The restoration of an old IBM keyboard - is it worth it?

[Jimmeh]

I just scored a free keyboard made by IBM in 1984.
I am complete newbie when it comes to old keyboards like this and i want to make it work with USB.
Is it possible to just do this or is it completely impossible to make it work with modern-day hardware?
I can take pictures of the innards if it is necessary.

[fossala]

You would need a new controller that is an XT controller and incomatable with PCs. There is a something in the wiki on GH to make one out of a teensy.

[Jimmeh]

You would need a new controller that is an XT controller and incomatable with PCs. There is a something in the wiki on GH to make one out of a teensy.

I think i could do that, i have an understanding of electronics and soldering in general.
But then again is it really worth buying a teensy just to restore a keyboard that isn't even guaranteed to work?
Thanks for the quick answer though

[mintberryminuscrunch]

http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title=Island:17458

[nathanscribe]

Free? Nice. I've been reading up on the Teensy stuff lately as I have a 122-key to mod at some point. Looks fairly manageable - if you do anything to it, keep us posted.

[Jimmeh]

Yep, i got it from a pc-repair shop when i asked if they had any old IBM stuff, i found a pretty interesting link where a guy tried to make an XT-keyboard interface with an arduino here

[grasshopper]

You would need a new controller that is an XT controller and incomatable with PCs. There is a something in the wiki on GH to make one out of a teensy.

I think i could do that, i have an understanding of electronics and soldering in general.
But then again is it really worth buying a teensy just to restore a keyboard that isn't even guaranteed to work?
Thanks for the quick answer though

I'd say it's definitely worth it. Model Fs are quite hard to get hold of these days, especially in the UK. If the keyboard turns out to be broken beyond repair then you could still use the teensy for something else. For example key remapping.

[Jimmeh]

You would need a new controller that is an XT controller and incomatable with PCs. There is a something in the wiki on GH to make one out of a teensy.

I think i could do that, i have an understanding of electronics and soldering in general.
But then again is it really worth buying a teensy just to restore a keyboard that isn't even guaranteed to work?
Thanks for the quick answer though

I'd say it's definitely worth it. Model Fs are quite hard to get hold of these days, especially in the UK. If the keyboard turns out to be broken beyond repair then you could still use the teensy for something else. For example key remapping.

Yep, i have come to the same conclusion.
There's one problem though, i don't really know which cable is which, because the connector has been snapped out, i mean red stands for VCC +5V and black for ground, but which of the two is data and which is clock? This is really the only bit of information i need to know.

[Findecanor]

The key caps have unusually small legends.

[Jimmeh]

Just used denture cleaning tabs to clean the keycaps and also cleaned the board and case with isopropyl alcohol. I'll just have to let the caps dry overnight. I also figured out which cable was which which using soarer's advice.
All i have to do now is order a teensy and see if it works

[graboy]

Yep, i got it from a pc-repair shop when i asked if they had any old IBM stuff.

I gotta do that sometime, people always underestimate the value of old-looking keyboards, I hear stories all the time where someone grabbed a nice mechanical keyboard for under 5$.