Olivetti ANK 2463 / Olivetti Personal Computer Keyboard 1

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seebart
Offtopicthority Instigator

22 Dec 2016, 16:36

This keyboard was shipped with the Olivetti Personal Computer M24 introduced in 1983. Later revisions of the M24 came with a different keyboard. As you can see the layout is very similair to the Model F IBM 5150 Personal Computer.
Olivetti ANK 2463 front.JPG
Olivetti ANK 2463 front.JPG (961.01 KiB) Viewed 37783 times
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivetti_M24
The system was sold in the United States under its original name by Docutel/Olivetti of Dallas.AT&T and Xerox bought rights to rebadge the system as the AT&T PC 6300 and the Xerox 6060 series, respectively. AT&T owned 25% of Olivetti around this time. The AT&T 6300, launched in June 1984, was AT&T's first attempt to compete in the PC compatible market.
I really like that light blue almost turquoise printing on these keycaps. Like the Model F XT this keyboard has a lot of stepped keycaps with LED cutouts in this case.
Olivetti ANK 2463 detail2.JPG
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Olivetti ANK 2463 detail1.JPG
Olivetti ANK 2463 detail1.JPG (918.73 KiB) Viewed 37783 times
Next to the ANK 25-102 the ANK 2463 is slightly more compact just like an XT keyboard usually.
Olivetti ANK 2463 ANK 25-102.JPG
Olivetti ANK 2463 ANK 25-102.JPG (972.5 KiB) Viewed 37783 times
This keyboard consists of five parts; Top and bottom case, metal plate with switch housings, PCB and a smaller metal plate covering only the area for the plastic standoffs.
Olivetti ANK 2463 parts.JPG
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Olivetti ANK 2463 PCB.JPG
Olivetti ANK 2463 PCB.JPG (968.94 KiB) Viewed 37783 times
Olivetti ANK 2463 PCB detail.JPG
Olivetti ANK 2463 PCB detail.JPG (974.02 KiB) Viewed 37783 times
Note it reads " /19 IBM 27349" on a small sticker on the metal plate.
Olivetti ANK 2463 IBM sticker.JPG
Olivetti ANK 2463 IBM sticker.JPG (975.3 KiB) Viewed 37783 times
The spacebar is massive at 10 units stabilized by a bar and two additional springs.
Olivetti ANK 2463 spacebar.JPG
Olivetti ANK 2463 spacebar.JPG (917.03 KiB) Viewed 37783 times
This keyboard is from 1986, according to wikipedia the M24 was discontinued in 1987.
Olivetti ANK 2463 case date2.JPG
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Olivetti ANK 2463 serial.JPG
Olivetti ANK 2463 serial.JPG (947.71 KiB) Viewed 37783 times
This keyboard uses the plate mounted tactile Olivetti dome with slider switch, the switch is a discrete unit that is held in the coutouts on the plate by a tiny snap-in mechanism. Very servicable like Nixdorf magnetic switches.
Olivetti ANK 2463 caps switches.jpg
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Olivetti ANK 2463 caps switches4.jpg
Olivetti ANK 2463 caps switches4.jpg (902.55 KiB) Viewed 37783 times
The switch consists of housing, slider, spring, insert and rubber mat that fits over the bottom part of the switch housing.
AT&T and Xerox also used this switch in some of their keyboards. I'm not sure if the color of the slider has any meaning, I have only seen white ones and these red ones. Some of the sliders on this keyboard have a paler lighter almost pink color, but all the switches feel the same. You can read more about the Olivetti dome with slider switch here:

wiki/Olivetti_dome_with_slider
Olivetti ANK 2463 switch detail.JPG
Olivetti ANK 2463 switch detail.JPG (860.18 KiB) Viewed 37783 times
The color of the printing is one of my favorite ever:
Olivetti ANK 2463 keycaps.jpg
Olivetti ANK 2463 keycaps.jpg (940.49 KiB) Viewed 37783 times
Olivetti ANK 2463 keycaps back.jpg
Olivetti ANK 2463 keycaps back.jpg (879.81 KiB) Viewed 37783 times
Friendly and compatible... ;)
pubbl. cane.jpg
pubbl. cane.jpg (74.5 KiB) Viewed 37783 times

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Wodan
ISO Advocate

22 Dec 2016, 16:37

seebart wrote: Friendly and compatible... ;)
pubbl. cane.jpg
Once again amazing performance, but where the HELL do you come up with these ads ...

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seebart
Offtopicthority Instigator

22 Dec 2016, 16:48

Wodan wrote:
seebart wrote: Friendly and compatible... ;)
The attachment pubbl. cane.jpg is no longer available
Once again amazing performance, but where the HELL do you come up with these ads ...
It seems threre are quite a few Olivetti fans out there:

http://www.storiaolivetti.it/percorso.a ... rcorso=608

http://www.olivettim24.hadesnet.org/m24.html

Sooo friendly those two furry little ones... :lol:
friendly.jpg
friendly.jpg (183.84 KiB) Viewed 37766 times

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Wodan
ISO Advocate

22 Dec 2016, 17:51

Oh wow they knew about the magic powers of cats before the internet!

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ideus

22 Dec 2016, 19:47

I suppose the white balance is off in the key caps close up pictures, they have a blue tint, while the keyboard one looks beige, or with white towards green or yellow. I wonder what is the actual color of the key caps, they look great. I am typing on XT ANSI vintage Cherry keys that came from a keyboard with MX switches that had a similar layout, but in ANSI style.

