Got a boxed BTC 5139
Posted: 27 Nov 2021, 17:44
Guys, I just got a boxed BTC 5139 with a User's Guide leaflet and all. It's not brand new and wasn't particularly clean, but because only 5 or 6 keycaps show any signs of wear, I think it wasn't used for typing. It's likely it was utilised to control some kind of a process and judging by the black dust, I found inside, and no yellowing, I would guess it might have been in a mine or a coke plant of some sort.
Anyway, the board is in very good condition and after I gave it a good bath, I could check those BTC dome with slider switches, I heard so much about. And I must say Chyros was right: they are very good, for a rubber dome solution. Very tactile and snappy, not too mushy and you don't have to bottom out to register a keystroke. Although, with such a strong tactile bump, you can't really avoid it.
If anyone is interested, here is a picture and some specifications from the User's Guide:
Production date: June 1997
Total travel: 3.5+/-0.5 mm
Pretravel: 1.0+/-0.5 mm
Operating Life: 20 million cycles
Tactile force: 60+/-20 g
Anyway, the board is in very good condition and after I gave it a good bath, I could check those BTC dome with slider switches, I heard so much about. And I must say Chyros was right: they are very good, for a rubber dome solution. Very tactile and snappy, not too mushy and you don't have to bottom out to register a keystroke. Although, with such a strong tactile bump, you can't really avoid it.
If anyone is interested, here is a picture and some specifications from the User's Guide:
Production date: June 1997
Total travel: 3.5+/-0.5 mm
Pretravel: 1.0+/-0.5 mm
Operating Life: 20 million cycles
Tactile force: 60+/-20 g