Raytheon 6104-04

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livingspeedbump
Not what they seem

18 Jan 2017, 23:58

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This particular Raytheon has been broken down already by Haata here, but I just wanted to add a few more pictures of the one I have. Yes, these guys make missiles :twisted:

I have a few other Cortron boards (the OEM of this one), and the switches are actually quite nice. Magnetic valve/pulse (linear) switches.

I do love the retro-futuristic design of the case. The angles are very nice I think.

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Here is the more common Cortron 81 that is nearly identical in many ways.
Spoiler:
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E3E

19 Jan 2017, 00:56

I was about to ask you how you've made the damn thing float, because it looks like it's hovering in the first shot. :P

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Ail

19 Jan 2017, 01:13

I know I already commented on Reddit as well, but I just love this board. It is one of the most beautiful I've seen since jumping in to this hobby. I universally dislike yellow and all its flavors, but the gold here is just perfect. The colors, the layout, and in incredible condition to boot. Jealous of this one!

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Elrick

19 Jan 2017, 03:08

livingspeedbump wrote: This particular Raytheon has been broken down already by Haata here, but I just wanted to add a few more pictures of the one I have. Yes, these guys make missiles :twisted:
Remembered the first Apple G3 Towers all had Raytheon power circuitry and someone hinted they were offloading their older power hardware for missile guidance systems to Apple, whether it's true or not who knows 8-) .

You could literally overclock your G3 300 to 466 Mhz simply by changing the position of a few pins on the motherboard, and it worked for a few years at that target speed. Was very impressed with those early G3's.

Back to Keyboards here, really love that whole colour scheme they had done, would kill for a keyboard done in that very exact colour-way.

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Hlogooo

19 Jan 2017, 07:30

So beautiful, are they use cross bottom?

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seebart
Offtopicthority Instigator

19 Jan 2017, 11:10

Awesome livingspeedbump, I've been gazing at this Raytheon for years trying to find one. Also thanks for updating my desktop wallpaper selection. ;)

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Chyros

19 Jan 2017, 13:29

Gorgeous boards, these just look amazing to me. Noice!

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livingspeedbump
Not what they seem

19 Jan 2017, 15:34

Hlogooo wrote: So beautiful, are they use cross bottom?
No, it uses a square bottom, much like hall effect. Here is an image of them:

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The top switch in the image above is the latching caps lock switch, it is the only switch on the board different from the others.
Last edited by livingspeedbump on 19 Jan 2017, 15:59, edited 2 times in total.

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livingspeedbump
Not what they seem

19 Jan 2017, 15:34

seebart wrote: Awesome livingspeedbump, I've been gazing at this Raytheon for years trying to find one. Also thanks for updating my desktop wallpaper selection. ;)
I do really like the look of them as well! Glad you enjoyed the pics :D

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E3E

19 Jan 2017, 17:01

Ahh, the era of delicious sphericals. A lovely heyday~

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Hlogooo

19 Jan 2017, 21:41

livingspeedbump wrote:
Hlogooo wrote: So beautiful, are they use cross bottom?
No, it uses a square bottom, much like hall effect. Here is an image of them:

Image

Image

The top switch in the image above is the latching caps lock switch, it is the only switch on the board different from the others.
:D Thanks, these double-shot are so high-quality.

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Chyros

19 Jan 2017, 23:46

Hlogooo wrote:
livingspeedbump wrote:
Hlogooo wrote: So beautiful, are they use cross bottom?
No, it uses a square bottom, much like hall effect. Here is an image of them:

Image

Image

The top switch in the image above is the latching caps lock switch, it is the only switch on the board different from the others.
:D Thanks, these double-shot are so high-quality.
Everything Cortron made is high-quality ;) .

Excelso

20 Jan 2017, 22:03

I've just fallen in love with that Cortron keyboard.

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livingspeedbump
Not what they seem

21 Jan 2017, 04:12

Excelso wrote: I've just fallen in love with that Cortron keyboard.
I have a few other Cortrons, but I do think this is my favorite of the lot.

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Daniel Beardsmore

22 Jan 2017, 00:28

I notice in seebart's photo, the alternate action switch has a strange wire on it:

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This wire also appears on a switch on one of HaaTa's keyboards, without explanation. I never knew what it was for. I still don't know what it's for but maybe it serves as a visual indication of an alternate switch within this series.

Oh wait, that's actually one of HaaTa's photos too, that seebart's uploaded as his own. (The previous batch of HaaTa's photos that he uploaded were at low resolution, I noticed.)

