as keyboard in wiki articke
http://deskthority.net/wiki/File:DSC01372.JPG

Findecanor · 05 Mar 2013, 22:59

Peter wrote:Could you post a few pics of the backside of that Big-Ass Return-key ?

You may not have to. I had already posted a pic of the key in my old thread (This is the same key, is it not?):

My keyboard is not exactly the same model. The keys above the numpad are only 1 unit, the case has snaps instead of screws and the cable is different.

One thing to know about the Return key is that it binds if you press it too far to the left.

7bit wrote:PC-5 and PC-10 are the ones to get.

It comes with n-key rollover and is really a nice layout.

I think that not all of them are AT (and PS/2) - compatible.

IvanIvanovich · 05 Mar 2013, 23:13

Mine is certainly not AT, not sure if XT or some Commodore specific thing though.

milankooo1978 · 08 Apr 2013, 17:57

jeeez guys, so lucky to find this thread!
I've got this one: http://deskthority.net/marketplace-f11/ ... t5523.html
and would like to know if there's any easy way to make it work on today's PC?
I've tried DIN->PS2 adaptor, didn't work
also tried active PS2->USB adaptor, didn't work either.
I would love to use it if possible.
Is it an XT board and therefore not working on my PC ?

also the same applies for this one:
http://deskthority.net/marketplace-f11/ ... t5512.html

any help very much appreciated.
thanx
M.

Findecanor · 09 Apr 2013, 00:19

As far as I know, not as easy as just buying something and connecting it
There is freely available firmware for building a Teensy-based converted between XT and USB.
XT/AT/PS2/Terminal to USB Converter with NKRO.

milankooo1978 · 09 Apr 2013, 10:58

Findecanor wrote:As far as I know, not as easy as just buying something and connecting it
There is freely available firmware for building a Teensy-based converted between XT and USB.
XT/AT/PS2/Terminal to USB Converter with NKRO.

thanks for the link, I'll definitely check out that option!