The Ultimate Alps Switch Tester + More!

[Mattr567]

I have been brewing this one for a while, but I finally completed it The worlds most complete Alps switch tester?

[Mattr567]

Listed are:

SKCL Green, Yellow, Striped Amber, Amber, Cream, Brown. SKCM Amber, Blue, White, Orange, Salmon, Black, Brown, Green, Cream, Cream Dampended, White Dampended. Matias Clicky, Quiet and Linear.

Others:
Amber and White Omron B3G-S, SMK Monterey, TaiHao Aruz, Acer Alps, SKCL Brown Lock, Mitsumi Bluebar, and RAFI RS.

[webwit]

But which one do you think is the BEST?

And how many keyboards did you mutilate for this?

[Mattr567]

But which one do you think is the BEST?

And how many keyboards did you mutilate for this?

Hah. A decent amt of keyboards were harmed in the making of this you could say The sources for the switches are a mix of boards I bought and individual switches I got from other members through trades. I'm not crazy enough to buy a whole board just for 1 switch, that's just silly

This took about 1.5 years to complete.

Alps wise my favorites are:

SKCM Blue
SKCL Striped Amber
SKCM Cream (non damp)

[y11971alex]

But which one do you think is the BEST?

And how many keyboards did you mutilate for this?

Hah. A decent amt of keyboards were harmed in the making of this you could say The sources for the switches are a mix of boards I bought and individual switches I got from other members through trades. I'm not crazy enough to buy a whole board just for 1 switch, that's just silly

This took about 1.5 years to complete.

Alps wise my favorites are:

SKCM Blue
SKCL Striped Amber
SKCM Cream (non damp)

He may have pulled the switch from under the "Pause" key, which is largely deprecated under any modern GUI OS.

[Elrick]

I have been brewing this one for a while, but I finally completed it The worlds most complete Alps switch tester?

RESPECT, you deserve it .

You now have taken over the mantle as the Number ONE Alps switch fanatic, here on this forum.

[E3E]

[Mattr567]

He may have pulled the switch from under the "Pause" key, which is largely deprecated under any modern GUI OS.

Didn't do that much. Either I desoldered the entire board (for other projects or something) or mostly I traded with other members. I did do that for SKCM Cream since I love my NeXT.

I have been brewing this one for a while, but I finally completed it The worlds most complete Alps switch tester?

RESPECT, you deserve it .

You now have taken over the mantle as the Number ONE Alps switch fanatic, here on this forum.

Thanks man!

Rekt! /s

Totally my sig now

[PollandAkuma]

Dude, that's AMAZING. Well done!

Now I have a question: which is the best alps linear in your opinion? And are Matias linears any good? I rarely heard of people with them

[E3E]

He'll say Striped Amber. :b

I'd say SKCL Brown and Striped Amber.

SKCL Green is a very solid choice, though some might find it too light. 50g bottom out.

SKCL Yellow isn't very popular, but it is a good switch.

I have never tried Matias myself.

- I'm sure Mattr will chime in, but here's my list:

SKCL Brown - 70g

SKCL Cream - 70g

SKCL Green - 50g

SKCL LED Green - 67.5g

SKCL Yellow - 60g

SKCL Striped Amber - 55g

SKC[L] Blue - 55g (Blue Alps with click leaf removed)

SKCL Grey - 80g

SKCL Space Bar Green - 80g

SKCL Amber - ~90g

All bottom-out weights.

[Scarpia]

Beautiful tester -- and you beat me to it, you bastard! What is that keypad you've used? I want one to build my own tester.

Also, STRIPED AMBER!!!??! I am so jealous.

[Mattr567]

My favorite is indeed SKCL Striped Amber, and I like SKCL Brown also. However that doesn't mean SKCL Green isn't bad by any means. It's still a great switch, I just like those more Plus it's much more commonly found.

Matias linear is ok, I personally don't like them since there also dampened.

Beautiful tester -- and you beat me to it, you bastard! What is that keypad you've used? I want one to build my own tester.

Also, STRIPED AMBER!!!??! I am so jealous.

Got a bag full of them It's a new switch that hasn't been documented yet. E3E and I are the only ones who posses any amt of them at all right now.

[PollandAkuma]

He'll say Striped Amber. :b

I'd say SKCL Brown and Striped Amber.

SKCL Green is a very solid choice, though some might find it too light. 50g bottom out.

SKCL Yellow isn't very popular, but it is a good switch.

I have never tried Matias myself.

- I'm sure Mattr will chime in, but here's my list:

SKCL Brown - 70g

SKCL Cream - 70g

SKCL Green - 50g

SKCL LED Green - 67.5g

SKCL Yellow - 60g

SKCL Striped Amber - 55g

SKC[L] Blue - 55g (Blue Alps with click leaf removed)

SKCL Grey - 80g

SKCL Space Bar Green - 80g

SKCL Amber - ~90g

All bottom-out weights.

