Key Communications Keyboard Coating On Traces Coming Off Help
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- Location: United Kingdom
- Main keyboard: Modded IBM Model F AT
- Main mouse: Mionix Naos 8200
- Favorite switch: Capacitive Buckling Springs
- DT Pro Member: -
- Contact:
So I recently picked up this Vintage Cherry MX Black unsaver looking keyboard with an LCD screen. The keyboard is built really well with thick metal and thick plastic nice ABS doubleshot keycaps. Anyway the keyboard has an standard 5 pin DIN connector tried to plug it into a active converter all I got was the LCD screen came on and displayed KEY COMMUNICATIONS INC. LCD V4.3 and the caps lock key lights up when pressed but does not actually toggle the caps lock on the computer.
I would really like to get this keyboard working and also get the LCD functioning. If anyone has any ideas how I might go about this it would be much appreciated.
Thanks.
Below is some images of the keyboard.
I would really like to get this keyboard working and also get the LCD functioning. If anyone has any ideas how I might go about this it would be much appreciated.
Thanks.
Below is some images of the keyboard.
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- 15682466707077284015484646036609.jpg (2.42 MiB) Viewed 7365 times
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Last edited by Fkazim on 04 Oct 2019, 14:00, edited 10 times in total.
- PlacaFromHell
- Location: Argentina
- Main keyboard: IBM 3101
- Main mouse: Optical piece of shit
- Favorite switch: Beamspring
- DT Pro Member: -
What a cute keyboard
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- Location: United Kingdom
- Main keyboard: Modded IBM Model F AT
- Main mouse: Mionix Naos 8200
- Favorite switch: Capacitive Buckling Springs
- DT Pro Member: -
- Contact:
Haha yes it is any ideas how u could go about converting it and getting the screen to function?
- PlacaFromHell
- Location: Argentina
- Main keyboard: IBM 3101
- Main mouse: Optical piece of shit
- Favorite switch: Beamspring
- DT Pro Member: -
I would just, forgive the redundancy, trace the traces and write a pinout of the main controller of the keyboard (basically I'm telling you to copy the matrix) and then replace the thing with a Teensy. Replace the controller has a much more lazy software than build a converter, you only need basic soldering skills.
I never worked with a screen, but shouldn't be as hard as you think. Seeing a generic screen pinout I can have a brief idea of how do they work. You have an 8 bit data bus where you input ASCII code or a sort of it with some pins acting like a kind of cursor (or maybe a pin to choose between set the cursor and write on it). I would try to see what is inside of the keyboard and in a worst case scenario try to find an Arduino module that fits inside.
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- Location: United Kingdom
- Main keyboard: Modded IBM Model F AT
- Main mouse: Mionix Naos 8200
- Favorite switch: Capacitive Buckling Springs
- DT Pro Member: -
- Contact:
Sounds good but how would I determine what shows on the screen. An update I used my IBM Model F soarers converter and I managed to get the cursor on the screen to move slightly but nothing more than that. Also what can I do for function keys can it be programmed to control+1 for f1, control+2 for F2, control+3 fpr F3 etc please let me know if the above would be possible?
Thanks for all the help.
Thanks for all the help.
Last edited by Fkazim on 12 Sep 2019, 10:21, edited 1 time in total.
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- Location: United Kingdom
- Main keyboard: Modded IBM Model F AT
- Main mouse: Mionix Naos 8200
- Favorite switch: Capacitive Buckling Springs
- DT Pro Member: -
- Contact:
I will open up the keyboard tonight and check the controller and post some pictures of the internals.
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- Location: United Kingdom
- Main keyboard: Modded IBM Model F AT
- Main mouse: Mionix Naos 8200
- Favorite switch: Capacitive Buckling Springs
- DT Pro Member: -
- Contact:
Here are the pictures of the main controller and the LCD display any ideas about what any of it is because I am lost.
Any help as always is much appreciated.
Any help as always is much appreciated.
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- 15683940384206228501388491435731.jpg (2.56 MiB) Viewed 7177 times
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- Location: Ireland
- Main keyboard: F122
- Main mouse: Various trackballs
- Favorite switch: Model F buckling spring
- DT Pro Member: -
Key Tronic and DCS legends do have a very similar style, but there's an easy way to tell them apart. Look at the 3. Key Tronic's font gives it a flat top, whereas on DCS it has a round top.
