The Tiki-100 was a computer made and sold in Norway from around 1984 to the late 80s. Being designed by people who used to work for Norsk Data and Tandberg Data, it was originally intended for this machine to use Siemens STB 11 keyswitches like the Tandberg terminals. However, as this was too expensive the team decided to go for cheaper Siemens-keycap compatible switches. According to the technical reference manual the choice landed on the Sasse 200MN.
As you can see in from the pictures, there is a plastic bar that is pushed sideways by the slider to actuate the switch. This mechanism gives the switch very interesting characteristics. It's linear, as the spring is the main counterforce at all times. However, at the actuation point the force requiered to push the plastic bar sideways and additional friction is added. The result is a split linear curve, starting out as a regular linear switch but bumps up to almost 100cN if you want to push it to and past the actuation point. From there it continues linearly, but with the added friction. Needless to say, it has a very "springy" feel to it, and it's pretty heavy and not really suited for touch-typing. On the other hand, if you have an application where you need to hold keys down for some time or if you like to slam the keys as you type, then it's actually pretty good.
The Sasse 200MN Keyswitch
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FrodeM
- Location: Norway
- Favorite switch: Buckling Spring
- DT Pro Member: -
- Attachments
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- Switch base and trigger mechanism
- RIMG0735 - Copy.JPG (506.45 KiB) Viewed 2065 times
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- Slider and Spring
- RIMG 0739 - Copy.JPG (620.84 KiB) Viewed 2065 times
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- An overview of the keyswitch
- RIMG0741 - Copy.JPG (616.92 KiB) Viewed 2069 times
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seebart
- Offtopicthority Instigator
- Location: Germany
- Main keyboard: Rotation
- Main mouse: Steelseries Sensei
- Favorite switch: IBM capacitive buckling spring
- DT Pro Member: 0061
- Contact:
Welcome to DT!
Seeing this just now, very interesting find. Thank you for sharing. I will add this keyswitch to our wiki if you don't mind. The keycaps remind me of siemens or RAFI.
Seeing this just now, very interesting find. Thank you for sharing. I will add this keyswitch to our wiki if you don't mind. The keycaps remind me of siemens or RAFI.
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Touch_It
- Location: Nebraska, United States.
- Main keyboard: Unicomp Classic USB 103 key (work) IBM F 4704 107
- Main mouse: Logitech g502 Proteus Core
- Favorite switch: Buckling spring (yet to try Beam Spring)
- DT Pro Member: -
I want a HJELP key. 
Also, something just intrigues me about the shape of the switch.
Thanks for sharing
Also, something just intrigues me about the shape of the switch.Thanks for sharing
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Muirium
- µ
- Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
- Main keyboard: HHKB Type-S with Bluetooth by Hasu
- Main mouse: Apple Magic Mouse
- Favorite switch: Gotta Try 'Em All
- DT Pro Member: µ
Very nice macro shots. Does the force curve kick up just before actuation, or after it? I'm trying to picture typing on either!
The computer in question:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiki_100
The computer in question:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiki_100
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FrodeM
- Location: Norway
- Favorite switch: Buckling Spring
- DT Pro Member: -
The force kicks up just BEFORE actuation. The secondary horizontal slider has to move first for the switch to make physical contact, and that requires the mentioned force. Not good for touch-type!
That picture on Wikipedia is actually one of my machines! The exact unit in the picture is one of the few with the actual Siemens switches (as intended from the designer's standpoint) instead of Sasse.
That picture on Wikipedia is actually one of my machines! The exact unit in the picture is one of the few with the actual Siemens switches (as intended from the designer's standpoint) instead of Sasse.