KB-101A/TK
Posted: 04 Nov 2018, 22:25
Tektronix KB-101A/TK
In my time with this hobby I’d consider myself pretty damn lucky overall. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of this hobby for me is countless messages between sellers across multiple auction sites, lots of researching serial & part numbers, bugging tons of people on GH/reddit/DT for things I’ve been looking for, forming awesome friendships with people on those sites that know I’m looking for stuff and let me know when they find it; so I have definitely put in the time to find a lot of what I have. However, some of the really nice things I have I just have to toss up to dumb luck. Things like both of the Ti boards that I’ve found ( photos-videos-f64/gainsborough-s-wild-t ... 19112.html ), a Packard Bell keyboard with SKCL browns, a few obscure alps boards with various switch types, and then this board:
And although I didn’t trade a keyboard I found at the recycling center that I picked up for pocket change for my NIB KB-101A (lookin’ at you, Chyros) I definitely feel like I lucked out price-wise as well.
The Story---------------------------
I was finishing my normal destruction of souls on Super Smash Bros. for Wii U late one night when I decided to check eBay real quick before going to bed. I have a basic “vintage keyboard” search favorited so all I’m always just one click away from seeing the most current listings for that category – it makes checking eBay very quick! Upon clicking it, at the top of the list was a “Key Tronic KB101” listing – but I had never seen this exact board before. I’ve had a Key Tronic KB101 before, but it was foam and foil that looked quite different than the one in the listing; in fact, the one in the listing kinda looked like an acer kb-101A. I started getting really excited and clicked on the listing to look through the pictures and my mind was made up: this was a rebranded acer kb-101A.
I remember the only person awake on telegram that night was subcat (b/c Australia time) and I showed him out of excitement what I bought, but then we both started to wonder if maybe it was a foam and foil board in a KB-101A chassis – after all, neither of us had ever seen this color/brand on an acer board before. I messaged the seller and asked if the board clicked when he/she pressed keys down, but the reply I got was “through the plastic bag it’s hard to tell.” I debated on whether to cancel the order or not but in the end, obviously, decided to roll the dice.
I definitely made the right call.
The Board---------------------------
The caps it originally came with are the same caps as the KB-101A in Chyros’ famous video, which I LOVE the font for (particularly for 7), but not the caps themselves. Pad printed thin ABS >_< so the first thing I wanted to do was get a good set of caps on the board, plus I wanted to take some awesome pics of the board without it’s caps! Before that, though, I got some pics of the ‘tek’ board together with my acer branded kb-101AS.
Then I decided to replace the caps. But then things started to get a little strange…
They weren’t SKCM blue… they were SKCM urine!
Jokes aside, I have never seen a blue alps board with this level of color discrepancy on its sliders. I actually wonder if it has something to do with the caps. I took a profile pic of one of the sliders so you can see that it’s really the top part of the slider that’s discolored.
It’s very strange indeed, especially considering that I had to break the plastic bag seal that the board came in, so I know for sure it had never been used before nor exposed to any UV rays. I honestly can’t explain it, and if anyone has any insight I would love to hear it – my leading theory right now is that heat somehow discolored them.
Aside from slider color, though, the board feels just like my NIB nisemono model M – so the switches, while oddly discolored, are definitely NOS.
I tried a myriad of cap possibilities, but I didn’t take pics of any of them until I reached something I liked. I ended up with a PBT wang 725 set together with most of the native thin-ABS alpha-block mods that originally came on the board. I quite like how it turned out! I think the wang 725 caps – particularly the F row – look really good with the grey chassis.
This board is definitely a favorite of mine and I’ve had fun writing this review on it! In fact, I like this board so much, I recently sold my kb-101AS to a reddit user that I know will take good care of it. Even though that AS was my very first blue alps board ( photos-f62/f-ing-blue-alps-man-acer-kb- ... 16151.html ) I couldn’t justify keeping it around in the wake of acquiring this NIB one. It will definitely be missed and I am forever greatful for that first acer. Its memory will be lived on in the “leaf80” custom I bought using the money from the acer sale.
With that said, in the famous words of Chyros: “Thanks for [reading], I hope you enjoyed it, and following is a typing demonstration of me typing on this keyboard.”
