Pr1me PST100 (ITW magnetic valve)
- Ducky Nordic
- Kayvee
- Main keyboard: Ducky YotS & Mini
- Main mouse: Logitech G9x
- Favorite switch: MX red/white, topre 30, BS
- DT Pro Member: -
Pr1me PST100 (ITW magnetic valve)
Got myself a nice new keyboard. I was looking for a nice and unused/clean vintage dualtone board and landed on this one. The colors fit the oak furniture of my lair hahah
Anyhoo.
By pictures alone(keycaps) i thought it is going to be with Honeywell hall effect switches but apparently its not. When i received it and started typing it didnt feel the same as Hall effect. Its also linear but has a tad more tactile feel to it(hard to explain).
Its a Pr1me keyboard. Dont know much anout this company. Seemed to be making some computers in 70's and 80's. They based in Massachusetts US but somehow used a popular UK TV show character in their ads, Dr.Who
The keyboard came with a template for emacs:
The keycaps, looking very honeywell'ish
The F and J caps have a deeper bowl
Cap bottoms...still looking honeywell'ish but not like on my Bud Honeywell keypad
The stems...plate mounted...hmm...dont look honeywell
A logo (in center of pic, upside down)...a square ITW logo (large I, small t and w)
I opened the thing...
Switches on plate
...and switches continue under the plate on to the pcb. Tall switches.
The bottom side of pcb. Very clean and blocky
ITW Cortron...also their patents.
Unfortunately this is as deep as i go. No switch opening
Got myself a nice new keyboard. I was looking for a nice and unused/clean vintage dualtone board and landed on this one. The colors fit the oak furniture of my lair hahah
Anyhoo.
By pictures alone(keycaps) i thought it is going to be with Honeywell hall effect switches but apparently its not. When i received it and started typing it didnt feel the same as Hall effect. Its also linear but has a tad more tactile feel to it(hard to explain).
Its a Pr1me keyboard. Dont know much anout this company. Seemed to be making some computers in 70's and 80's. They based in Massachusetts US but somehow used a popular UK TV show character in their ads, Dr.Who
The keyboard came with a template for emacs:
The keycaps, looking very honeywell'ish
The F and J caps have a deeper bowl
Cap bottoms...still looking honeywell'ish but not like on my Bud Honeywell keypad
The stems...plate mounted...hmm...dont look honeywell
A logo (in center of pic, upside down)...a square ITW logo (large I, small t and w)
I opened the thing...
Switches on plate
...and switches continue under the plate on to the pcb. Tall switches.
The bottom side of pcb. Very clean and blocky
ITW Cortron...also their patents.
Unfortunately this is as deep as i go. No switch opening
- Muirium
- µ
- Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
- Main keyboard: HHKB Type-S with Bluetooth by Hasu
- Main mouse: Apple Magic Mouse
- Favorite switch: Gotta Try 'Em All
- DT Pro Member: µ
Sweet board, Kayvee. Love the colour scheme and the bizarre Dr. Who ad! The insides are indeed very Honeywell-ish. Those caps look a lot like late Honeywells: compare the mounts with a selection from my Micro Switch board.
The grey Caps Lock key has the later mount, Dorkvader tells me. The stabiliser on your space bar also looks similar to me. Is it scratchy plastic bar too?
It could just be the style of the time, but even your well laid out PCB looks quite familiar, down to its four pin switches. But you're quite right of course: ITW ≠ Honeywell, and so these keyboards might not even share the same fundamental Hall effect!
Hopefully those sweet caps are giving you ideas for future projects! Beige sphericals are highly prized here.
The grey Caps Lock key has the later mount, Dorkvader tells me. The stabiliser on your space bar also looks similar to me. Is it scratchy plastic bar too?
It could just be the style of the time, but even your well laid out PCB looks quite familiar, down to its four pin switches. But you're quite right of course: ITW ≠ Honeywell, and so these keyboards might not even share the same fundamental Hall effect!
Hopefully those sweet caps are giving you ideas for future projects! Beige sphericals are highly prized here.
- Ducky Nordic
- Kayvee
- Main keyboard: Ducky YotS & Mini
- Main mouse: Logitech G9x
- Favorite switch: MX red/white, topre 30, BS
- DT Pro Member: -
Thanks MuMuirium wrote:Sweet board, Kayvee. Love the colour scheme and the bizarre Dr. Who ad! The insides are indeed very Honeywell-ish. Those caps look a lot like late Honeywells: compare the mounts with a selection from my Micro Switch board.The grey Caps Lock key has the later mount, Dorkvader tells me. The stabiliser on your space bar also looks similar to me. Is it scratchy plastic bar too?Spoiler:
It could just be the style of the time, but even your well laid out PCB looks quite familiar, down to its four pin switches. But you're quite right of course: ITW ≠ Honeywell, and so these keyboards might not even share the same fundamental Hall effect!
