IBM 6112884: pics inside

Cattus_D

09 Jan 2018, 21:41

A few weeks ago, I finally bit the bullet and bought one of the IBM 6112884 keyboards offered on E-Bay (the link is to Chyrosran22's review). As others have pointed out here and elsewhere, these are Alps-built keyboards, featuring linear SKCC Green switches.

Shipping to Europe was very expensive, but the keyboard's being in pristine condition partly makes up for that. These boards are being sold in their original box, completely sealed.

I got the keyboard working with my PC using one of Hasu's converters (Hasu, if you're reading this, thanks!). I am not sure if I am allowed to link to Hasu's thread as it's on another forum, but you can find it by Googling 'IBM 4704 Keyboard Converter'. The converter even enables the keyboard's built-in speaker, which produces a beep every time you press a key (luckily, you can turn the sound all the way down). If I can find the time, I will make a recording of the racket this keyboard produces with the speaker enabled later this week.

In any case, I thought you guys might enjoy a few pics of the keyboard and the box it came in, especially since no pics of the packaging seem to be available elsewhere.

The box, with the IBM logo. No references to Alps.
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The styrofoam is still in excellent condition. Carefully placed on top is an 'unpacking instruction'!
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Plastic, plastic, where would we be without you?
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The keyboard, finally released from its confines!
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Elrick

10 Jan 2018, 01:52

Cattus_D wrote: If I can find the time, I will make a recording of the racket this keyboard produces with the speaker enabled later this week.

PLEASE do because I want to hear this unique sound :D .

I really want to see if this keyboard can make my ears bleed with sound, haven't come across any keyboard that can do that to me as of yet.

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Vecktrex

10 Jan 2018, 02:27

I got one of these bad boys for Christmas! Decided to order one of Hasu's converters because plug & play is the way to roll. The converter arrived a couple of days ago, this thing is awesome.
Elrick wrote:
Cattus_D wrote: If I can find the time, I will make a recording of the racket this keyboard produces with the speaker enabled later this week.
PLEASE do because I want to hear this unique sound :D .
Here ya go
Spoiler:

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FXT
XT

10 Jan 2018, 02:40

Elrick wrote:
Cattus_D wrote: If I can find the time, I will make a recording of the racket this keyboard produces with the speaker enabled later this week.

PLEASE do because I want to hear this unique sound :D .

I really want to see if this keyboard can make my ears bleed with sound, haven't come across any keyboard that can do that to me as of yet.
I also have a Pingmaster, the novelty of the beeper wears off after typing a sentence or so with it. It sounds like a scanner at a grocery store. I would prefer if it had a solenoid.

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Brett MacK

10 Jan 2018, 03:44

Great keyboard man, they have a great sound. I hope you enjoy it.

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Menuhin

10 Jan 2018, 17:15

@Cattus_D

How much was the shipping of this heavy beast to the Netherlands?

Cattus_D

10 Jan 2018, 19:17

Vecktrex wrote: I got one of these bad boys for Christmas! Decided to order one of Hasu's converters because plug & play is the way to roll. The converter arrived a couple of days ago, this thing is awesome.
Elrick wrote:
Cattus_D wrote: If I can find the time, I will make a recording of the racket this keyboard produces with the speaker enabled later this week.
PLEASE do because I want to hear this unique sound :D .
Here ya go
Spoiler:
Ah, such sweet sound! :-) Thank you for the link - I'll try and record me typing a few sentences on this board tomorrow.
Brett MacK wrote: Great keyboard man, they have a great sound. I hope you enjoy it.
Thanks!
Menuhin wrote: @Cattus_D

How much was the shipping of this heavy beast to the Netherlands?
Nearly fifty euros... Yes, that's a lot - and that sum didn't include import taxes...

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seebart
Offtopicthority Instigator

10 Jan 2018, 19:24

Just on the side I'd like to thank Cattus_D for using the proper title instead of that unworthy "p**g mas...." name.

