Just picked up an Omnikey Ultra. Few Q's: glue, interface and colour

[lancre]

This was on Ebay for quite a bit of money, I let the seller relist a few times and then messaged them with an offer. I picked it up for quite a reasonable price. It's arriving next week.

1. There is (what looks like) a velcro pad above the numeric block that looks like it's glued down. I wondered what the best way is to remove it without affecting the (presumably ABS) keyboard case. I was thinking 70% isopropyl alcohol. Thoughts?
2. I watched Chyros and his keyboard review on YouTube (as well as every other review he's done) but I don't think he mentioned the interface. Is it a 5-pin DIM? Do I need an active converter or a passive one? Or is it PS2?
3. The block with the lock lights is a yellowy-brown colour. I've seen some like this, whereas most have a grey background. Is this to do with yellowing or is it particular to some models?
4. What do you think about the condition? I know this is ridiculously vague... I hope it's not had too much use. The keys look pretty non-shiny.

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[Dra]

With only this picture available it's hard to tell anything

1. if it's glued down with the standard adhesive, i'd say rip it off and use an eraser, isopropyl isn't necessarily the best glue removal tool

2. and 3. has information on the wiki wiki/Northgate_OmniKey_101

4. it's hard to tell from the picture, I'd say well used, note the smudges of dirt you can see on the numpad 1, side of B and @ and lighter smudges all over the numrow

[lancre]

The keyboard is so long, I might have to put the case and caps in the bath!

[Chyros]

This was on Ebay for quite a bit of money, I let the seller relist a few times and then messaged them with an offer. I picked it up for quite a reasonable price. It's arriving next week.

1. There is (what looks like) a velcro pad above the numeric block that looks like it's glued down. I wondered what the best way is to remove it without affecting the (presumably ABS) keyboard case. I was thinking 70% isopropyl alcohol. Thoughts?
2. I watched Chyros and his keyboard review on YouTube (as well as every other review he's done) but I don't think he mentioned the interface. Is it a 5-pin DIM? Do I need an active converter or a passive one? Or is it PS2?
3. The block with the lock lights is a yellowy-brown colour. I've seen some like this, whereas most have a grey background. Is this to do with yellowing or is it particular to some models?
4. What do you think about the condition? I know this is ridiculously vague... I hope it's not had too much use. The keys look pretty non-shiny.

Capture.PNG

1) The best way to remove sticky residues is with apolar solvents.

2) I did mention it actually, you can set the protocol to a variety of things using the DIP switch and yes, it's PS/2 compatible .

3) I think it looks slightly different from the sticker on mine, could be yellowing or not, dunno.

4) Hard to say without a cap-off picture mate xD .

[fohat]

My experience is that the LED covers yellow more and faster than the cases themselves.

[lancre]

I just googled what an apolar solvent was.

"Non polar solvents contain bonds between atoms with similar electronegativities, such as carbon and hydrogen (think hydrocarbons, such as gasoline). Bonds between atoms with similar electronegativities will lack partial charges; it’s this absence of charge which makes these molecules non-polar."

My brain just exploded.

[lancre]

My experience is that the LED covers yellow more and faster than the cases themselves.

Interesting. I wonder if they had to use a different plastic to make it less brittle.

[Chyros]

I just googled what an apolar solvent was.

"Non polar solvents contain bonds between atoms with similar electronegativities, such as carbon and hydrogen (think hydrocarbons, such as gasoline). Bonds between atoms with similar electronegativities will lack partial charges; it’s this absence of charge which makes these molecules non-polar."

My brain just exploded.

Just petrol-like solvents. Stuff like light petroleum ether, turpentine, white spirit, cyclohexane, etc.

[J888www]

There are many ways to remove glue, it all depends on what type of glue.
If you accidentally make a scratch, use 3000 grit emery paper on that rectangular patch.

I too have an Omni-Key but not the Ultra which I purchased from a Canadian many years ago.
These Northgate KBDs are extemely solid, double shot caps and heavy steel plates, I had an issue with a little rust on the plate.

Once taken apart, cleaned, sanded/primed and spray repainted the plate et cetera et cetera, you'll love it if you like large keyboards. Those White Apls keys are ever so delightful.
Do not to swing it at someone's head, you'll kill them.

[Chyros]

There are many ways to remove glue, it all depends on what type of glue.
If you accidentally make a scratch, use 3000 grit emery paper on that rectangular patch.

I too have an Omni-Key but not the Ultra which I purchased from a Canadian many years ago.
These Northgate KBDs are extemely solid, double shot caps and heavy steel plates, I had an issue with a little rust on the plate.

