Random keyboards, lovingly photographed

[Nuum]

Some quick (and not quite lovingly photographed) shots of the NIB Cherry G80-0441, that was in the Great/Interesting Finds-Thread a while ago. It has 80cN Cherry MX White switches which are clicky but don't have the cam clicky switches normally have. The seller said, his father got it directly from a worker at Cherry. It came without a housing. Here is an example with a similar keyboard with a casing.

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[photekq]

Ah, crap, I knew I had forgotten to bid on something..

Very nice keyboard, and you got it for a great price.

[Madhias]

The Space bar could be even longer when ALT and CAPS LOCK would not be that large

[seebart]

The Space bar could be even longer when ALT and CAPS LOCK would not be that large

it seems about as long as the spacebar on my NEC APC-H4124D

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[Daniel Beardsmore]

It has 80cN Cherry MX White switches which are clicky but don't have the cam clicky switches normally have. The seller said, his father got it directly from a worker at Cherry.

Interesting. Looking at the chips, the date codes are from 1983 and 1984, so this goes right back to when MX was introduced. (The big chip appears to be from 1980!)

There's plenty of whispering about early Cherry switches, e.g. all varieties had clear sliders, but no-one's so far actually posted any evidence of anything. In your case we'd need to actually see the insides of one of those switches and a photo showing the two-part slider with cam absent as proof. The wiki page on white (with type A, B and modern) is long overdue some proper evidence, and we need to determine conclusively whether the MX1A-E1xx (i.e. "blue") switches started out without pigmentation.

The impression I get is that actual MX White switches contain white pigmentation, because the plastics used by sliders are inherently translucent ("clear"), not white:

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If you look at other brands, the sliders are typically translucent; MX White is unusual in having something added to the plastic mix to make it opaque. Old "white" MX switches were not, as I understand it, pigmented white.

[Nuum]

I'm not sure if I like the idea of desoldering a switch from such a rare keyboard especially since it is NIB, but I'll have a think about that. Maybe I can justify it as being for science.
One thing I forgot to mention: it doesn't really click, the click is really dull as it is common with white switches, as I understand. In fact you can't even really hear a click, it's just a bit rattly.
I also got another clear "white" switch from an old Triumph Adler typewriter here, which has a cam and a much more pronounced click (although not as loud and sharp as on a MX Blue, I think), but this one isn't mounted on a plate or PCB, it is just a loose switch. This one has a black click collar.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

The fact that we have three "MX white" switches on the same wiki page under the same name is just silly. I've lost interest to the extent that I can't even remember the outcome of the last discussion on whether Type B whites are just blues.

The one with a black click collar, that's another 80 cN switch, right?

[Nuum]

I just tested it by pressing it against other switches I have around.
It activates, when a MX Brown (modern) bottoms out. It activates directly after the tactile bump of a MX Clear (Skidata). It activates about half way through a MX Black (not vintage). I activates and bottoms out before it reaches the tactile bump of a MX tactile Grey (Skidata).
Sorry, but I don't have a better method of testing right now, I can test it with coins tomorrow.

[Josh]

My favorite
Always

[IvanIvanovich]

Nice score on that 0441 Nuum. No need to dismantle that lovely rare collectable! I have an IRMAkey terminal 122 board with those switches on it's way to me that I will be disassembling to use the switches elsewhere so I can take photos of the switch internals once they are out.

[turkish]

Not half as interesting as these vintage boards, but this is my slowly growing flock:

Ducky Shine 3


Vortex F-104 that I've recently plastidipped and thrown some new caps onto

[photekq]

Really lovely photos Turkish.

[Madhias]

I really like the first one, turkish! Great lightning, and the colors pop out nicely.

[seebart]

Uhh I like that Vortex F-104! Nice color scheme!

[Compgeke]

Darn cats.

[turkish]

Thanks for being so welcoming

[Madhias]

I tested some different switch combinations, various spring and slider combos. Therefor i use a SkiData keyboard, which i harvest for MX Clears (and also its keycaps). Because of the form factor i did not want to use the keyboard itself. Here is a heavy 120g spring, from the recent sprit1 group buy.

[Compgeke]

Apple Extended Keyboard Logo.

[ماء]

Darn cats.

cats annoying in my home

[seebart]

nice to see fellow apple keyboard users here, this is my favorite apple keyboard:

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[Khers]

An Apple Adjustable, nice! And no yellowing either!

[ماء]

apple adjustable looks good nice mod to sym sgg would be great

[Muirium]

I've got one too. The switches aren't anything to write home about though.

[Madhias]

The capacitive plate (what's the correct term by the way?) of my Model F AT keyboard:

[Muirium]

"Sense card" in IBM speak, from what I've heard. Good and sensible, although without that circular flare of Topre:

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If only we had daylight up here this time of year.

[Madhias]

I do love Topre PCBs with the circles! Someday i will must get a Topre board.
Already hunting for a 87U 55g.

If only we had daylight up here this time of year.

Maybe in 6 months?

[002]

The SE18T0 (55g 87U) isn't too hard to find...if you want a good deal on one though, that's a different story
I wonder is there is any functional reason for the white rings on Topre PCBs...they never used to have them:

[Muirium]

One good thing about the white rings: they make it instantly obvious which side of the PCB faces upwards. Useful during assembly. It makes me think of factory workers placing the springs on them, instead of dropping the springs upside down into the rubber sheet like I do when reassembling. But in that case, the circles should be embossed to actually hold the slippery springs still! They are not. Guess it is just a visual marker then. Pretty though.

The circular pad shapes are still visible on the underside:



These new style controllers are minuscule. And the production NovaTouch doesn't even have LEDs to give the game away.

[seebart]

Cherry G80-0530 (Commodore PC-5/PC-10 keyboard):

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[Muirium]

HELLgrau?