Tandy 1000 Keyboard Help!!

Veggies · 15 Jan 2018, 04:04

Hey all, I have this old Tandy keyboard and cannot for the life of me figure out of what kind of plug this is. All I want to do is be able to convert it to USB or PS/2. If anyone can help me out, that would be great.

Polecat · 15 Jan 2018, 05:19

Veggies wrote: ↑Hey all, I have this old Tandy keyboard and cannot for the life of me figure out of what kind of plug this is. All I want to do is be able to convert it to USB or PS/2. If anyone can help me out, that would be great.

If you're looking for a socket to build a converter look for an 8 pin standard (not mini) DIN connector. Not common on keyboards; used by Tandy and a few Wyse terminals.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Pcs-8-Pin-Di ... SwLj9Zei1q

If you're looking for a converter already built I believe it would have to be specific to the Tandy.

OldIsNew · 16 Jan 2018, 02:39

I could not find any info on a usable converter for this board so I ended up going the Teensy route to get mine working:

keyboards-f2/tandy-1000-keyboard-t17994.html

Does anyone know if a converter has been written?

rich1051414 · 16 Jan 2018, 15:19

I don't know of any, but if all else fails, you can tap into the matrix itself. Lots of projects out there if you go that route.

ohaimark · 16 Jan 2018, 15:21

Yeah. Pretty sure you'll need to tap the matrix.

codemonkeymike · 16 Jan 2018, 16:33

Have you tried posting on atariage.com ? I think someone there would know

Findecanor · 16 Jan 2018, 18:36

On LGR on Youtube yesterday: Tandy 1000 PC + CM-11 Monitor! Unboxing & Setup, Clint said "I believe this is a proprietary Tandy connector that also worked on the TRS-80s".
I don't know if that is true, but it could be a lead.

If it does use the XT or AT protocol (PS/2 is the same as AT) then there should be four leads, plus maybe a shield.
You might be able to figure out from the circuit board layout which leads are +5V and GND. Then you would have 50% chance of getting the two data cables right.