Document Before Destroy

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Daniel Beardsmore

16 Feb 2017, 20:30

Pro Tip.png
Pro Tip.png (33.17 KiB) Viewed 2119 times
Pro Tip: When you find something that you're about to discard/destroy/scavenge/split out for parts, check the wiki first.

If there's no page on it, or the page has no decent photos, or very little information, document the equipment first. It doesn't have to be on the wiki — but just make sure that there's a decent set of photos somewhere here of what you had before you tore it all apart.

It may be that you had the only one, and there may not be another opportunity to document it at all in any condition. (It won't be literally the last one, but finding another one to document may prove impossible.)

There are far more clues in equipment that most people realise, and having those clues available matters a lot.

End of line.

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y11971alex

16 Feb 2017, 20:58

I would very much like to contribute to the Wiki, but I have no idea how to upload pictures!

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seebart
Offtopicthority Instigator

16 Feb 2017, 21:01

y11971alex wrote: I would very much like to contribute to the Wiki, but I have no idea how to upload pictures!
It's not difficult, I'll give you pointers.

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Wodan
ISO Advocate

17 Feb 2017, 08:33

I have to make a couple of confessions ...

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seebart
Offtopicthority Instigator

17 Feb 2017, 09:14

Wodan wrote: I have to make a couple of confessions ...
No you don't ! :mrgreen:

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gogusrl

17 Feb 2017, 21:42

Wodan wrote: I have to make a couple of confessions ...
You're not the only one ... :oops:

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vivalarevolución
formerly prdlm2009

18 Feb 2017, 23:53

I clicked on this for the graphic. I like that graphic.

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snuci
Vintage computer guy

19 Feb 2017, 00:01

vivalarevolución wrote: I clicked on this for the graphic. I like that graphic.
Daniel has done some pretty awesome illustrations and graphics in the wiki. He probably doesn't get enough praise for it but I, for one, appreciate it.

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Wodan
ISO Advocate

19 Feb 2017, 00:05

Awww yissss the illustrations on this page make me moist:
wiki/DIN_standard

Even though we should have a conversation about the term DIN standard.

DIN A4 is a DIN standard as well ;)
The DIN plug, too...

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Daniel Beardsmore

19 Feb 2017, 00:19

vivalarevolución wrote: I clicked on this for the graphic. I like that graphic.
It was fun making it — although the exact spectrum of the rainbow needs more work.
Wodan wrote: Even though we should have a conversation about the term DIN standard.
Sure. Which standard(s) relate to keyboards? jacobolus came to a different conclusion to my limited findings, and there's not a clear enough understanding yet. If you have more input on this, please elaborate. (If it comes to me vs jacobolus, that git is probably the one who's right, but I need a lot more detail before I can write anything about it.)

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Wodan
ISO Advocate

19 Feb 2017, 00:24

Well DIN Standard is basically like the ISO Standard - an almost infinite system of all kinds of standards.

I did my best trying to find WHICH exact DIN standard applies to the article you wrote but it is pretty much impossible to research that without paying a couple of hundreds of euros to buy the documents.

I wish I could be more constructive, in the end it's just about pinpointing which DIN standard contains these definitions and requirements you list ... and yeah I failed. But in it's current state the article gives me the impression there is "the DIN standard" that defines this which is not entirely correct.

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Daniel Beardsmore

19 Feb 2017, 01:29

Wodan wrote: Well DIN Standard is basically like the ISO Standard - an almost infinite system of all kinds of standards.
I would have assumed that you would credit me with having enough functioning neurons strung together to at least understand that much.
Wodan wrote: I did my best trying to find WHICH exact DIN standard applies to the article you wrote but it is pretty much impossible to research that without paying a couple of hundreds of euros to buy the documents.
I've spent way more than that on switches, but maybe that's why I'm writing this from my padded cell.

The smaller keycap families from Signature Plastics have names beginning with "D", which literally stands for "DIN standard". Omron wrote this of B3G-S: 「DIN規格に適した全18.1mmのロープロタイプ」 — Google's understanding of this today is "Total 18.1 mm rope type suitable for DIN standard", which is funny, as originally it translated to "Low-profile type of all 18.1 mm suitable for DIN standard " (they must have introduced a bug since then). Again, though, just "DIN standard".

It's more than just the keyboard profile — there have been complaints here that the Germans stamped out anything pretty, which is why all the nice colours we saw in the 70s and early 80s died out. As I recall, jacobolus made those complaints, but again, never detailed any evidence for these claims. I don't know what he read or where he read it, or if it's even true.

I wrote about it previously here:

http://telcontar.net/KBK/size.php

From what jacobolus was saying, in effect I've got this all wrong, so I've declined to document anything beyond the barest minimum page needed to hold my diagram, pending someone finally shedding some light on the magnitude of my blunders in this regard.

Engicoder

19 Feb 2017, 01:42

In discussions I have had with several older IBM'ers who worked with point of sale keyboards in the early 80's, the DIN 30mm keyboard height for the middle row was one of their hard design constraints.

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Wodan
ISO Advocate

19 Feb 2017, 01:48

I was talking about the wiki article, not questioning your neurons count. Trying to avoid assumptions where I can.

But those are really impressive insights. I never knew DSA and DCS where DIN-related.

The whole DIN thing is just a manifestation of the German mentality. Am deutschen Wesen mag die Welt genesen...

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Daniel Beardsmore

19 Feb 2017, 01:56

Nobody even knows what the standard specified. At all. You say 30 mm — 30 mm from what to what, exactly? Hi-Tek Series 725 is called that due to a limit of 0.725 inches ('Max .725" off the desk surface' according to dmiloh), or 18.415 mm — but from what to what? That is, however, close to Omron's 18.1 mm, and then you wonder why they're .315 mm shorter than Hi-Tek!

My Filco's case alone is 20 mm tall at the front, so surely it's violating the standard? Nothing on this keyboard is 0.725 from the desk surface. Whatever that 18 mm specified, it's not desk to keycap, so in which case, why did switches have to shrink?

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