Hopefully those sweet caps are giving you ideas for future projects! Beige sphericals are highly prized here.
Wasnt really sure what the switch is(and still arent :p)...but i noticed the ITW logo on switches themselves and a switch patent number on PCB: US 4017850 ...which then lead me to ITW switch DT wiki page with the same patent number listed there:
http://deskthority.net/wiki/ITW_magnetic_valve
- Daniel Beardsmore
- Location: Hertfordshire, England
- Main keyboard: Filco Majestouch 1 (home)/Poker II backlit (work)
- Main mouse: MS IMO 1.1
- Favorite switch: Probably not whatever I wrote here
- DT Pro Member: -
- Contact:
Interesting, I don't recognise that variant.
It seems to be half-way between the early and late versions of magnetic valve.
HaaTa will enjoy this find.
It seems to be half-way between the early and late versions of magnetic valve.
HaaTa will enjoy this find.
- Daniel Beardsmore
- Location: Hertfordshire, England
- Main keyboard: Filco Majestouch 1 (home)/Poker II backlit (work)
- Main mouse: MS IMO 1.1
- Favorite switch: Probably not whatever I wrote here
- DT Pro Member: -
- Contact:
Is there a difference?
- Muirium
- µ
- Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
- Main keyboard: HHKB Type-S with Bluetooth by Hasu
- Main mouse: Apple Magic Mouse
- Favorite switch: Gotta Try 'Em All
- DT Pro Member: µ
Sure there is. Ours would be metric.
To guess an answer for Halvar's question: there's not a glimpse of the cable anywhere in Kayvee's pictures. I suspect that ominous sign is bad news. Either it's been chopped off or, like my Honeywell here, it's something funky. Don't trust anything that can't even plug into Soarer's Converter!
Anyway, if Ducky Nordic keyboards don't start shipping with Emacs templates, I'll be disappointed.
To guess an answer for Halvar's question: there's not a glimpse of the cable anywhere in Kayvee's pictures. I suspect that ominous sign is bad news. Either it's been chopped off or, like my Honeywell here, it's something funky. Don't trust anything that can't even plug into Soarer's Converter!
Anyway, if Ducky Nordic keyboards don't start shipping with Emacs templates, I'll be disappointed.
- Ducky Nordic
- Kayvee
- Main keyboard: Ducky YotS & Mini
- Main mouse: Logitech G9x
- Favorite switch: MX red/white, topre 30, BS
- DT Pro Member: -
Hahah. Nah, for now its typing with virtual text lines coming out Tho would not be impossible to make this one work i thinkHalvar wrote:Thats a very nice find, from keycaps to switches to layout. Did you find a way to use it on a computer yet?
Last edited by Ducky Nordic on 18 Oct 2013, 01:26, edited 1 time in total.
- Ducky Nordic
- Kayvee
- Main keyboard: Ducky YotS & Mini
- Main mouse: Logitech G9x
- Favorite switch: MX red/white, topre 30, BS
- DT Pro Member: -
Theres a RJ11 connector behind on this one.Muirium wrote:Sure there is. Ours would be metric.
To guess an answer for Halvar's question: there's not a glimpse of the cable anywhere in Kayvee's pictures. I suspect that ominous sign is bad news. Either it's been chopped off or, like my Honeywell here, it's something funky. Don't trust anything that can't even plug into Soarer's Converter!
Anyway, if Ducky Nordic keyboards don't start shipping with Emacs templates, I'll be disappointed.
- Peter
- Location: Denmark
- Main keyboard: Steelseries 6Gv2/G80-1501HAD
- Main mouse: Mx518
- Favorite switch: Cherry Linear and Buckling Spring
- DT Pro Member: -
Trying to visualise how those switches function :Daniel Beardsmore wrote:Is there a difference?
Spoiler:
You won't believe how many times Danish Tv has told us the computers at Bletchley Park had 'ventiler',
so it's a bit confusing ...
- Muirium
- µ
- Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
- Main keyboard: HHKB Type-S with Bluetooth by Hasu
- Main mouse: Apple Magic Mouse
- Favorite switch: Gotta Try 'Em All
- DT Pro Member: µ
Good point. Both "valve" and "vacuum tube" are figurative names, borrowing from something else. A thermionic valve is just as much a tube as a vacuum tube is a valve. It's both and neither! We needed a proper name for the bloody thing. Fortunately it was killed by the transistor. Or should I say "sand valve"?