Once taken apart, cleaned, sanded/primed and spray repainted the plate et cetera et cetera, you'll love it if you like large keyboards. Those White Apls keys are ever so delightful.
Do not to swing it at someone's head, you'll kill them.

He's not kidding either, even just the back panel weighs more thsn s frying pan Oo . I know, I measured it xD .

I'm very fond of my Omnikey, too. The white Alps in that were almost unused, and it was extremely clean. Delight to type on ^^ .

[seebart]

I'm very fond of my Omnikey, too. The white Alps in that were almost unused, and it was extremely clean. Delight to type on ^^ .

I might offer you a billiontrillion for yours, but I know you won't part with it anyway.

[andrewjoy]

Good another Ultra T owner. Does yours flex in the middle as the plate is so long ?


I just glued some support in the middle on mine inside the metal case and its fine now.


Oh and you can just use a male the male PS/2 cable for this keyboard or do what i have done and lob the end of an old coiled PS2 cable and connect a male connector on it , ( i lost the original )

[Chyros]

Good another Ultra T owner. Does yours flex in the middle as the plate is so long ?

It's an Ultra, the non-T model. I think we talked about it in the review, come to think of it . Yes, it flexes slightly due to the length, but not hugely. Regardless, it's so tough that the flex doesn't really matter xD .

I'm very fond of my Omnikey, too. The white Alps in that were almost unused, and it was extremely clean. Delight to type on ^^ .

I might offer you a billiontrillion for yours, but I know you won't part with it anyway.

Hey, if I find another one, I'll let you know .

[seebart]

Hey, if I find another one, I'll let you know .

Please do.

[Hypersphere]

The cable on my Omnikey 101 is mini-DIN6 male to DIN5 (AT) male. From there I use an AT to PS/2 adapter and Blue Cube to the USB hub connected to the computer. However, a straight ps/2 to ps/2 cable should work. I'm considering installing a Teensy and replacing the mini-DIN6 connector with some flavor of flush-mount USB.

I am also considering coating the case with Cerakote. As part of the case prep, the door to the DIP switches is easy to remove. However, I would like to mask or remove the lock light panel as well -- any suggestions on how to do this without harming the panel?

[lancre]

Ok! Just picked this up from the Post Office. It has a 5 pin connector as you can see:

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The keyboard is quite dirty overall. There is a lot of dust and hair in the switches and on the mounting plate. Here is the board overall:

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There is also some rust on the mounting plate as you can tell:

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What is weird is the Omnikey Ultra badge is stuck over another badge.

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Step by step here's what I'm planning to do:

• Remove the switches, warm water and washing-up liquid, 2 to 3 hours. Any tips on removing the stabilised keys? They don't want to budge
• Remove the case, bath, warm water and washing-up liquid, 2 to 3 hours
• Clean the plate and test the switches. Ease and adjust switches that have lost their clickiness
• Depending on the level of rust: de-solder switches, sand down, prime and spray mounting plate, re-solder switches

[Hypersphere]

Looks like your Northgate Omnikey Ultra might actually be an Avant Stellar keyboard.

[lancre]

Very interesting indeed!

Well, here's the PCB and the model sticker.

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[fohat]

[*]Clean the plate and test the switches.

The plate and the PCB are all but impossible to separate, although a couple of people seem to have done it.

After you remove the switches, it is reasonably easy to clean and paint.

[lancre]

What is the difference (if any) between the Avant Stellar and the Northgate? Is it just a re-brand? It's pretty strange to have the Omnikey sticker above another sticker. Almost like they branded it and then changed their minds afterwards. Strange.

[lancre]

One explanation: the Avant Stellar removable plate might be from a different board. No idea how it got a Northgate sticker above it though.

[Hypersphere]

@lancre: If you Google Northgate keyboards and/or Avant Stellar, you will find numerous articles about the demise of Northgate and how their line of keyboards was continued under the Avanti brand by Creative Vision Technologies, which has apparently also gone out of business.

Your board does appear to be a Northgate Omnikey Ultra. The trap door to the DIP switch array might have been replaced by one from an Avant Stellar and the Northgate logo applied on top of the Avani label. The hinges of these little doors are somewhat fragile and perhaps the original got broken.

[lancre]

[*]Clean the plate and test the switches.

The plate and the PCB are all but impossible to separate, although a couple of people seem to have done it.

After you remove the switches, it is reasonably easy to clean and paint.

Is that because they soldered the screw-heads on the back of the PCB? It's annoying if I can't remove it. Eventually I was hoping to remove the whole thing and sand / prime the mounting plate, desolder all the switches and replace them with new-old stock or maybe some Matias switches.

