Search found 206 matches

by micmil
26 Mar 2021, 20:02
Forum: Keyboards
Topic: Identify The Dome
Replies: 9
Views: 1655

Re: Identify The Dome

The picture of an SK-2100W in this thread suggests to me that is uses Fujitsu rubber dome with Alps slider . How would those compare to the BTC dome with sliders? I got a mystery board with Fujitsu d/s the other day and it feels pretty terrible. Proving once again the BTC is the One True Dome with ...
by micmil
26 Mar 2021, 17:41
Forum: Workshop
Topic: MX Blacks...
Replies: 26
Views: 3585

Re: MX Blacks...

Cherry nerds one of those IKEA wear testing machines. I've seen people using a massage therapy gun on individual switches, and then there's a guy doing this: So you're really just giving them ideas! I'm thinking it would be faster to just pull the stems and polish them individually if you were that...
by micmil
25 Mar 2021, 23:45
Forum: Gallery
Topic: BTC 5140 ISO model
Replies: 8
Views: 3235

Re: BTC 5140 ISO model

So sub-$20 at current exchange rate. :D If it's anything like a 5130 I'd take that all day.
by micmil
24 Mar 2021, 23:41
Forum: Keyboards
Topic: Unicomp Mini M / New Model M Tenkeyless
Replies: 45
Views: 7997

Re: Unicomp Mini M / New Model M Tenkeyless

This is bizarre, I was actually looking at the Mini M's last night and I decided I might get one in future. For me, I'd rather wait until I can get my hands on one with ISO layout. What I would like to know is how the quality compares with the NEW Model M? I've heard about their renewal of tooling ...
by micmil
24 Mar 2021, 04:27
Forum: Workshop
Topic: MX Blacks...
Replies: 26
Views: 3585

Re: MX Blacks...

Yes, "breaking in" is real. It's better described as "intentional premature wear" when it's applied to things like speakers, jeans, guitars (yes, this is real), baseball gloves, etc. The comparison to breaking in an engine is pure idiocy and kind of indicative of why I don't bother with that place a...
by micmil
23 Mar 2021, 20:40
Forum: Workshop
Topic: Utterly stupid rubber dome replacement experiment - BTC 5100C
Replies: 9
Views: 2112

Re: Utterly stupid rubber dome replacement experiment - BTC 5100C

ddrfraser1 wrote:
23 Mar 2021, 02:27
So much for so little
This should be the actual header for the site. :lol:

"I internally modded this incredibly obscure 1970's terminal keyboard to play the Tetris music as I type!"

Wait, that sounds awesome. BRB...
by micmil
23 Mar 2021, 17:55
Forum: Keyboards
Topic: How long does it take you to get to know a keyboard?
Replies: 20
Views: 3642

Re: How long does it take you to get to know a keyboard?

For most... a few seconds. Anything that's relatively normal is no issue. Even the Redragon 60% I picked up a couple of months ago didn't have anywhere near the learning curve I thought there would be. I credit this to the absolutely amazing and perfect muscle memory that decades of playing guitar h...
by micmil
22 Mar 2021, 17:18
Forum: Workshop
Topic: Utterly stupid rubber dome replacement experiment - BTC 5100C
Replies: 9
Views: 2112

Re: Utterly stupid rubber dome replacement experiment - BTC 5100C

Neat. I’m surprised there’s such a difference in the domes! I knew it would make a difference but I didn't expect as much. It really brings into sharp focus the fact that crappy rubber domes are a choice, not a byproduct of rubber domes being rubber domes. If you converted this to USB, the keys cou...
by micmil
22 Mar 2021, 04:11
Forum: Gallery
Topic: BTC 5140 ISO model
Replies: 8
Views: 3235

Re: BTC 5140 ISO model

One of these days the hipsters with their precious mechanical keyboards will see the Light of the One True Dome with Slider shine upon them. Until that time I'm content knowing that these things are way better than they typically get credit for. :D Ouch. It should be inexpensive, especially if it do...
by micmil
21 Mar 2021, 20:09
Forum: Workshop
Topic: Utterly stupid rubber dome replacement experiment - BTC 5100C
Replies: 9
Views: 2112

Utterly stupid rubber dome replacement experiment - BTC 5100C

I love the BTC/Packard Bell 5130. It was the first keyboard I used for any real length of time, being packed in with the first computer my family owned. So it's kind of my baseline for keyboards. Things are either better or worse than it. Why the hell is this spacebar so squeaky on this New Model M....
by micmil
21 Mar 2021, 05:14
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Worst Keyboard?
Replies: 15
Views: 10530

Re: Worst Keyboard?

