Yaesu YK-901 Ascii Keyboard - "ALPSaver"

User avatar
JP!

22 Jul 2019, 19:52

Finally an ALPSaver of my very own. I was very lucky to find it randomly on the Yahoo! Japan Auctions site. It has buttery smooth Alps SKCC cream switches.
1.JPG
1.JPG (584.43 KiB) Viewed 3926 times
Flickr Album

This one is fairly unique with it's industrial gray case and extra circuitry designed for use with a radio transceiver. The keyboard supports two modes: CW (Continuous Wave) and RTTY (Radio Teletype).

Image

I was even able to find the manual for this keyboard: YK-901 Manual

The teardown:
Spoiler:
1a.JPG
1a.JPG (1.51 MiB) Viewed 3926 times
1b.JPG
1b.JPG (1.08 MiB) Viewed 3926 times
1c.JPG
1c.JPG (304.63 KiB) Viewed 3926 times
1d.JPG
1d.JPG (522.12 KiB) Viewed 3926 times
2.JPG
2.JPG (589.92 KiB) Viewed 3926 times
3.JPG
3.JPG (1.01 MiB) Viewed 3926 times
4.JPG
4.JPG (204.08 KiB) Viewed 3926 times
4a.jpg
4a.jpg (89.25 KiB) Viewed 3926 times
5.JPG
5.JPG (168.07 KiB) Viewed 3926 times
6.JPG
6.JPG (189.33 KiB) Viewed 3926 times
7.JPG
7.JPG (308.93 KiB) Viewed 3926 times
Other known variants:
Spoiler:
The Jeol SM-FKB401
viewtopic.php?f=62&t=21276
Image

ALPS AKB-3320
viewtopic.php?f=62&t=20312
Image

Alps AKB-3420
viewtopic.php?t=12200
Image

User avatar
Muirium
µ

22 Jul 2019, 20:32

Alpsavers are indeed tres boss. The Kishsaver of the east! And I’ve got to say that picture of radio gear with one in action is way nerdier than the mundane bank jobs the ‘lil IBMs were made for.

Are these guys converted yet? Or are they at the same tantalising stage the 4704 was at when I got my paws on mine?

User avatar
JP!

22 Jul 2019, 20:43

Muirium wrote:
22 Jul 2019, 20:32
The Kishsaver of the east!
:lol: I hadn't heard that one before.

Well zrrion converted his but I don't know the details and my board looks a bit different so I'll have to dig into things.

Slom

22 Jul 2019, 20:43

snuci has a manual, might help with conversion
http://vintagecomputer.ca/wp-content/up ... Manual.pdf

User avatar
zrrion

22 Jul 2019, 22:34

Mine wasn't converted it was hand wired (I damaged the PCB like a dunce, making conversion impossible)

Post Reply

Return to “Gallery”