Wang Workstation Keyboard, xwhatsit

[OldIsNew]

I recently acquired this Wang keyboard as a Christmas gift. I don't know which system it was part of and can't find any identifiable markings on the case - just the brand logo. It's a vintage KeyTronic foam and foil. The back of the case is heavy plastic and the front cover is metal. The PCB is stamped Oct 16, 1985 and the case is stamped Oct 25, 1985.

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It has a solenoid, which is always a plus in my book:

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Front plate with keycaps removed:

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Back of front plate:

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PCB front:

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PCB Back:

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The original foam and foil was in bad shape, as usual, so had to be replaced:

Old foam and foil removed

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New foam

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New foil

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Wired up the xwhatsit and a solenoid driver:

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It's a nice board over all - I'm still a fan of the vintage KeyTronic F&F.

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Short video of typing on board:

I'd like to find out about the board model number, etc. - as I mentioned no markings on the case itself except for the Wang logo. I've seen pictures of similar boards with various Wang terminals - does anyone know more about these boards?

[Chyros]

All I know is that I've got a Honeywell Hall effect keyboard that looks almost identical which was for a Wang 271.

Very nice mod as always!

[just_add_coffee]

Very nice! I had no idea solenoids were in other keyboards besides IBM. Or that foam and foil could sound like that. Thanks for sharing this.

[XMIT]

This has largely gone under the radar. Using an xwhatsit as a capsense controller for these old foam and foil boards is a tremendous discovery. If you're willing to put in the time to replace the foam and the foil these are fantastic boards, often with thick doubleshot spherical key caps on medium to heavy weight linear switches.

@OldIsNew I'm curious to know, what sensitivity setting are you using for this board? For IBM boards I usually have it set to about 120. Curious to see how the capsense mechanism on this board differs at all. Did you have any trouble selecting a setting - do you find some keys are more or less sensitive?

[seebart]

This has largely gone under the radar. Using an xwhatsit as a capsense controller for these old foam and foil boards is a tremendous discovery. If you're willing to put in the time to replace the foam and the foil these are fantastic boards, often with thick doubleshot spherical key caps on medium to heavy weight linear switches.

Interesting to see how KeyTronic F&F is not getting "ripped" for a change, I could not agree more although I have never tried younger F&F than those in my 1980 terminal keyboard. Good work OldIsNew!

[OldIsNew]

Thanks everyone for the nice comments.

. If you're willing to put in the time to replace the foam and the foil these are fantastic boards, often with thick doubleshot spherical key caps on medium to heavy weight linear switches.

Interesting to see how KeyTronic F&F is not getting "ripped" for a change, I could not agree more although I have never tried younger F&F than those in my 1980 terminal keyboard...

Yes! I really like the "vintage" tall stem KeyTronic F&F:

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I do have one board with the short stem version that I really don't like - I think those may be the switches that seem to have given KT F&F a bad rep:

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@OldIsNew I'm curious to know, what sensitivity setting are you using for this board? For IBM boards I usually have it set to about 120. Curious to see how the capsense mechanism on this board differs at all. Did you have any trouble selecting a setting - do you find some keys are more or less sensitive?

I haven't had any problems with finding a voltage threshold setting for the boards I've done, but there has been a fair amount of variance in the settings that work best for each board. I have just taken the approach of dialing down until I get good response - and then see how low I can go before I start getting wonky key presses. These are the voltage threshold settings I'm using on the boards I've done:

Westinghouse W1642: 160

TRS 80 Model II: 180

KayPro II: 185

L3 Communications: 135

Wang Workstation : 190

I think the various on board controller components affect the xwhatsit sensitivity settings on these boards and have had to do a fair amount of desoldering resistors and caps, etc , on some of the boards to isolate the row/column pads adequately. While I have noticed that there is some variation in sensitivity among the keys on any given board, I haven't noticed any particular pattern to this.

[Sangdrax]

I saw this on ebay a little while back. Nice to see you got it.

Also, on the sensitivity, I've found that additional stuff on the capsense like a solenoid board changes the settings bit, usually needs a higher voltage for stability. Same for you? The Wang is certainly up there.

[OldIsNew]

I... on the sensitivity, I've found that additional stuff on the capsense like a solenoid board changes the settings bit, usually needs a higher voltage for stability. Same for you? The Wang is certainly up there.

I didn't really think about that but I think so - I did end up increasing the threshold on the board after hooking up the solenoid, but at the time I figured I just hadn't quite set it right before. May have been the effect of connecting the solenoid/driver board though.

I took the solenoid driver I used for the Wang out of the Westinghouse board (WH didn't originally have a solenoid - I added for the heck of it) so I think I'll go back and see if I can dial down the voltage on that board. If so, that would be a good indication that it had been affecting the required voltage setting.