And we finally get a keyboard three posts in. The first two don't count. You can't have a keyboard without keys. *taps head* I have no idea what the worst one I've used was. Not make and model, at any rate. In the late 90's a relative of mine bought and sold used computer hardware so I had my hands ...
by micmil
21 Mar 2021, 00:40
Forum: Deskthority wiki talk
Topic: Soarer's page updates
Replies: 4
Views: 10364

Re: Soarer's page updates

Instead of completeness, I’d prioritise some quick how tos. A lot of people are just fine with a Soarer running no config at all, simply default keymap. Tell them how and just tease the good stuff at the end, when they want it. Another common use is to do some very simple remapping, especially mods...
by micmil
20 Mar 2021, 21:35
Forum: Deskthority wiki talk
Topic: Soarer's page updates
Replies: 4
Views: 10364

Soarer's page updates

The Soarer's Converter page on the wiki is woefully inadequate for something that's so intrinsic to the frippery around here, so I'm rewiring it. I don't mind adding a few things here and there but for a massive rewrite (or, given the current state of the page, WRITE) like this I want to get communi...
by micmil
20 Mar 2021, 15:43
Forum: Workshop
Topic: MX Blacks...
Replies: 26
Views: 3585

Re: MX Blacks...

"It's so scratchy!" Then use it until it isn't. Physics wins again. I tried a board with newer (2017?) MX browns vs a 2002 Kinesis vs a couple boards with 1996-1997 browns. I can't tell them apart in use, if anything the newest ones were the best, I'm about 90% sure vintage browns are a meme spread ...
by micmil
20 Mar 2021, 15:32
Forum: Keyboards
Topic: Why are you into keyboards?
Replies: 42
Views: 6265

Re: Why are you into keyboards?

I'm a fan of the marriage of form and function and every way it presents itself via daily utility. A keyboard is a tool. It has one use. It makes a letter appear on a screen. That's it. Yet look at the variety of ways of doing so. Right now I'm typing on a BOX Jade equipped 60%. For work I use a Top...
by micmil
19 Mar 2021, 17:31
Forum: Gallery
Topic: I think I discovered a MicroSwitch Microswitch predecessor from the early 60s
Replies: 14
Views: 3587

Re: I think I discovered a MicroSwitch Microswitch predecessor from the early 60s

Seems like some sort of industrial control. I don't think telephone operations would require something this murder-weapony. Everything about this indicates you do NOT want those things to come unlatched on accident.

Then again it could be a laundromat coin return for all I know.
by micmil
18 Mar 2021, 18:15
Forum: Keyboards
Topic: What are your keyboard projects for 2021?
Replies: 68
Views: 13849

Re: What are your keyboard projects for 2021?

- Dye my M122 case. - Sort out the C3 Maestro protocol and get a converter set up that will allow me to become the Macro King of the Universe. - Get the Soarer's documents into the wiki, then work towards better documenting certain features. - Figure out why the frick a Packard Bell 5130 doesn't wor...
by micmil
18 Mar 2021, 18:12
Forum: Keyboards
Topic: To Topre Enthusiasts
Replies: 26
Views: 7908

Re: To Topre Enthusiasts

I'm coming at this from the other direction... I have no Topre experience but a TON of rubber dome experience including Topre clone (ABKO K935P). The ABKO has quickly become one of my favorite keyboards ever. The only ones I rate higher are my New Model M... and my BTC dome with slider boards. The r...
by micmil
16 Mar 2021, 23:24
Forum: Workshop
Topic: What is this?
Replies: 5
Views: 1418

Re: What is this?

You know those bulgy roundy things near the end of a lot of power cables? Same thing. If you ever have a piece of gear that is a bit noisy you can get clamp-on beads that can help reduce that. Maybe. There's no guarantee it's the right kind of noise.
by micmil
14 Mar 2021, 20:23
Forum: Workshop
Topic: Teensy Coding (M122 key mapping)
Replies: 23
Views: 3272

Re: Teensy Coding (M122 key mapping)

I'm getting jack done this weekend. It's gone quagmire around here. I'm gonna go brick wall my forehead for a while. :lol:
by micmil
13 Mar 2021, 03:29
Forum: Workshop
Topic: MACRO Macro Pad (C3 Maestro)
Replies: 24
Views: 5234

Re: MACRO Macro Pad (C3 Maestro)

Mine arrived yesterday. I figured it wouldn't be trash but I was not expecting it to be as substantial as it is.