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livingspeedbump
Not what they seem

22 Jan 2017, 17:59

Daniel Beardsmore wrote: I notice in seebart's photo, the alternate action switch has a strange wire on it:

Image

This wire also appears on a switch on one of HaaTa's keyboards, without explanation. I never knew what it was for. I still don't know what it's for but maybe it serves as a visual indication of an alternate switch within this series.

Oh wait, that's actually one of HaaTa's photos too, that seebart's uploaded as his own. (The previous batch of HaaTa's photos that he uploaded were at low resolution, I noticed.)
That switch is actually a latching Lock switch. The switch colors vary from white, grey, dark grey, black, but are otherwise identical.

I'll get some better pictures of that switch and post it later. I am desoldering one of these boards soon as well, so i can disassemble the switch and get some internal shots then.

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Daniel Beardsmore

23 Jan 2017, 01:04

livingspeedbump wrote: That switch is actually a latching Lock switch. The switch colors vary from white, grey, dark grey, black, but are otherwise identical.
<Clouseau>That is what I have been saying</Clouseau>

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seebart
Offtopicthority Instigator

23 Jan 2017, 10:19

Daniel Beardsmore wrote: I notice in seebart's photo, the alternate action switch has a strange wire on it
Yes that is HaaTa's photo and his keyboard. That's why I wrote locking switch in the description, it's also quite apparent in HaaTa's own thread Inspector Clouseau! Now if I had livingspeedbump's Raytheon 6104-04 serial I could add his images also (with wrong user upload but correct date!).

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livingspeedbump
Not what they seem

31 Jan 2017, 22:02

seebart wrote:
Daniel Beardsmore wrote: I notice in seebart's photo, the alternate action switch has a strange wire on it
Yes that is HaaTa's photo and his keyboard. That's why I wrote locking switch in the description, it's also quite apparent in HaaTa's own thread Inspector Clouseau! Now if I had livingspeedbump's Raytheon 6104-04 serial I could add his images also (with wrong user upload but correct date!).
I somehow lost the picture I had of the label! Ping Engicoder to snap a pic of it for you, he has this board right now!

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seebart
Offtopicthority Instigator

31 Jan 2017, 22:03

livingspeedbump wrote:
seebart wrote:
Daniel Beardsmore wrote: I notice in seebart's photo, the alternate action switch has a strange wire on it
Yes that is HaaTa's photo and his keyboard. That's why I wrote locking switch in the description, it's also quite apparent in HaaTa's own thread Inspector Clouseau! Now if I had livingspeedbump's Raytheon 6104-04 serial I could add his images also (with wrong user upload but correct date!).
I somehow lost the picture I had of the label! Ping Engicoder to snap a pic of it for you, he has this board right now!
No problem, thanks for the info.

mr_a500

11 Jun 2017, 13:12

Yes, Cortron/ITW switches are quite nice & smooth. The keycap plastic has a slightly cheaper feeling than other keyboards of the time though.

You can see this terminal (with yellow numeric keypad, like HaaTa's) in the movie Coma (1978):
videoshot-2017-06-11-07h59m39s352.jpg
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videoshot-2017-06-11-08h01m19s527.jpg
videoshot-2017-06-11-08h01m31s657.jpg

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Mr.Nobody

13 Jun 2017, 16:02

Can we merge the two threads into one?

I love those sharp green letters on monochrome monitor...I have not gotten a chance to get one yet.

mr_a500

14 Jun 2017, 16:51

Mr.Nobody wrote: Can we merge the two threads into one?
If not, at least one of the thread titles should be changed. They both have exactly the same title (and a similar opening photo). I was getting confused about which one was which.

I also love sharp green monochrome - especially when it has a nice font and persistent phosphors. On my Kaypro II, when you backspace a line of text, the characters fade away slowly. You can still see the faded characters for a few seconds before they completely fade out. It's pretty neat.

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zslane

14 Jun 2017, 19:04

Makes me miss my Kaypro 4...

mr_a500

14 Jun 2017, 19:37

Kaypro 4 - the one with the hard drive, right? I have a Kaypro II and "New 2".
(not the 2, 2/84 or 2X... insane Kaypro model numbers!)

Speaking of glowing screens, I'd love to have a vector terminal.
Minskytron-PDP-1-20070512.jpg

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zslane

14 Jun 2017, 20:41

No, the Kaypro 4 had two floppy drives. The one with the hard drive built in was, I believe, the Kaypro 10.

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