Another Data General 6246-A

User avatar
OldIsNew

07 Oct 2019, 20:14

I picked this up a while ago and finally got around to working on it. I've seen some others on here and thought they looked pretty cool. This one is also a Fujitsu 3rd gen leaf spring, so hopefully that means they all are. It was in pretty good shape.
Case_Front_Orig_SM.jpg
Case_Front_Orig_SM.jpg (366.4 KiB) Viewed 3958 times
Case_Back_Orig_SM.jpg
Case_Back_Orig_SM.jpg (205.18 KiB) Viewed 3958 times


Opened it up:
Open_Orig_SM.jpg
Open_Orig_SM.jpg (463.07 KiB) Viewed 3958 times
KB_Assy_SM.jpg
KB_Assy_SM.jpg (375.87 KiB) Viewed 3958 times
Keys_Off_SM.jpg
Keys_Off_SM.jpg (387.01 KiB) Viewed 3958 times
PCB_Back_SM.jpg
PCB_Back_SM.jpg (241.66 KiB) Viewed 3958 times
PCB_Front1_SM.jpg
PCB_Front1_SM.jpg (427.43 KiB) Viewed 3958 times


I desoldered the ribbon connector and traced out the matrix to wire the Teensy 2.0++. Because of the way my software is set up, I made pins 0-6 (with the diodes) the columns and pins 8-23 the rows. Pin 7 was not connected to any board traces.


wires_SM.jpg
wires_SM.jpg (283.96 KiB) Viewed 3958 times
Teensy_SM.jpg
Teensy_SM.jpg (333.99 KiB) Viewed 3958 times


I did manage to lift a pad - hence the yellow bridge wire. Can also see lifted part of pad on pin3. I'm "OK" at soldering for the most part but this board did seem a little touchier than most.

Then reattached the upper PCB and closed it up.
Teensy_in_SM.jpg
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finished_SM.jpg
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I did go back and wired the LEDs for lock lights, and speaker to the Teensy. I'm not sure what the speaker was originally used for but I used it to provide key beeps - with a toggle switch so I don't have to listen to it all the time!

Here's a short video of typing on it:

Also if anyone is interested, this is the matrix i came up with:
Matrix.jpg
Matrix.jpg (273.69 KiB) Viewed 3958 times
Last edited by OldIsNew on 20 Oct 2019, 23:17, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Sangdrax

07 Oct 2019, 21:17

Yeah, these are all 3rd Gen leaf springs IIRC. Great boards. And unlike the 2nd Gen, they have all the diodes integrated already which makes converting so much better. With your matrix now, someone could actually convert one in less than an hour if they knew what they were doing. Really great work as usual, dude.

John Doe

17 Feb 2020, 12:41

Hi, OldIsNew, may i ask if the 3rd generation leaf spring used in this keyboard are clicky? Or linear? I intend to believe its linear according to wiki info but better ask that for 100% sure.

That matrix will save a lot of time to compile the hex with tmk. Good job.

User avatar
OldIsNew

17 Feb 2020, 18:42

John Doe wrote:
17 Feb 2020, 12:41
Hi, OldIsNew, may i ask if the 3rd generation leaf spring used in this keyboard are clicky? Or linear? I intend to believe its linear according to wiki info but better ask that for 100% sure.

That matrix will save a lot of time to compile the hex with tmk. Good job.
Thanks. The board has linear switches. I really like them a lot and do love this board.


EDIT:
I was thinking the keys were linear, but I got the board out this evening and they are actually the clicky version.

John Doe

18 Feb 2020, 03:00

OldIsNew wrote:
17 Feb 2020, 18:42
John Doe wrote:
17 Feb 2020, 12:41
Hi, OldIsNew, may i ask if the 3rd generation leaf spring used in this keyboard are clicky? Or linear? I intend to believe its linear according to wiki info but better ask that for 100% sure.

That matrix will save a lot of time to compile the hex with tmk. Good job.
Thanks. The board has linear switches. I really like them a lot and do love this board.


EDIT:
I was thinking the keys were linear, but I got the board out this evening and they are actually the clicky version.

If they're clicky switches, thats little bit different with what wiki shows, I dont know.

Btw, I paied a similar one but quite different version off ebay, guess its 2nd linear leaf spring with same layout like yours. Hope using same matrix aswell.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre ... 3903870149

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