Whenever I've heard of magnetic valve switches, I've thought of your first picture, but the second one is a closer metaphor. All these things are "valves", in any case.
Whenever I've heard of magnetic valve switches, I've thought of your first picture, but the second one is a closer metaphor. All these things are "valves", in any case.
- HaaTa
- Master Kiibohd Hunter
- Location: San Jose, California, USA
- Main keyboard: Depends the day
- Main mouse: CST L-TracX
- Favorite switch: Fujitsu Leaf Spring/Topre/BS/Super Alps
- DT Pro Member: 0006
- Contact:
Neat, another Cortron magnetic valve. This one is an ITW Magnetic Valve Type 2.
I got one early last year from Ascaii: https://plus.google.com/photos/11384566 ... 1302099137
I got one early last year from Ascaii: https://plus.google.com/photos/11384566 ... 1302099137
- Daniel Beardsmore
- Location: Hertfordshire, England
- Main keyboard: Filco Majestouch 1 (home)/Poker II backlit (work)
- Main mouse: MS IMO 1.1
- Favorite switch: Probably not whatever I wrote here
- DT Pro Member: -
- Contact:
Well, we call them "[thermionic] valves" because that's what they are: a remote-controlled electric current valve. It's not as though "valve" means anything different in Britain — it's just that our name is more specific, i.e. we're describing (albeit vaguely) what we're actually doing with our evacuated tube (controlling the flow of electricity), instead of saying "well, I've made this here glass tube, and there's no air in it …"
- Muirium
- µ
- Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
- Main keyboard: HHKB Type-S with Bluetooth by Hasu
- Main mouse: Apple Magic Mouse
- Favorite switch: Gotta Try 'Em All
- DT Pro Member: µ
There you go Kayvee, now you can join the club of "I got a rare keyboard, but HaaTa got there first!" Welcome aboard!
As for electronic component etymology (why not?), Daniel's right that valve is a better dumb name than tube. (Though I do like the sound of tube, in the abstract. It's more fun to say. That whole room is full o' tubes!) I much prefer abstract ones though, like resistor and diode. Though diode is actually based on an obsolete kind of valve / tube that used to do the function. Diode just means "two electrodes". Capacitors are just as much "diodes" as, uh, diodes. But I guess "one-way-or" didn't roll off the tongue like resistor and capacitor. Transistors could have wound up keeping their valve predecessor's name too. Transistors have three legs, it had three electrodes: it was of course the triode. Fortunately, we dodged that bullet.
As for electronic component etymology (why not?), Daniel's right that valve is a better dumb name than tube. (Though I do like the sound of tube, in the abstract. It's more fun to say. That whole room is full o' tubes!) I much prefer abstract ones though, like resistor and diode. Though diode is actually based on an obsolete kind of valve / tube that used to do the function. Diode just means "two electrodes". Capacitors are just as much "diodes" as, uh, diodes. But I guess "one-way-or" didn't roll off the tongue like resistor and capacitor. Transistors could have wound up keeping their valve predecessor's name too. Transistors have three legs, it had three electrodes: it was of course the triode. Fortunately, we dodged that bullet.
- webwit
- Wild Duck
- Location: The Netherlands
- Main keyboard: Model F62
- Favorite switch: IBM beam spring
- DT Pro Member: 0000
- Contact:
Another club? Or should "I got a rare keyboard, but HaaTa got there first!" be our new tagline?
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- DT Pro Member: -
Ah ha! So you're the one who got this. I put in an offer months ago (years?) but got no response. Recently I got an eBay email saying I lost. I thought, "What the hell? I don't remember bidding on any keyb-... oh yeah. Well that sucks."Ducky Nordic wrote:Pr1me PST100 (ITW magnetic valve)
Got myself a nice new keyboard. I was looking for a nice and unused/clean vintage dualtone board and landed on this one. The colors fit the oak furniture of my lair hahah
It's quite a nice looking keyboard. I didn't know those keycaps were Honeywell compatible. If I'd known, I probably would have wanted it more. Those would have looked nice on my keypad.
- Muirium
- µ
- Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
- Main keyboard: HHKB Type-S with Bluetooth by Hasu
- Main mouse: Apple Magic Mouse
- Favorite switch: Gotta Try 'Em All
- DT Pro Member: µ
You're cursed! All this envy of others' Honeywells means your keypad will forever be naked. Well, that or you'll bid high enough at some point.