I hadn't realized that the larger keys actually use multiple switches... do we know if both switches send signal, or if one's just an empty?
by micmil
11 Mar 2021, 21:32
Forum: Keyboards
Topic: Blinking lights on KB using PS/2 adapter
Replies: 33
Views: 5401

Re: Blinking lights on KB using PS/2 adapter

Last time I tried Linux, Ubuntu was new and hip and very, very brown. Breezy Badger! I couldn’t resist a name like that! So no I’m not a Linux fan either. But burn a live cd and dodge all that guff about putting things on your hard drive. It sounds like these are basic built in tools which need no ...
by micmil
11 Mar 2021, 19:17
Forum: Workshop
Topic: Teensy Coding (M122 key mapping)
Replies: 23
Views: 3272

Re: Teensy Coding (M122 key mapping)

That's a good call. It would be pretty easy to do that. I could get the info basically moved over verbatim over the weekend then work through breaking it down into different pages for the different aspects.
by micmil
11 Mar 2021, 19:12
Forum: Keyboards
Topic: Blinking lights on KB using PS/2 adapter
Replies: 33
Views: 5401

Re: Blinking lights on KB using PS/2 adapter

In that case one would think you could at least install it ;) If you can find a solid reason for why Linux Mint cannot find space to install itself on either the nearly 2 TB of NTFS it could reformat or the 150GB of free unformatted space I partitioned specifically for it, I and the apparently hund...
by micmil
11 Mar 2021, 05:41
Forum: Keyboards
Topic: Blinking lights on KB using PS/2 adapter
Replies: 33
Views: 5401

Re: Blinking lights on KB using PS/2 adapter

Got the VM running, neither xxd nor dmesg produced any useful output with the 5130. I tried evtest as well and nothing. Plugged the PCXAL in... works perfectly. What kind of frickery is this? We've established that two different 5130's exhibit the same behavior across multiple operating systems whil...
by micmil
11 Mar 2021, 04:31
Forum: Workshop
Topic: Teensy Coding (M122 key mapping)
Replies: 23
Views: 3272

Re: Teensy Coding (M122 key mapping)

"Don't one-up-troll after my one-up-troll!" :roll: Anyway, back to the actual off-topic, so we at least agree the documentation is weak and that a GUI tool would be ideal. Hooray. I can help on the documentation (who would have guessed I have a knack for dumbing things down?) once I feel I'm up to s...
by micmil
11 Mar 2021, 01:22
Forum: Workshop
Topic: Teensy Coding (M122 key mapping)
Replies: 23
Views: 3272

Re: Teensy Coding (M122 key mapping)

Words of true ignorance right there. 👍👍👍 Don't confuse "text-only screen" with "command line interface". Because, of course, anyone with a different opinion from yours is "ignorant." It's not decades of experience coming to a different conclusion, ever. Sure, but that kind of thinking applies to th...
by micmil
10 Mar 2021, 21:27
Forum: Workshop
Topic: Teensy Coding (M122 key mapping)
Replies: 23
Views: 3272

Re: Teensy Coding (M122 key mapping)

Actually, look at Soarer’s key code list and you’ll see it’s all there. The 122s are just doing their thing. Wacky as it is. The F122s did it all before them, remember. I know, I'm just riffing on the oddball mapping compared to what we would mentally expect today. I can't tell you how many times I...
by micmil
10 Mar 2021, 19:15
Forum: Workshop
Topic: Teensy Coding (M122 key mapping)
Replies: 23
Views: 3272

Re: Teensy Coding (M122 key mapping)

I really do wonder what was up when the M122 configuration was decided on. The entire numpad is a trainwreck. I can imagine how it went after months of developing the hardware and other layouts Soarer gets to that thing and just goes "Nah, if they want this behemoth they can deal with it themselves....
by micmil
10 Mar 2021, 19:00
Forum: Deskthority wiki talk
Topic: Honeywell keyboards
Replies: 2
Views: 8833

Re: Honeywell keyboards

I'll have some pics of this one up later tonight. Just what little digging I've been able to do has been interesting. It doesn't seem like Honeywell was making much under their own name at that point, although I have seen a Honeywell branded RX from the same timeframe as my PCXAL.

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