Rescuing keyboard puppies from the pound

[snacksthecat]

Hi Guys,
Cindy sent me on an adventure to an metals/electronics recycling center in my area (Chicago).

Long story short;

• it was a lot of fun
• it was exhausting
• luckily it wasn't hot today
• everyone was very nice and accomodating
• I know I promised at least five people kishsavers/unsavers but unfortunately that just didn't pan out

Right now I have a big pile of keyboards sitting in the middle of my living room. Before I pass out for the day, I wanted to get this thread up with some pictures of what I found. In total I picked 39 pieces (all keyboards and one mouse thingy that caught my eye).

Spoiler alert: there's nothing crazy-awesome in here but definitely a lot of pretty cool stuff. I was surprised at the amount of space invader boards that kept popping up (I love the linear space invaders). Also, yes, I accidentally picked two domers.

You guys have some good eyes and much more knowledge of keyboards than I do so I'm just going to dump the pictures here. Feel free to identify something in the thread and I'll edit the post with details. If you have any questions or would like a better picture of something (switch, keycap, etc.), I'm more than happy to oblige.



#1 G80-11900 (Cherry MX Black)

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#2 Acme KB-108 (Clicky Alps clones)

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#3 IBM Model M, Industrial (Buckling spring)

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#4 Wyse WY60 ASCII

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#5

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#6

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#7 Acme KB-108 (Clicky Alps clones)

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#8

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#9 Unknown Hall-Effect keyboard

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#10 Wyse WY60 ASCII

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#11

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#12 Apple Keyboard II (Mitsumi)

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#13 NBM PC122 (clicky black Space Invaders)

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#14 Unknown Typewriter (Buckling springs)

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#15 IBM Model M (Buckling springs)

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#16 Unknown Typewriter (Buckling springs)

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#17 NBM PC122 (clicky black Space Invaders)

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#18

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#19 Televideo 990? (linear white Space Invaders)

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#20 Razer BlackWidow (Cherry MX blue)

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#21 RT101 (clicky black Space Invaders)

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#22 Televideo 990? (linear white Space Invaders)

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#23 IBM Model M 122 key (Buckling springs)

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#24 IBM Model M (Buckling springs)

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#25 WASD CODE Keyboard (Cherry MX clear)

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#26

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#27 Unicomp Model M, GE/Marquette branded (Buckling springs)

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#28

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#29 Unknown Typewriter (Buckling springs)

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#30 Qume ??? (vintage Cherry MX black)

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#31 NTC KB-6251

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#32 Wyse WY60 ASCII (vintage Cherry MX Black)

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#33 NMB PC122 (clicky black Space Invaders)

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#34 NMB PC122 (clicky black Space Invaders)

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#35 NMB PC122 (clicky black Space Invaders)

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#36 Apple Extended Keyboard II (Alps SKCM White Dampened)

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#37 Dell AT101 (Alps SKCM Black)

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#38 Yada, yada, yada (SMK Blue / Monterey)

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#39 Spaceball (large rubber ball)

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Finally, thank you Cindy for getting me out of the house

[depletedvespene]

I know I promised at least five people kishsavers/unsavers but unfortunately that just didn't pan out

Yeah, right. Kidsh theshe daysh don't know to keep their promishesh...


That said, cool findings! That gray M alone makes it all worth it.

[Engicoder]

Very nice. I have never seen so many 122 key space invaders boards in one place before! Would definitely be interested if you are willing to let any of them go.

[JP!]

One of us! One of us! That's a good start I must say. Cindy pulled through for sure. I love the Space Invader battleships with the different colored switches.

[Bass]

I agree, I'd love to find myself an Industrial Gray Model M someday. Going out on these treasure hunts is really one of the most fun aspects of this hobby, IMO.

[green-squid]

Holy guacamole! Awesome! I really want that Marqette M oh my!!!

[mcmaxmcmc]

Damn. Just damn. Good haul.

[Slom]

that is great

number 9 for President cutest doggo of them all

That is one looooooong edge connector

[andrewjoy]

Number 2 is awesome i love it!

[Dingster]

>nothing crazy-awesome

[ScottPaladin]

Wow, well done for saving those.

[Darkshado]

Cool finds!

Wonder is there's anything wrong with that WASD Code (number 25) besides the missing Escape key... It's a recent keyboard that could have been repaired. Worst case it's a good chassis for a custom.

[Tha_Pig]

Nice harvest.

[snacksthecat]

Cool finds!

Wonder is there's anything wrong with that WASD Code (number 25) besides the missing Escape key... It's a recent keyboard that could have been repaired. Worst case it's a good chassis for a custom.

Just tested it and everything works great. Cleaned up real nicely as well!

[XMIT]

Just found this. I'm so glad someone finally got a look at Cindy's Chicago hookup! Great finds!

[justcallmecrash]

#1 is definitely a G80-11900
Great board, too bad about the trackpad, but you can saw off the numpad and have a pretty neat 80%-ish board. There was a how-to on GH for a while, not sure if it's still there, though.
At the very least, you have a nice set of Vintage Blacks there.

[justcallmecrash]

I think #9 is a hall-effect board, judging by the 4 in-line solder points on each switch. I bet it has some SICK caps on it (likely super thick).

[Blaise170]

#2: Acme KB-108

[Darkshado]

# 31 NTC KB-6251

[snacksthecat]

Going to start offloading these pretty soon (the girlfriend says don't even think about doing another recycling center until my apartment is cleared out ).

I plan on cleaning these up and converting them to usb then posting most on DT. But let me know if you want a dirty/pre-converted one and maybe I can set you up.

[justcallmecrash]

Any chance the caps on that hall-effect board are MX compatible? If so, I'd like to call dibs on that one!

Edit: nevermind, I see they are not. Still gorgeous caps.

[snacksthecat]

Fixed up a couple of the boards so far:

Clicky Space Invader PC122 "battleship" (w/ internal Soarer's converter)

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WASD Code

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Cherry G80-8113

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[fohat]

Clicky Space Invader PC122 "battleship"

That's a particularly nice one, don't you think? I wish it could be converted to ANSI layout.

[snacksthecat]

We're cleaning all the keepers at once. It's gonna be yuge.

[DatOtherJosh]

I'm also around the Chicago Area! I have found like 20 AEK IIs and a few Wyse Vintage blacks with a few other random boards at a place but that's pretty much it. Tried to contact most other recycling places and gets mostly no responses.

[seebart]

Impressive work ! Nice.

[snacksthecat]

Conversion Immersion starts today!



Edit: errrrrr I should say "continues"; a lot of the boards are done already

[snacksthecat]

Alrighty! After much elbow grease, everything has been thoroughly cleaned up and converted to USB (except some of the obscure stuff that I'm not sure what to do with).

Most things are tucked away safely in storage and I'm going to start selling it off in chunks. I've already listed a few items but if something catches your eye, feel free to shoot me a pm as I do intend to sell most items (if not all).

Ready for the next adventure!