- Ducky Nordic
- Kayvee
- Main keyboard: Ducky YotS & Mini
- Main mouse: Logitech G9x
- Favorite switch: MX red/white, topre 30, BS
- DT Pro Member: -
Hah, cheers. If ones purpose to get a certain rare vintage keyboard/switch was to be the first one having it around here...yes indeed, that would be futileMuirium wrote:There you go Kayvee, now you can join the club of "I got a rare keyboard, but HaaTa got there first!" Welcome aboard!
Spoiler:
- Ducky Nordic
- Kayvee
- Main keyboard: Ducky YotS & Mini
- Main mouse: Logitech G9x
- Favorite switch: MX red/white, topre 30, BS
- DT Pro Member: -
Aye, noticed few offers in history theremr_a500 wrote: Ah ha! So you're the one who got this. I put in an offer months ago (years?) but got no response. Recently I got an eBay email saying I lost. I thought, "What the hell? I don't remember bidding on any keyb-... oh yeah. Well that sucks."
It's quite a nice looking keyboard. I didn't know those keycaps were Honeywell compatible. If I'd known, I probably would have wanted it more. Those would have looked nice on my keypad.
I have the Bud keypad as well. The caps, altho very similar, are not compatible.
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- Location: USA
- Main keyboard: Custom
- Main mouse: IBM TrackPoint IV
- Favorite switch: Cherry MX Clicky
- DT Pro Member: -
Same here, but my offer(s?) were refused. Funny to see it turn up on DT. Congrats on the nice keyboard, Ducky!mr_a500 wrote:Ah ha! So you're the one who got this. I put in an offer months ago (years?) but got no response. Recently I got an eBay email saying I lost. I thought, "What the hell? I don't remember bidding on any keyb-... oh yeah. Well that sucks."
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- DT Pro Member: -
Honeywell envy... that sounds like a psychological distrubance. I wonder what Freud would think.Muirium wrote:You're cursed! All this envy of others' Honeywells means your keypad will forever be naked. Well, that or you'll bid high enough at some point.
My keypad isn't naked. It's just that grey is my least favourite keycap colour. (...after "pale vomit orange")
- XMIT
- [ XMIT ]
- Location: Austin, TX area
- Main keyboard: XMIT Hall Effect
- Main mouse: CST L-Trac Trackball
- Favorite switch: XMIT 60g Tactile Hall Effect
- DT Pro Member: 0093
a-Ha! That's what my little tenkeyless Sperry keyboard is! I brought one of these home from Cindy. Mine was missing the Lock key and the /# key. (The other Sperry seems to be Keytronics foam and foil.)HaaTa wrote: ↑Neat, another Cortron magnetic valve. This one is an ITW Magnetic Valve Type 2.
I got one early last year from Ascaii: https://plus.google.com/photos/11384566 ... 1302099137
I've added my own photos here:
https://plus.google.com/photos/10439222 ... 1546935057
The best part is toward the end where I managed to take apart a switch completely. We should get these photos on the wiki.
HaaTa did you ever manage to reverse engineer the protocol for this one? I'd like to give the case a good Retrobrighting, the keys a good bath, and connect it to a modern machine.
- elecplus
- Location: Kerrville, TX, USA
- DT Pro Member: 0082
- Contact:
That case came in beige to start with; it was never off-white! Remember the matching terminals upstairs? They are beige too.
- XMIT
- [ XMIT ]
- Location: Austin, TX area
- Main keyboard: XMIT Hall Effect
- Main mouse: CST L-Trac Trackball
- Favorite switch: XMIT 60g Tactile Hall Effect
- DT Pro Member: 0093
The case on this keyboard is definitely yellowed. See:
https://plus.google.com/photos/10439222 ... 3095878795
This is the top case of the keyboard. Part of it was covered by a black plate so the yellowing is clear: Nothing a little Retrobright can't fix. http://www.retr0bright.com/index.html
https://plus.google.com/photos/10439222 ... 3095878795
This is the top case of the keyboard. Part of it was covered by a black plate so the yellowing is clear: Nothing a little Retrobright can't fix. http://www.retr0bright.com/index.html
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- Location: UK
- Main keyboard: Filco ZERO green alps, Model F 122 Terminal
- Main mouse: Ducky Secret / Roller Mouse Pro 1
- Favorite switch: MX Mount Topre / Model F Buckling
- DT Pro Member: 0167
That keyboard looks amazing. I hope one day you get it to work. It almost looks good with the yellowed plastic .