[GB] DCS Wyse Compatibility 2020 - extended & final week

autoload -Uz

10 May 2020, 16:57

Image DCS Wyse Compatibility 2020
Don't throw out those vintage Wyse keycaps!

Buy this adapter kit and use them on a modern keyboard instead!

Available worldwide, April 1 - April 30 May 16

Brought to you by Salt Rock Lamp and Luffy

(Somehow I never posted my GB thread here :roll: Now that it's been extended for one more week, maybe someone here will see it and join :lol:)
Background

After a long interest check with a few twists and turns, it's finally here! In the time-honored Geekhack/Deskthority/KBDLab tradition now spanning a decade, I am proud to present the DCS Wyse Compatibility Kit 2020.

In the early 1990s, Wyse Technology made computer terminals with extremely handsome keyboards. These boards featured DCS-profile doubleshot ABS keycaps made by Comptec, the predecessor to Signature Plastics. While DCS remains available to this day, the old gray-and-blue Wyse colorscheme is uniquely beautiful and classy. Unfortunately, these old keyboards featured layouts that today are considered bizarre and nonstandard, and you typically can't use their keycaps on a modern keyboard. With so many of these boards being harvested for ultra-smooth vintage Cherry MX switches, there are hundreds of these beautiful keysets sitting in bags and boxes around the world. The purpose of this group buy is to put those old keycaps to good use, adorning the high-end custom keyboards we have all come to love.

This is not the first Wyse compatibility group buy, but I want to make it the biggest and most accessible yet. With our international proxies, anybody anywhere in the world should be able to get access to these keycaps. And with modular kit design, basic compatibility should remain affordable while making advanced legend compatibility available to those who want it.

This set will be manufactured by Signature Plastics, in their DCS profile, made from ABS plastic with doubleshot legends.

Where to buy

Orders are now open for the Americas and South Korea! Proxy links will be announced when they are available. Prices and MOQs
  • PC Enhanced: $35.50 @ 75 MOQ
  • ASCII[/td][td]$29.00 @ 50 MOQ
  • Numpad / 1800: $17.00 @ 25 MOQ
  • Small Form Factor: $29.50 @ 25 MOQ
  • Blue Accent: $11.50 @ 25 MOQ
Note that proxy prices are subject to variation due to local taxes and exchange rates.

Kits
Image

The Shift and Menu icons will be standard SP legends, as shown here:

Image

The PC Enhanced kit is to use caps from a Wyse PC Enhanced (aka PCE) keyboard.

The ASCII kit is enough to use caps from an ASCII layout keyboard, such as the WY60. It also works on the ubiquitous DEC-layout "Gate Array" keyboards. You will usually need to buy both the PCE and ASCII kits.

ASCII and Gate Array keycaps have text-only modifier legends in a nonstandard top-left position, while the PC Enhanced keycaps have text+icon modifiers in standard center-left position. Signature Plastics DCS legends are positioned center-left, so I am choosing legends to match the PC Enhanced design. The ASCII and Gate Array modifiers will still look good with this kit, but it won't be a perfect 1:1 match.

Colors
This set uses Signature Plastics stock ABS colors. My starting point will be the colors used on the DT wiki, but I will do color sampling before I approve production:
  • Dark gray: GTD
  • Light gray: GSX
  • Blue legends: BBI
  • Yellow legends: YY
Image

Several color schemes were used on these keyboards under different brand names. This keyset is designed to match the standard blue-and-gray Wyse color scheme. But it should also look good alongside any other neutral-colored DCS keycaps.

Note that ASCII-layout keycaps tend to be in worse condition (i.e. more yellow) than others. It is typically easy to restore them by ultrasonic cleaning followed by "retrobrighting" (see here for more information).

Thanks for reading!!
Last edited by autoload -Uz on 12 May 2020, 21:03, edited 2 times in total.

autoload -Uz

10 May 2020, 17:05

Also, might as well post a condensed version of my most recent updates:

Update on order totals - we are close to MOQ on base kits, and we have reached MOQ on child kits!!

Note that we do not yet have numbers from proxies. The numbers below only reflect North America and Korea orders
  • PCE: 45
  • ASCII: 31
  • Numpad: 16
  • SFF: 21
  • Blue: 32
PCE and ASCII are a little far from MOQ still, but with proxies hopefully we will get closer. I will also start discussing with proxies what a buyout to MOQ will look like. I really really really want this set to get made! Now is your last chance to help make history, at least before you're stuck buying at extras pricing :D

If we do manage to make MOQ, I have the following complementary projects in the works:
  • A minimalist deskmat evoking the Wyse colors and logo
  • Fun die-cut stickers with a sexy female character, also evoking the Wyse colors and logo :oops:
  • A separate GB for OG DCS Windows keys (2-4 keys < $20), as seen here
  • A separate GB for a small ISO kit (2-4 keys < $20), ideally run with a UK or EU proxy

andrewjoy

16 Jun 2020, 09:39

Do you have a europe ordering link ?

Post Reply

Return to “Group buys”