Televideo 950 (Futaba MD)
- ScottPaladin
- Location: Texas, United States
- Main keyboard: Can't pick a favorite
- Favorite switch: Fujistu Leaf Spring
- DT Pro Member: -
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This came in the mail after a very late night impulse buy.
Futaba MD switches with some slick spherical doubleshots. I thought these might fit on my pingmaster, (word on the street it's a fit, but very tight) But I'm out of luck.
I love that they put the main controller in a socket.
There're also a lot of unpopulated spots on the PCB; wonder what the story is there.
Since I can't use the caps, I'm not sure what I'm gonna do with this. I feel confident that I could do a full conversion and restoration, but I'm pretty unhappy with the MDs,
Futaba MD switches with some slick spherical doubleshots. I thought these might fit on my pingmaster, (word on the street it's a fit, but very tight) But I'm out of luck.
I love that they put the main controller in a socket.
There're also a lot of unpopulated spots on the PCB; wonder what the story is there.
Since I can't use the caps, I'm not sure what I'm gonna do with this. I feel confident that I could do a full conversion and restoration, but I'm pretty unhappy with the MDs,
- seebart
- Offtopicthority Instigator
- Location: Germany
- Main keyboard: Rotation
- Main mouse: Steelseries Sensei
- Favorite switch: IBM capacitive buckling spring
- DT Pro Member: 0061
- Contact:
One again you have good taste in vintage keyboards ScottPaladin !
- zslane
- Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
- Main keyboard: RealForce RGB
- Main mouse: Basic Microsoft USB mouse
- Favorite switch: Topre
- DT Pro Member: -
I used to use one of these--it actually belonged to a friend/roommate of mine from high school/college--back in the day, and I recall it had a relatively short key travel. It was noticeably shorter than the key travel of the CDC-713 I was used to.
- pyrelink
- Location: USA
- Main keyboard: HHKB 2
- Main mouse: CST L-Trac
- Favorite switch: Capacitive Buckling Spring
- DT Pro Member: -
Nice board Scott. While Futaba Complicated Linears are pretty far from a favorite switch of mine, I don't totally detest them
Besides the case yellowing, it looks like it was a very well maintained specimen. Nice pickup!
Besides the case yellowing, it looks like it was a very well maintained specimen. Nice pickup!
- ScottPaladin
- Location: Texas, United States
- Main keyboard: Can't pick a favorite
- Favorite switch: Fujistu Leaf Spring
- DT Pro Member: -
- Contact:
"Short, stiff, and scratchy" is how I'd describe them. Definitely not my favorite combination of attributes in a switch. I'm sort of curious if they would be improved with some lubricant, but I think that would require desoldering the lot of them. The layout is a bit charming, and I'm a sucker for spherical caps with weird legends.zslane wrote: ↑I used to use one of these--it actually belonged to a friend/roommate of mine from high school/college--back in the day, and I recall it had a relatively short key travel. It was noticeably shorter than the key travel of the CDC-713 I was used to.
Yeah, pretty seriously yellowed and it's actually pretty dirty. I pulled some dust bunnies out of the case that were big as a bullfrog and probably old enough to vote. And there's some gunk on the "BREAK" keycap. Other than that, though, it's good. I think I'm gonna mull this one over while I work on some other projects. At the very worst, I'll spend some time on the wall.pyrelink wrote: ↑Nice board Scott. While Futaba Complicated Linears are pretty far from a favorite switch of mine, I don't totally detest them
Besides the case yellowing, it looks like it was a very well maintained specimen. Nice pickup!
- Sangdrax
- Location: Hill Country
- Main keyboard: Harris 1978 Terminal
- Main mouse: Mammoth
- DT Pro Member: -
Seemed to me from fiddling with my Futaba board that they are pretty sensitive to dust like alps and similar things. You really can't lube the lighter ones either because they won't return right. New ones are smooth. But you're other observations are pretty similar to what I've seen. Key activation is very short, then the force ramps up like crazy so you hardly every get the full travel and bottom out. It's very strange but you get used to it after a few days.
It's less than $30 to replace all the switches on that with NOS ones though, so I'd sure consider it if you decide to restore it or convert it down the road. It's got nice keycaps and a usable layout so that's a big plus when it comes to old terminal stuff. Cool board, all told.
It's less than $30 to replace all the switches on that with NOS ones though, so I'd sure consider it if you decide to restore it or convert it down the road. It's got nice keycaps and a usable layout so that's a big plus when it comes to old terminal stuff. Cool board, all told.
- ScottPaladin
- Location: Texas, United States
- Main keyboard: Can't pick a favorite
- Favorite switch: Fujistu Leaf Spring
- DT Pro Member: -
- Contact:
Finding some NOS switches briefly occurred to me, but I had done any digging yet. Are we talking taobao?Sangdrax wrote: ↑It's less than $30 to replace all the switches on that with NOS ones though, so I'd sure consider it if you decide to restore it or convert it down the road.F.
- Sangdrax
- Location: Hill Country
- Main keyboard: Harris 1978 Terminal
- Main mouse: Mammoth
- DT Pro Member: -
https://www.electronicsurplus.com/futab ... kage-of-20
$3 for 20. Shipping is kinda high, but I got 120 NOS shipped for like $27 total. Imagine if they used USPS first class instead of flat rate boxes. You could redo a whole board for like $20 shipped.
$3 for 20. Shipping is kinda high, but I got 120 NOS shipped for like $27 total. Imagine if they used USPS first class instead of flat rate boxes. You could redo a whole board for like $20 shipped.
- ScottPaladin
- Location: Texas, United States
- Main keyboard: Can't pick a favorite
- Favorite switch: Fujistu Leaf Spring
- DT Pro Member: -
- Contact:
In for a penny, in for a pound. Ordered (found a couple of old school DPDT swithces for my Heathkit project too). Thanks, Sangdrax.
- ScottPaladin
- Location: Texas, United States
- Main keyboard: Can't pick a favorite
- Favorite switch: Fujistu Leaf Spring
- DT Pro Member: -
- Contact:
So I'm watching Wargames, as one does, and what do I see?
This is the only shot, but I feel a rather confident. The TeleVideo isn't as cool as Lightman's IMSAI, and there are a ton of Memorexes at NORAD. Still, now I just can't part with it.
This is the only shot, but I feel a rather confident. The TeleVideo isn't as cool as Lightman's IMSAI, and there are a ton of Memorexes at NORAD. Still, now I just can't part with it.
- seebart
- Offtopicthority Instigator
- Location: Germany
- Main keyboard: Rotation
- Main mouse: Steelseries Sensei
- Favorite switch: IBM capacitive buckling spring
- DT Pro Member: 0061
- Contact:
You remind me of a previous member that used to post movie related posts...