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Dingster

10 Jan 2018, 22:04

Holy damn thats a beautiful board. I want a pingmaster so bad but they are expensive and rare. How do the switches feel :)

Cattus_D

10 Jan 2018, 23:18

seebart wrote: Just on the side I'd like to thank Cattus_D for using the proper title instead of that unworthy "p**g mas...." name.
Haha, you're welcome. :-) Actually, I don't think the 'pinging' is all that bad.
Dingster wrote: Holy damn thats a beautiful board. I want a pingmaster so bad but they are expensive and rare. How do the switches feel :)
They're good linear switches, and being new they lack the 'grittiness' that you can get with older Alps keyboards - at least before the switches are thoroughly cleaned. They certainly are heavy though - substantially heavier than those in the Dell AT102 (which has Alps SKCM Blacks), for instance. It doesn't make the typing uncomfortable, but with other mechanical keyboards I usually don't even think about the fact that I'm typing. Now I genuinely 'notice' it as my fingers need to work harder. The space bar is quite heavy, too, although it's not nearly as bad as the one on the model F.

Cattus_D

11 Jan 2018, 20:53

OK guys, here it is, as promised:

https://youtu.be/lOORmwPswlI

I have to say, this video I've made is quite a work of art. ;-)

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Dingster

11 Jan 2018, 21:05

Damn. Not only does it look and feel amazing, its sounds amazing too :D Congrats on the board man.

Cattus_D

11 Jan 2018, 21:22

Dingster wrote: Damn. Not only does it look and feel amazing, its sounds amazing too :D Congrats on the board man.
Thanks. I'm not sure I could stand that beeper for more than a few minutes at a time though!

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Vecktrex

13 Jan 2018, 01:01

While this thread is relevant, how do you date one of these boards? I've heard 1984 mentioned a lot when these get brought up, but nothing else.

Cattus_D

13 Jan 2018, 11:01

Good question. There's no date anywhere on the keyboard or box. No printing date on the 'unpacking instruction', either.

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Myoth

13 Jan 2018, 20:55

Just a simple question, how much does the pingmaster weights when it's boxed with all the things it included ?

I'm trying to proxy one and I wonder how much it would cost to ship it to me from the US

Thanks in advance !

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Vecktrex

13 Jan 2018, 23:23

Myoth wrote: Just a simple question, how much does the pingmaster weights when it's boxed with all the things it included ?

I'm trying to proxy one and I wonder how much it would cost to ship it to me from the US

Thanks in advance !
I'm not sure if it's safe to assume the weights provided by the ebay seller are accurate, but
6112884 - 4.21 lbs
5954339 - 4.08 lbs
6113442 - 5.4 lbs
Funnily enough, the Chinese lettered Pingmaster (6113442) has the cheapest shipping out of all of them it seems. It's completely free for me, maybe explains why that model has the most out of the original available quantity sold. 6112884 has the most expensive shipping with 5954339 being just a couple bucks cheaper on my end.

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Elrick

14 Jan 2018, 06:27

Vecktrex wrote: Here ya go
Spoiler:
Just saw and heard it and when you do type with several keys making that SOUND, it reminds me of the old Space Invader Games in the Arcades, when I was growing up.

Geez, I actually might buy one of these because I LOVED space invaders when it first came out :D .

Cattus_D

14 Jan 2018, 11:13

Myoth wrote: Just a simple question, how much does the pingmaster weights when it's boxed with all the things it included ?

I'm trying to proxy one and I wonder how much it would cost to ship it to me from the US

Thanks in advance !
I no longer have the boxes so, sadly, I cannot give you an indication of the full weight. It should be close to two kilos, though. The keyboard itself weighs about 1.7, and the seller packs the original IBM box in an even larger one.

I guess you could strip the outer box to reduce the weight somewhat, although the IBM box would likely suffer in transit. That said, it being rather big, you might want to throw it away anyway.

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