TI portable terminal with Micro Switch hall effect and APL caps

Engicoder · 04 Apr 2016, 05:04

I found this odd portable terminal recently. It's a TI Silent 700 Model 745 from late 1980. The Silent 700 is essentially a limited ascii dumb terminal with a thermal printer instead of display. They were made in considerable numbers through out the 70's and early 80's. What caught my eye on this one was the caps with APL legends. The switches are white slider Micro Switch Hall Effect. Most are 1A3S, but a few are the very heavy 1A8S. Here are some preliminary photos:

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Redmaus · 04 Apr 2016, 15:31

Wow, how did I not notice this! I love that enter key. Do you know how white slider hall effect compares to regular hall effect?

Engicoder · 04 Apr 2016, 15:52

They feel very similar. Some say they aren't quite as smooth as the black slider switches, but condition may factor in.

Redmaus · 04 Apr 2016, 15:57

True you might just have to clean them out. I have a Hall Effect board with dual magnet switches and they felt much better when I blew them out with an air compressor.

Invisius · 05 Apr 2016, 03:31

I've never used this variety before, the stem looks much wider than any of my HE switches. Do they pull right off or are they soldered onto the PCB? Some air might help a bit, but the caps and case look pretty clean already!

Engicoder · 05 Apr 2016, 06:16

The switches on this feel great, I didn't mean to imply otherwise. I was merely saying that some people feel the whites are not as smooth as blacks but that this opinion could be due to the condition of the switches they compared. The whites in this board are very smooth.

Miko · 06 Apr 2016, 16:20

Congratulations. This is probably some kind of jackpot. Bothe the board and the caps.

seebart · 06 Apr 2016, 16:38

WOW, very nice find indeed. You mean white slider with Honeywell Hall Effect.

I love the orange return key.

I own both black and white slider Honeywell Hall Effect and I believe the only difference is key weight.

Chyros · 06 Apr 2016, 18:05

The slider colour isn't related to switch weight. The code on top of the switch separately describes slider colour and switch weight.

seebart · 06 Apr 2016, 18:08

Yes in fact I'd bet the slider color plays no role at all. I think we generally tend to to overemphasize slider color importance.