Image

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seebart
Offtopicthority Instigator

22 Dec 2016, 21:05

ideus wrote: I suppose the white balance is off in the key caps close up pictures, they have a blue tint, while the keyboard one looks beige, or with white towards green or yellow. I wonder what is the actual color of the key caps, they look great. I am typing on XT ANSI vintage Cherry keys that came from a keyboard with MX switches that had a similar layout, but in ANSI style.
Very good observation! I shot the closeup of the pulled keycaps with my phone and the actual keyboard shots with my DSLR, if you ask me both color balances are off. In real life the keycaps are a very light grey with the printing even more vivid blue / turquoise than on the picutes. Sorry about that.

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ideus

22 Dec 2016, 23:33

Oh no worries. I just want to understand the colors in these nice key caps. There is an upcoming GB for an Olivetti set that I should reconsider joining.

terrycherry

23 Dec 2016, 05:31

Great photo shot. My friend suppose to free it to me. Any idea make it to the modern pc?

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seebart
Offtopicthority Instigator

23 Dec 2016, 12:53

terrycherry wrote: Great photo shot. My friend suppose to free it to me. Any idea make it to the modern pc?
I do not know, great thing there is quite a bit of Olivetti M24 information online including this 291 page Olivetti manual including detailed technical information on the keyboards:

http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttga ... _Nov84.pdf

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ideus

23 Dec 2016, 18:23

There is very interesting information in the pdf.

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seebart
Offtopicthority Instigator

23 Dec 2016, 18:59

Yes, basically everything one would need including scan codes and all the electronic specifications. The way I understood it though Olivetti did not use a standard XT protocol for their M24 series correct me if I'm wrong.

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snuci
Vintage computer guy

23 Dec 2016, 22:27

We used to have Olivetti M24's at school but they were not as colourful as this. Love the look of that keyboard! The computer is already on my "want" list.

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002
Topre Enthusiast

24 Dec 2016, 01:33

They look fantastic but I was so disappointed with the feel of these switches -- particularly the binding effect when not hitting them square on point. What do you think of them, seebart?

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seebart
Offtopicthority Instigator

24 Dec 2016, 10:23

002 wrote: They look fantastic but I was so disappointed with the feel of these switches -- particularly the binding effect when not hitting them square on point. What do you think of them, seebart?
Yes that pretty much sums it up, I cleaned the individual parts of one switch completely, no difference really. It's the design of the mechanism itself IMO. If you hit the switch dead on it's OK really but still somewhat "dull". That's why this keyboard is not really worth any effort towards conversion . It's all looks, although the follow up model is even more impressive if you ask me, I'll add mine to our wiki tonight.

photos-f62/olivetti-personal-computer-k ... t7210.html

photos-f62/olivetti-keyboard-2-rubberdome-t4783.html

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002
Topre Enthusiast

24 Dec 2016, 12:41

That one that matt3o kindly proxied was mine :)
While they do look cool with their coloured Alt and Ctrl keys, they are doubleshot ABS and actually yellowed quite a bit and they seem quite brittle and chalky, so I think the example you have is better for the keycaps in general -- being dyesub and all.

It's kinda funny that Olivetti's cheaper and lower-tech followup to this switch was so much nicer to use, and still had fantastic keycaps to boot.

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seebart
Offtopicthority Instigator

24 Dec 2016, 12:55

Yes the keycaps on mine are real nice, no yellowing whatsoever. The switch is interesting from a technical point of view but the feel is quite undesirable. As so often with these oldies it's an elaborate construction that fails in practical terms. My ANK 25-102 feels snappy smooth compared to this.

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bronz

28 Nov 2018, 11:02

Nice looking.

How much this keyboard worth ?

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seebart
Offtopicthority Instigator

28 Nov 2018, 13:27

bronz wrote: Nice looking.

How much this keyboard worth ?
As usual with these oldies that's relative. There are people that are willing to spend quite a bit on something like this. On the other hand you may get lucky and pick one up for cheap.

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bronz

28 Nov 2018, 13:46

seebart wrote:
bronz wrote: Nice looking.

How much this keyboard worth ?
As usual with these oldies that's relative. There are people that are willing to spend quite a bit on something like this. On the other hand you may get lucky and pick one up for cheap.
I looked on Ebay and Amazon and can't find any of this keyboards

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seebart
Offtopicthority Instigator

28 Nov 2018, 13:58

bronz wrote:
seebart wrote:
bronz wrote: Nice looking.

How much this keyboard worth ?
As usual with these oldies that's relative. There are people that are willing to spend quite a bit on something like this. On the other hand you may get lucky and pick one up for cheap.
I looked on Ebay and Amazon and can't find any of this keyboards
Of course not, it's old and somewhat rare. Have patience. :ugeek:

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lucar

28 Nov 2018, 21:14

bronz wrote:
seebart wrote:
bronz wrote: Nice looking.

How much this keyboard worth ?
As usual with these oldies that's relative. There are people that are willing to spend quite a bit on something like this. On the other hand you may get lucky and pick one up for cheap.
I looked on Ebay and Amazon and can't find any of this keyboards
Here is a ready made query to search for one in the italian kraighlist.
The search query is for "olivetti keyboard"

https://www.subito.it/annunci-italia/ve ... &qso=false

Luca

User avatar
bronz

29 Nov 2018, 10:24

Grazie Luca ;)

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