Strange mechanical keyboard that I found

[bearwool]

Hi guys, I just found this keyboard yesterday. I can't identify which brand is it. The layout is also odd. All I know is it uses Cherry MX black, LED and using the LPT 25 pin port. I've try the LPT to USB cable but the computer recognized it as a printer so the keyboard didn't work at all. Here is some pics

[Ascaii]

quick search brought up this catalogue:

http://www.orbitinstrument.com/manuals/keyboard.pdf

http://www.orbitinstrument.com/backlit.html

This is their "shipboard" model 60211.

Shipboard
Battle-tested through shipboard use in the Navy's Tomahawk program, this 17" x 7" QWERTY-configured unit features 90 keys, 4 LED indicators and a dimming potentiometer. Standard or custom interfaces available. Fourteen 6-32 captive mounting screws secure its panel mounted chassis

i assume this might be from a military application, what country are you from? Could you do me a favor and let me know any serials you can find on the stickers, pcb, or case please? I have an idea where i could search for it.

[Nuum]

I've seen this keyboard in a TV series called "The Last Ship" and have ever since wondered what kind of keyboard it was. Now I know it, thanks! In that series it was used on a destroyer type of ship and had green backlight.

[bearwool]

Yes maybe it is. I from Viet Nam, I got it from a saler, he has so many old and strange keyboard, I brought an Datalux and Compaq MX118000 from him.
With all the label i saw on the mainboard:
"ORBIT INSTRUMENT CORP 11263
ASSY 68774 REV B SER no 0102"
"11263 ASSY 68772 REV - SER No 0140"

I've seen this keyboard in a TV series called "The Last Ship" and have ever since wondered what kind of keyboard it was. Now I know it, thanks! In that series it was used on a destroyer type of ship and had green backlight.

Nice you'r wellcome. Yup, it has yellow or green led as I saw, whenever I plug it in the Alt button flash then turn off quickly.

[eldorange]

Nice to see a fellow keyboard enthusiast from a neighboring country.

[IvanIvanovich]

Looks like the controller stuff is on a separate daughterboard. That makes it a lot easier potentially to get it working as you could just pull that whole part off and replace it with something else easier to work with.

[bearwool]

I guess but the problem is I can't find way to make a LPT - USB cable work. The computer recognize it as an printer. Does any body know the datasheet of LPT or USB keyboard?

[bhtooefr]

I would be very, very surprised if that was actually an IEEE 1284 port. Not all DB25s are. And, even if it actually was a IEEE 1284 keyboard somehow, a USB to LPT adapter is designed to work with printers only.

I'm suspecting RS-232 serial myself.

[elecplus]

I have quite a few terminals upstairs that take 25-pin keyboards. They communicate via serial, not parallel. In the setup menu for the terminal, you can choose the characteristics of the keyboard port, as well as the communications ports to the mainframe and other peripherals.

[Mal-2]

I would be very, very surprised if that was actually an IEEE 1284 port. Not all DB25s are. And, even if it actually was a IEEE 1284 keyboard somehow, a USB to LPT adapter is designed to work with printers only.

I'm suspecting RS-232 serial myself.

But serial typically uses only a few of the available wires, which is why IBM eventually compressed it into a DB-9. That keyboard is wired for many more than that.