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- Location: United Kingdom
- Main keyboard: Modded IBM Model F AT
- Main mouse: Mionix Naos 8200
- Favorite switch: Capacitive Buckling Springs
- DT Pro Member: -
- Contact:
Any ideas how I could go about converting this keyboard as I think it would be a really neat daily driver.
- dotdash
- Location: Chicago
- Main keyboard: Model-M 1988
- Main mouse: MS Intellimouse
- Favorite switch: Buckling Spring
Some google turned up this, maybe it was originally attached to lab equipment.
Key Communications Services, Inc. designs, manufactures, distributes, and services lab results and communication products for hospital based labs. As of 12/31/1998, Key Communications Services, Inc. was a subsidiary of ProxyMed Inc.
Key Communications Services, Inc. designs, manufactures, distributes, and services lab results and communication products for hospital based labs. As of 12/31/1998, Key Communications Services, Inc. was a subsidiary of ProxyMed Inc.
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- Location: United Kingdom
- Main keyboard: Modded IBM Model F AT
- Main mouse: Mionix Naos 8200
- Favorite switch: Capacitive Buckling Springs
- DT Pro Member: -
- Contact:
wow very interesting good job for finding some of the history on it.
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- Location: United Kingdom
- Main keyboard: Modded IBM Model F AT
- Main mouse: Mionix Naos 8200
- Favorite switch: Capacitive Buckling Springs
- DT Pro Member: -
- Contact:
Any idea still no progress on converting my keyboard to USB and really don't know where to start.
Please help Thanks.
Please help Thanks.
- swampangel
- Location: Canada
- Main keyboard: Northgate Omnikey 101
- DT Pro Member: -
Maybe take some more photos -- back of the pcb, and closeups of the chips so we can see the labels.
Do you have a multimeter? The cable looks like it has an extra pin or two compared to, say, the AT protocol -- if you were able to trace how the pins on the pcb map to the pins on the DIN end of the connector, someone might be able to guess at the original protocol.
The LCD tells you this probably didn't attach to a regular PC but rather was a kind of word processor or tty or something.
There's a pretty good chance you would need to do a controller swap to make it usable, which would involve tracing the matrix like viewtopic.php?p=450043#p450043
Since this board seems pretty rare, you'll probably have a lot of trial and error work. There are super talented people here but even they can probably only do so much without the board in hand.
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- Location: United Kingdom
- Main keyboard: Modded IBM Model F AT
- Main mouse: Mionix Naos 8200
- Favorite switch: Capacitive Buckling Springs
- DT Pro Member: -
- Contact:
OK tonight I will take photos of all the chips one of which is a socketed chip and can be removed as for the back of the PCB it looks pretty plain but I will take some close ups of that too tonight.
Also I do have a mulimeter so if you want me to do anything involving that let me know.
Thanks.
Also I do have a mulimeter so if you want me to do anything involving that let me know.
Thanks.
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- Location: UK
- Main keyboard: Planck
- Main mouse: Cyborg Rat 7
- Favorite switch: Alps skcm white
- DT Pro Member: -
bit of a long shot but you could try to contact the original manufacturer of the board https://tg3electronics.com/ the logo is the same as that on the pcb, though given the board was made nearly 30 years ago they may not have that information left.
There are 2 ground wires, signal ground and chassis ground. the fact that the LCD seems to function correctly and that this was made in 1992 i think that it should not be too difficult. Did you try an xt converter?
There are 2 ground wires, signal ground and chassis ground. the fact that the LCD seems to function correctly and that this was made in 1992 i think that it should not be too difficult. Did you try an xt converter?
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- Location: United Kingdom
- Main keyboard: Modded IBM Model F AT
- Main mouse: Mionix Naos 8200
- Favorite switch: Capacitive Buckling Springs
- DT Pro Member: -
- Contact:
I connected it up to my IBM Model F XT Orihalcon keyboard converter and the only response I could get from the keyboard was the cursor on the LCD to move up one level but other than that nothing.