Wow, thanks for the reply! I'm still new to the world of alps. I guess SKCLs are really hard to find From my quick search I can't even find info on Striped Ambers

[PollandAkuma]

My favorite is indeed SKCL Striped Amber, and I like SKCL Brown also. However that doesn't mean SKCL Green isn't bad by any means. It's still a great switch, I just like those more Plus it's much more commonly found.

Matias linear is ok, I personally don't like them since there also dampened.

Beautiful tester -- and you beat me to it, you bastard! What is that keypad you've used? I want one to build my own tester.

Also, STRIPED AMBER!!!??! I am so jealous.

Got a bag full of them It's a new switch that hasn't been documented yet. E3E and I are the only ones who posses any amt of them at all right now.

Paint me striped orange with jealousy Maybe you can do a special reveal of it for Halloween? Which board did you get them from anyways?

[Chyros]

Wow, thanks for the reply! I'm still new to the world of alps. I guess SKCLs are really hard to find From my quick search I can't even find info on Striped Ambers

The striped amber SKCL ones might be, but SKCLs in general really aren't - you can even make SKCL switches out of SKCM switches by taking out the tactile/click leaves .

[Mattr567]

Yea, SKCL Green are fairly common, you can find them mostly in old Zenith's and in some of the older Sharp typewriters. And again they are still really awesome

E3E and I got them from Tandem 6526 terminal keyboards, which are pretty rare on their own. They normally come with SKCL Brown but two examples (1 owned by me and the other by E3E) have been found with these new switches.

[ohaimark]

When I had both of those Tandem 'boards I noticed the lipstick but wasn't interested in documenting the switches. I'm glad there's so much interest in them now.

[Mattr567]

When I had both of those Tandem 'boards I noticed the lipstick but wasn't interested in documenting the switches. I'm glad there's so much interest in them now.

Lol yea, I really like them.

Also where's that Model M family shot?

[ohaimark]

It's on the way. I'm running the DTAs this year, writing a grant, maintaining a computer club room, and prepping something for Secret Santa. Cleaning up my Lexmark M13 is on the list, but it ain't at the top!

[Menuhin]

Why don't you put all of them on a single board? Or perhaps even solder them so you can plot all their force curve.

[PollandAkuma]

It does look like someone put lipstick on the Ambers! Maybe it's a Halloween costume...

I am actually looking out for AT101s

[Phenix]

congrats, that's stunning!
Reminds me that I need to check ALPS out someday, never found an good deal for any kind of ALPS board

[Ratfink]

congrats, that's stunning!
Reminds me that I need to check ALPS out someday, never found an good deal for any kind of ALPS board

Really? Try looking in second-hand shops. I've found two Alps boards for $1 each that way.

Also try looking in old relatives' basements. You might get lucky like I did and find blue Alps.

Spoiler:

Not that I even really care for blue Alps...

[Phenix]

second hand shop: I tried some time ago, not that awesome. Mainly focused in clothes in Germany.

Already talked to my relatives, got an HAD from one. So far nothing with ALPS..
Anyway thanks for the suggestions

[fohat]

second hand shop: I tried some time ago, not that awesome. Mainly focused in clothes in Germany.

Merchandise churns constantly. I have had jobs that required considerable around-town driving, and the ideal situation is when you can bop into a shop, take a walking tour at a brisk pace, and walk out 2 minutes later without buying anything - 90% of the time.

For me, there have been treasures scored on the 20th visit to a store that I scanned once a month for 2 years without finding anything at all, then Woo-Hoo!

Going to *one* 2nd-hand store *one* time is almost certain to be a disappointment.

[Mattr567]

A Zenith 163-73 became a recent acquisition for another project and as a result I got the final switch I needed. SKCL Grey. Now fully complete!

All the linears:

[Scarpia]

Beautiful tester -- and you beat me to it, you bastard! What is that keypad you've used? I want one to build my own tester.

Nevermind, found it: http://www.ebay.com/itm/PS2-High-Qualit ... 2248186170

Though from the looks of it, you went to the trouble of making a custom plate for it -- nice!

[Chyros]

You should include pine black and pine neon green!

[Mattr567]

Beautiful tester -- and you beat me to it, you bastard! What is that keypad you've used? I want one to build my own tester.

Nevermind, found it: http://www.ebay.com/itm/PS2-High-Qualit ... 2248186170

Though from the looks of it, you went to the trouble of making a custom plate for it -- nice!

I didn't actually. I would like to at some point however since it is fairly thin and it would be more representative of a real keyboard.

You should include pine black and pine neon green!

Don't have any unfortunately. Should have asked you for them when we traded a while back lol.

[Scarpia]

So that's the original plate? That means there should be a version with 20 1u keys then, but I've only seen them with 16 and two 2u keys. Now I need to find the other version, hmm...

Edit: found it! Ordering one now...

http://m.ebay.com/itm/High-Quality-20A- ... 2253943797