Electronics Plus trip - photos

[XMIT]

I took a total of 232 photos and videos at Electronics Plus today. I discovered some key switches that might be new, or at least, are new to me.

The photos are here:
https://plus.google.com/photos/10439222 ... 2787761489

I release the photos and videos at the above link under a Creative Commons - By Attribution license. For details please see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Feel free to repost them!

I will reserve the next few replies for:
Photo Highlights
Trip Report
New Discoveries
Reserved

[XMIT]

[Photo Highlights]

I took home fourteen keyboards from this trip:

DSC_3301.jpg (729.85 KiB) Viewed 3870 times

Golden wingnut!

DSC_3175.jpg (312.19 KiB) Viewed 3870 times

More highlights will appear here as we discover some gems in the photo set.

[XMIT]

[Trip Report]

I've been looking for unusual keyboards for some time - spherical key caps, unusual key layouts, unusual switches and protocols, etc. When I found out that Electronics Plus was only a two hour drive from home I knew it was a trip I wanted to make!

I contacted Cindy (elecplus) via PM about three weeks ago. This being a busy month for me I had to schedule the trip several weeks out. This turned out to be good for several reasons. One I had plenty of time to research various keyboards here and on the Wiki, and build an inventory of items to collect through the Marketplace. Two I had plenty of time to pack a bag with odds and ends. Three it was a little warmer today than a few weeks ago, low of 16C and high of 25C. This matters because the attic at Electronics Plus is not climate controlled!

I left home at about 0625 this morning and arrived at 0825. Cindy was already inside and let me in when I called.

Once I set my things down she asked, "well, where do you want to start?" "How about the grand tour?" I responded. So, Cindy showed me around the entire shop, taking about an hour do to so.

Electronics Plus is located in a 10000 square foot facility that was, in previous lives, a flea market, a furniture factory, and a Bible factory. It is a long, relatively narrow two story warehouse with few windows (just the ones in front). All of the shelves and most surfaces are covered with seventeen years of electronics surplus stockpiling: not just keyboards, but also floppy drives, monitors, terminals, video cards, old CPUs, RAM. There are not just an abundance of keyboards - there is an abundance of everything. The Marketplace postings and even the Web site reflect a relatively small proportion of what is actually available.

After the tour, Cindy told me, basically, to go nuts. My task was to sort through a pile of about a thousand keyboards in the attic looking for gems. I cleared some shelf space and started stacking. Cindy came upstairs too from time to time and helped (greatly) with sorting. She knows the vintage switches much better than I do. I had never seen a Space Invader switch in person before today.

Some of my findings, which I originally reported in http://deskthority.net/keyboards-f2/fie ... 49-60.html, were:
Model M buckling spring - about 30.
Model M 122-key Unsaver - about 10.
Burroughs terminal keyboards - about 7
Sperry terminal - about 4
Space invaders - about 10 in various colors.
Model F XT - 1-2 I think.
Model M rubber dome - about 20
Model M2 rubber dome - about 50
Olivetti - vintage MX black
MX mount Futabas - they appear to be linear.

I asked Cindy about some of these, and why she still had them. She replied, "no one was interested" or "someone didn't answer e-mails." She does you a favor by acquiring and storing these great finds and selling them at a good price - do her a favor and be a good customer!

My eventual haul, as noted above, was fourteen keyboards. As originally reported in http://deskthority.net/vendors-f52/scro ... 77-30.html :
First column, top to bottom:
???
???
Model M 122-key - PS/2, Unicomp, 2006
Custom FAA Air Traffic Control keyboard - backlit Cherry MX Black
Mini Sperry?
SSK
Model M 122-key - terminal, 1986

Second column, top to bottom:
Model M dated July of 1989 - for parts
Model F XT
Burroughs terminal keyboard
Sperry keyboard
Model F Bigfoot terminal
Model M rubber dome (just because)

Cindy also sent home some freebies: some old flash units that interface and work with my Nikon camera, a numeric keypad, and some Duplo blocks for the little one.

She definitely deserves the Golden Wingnut - which I even got to see in person!

[XMIT]

Reserved for new discoveries.

[XMIT]

Reserved for ???.

[Mal-2]

Model M dated July of 1989 - for parts

I believe there is someone around here looking for a Model M from that specific calendar month for very personal reasons. You might want to check into that before using it for scrap.

[guk]

Model M dated July of 1989 - for parts

I believe there is someone around here looking for a Model M from that specific calendar month for very personal reasons. You might want to check into that before using it for scrap.

Close: http://deskthority.net/keyboards-f2/key ... ml#p208406

[XMIT]

Uhm. That someone is me.

[Muirium]

Cindy's place sounds very much like the museum I know over here. So much stuff jammed everywhere the eye can see! A lot of it good, too. Did you take any group shots?


Re: your lady's Model M, I've got a mint one from 30 August 1989, but that's no good, and the date's inconveniently obscured by another IBM sticker.

http://deskthority.net/photos-f62/ibm-m ... t6407.html

[XMIT]

Nope, no group shots. Too busy scrounging and sorting! I don't exaggerate when I say we were working for about seven hours straight with almost no break. Maybe next time.

There used to be a nice little computer museum here in Austin through the Goodwill stores but it closed. I need to get in touch with its curators. I believe the collection still exists but is just not on display.

I have about six Model Ms and will probably just use the case of this one for my wife. This is the Ship of Theseus problem. Does it cease to be the same keyboard when you start changing parts?

[Muirium]

I'd call the barrel frame the heart of the keyboard, and the case a close second metaphor that doesn't immediately come to mind!

[fohat]

I'd call the barrel frame the heart of the keyboard, and the case a close second metaphor that doesn't immediately come to mind!

The biggest difference in feel, in Model Ms, in my opinion, is the thickness of the steel back plate. But since it is an electronic device, the electronics should probably be considered the "brain" of the keyboard, if not the "heart" - but I am no purist.

The building that you described sounds quite like "TBF Computing" (aka "rawko" on ebay) which is near my office, although they are reluctant to allow civilians into "the back" and it is a beehive of activity and workers.

[ramnes]

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GWE3 ... C_3176.JPG

Give it to meh!

[XMIT]

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GWE3 ... C_3176.JPG

Give it to meh!

Oh I remember this one well:

DSC_3176.JPG (351.72 KiB) Viewed 3672 times

Cherry MX Blue is not my favorite switch anyway, but, these in particular are inconsistently clicky. I think the switch stems themselves are sticky from years of dirt. To return it to its former glory you will need to disassemble (possibly desolder) and clean every single switch. It could be a fun restoration project!

As a rule I can't stand those Enter keys. Maybe they were invented at this fun looking place I passed as I drove through Fredricksburg:

Fat Ass Vineyard.JPG (259.18 KiB) Viewed 3672 times

(borrowed from http://www.adventureswithbg.com/2014/11 ... art-1.html )

[XMIT]

The building that you described sounds quite like "TBF Computing" (aka "rawko" on ebay) which is near my office, although they are reluctant to allow civilians into "the back" and it is a beehive of activity and workers.

Electronics Plus has the same rule. I guess we're special.

[seebart]

Nope, no group shots. Too busy scrounging and sorting! I don't exaggerate when I say we were working for about seven hours straight with almost no break. Maybe next time.

I just saw all the pictures on Google+ now, thank you very much for your work and your time and effort. Great stuff.

[guk]

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GWE3 ... C_3176.JPG

Give it to meh!

Do you want it for the switches? I got one of those but it misses a lot of keycaps. Switches are in good shape though.