[Hypersphere]

I like Matias switches but consider them a downgrade from the SKCM white Alps that are already in your board. If the switches are worn and/or dirty beyond restoration, you might try to find a donor board with some flavor of genuine Alps.

[fohat]

Is that because they soldered the screw-heads on the back of the PCB? It's annoying if I can't remove it.

Eventually I was hoping to remove the whole thing and sand / prime the mounting plate, desolder all the switches and replace them with new-old stock or maybe some Matias switches.

Yes, quite annoying and pointless. I have tried to remove it but quickly gave up. The work-around is easy enough:

Assuming that the switches and plastic hold-down tabs have been removed, gently sand off whatever rust is there. Vacuum and blow thoroughly all over and throughout as best you can. Then I wipe the plate as clean as possible with alcohol or whatever, and slide strips of paper between the plate and PCB to completely mask it. Then I can spray paint the plate and replace the plastic tabs (I do it as soon as the paint is "dry to the touch" so that it cures around the tabs and helps to "glue" them in place). If this is your first Alps refurb, you may not have spare tabs, so be careful. They are relatively easy to remove and replace but you (or at least I) might generally ruin a few getting the hang of it. If you were in the US I would mail you a few, but somebody over there might do it for postage.

I think that new Matias Quiet Clicks are pretty nice and might well represent an upgrade over dirty or worn Alps.

[lancre]

The plastic stabiliser retaining tabs you mean? Yup they look pretty fragile. A few pinged off when I was pulling the keycaps. They re-seated fine. That's a good tip, to let the paint kind of mould to them when it's still a bit pliable. Good job with your board - is that an old Omnikey with blue alps or did you swap those in from another board? EDIT - oh wait, I just noticed the difference in the before and after pictures

I cleaned the plate as best I could.

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Now it looks quite good and it makes a very nice thocky clicky bassy kind of noise. Very pleasant.

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The unfortunate thing is that the modifier keys bind quite severely on off-centre presses, and some of the alphabetic caps and the space bar are shiny to the point of annoyance. Combined with the inconsistent feel of the switches, it's... well, it could be better.

I like the concept of putting Matias switches in this board. 42 quid for 200 of them sounds reasonable. I'd even consider putting Matias linears in this board. The only thing I worry about is that the noise would change - there's a YouTube video of dampened Matias switches in an Omnikey and the noise is quite different.

I also see that Massdrop have some Tai-hao alps caps at the moment. What about Olivetti caps to replace the white keycaps and leaving the colourful modifiers?

[Hypersphere]

I've heard from the sales rep at KBP that there have been QC issues with Matias switches that have been produced during 2016, but I do not know what the specific issues are.

My preference for Matias switches is Click > Quiet >>> Quiet Linear.

The Click switches give me the best sound and feel, and my typing accuracy and speed are better with Clicks than with Quiet or Quiet Linear switches. Both the Clicks and Quiets give the pronounced tactile feedback that Matias is known for. I like tactility, which is why I rate either of these well above the Quiet Linears. The Quiet switches live up to their name, but bottoming out feels a bit mushy. My assessments are based on KBP V60 Matias-switch boards.

If I were putting Matias switches into a full-size board, I would be inclined to put them into a Dell AT101W black case. I would probably go with Click switches everywhere except the spacebar, where I would use a Quiet switch.

[lancre]

Definitely some research required, then. I wonder how the linears compare to SKCL green? Going on the lack of YouTube videos about Matias linear switches, they aren't as popular definitely. Ok, sounds for the moment that I should follow Hypersphere and seek out a clean donor board or wait for some old-new-stock Alps white switches to grace the forum.

Well, it's a work in progress. Even in this tired condition it's still great fun to type on. I use an AT102W at work, and swap it out with a Realforce now and again, but this thing is on another sound level entirely.

[seebart]

I've only tried the Matias Quiet Click mechanical switches in the Ergo Pro and found it disturbing how different in feel there was to any Alps SKCM / SKCL in terms of the wobble on the keycap. Quite dissapointing really. I'm assuming that all Matias switches use the same basic parts like housing etc. in various combinations. Of course one may not be bothered by a wobbly keycap, that's certainly preference.

[Hypersphere]

@lancre: Take suggestions with a grain of salt. Ultimately, you must go with what suits your own taste.

@seebart: Matias switches are notorious for their wobble, but it doesn't bother me much. I do notice it more on Matias Click switches than on the Quiet switches, but I think I am noticing the clacky noise of the Click switches more than the amount of wobble, which I have never measured properly.

One way that I qualitatively assess the wobble in a keycap + switch assembly is to lightly brush my fingertips along a row of keys. Matias Click switches make quite a racket -- more so than SKCM white Alps, and certainly much more than Matias Quiet switches.