Yet another pair of (sort of?) interesting boards that I wanted to share. Apologies for the terrible photos, the lighting was very bad.
The first is a TTI TA-10C. This board is an AT clone identical to the
SKB-5150C, except that it's not. It has
Key World clones like the SKB-5150C, and has the same case, but the PCB has the TTI logo, and TA-10C branding, like the the
TTI TA-14, but the PCB and is virtually identical to that of the
Tai Hao TH-5150, and very different to the SKB-5150C PCB on the wiki. The 'TA-10C' lettering on the PCB, especially the 'C' is very similar to the '5150CAT' lettering on the Tai Hao board as well. The board is well built, with a metal bottom panel and brass screw inserts in the plastic case.
- TTI Top.jpg (3.02 MiB) Viewed 824 times
- TTI PCB 2.jpg (3.08 MiB) Viewed 824 times
Further, some of the switches are not Key World, but completely unbranded MX black clones. I'm not sure how well these photos will show it, but the unbranded switches have very shiny housings and sharp edges compared to the other switches. The shells are very subtly different on pretty much every surface, and it appears they are based on entirely different moulds. Even the springs are different. Some of the unbranded switches have mould numbering on the LED recess, and others do not. Both clones are pretty scratchy when loose, although some feel very smooth, and when typing on them, I cannot really feel the difference between these and the MX blacks in the Cleveland board. The Key World switches have some mould defects, such as unreadable branding and holes in the top switch housing.
- Key World Switches 3.jpg (537.04 KiB) Viewed 824 times
The spacebar uses a white switch which is incredibly heavy and makes it difficult to actually type on the board. The big ass enter key uses a Cherry style vertical stabiliser, and a white dummy switch with a very light spring for the horizontal. I have not seen a MX style board with a dummy switch before.
- SKB PCB Top.jpg (3.13 MiB) Viewed 824 times
The caps are very good, and have not yellowed like the case. They are thick doubleshots (except for pad numpad enter and print screen), with molding that I have not seen before. They are thicker than they appear, as the black layer on the inside is much thicker than on Cherry caps, and the actual thickness is easier to see looking at the single shot pad printed cap.
- Cleveland TTI Caps.jpg (3.11 MiB) Viewed 824 times
The 2nd board is an XT clone with Cleveland branding. Cleveland was a local computer distributor, mostly of XT to 386 clones. This board is pretty standard, with MX blacks and nice doubleshot keycaps. I cannot tell the difference between these and Cherry caps, and it's possible that they are the real deal. Unfortunately the case is extremely yellowed, and is brittle and cracked in a couple of places.The PCB silk screen identifies it as KB-5150-1, with a date of '10/4'85'. As per the silk screen, the board as diodes, so NRKO.I am not sure what the N.N/S/W silk screening means. The most interesting thing about this board is the 'CH S/N' serial number sticker on the bottom, which I have only seen on Chicony boards. Is this a Chicony? The model number follows the Chicony style, but I've not seen an Chicony XT boards before, or Chicony boards with keycaps of this quality.
- Cleveland Top.jpg (1.69 MiB) Viewed 824 times
- Cleveland Top Label 3.jpg (2.68 MiB) Viewed 824 times
