deskthority

Notice the ad shows both a blue (background) keyboard and a black one. Very interesting. I've not seen that ad but the blue background keyboard doesn't have a numeric keypad so it's either a slightly different model or a prototype. The ad you posted also doesn't mention the numeric keypad either. S...

Just o follow up, I posted pics of the IKB-2 keyboard that's in the IMSAI VDP--80 here: http://deskthority.net/photos-f62/imsai ... 11830.html

Along with the IKB-1 keyboard shown here , the keyboard within the IMSAI VDP-80 computer from 1977 contains the evolution of the "War Games" keyboard identified as the IKB-2. This keyboard has similar Hi-Tek key switches and appears to be a "smart keyboard" as well but it was integrated into the IMS...

Nice. I had a chance recently to get an IBM System/23 Datamaster - with the very first Model F - but gave it up at the last second because I was worried about shipping. (quite naturally) The IBM System/23 Datamaster is definitely on my want list. It's a transition machine from the 5100 series to th...

As mentioned above, here's my IBM 5120. Same beam spring keyboard but a slightly different color scheme. I have not taken this apart other than a light internal cleaning and re-seating of internal boards and connectors. It works fine as is so why mess with it? IBM 5120 - computer 2.jpg IBM 5120 - ke...

snoopy wrote: ↑Did you travel through time to acquire this IBM 5100?

No. Three important facts to consider...
1. I am not John Titor
2. He needed one that did APL and this one only does BASIC.
3. I have one and he does not

Oh yes, I saw that IMSAI link years (decade?) ago. Unfortunately, the only IMSAI thing I managed to get so far is a metal VDP-40 badge. Everything else I see ends up in a bidding war. (..bidding wargame) I can't buy the good stuff on eBay because people are crazy when items like these do come up. I...

Thanks for posting those pics mr_a500. Very happy to meet a fellow collector. The IMSAI IKB-1 is a truly special keyboard even though the key caps are only Hi-Teks. It is both a parallel and serial keyboard (set with jumpers) and is programmable. I thought that was pretty cool for 1977! The little d...

Nice system. Maybe some more shots of its internals and components would be nice. Imagine what that tiny screen would do to your eyes and back! :lol: Keyboard looks pretty good, as well. Thanks. Please look at the bottom of the first post after the pictures. I have two blog posts with more pictures...

24 KILOS ?? Holy batguano, batman. Look up my IBM 5120 . I still haven't moved it from the first floor :) That, of course, is my second beam spring keyboard (technically) but I have not taken this keyboard apart at all because it is already clean and the computer works perfectly. I'll try to add a ...

These photos are from a restoration project some time ago. I actually just saw this forum section so I'm guessing I should put photos here and not in the "Keyboard" section? Sorry about that. Below are some pictures of the beam spring keyboard. You will note that normally this keyboard has a thin bl...

Looks somewhat elaborate to me, but I guess it should work :) . I will never see it work unfortunately unless I find an Ampex Dialogue 80 terminal. This would also normally be branded "Cray Research Inc" but if I found the normal Ampex branded one, I wouldn't complain. Here's some info: http://term...

Well, as II and some other here suspected, it turns out that it IS foam and foil but the capacitive pad areas on the board are not two semi-circles like Keytronics but inner and outer squares. The center of each square pad has a hole so that if the key has a light, it will fit through the hole like ...

You continue to baffle me on a daily basis with your vintage keyboards now snuci! Not too many people here have a collection to do that! Apparently you do. Anyway, I don't own an IBM Beamspring, but that switch looks different IMO. Possibly Clare Pendar yes. The keyboard is nice but that PCB is awe...

I have a Cray Research Inc. keyboard made by Ampex that has some key switches that I can't find in the Wiki. Can anyone identify them? The key switches almost look like they are beam spring in shape. The PCB view through an empty key switch hole makes it look like foam and foil. It says "CP Clare" o...

Very nice collection, snuci! Do you have the numeric pad with this comupter? Hope to see her switches. I do not have the keypad and have never seen one "in the wild". That probably would not have been a popular option. That is an amazing PCB. Is it dated? And is the entire PCB solely for the keyboa...

The tooth pattern has to do with which of the "hands" are "toothed" so to speak. Hi-Tek only has teeth on ONE of the hands. Stackpole and other clones have teeth on both hands, often diagonally mirrored. Sorry if it's not clear without a picture but I'm on my phone atm :) . The best resource that d...

That keyboard is from a Heathkit H88 or H89. I have one of each. They are stackpole because of the fingers on the key switches. The stackpole and Hi-tek keyboard assemblies both have the waffle grid and look almost identical so it would not be hard to mistake them as the same.

I noticed that the Wiki had a reference to the Lear Siegler having Hi-tek switches. There were a couple of runs of the ADM3A including an earlier one than mine that was light blue. Mine is beige but it does not have Hi-tek switches. It looks to have Futaba Linear Complicated switches? Here's some pi...

More pics: Poly keyboard - external profile.jpg Poly Keyboard - bottom.jpg Poly keyboard - opened.jpg Poly keyboard - inside of case.jpg Poly keyboard - top.jpg Poly keyboard - bottom board.jpg Poly keyboard - internal profile.jpg Poly keyboard - keyboard profile.jpg Poly keyboard - under space bar....

Since I mentioned this in my last post, the other cool keyboard I have is the IMSAI IKB-1 that you may have seen in War Games. Mine does not have the graphics on the outer case (because it's an early version) but it is definitely it. It goes beautifully with the computer that it really went with as ...

Now you guys have me relooking at the keyboards that go with my vintage computer systems... This is one of my best looking keyboards. It's from a Polymorphic System model 8813 system. The picture doesn't show the brushed aluminum surface too well but matches the brushed aluminum face of the computer...

Double-shot means two different color plastic injected together by the molding machine. Your keyboard isn't the triple-shot because each keycap has two different color only. So is a key with a light that has clear plastic in the molding a triple shot like this "reset" button? The top half has a cle...

Ah, very cool on the triple shots. I'd love to see a pic of the back of the "J", "K" or "L" key caps for reference. Perhaps an article in the Wiki is in order? That resource is invaluable for a newbie like me.

Thanks again.

It sounds like they may be double shot with an pressed insert, as you hypothesized. Thanks to terrycherry's request for pics of the spacebar, I can tell you that they most likely are inserts to mate the key cap with the key switches. Here's some pics. You will note that the metal "stabilizer bar" i...

Thanks for the replies. This is a fairly rare luggable computer Could you pull out the space bar and take some picture? I'm always a little hesitant to remove space bars when cleaning a keyboard but I'll give it a shot tonight. As I mentioned, I'm not a keyboard collector per se but a vintage comput...

Here is an interesting keyboard because I have not ever seen one like this before. It is a standard 101 key type keyboard made by Advanced Input Devices that looks like the PC Jr Chicklet keyboard. It's similar to the internals of a post sometime back. It is definitely a bad keyboard to actually typ...

This is the keyboard from an Otrona Attache computer. The Otrona Attache was a luggable computer that was based on a CP/M operating system but also had an optional 8086 board so it could also run DOS. The keyboard is interesting because it's made up of Fujitsu key switches and they feel great. The k...

It's a beautiful keyboard. Do the switch tips light up? Looks like they might?

I thought you might find this interesting. It's not necessarily a keyboard but it's a very early "single board computer" or SBC that had a built in keyboard. Previous SBC's had numeric keypads and you entered data in hexidecimal or octal so you only needed 1-9 and A-F plus some other miscellaneous k...