This document has a section about this keyboard:
https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_b ... 79_9065639
and it seems to be essentially the same keyboard as the TP130 HaaTa has:
http://deskthority.net/photos-videos-f8 ... t3664.html
except that the TD019 has more (24!) leds and probably speaks a slightly different protocol.
I really like the design of this a lot, and a striking difference with IBM boards of the same time. I find the IBM board design more pure / simple and because of that perhaps more timeless, but these ones I find have much more the style of their period and I find them somehow more classy / camp, and because of that more retro / dated now. All that is very personal ofcourse.
The case has yellowed a lot, so I guess this summer I should try to retrobright it. Espeicially on the monitor side the yellowing is extremely uneven, which makes it rather ugly.
The switches are Hall-effect: I found them a bit scratchy and dissappointing at first, especially considering that my main reason to get this board was to try out these famous switches. But after some lubing they do start to feel fantastically smooth: I am not per se a linear person, but this is something else. Also the switches make it a very silent board, so much more useable in a shared environment than, say, a beamspring.
This picture has all the kinds of switches in it I could find on the board:
- 4A3A are the standard switches, sort of comparable to vintage MX blacks, but more substantial, smooth and more 'even' somehow.
- 4A1A are the lighter switches used in the larger keys that also have stabilizers: the key as a whole feels rather similar to the 4A3A, a bit lighter perhaps, but mostly they tend to feel a bit less smooth.
- 6A1D are the stabilizers; no stem, very light, little fluffy thing on top
- 4A8A are the switches used for the blue keys: they are very smooth, but mostly also VERY heavy. No way you will press these by accident, and they would make great continuous controllers (scroll faster by pressing harder). But I don't think that is how they work, ofcourse.
Great legends too, and I like how the keyboard layout has not completely stabilized in this period into ISO or ANSI.
No date, low serial number...
The pcb is double sided, so this is only half the story.
The board-connector on the other side of this cable has 30 wires going in to it: does anybody know how likely this is to work with Soarer's converter ? I have to seriously start looking into how that stuff works, first step will be to connect some 0-5V to it and see if some leds light up.