またね。
//gains.
In my time with this hobby I’d consider myself pretty damn lucky overall. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of this hobby for me is countless messages between sellers across multiple auction sites, lots of researching serial & part numbers, bugging tons of people on GH/reddit/DT for things I’ve been looking for, forming awesome friendships with people on those sites that know I’m looking for stuff and let me know when they find it; so I have definitely put in the time to find a lot of what I have. However, some of the really nice things I have I just have to toss up to dumb luck. Things like both of the Ti boards that I’ve found ( photos-videos-f64/gainsborough-s-wild-t ... 19112.html ), a Packard Bell keyboard with SKCL browns, a few obscure alps boards with various switch types, and then this board:
And although I didn’t trade a keyboard I found at the recycling center that I picked up for pocket change for my NIB KB-101A (lookin’ at you, Chyros) I definitely feel like I lucked out price-wise as well.
The Story---------------------------
I was finishing my normal destruction of souls on Super Smash Bros. for Wii U late one night when I decided to check eBay real quick before going to bed. I have a basic “vintage keyboard” search favorited so all I’m always just one click away from seeing the most current listings for that category – it makes checking eBay very quick! Upon clicking it, at the top of the list was a “Key Tronic KB101” listing – but I had never seen this exact board before. I’ve had a Key Tronic KB101 before, but it was foam and foil that looked quite different than the one in the listing; in fact, the one in the listing kinda looked like an acer kb-101A. I started getting really excited and clicked on the listing to look through the pictures and my mind was made up: this was a rebranded acer kb-101A.
I remember the only person awake on telegram that night was subcat (b/c Australia time) and I showed him out of excitement what I bought, but then we both started to wonder if maybe it was a foam and foil board in a KB-101A chassis – after all, neither of us had ever seen this color/brand on an acer board before. I messaged the seller and asked if the board clicked when he/she pressed keys down, but the reply I got was “through the plastic bag it’s hard to tell.” I debated on whether to cancel the order or not but in the end, obviously, decided to roll the dice.
I definitely made the right call.
The Board---------------------------
The caps it originally came with are the same caps as the KB-101A in Chyros’ famous video, which I LOVE the font for (particularly for 7), but not the caps themselves. Pad printed thin ABS >_< so the first thing I wanted to do was get a good set of caps on the board, plus I wanted to take some awesome pics of the board without it’s caps! Before that, though, I got some pics of the ‘tek’ board together with my acer branded kb-101AS.
Then I decided to replace the caps. But then things started to get a little strange…
They weren’t SKCM blue… they were SKCM urine!
Jokes aside, I have never seen a blue alps board with this level of color discrepancy on its sliders. I actually wonder if it has something to do with the caps. I took a profile pic of one of the sliders so you can see that it’s really the top part of the slider that’s discolored.
It’s very strange indeed, especially considering that I had to break the plastic bag seal that the board came in, so I know for sure it had never been used before nor exposed to any UV rays. I honestly can’t explain it, and if anyone has any insight I would love to hear it – my leading theory right now is that heat somehow discolored them.
Aside from slider color, though, the board feels just like my NIB nisemono model M – so the switches, while oddly discolored, are definitely NOS.
I tried a myriad of cap possibilities, but I didn’t take pics of any of them until I reached something I liked. I ended up with a PBT wang 725 set together with most of the native thin-ABS alpha-block mods that originally came on the board. I quite like how it turned out! I think the wang 725 caps – particularly the F row – look really good with the grey chassis.
This board is definitely a favorite of mine and I’ve had fun writing this review on it! In fact, I like this board so much, I recently sold my kb-101AS to a reddit user that I know will take good care of it. Even though that AS was my very first blue alps board ( photos-f62/f-ing-blue-alps-man-acer-kb- ... 16151.html ) I couldn’t justify keeping it around in the wake of acquiring this NIB one. It will definitely be missed and I am forever greatful for that first acer. Its memory will be lived on in the “leaf80” custom I bought using the money from the acer sale.
With that said, in the famous words of Chyros: “Thanks for [reading], I hope you enjoyed it, and following is a typing demonstration of me typing on this keyboard.”
またね。
//gains.