deskthority

There was also Ancer with a "c", which was a marketing branch of Antec, selling cases and rebranded Datacomp keyboards back in the day. No idea if that's related or not.

Nice, nice, nice! Has anyone ever found a way to unyellow the overlays? I know Mr. Tibbetts was selling repros, but not for the LED panel, and the big F-key ones were done in sections. Those feet were also available in black, on some early, metal-base keyboards from Tai Hao and others: https://deskt...

I'm late in finding this very fascinating and informative discussion, but I'm wondering if Mr. Harris has any knowledge of the Model M keyboards with blue Alps SKCM switches that pop up now and then? As far as I know it has never been confirmed whether these were a genuine IBM product, or an unautho...

$1260+shipping for 300 NOS SKCM Blue switches, fair or not? That’s a good question. The original price I saw on eBay was $960 which I thought was the current market value at $3.20/switch, but $1260 is the top end I’ve seen for blue alps switches at $4.20/switch which usually includes the keyboard. ...

zrrion wrote: ↑

25 Nov 2022, 05:31

You're not supposed to like switches because they're good, you're supposed to like them because they're cheap and/or goofy and you have a hyper fixation on them.

...or because they have a slider color that photographs well.

NOS blue Alps switches on ebay. Someone in South Korea has apparently found at least 1800 NOS blue Alps switches!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/155268029608

You can do most things with a macro even with no Windows keys. For your example, to get to explorer type Ctrl-Esc, type cmd, then type explorer. Easy to do that as a keyboard-based macro. I have only one or two keyboards with Windows keys, which I never use. Can't miss what I never had. I think I t...

You can do most things with a macro even with no Windows keys. For your example, to get to explorer type Ctrl-Esc, type cmd, then type explorer. Easy to do that as a keyboard-based macro. I have only one or two keyboards with Windows keys, which I never use. Can't miss what I never had.

Added ProXellent Alps-compatible boards to the title. While they don't have Windows buttons, it's a solid chassis with hardware-level programmability. Here's an old ebay photo of an Alps ProXellent. The <> and * in the bottom row should work as Windows keys once reassigned, as long as you can come ...

I don't think I've seen a keyboard with pine black Alps. Nice find. I have a NeXT with pine black Alps. They're clean but they feel terrible. Very inconsistent, and lots of binding. Some of them literally squeak. I had planned to buy a Drakware converter for it, but they've been out of stock for a ...

Thanks. Have you ever tried those instructions (Macro programmability) with other Focus boards? Did they work? I just tried both of the ProXellent Macro routines on the FK-2002, and as expected neither one works. I really don't know if any of the higher end Focus keyboards work differently, but tha...

I just tried both ProXellent (Alps and rubber dome versions) Macro routines on the Focus FK-2002, and as expected they do not work. Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing lost.

It's important to me to have it documented here, because sometime down the road someone will find one of these keyboards without the instructions and will want to know how to use it. Sure. Eventually I would like to take some pictures of it and maybe do a write up for wiki, for this exact reason. P...

Does it program the same way as the Alps ProXellent? I haven't had a chance to play with Alps ProXellent, but the PreMa is really straightforward to program. You press the Macro Prg key, and the Macro on light starts flashing. Then you press the key to assign the macro to, then type the macro (up t...

guidemetothelight wrote: ↑

19 Nov 2022, 11:27

Got one more:

5.jpg

4.jpg

Monterey K9 variant, with DEC layout (probably what the -D suffix stands for). Only the second one I've seen. Switches could be blue or green Alps, Mitsumi miniature, or something different.

Fingers crossed that it's something decent. Well, it has arrived, and.... https://i.pinimg.com/originals/73/28/4a/73284ace0d973df8b1339f35fdd3a3f9.png ...it has some kind of dome with sliders. Looks like Alps dome with sliders, and the keycaps are Alps-compatible, but the siders are shaped a bit di...

Ahhh, probably a serial EEPROM like the Avant then. From what I remember at the time the problem with those wasn't how long they'd hold the data, it was how many write cycles they were good for. It wasn't all that many, and it wasn't predictable. Or preventable.That wasn't solved until flash memory...

If Wikipedia is correct, the AnyKeys had EEPROMs rated for 10-year data retention but I don't know how reliable they were. Honestly, if this ProXellent ends up being a decent dome with sliders, I am not going to be disappointed, as long as it works. Ahhh, probably a serial EEPROM like the Avant the...

But the recessed back on this one suggests membrane to me. Guess we'll find out this Saturday when it arrives... I am starting to think I may have a problem with programmable boards. That AnyKey with a UK layout looks more and more tempting despite the brutal UK-US shipping costs. Fingers crossed t...

@Polecat, my Focus/Northgate friend: If I was able to take a better picture, you'd see that it looks like a light black with a bit of silver thrown in. I think it looks better than some of the flat black cases out there. I've only had about 10 to 12 OmniKeys. The really old Omnis, like the Gold Bad...

Nice! The Northgates look great in black. I like that you put the Ctrl next to A, the original position for that key before the Model M changed the world. I've always removed the LED overlays and badges by working a razor blade under the edge and carefully lifting them. They're usually stuck on with...

Thanks. Have you ever tried those instructions (Macro programmability) with other Focus boards? Did they work? The only Focus I have with a Macro key is the black one, which was an FK-2002 originally. The black case now has an FK-2001 plate and PC board, but I still have the original parts. I never...

The earlier ProXellents had Alps switches, and were related to Northgate/Avant. And those had macro programmability built in. The instructions for that were posted here a couple years back. But the recessed back on this one suggests membrane to me. There was an early one for sale here a week or two ...

What happened to imgur? Everything is appearing in giant size, as if it was rescaled for smart phones or something?

edit: nevermind, I must have left it zoomed in from a previous view. Beautiful keyboards, GLWS!

I don't know if I would call it a fully reversible mod, since it requires drilling into PCB and sanding off solder mask. But if I managed to find a black Avant Stellar, I would consider doing something like this, since a black double-shot BAE with Northgate guidepost does not exist. But for white/b...

It looks like even some Win-keyless ones had the dual wire-stabilized BAE. The ones you had, with guide post stabilizers, must have been from the very earliest ones, which were somewhat close to FK-555. Which means that if I want to get a double-shot BAE for my Avant Prime, I will have to find BAE ...

I would replace the R1 backslash with the other backslash they have (R2 or R0), and Menu key with Fn key. They won't be a perfect match because of the row, but in practice the difference is barely noticeable (I did this experiment on my Avant Prime; I will try to upload some pictures this weekend)....

But that still leaves the odd keys in the bottom row and one or two others (the original backslash and the + and = in the numpad). TaiHao's new set has all these odd bottom row keys and the split shift/backslash . The other ones, yep, they would still be a problem. Hmmm, when I looked at the new Ta...

Some or all 101P from Gen4a (with Northgate label) definitely have double-shot keycaps (well, except for up arrow and Windows/Menu keys). For left side F keys I would take these relegendable keycaps and spray paint them with black paint (doesn't have to be perfect, since the clear cover would prote...

Thank you, that's what I suspected. Switchplates probably won't matter, but the springs might. The ping is tolerable, I am slowly getting used to it, but it was strange to hear it in a complicated Alps board. I just dug it out and the remaining white switches are pingy too, so it must be the case.