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- Location: United Kingdom
- Main keyboard: Modded IBM Model F AT
- Main mouse: Mionix Naos 8200
- Favorite switch: Capacitive Buckling Springs
- DT Pro Member: -
- Contact:
Below are the pictures of the chips on the controller let me know if it helps.
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- IMG_20190916_163950.jpg (2.11 MiB) Viewed 6878 times
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- Location: United Kingdom
- Main keyboard: Modded IBM Model F AT
- Main mouse: Mionix Naos 8200
- Favorite switch: Capacitive Buckling Springs
- DT Pro Member: -
- Contact:
Are those pictures of any help?
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- Location: United Kingdom
- Main keyboard: Modded IBM Model F AT
- Main mouse: Mionix Naos 8200
- Favorite switch: Capacitive Buckling Springs
- DT Pro Member: -
- Contact:
Please anymore input?
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- Location: United Kingdom
- Main keyboard: Modded IBM Model F AT
- Main mouse: Mionix Naos 8200
- Favorite switch: Capacitive Buckling Springs
- DT Pro Member: -
- Contact:
Here is a picture of the back of the PCB and traces problem I see is the original controller is not detachable as it is on the same PCB as the switches please help.
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- 15689093068332321768394326105921.jpg (3.86 MiB) Viewed 6758 times
- 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
It's not an easy conversion. I bet that Intel chip, up top, is the controller and needs pulled out. The idea is to replace it with a Teensy++ or the like, and program that with TMK or whatever, with the matrix all worked out. As for the display? Beyond me.
I'd suggest handing this one off to someone with experience at this sort of thing. Or earn your chops by controller swapping some other, simpler boards, first.
I'd suggest handing this one off to someone with experience at this sort of thing. Or earn your chops by controller swapping some other, simpler boards, first.
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- Location: United Kingdom
- Main keyboard: Modded IBM Model F AT
- Main mouse: Mionix Naos 8200
- Favorite switch: Capacitive Buckling Springs
- DT Pro Member: -
- Contact:
So would I have to desolder the Intel chip? I ask as there is another chip on the PCB that is socketed which is the chip that says TG3 KBD 4-10-92 could that possibly be the controller chip?
Also when I plugged it into my IBM Model F XT soarers converter it registered as having a set 1 protocol how easy is that protocol to convert?
Thanks for all the help.
Also when I plugged it into my IBM Model F XT soarers converter it registered as having a set 1 protocol how easy is that protocol to convert?
Thanks for all the help.
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- Location: UK
- Main keyboard: Planck
- Main mouse: Cyborg Rat 7
- Favorite switch: Alps skcm white
- DT Pro Member: -
I would say that socketed chip would be the display program as you can see from the underside of the board and would make sense being removable and easily flashed when upgrading the software. T think before starting to remove chips etc it is best to first establish the pins that are for the matrix. Given that as shown in the underside there are no obvious traces connecting the rows/columns to the circuitry on top then these traces must be on the top of the pcb as i doubt this is a multi layer pcb.
download/file.php?id=56170
In this image, you can see traces going down disappearing below the plate, there is a similar chip on the other side of the controller. I believe these are shift registers which are designed to expand the IO of the controller and are probably where the matrix is. The same pins on the underside of the pcb coloured yellow can then be used along with a multimeter on continuity to then work out the switch matrix. Number the shift register pins as you see fit (remembering that the order will be reversed on the top side of the pcb) then set the multimeter to continuity. Place one probe on the switch pin, then run the other probe along the shift register pins until you hear a beep then write down that pin 1 of that switch goes to pin x of the shift register. As the matrix has diodes you would want to measure from the diode to the shift register and that would be the other pin of the switch. What you should then get is the switch matrix which can then be used later to wire up the teensy, assuming that you do not find an easier non destructive way of converting it first. Though if you are needing to change the functionality of the keys then you would probably need the controller replacement anyway to enable programming.
download/file.php?id=56170
In this image, you can see traces going down disappearing below the plate, there is a similar chip on the other side of the controller. I believe these are shift registers which are designed to expand the IO of the controller and are probably where the matrix is. The same pins on the underside of the pcb coloured yellow can then be used along with a multimeter on continuity to then work out the switch matrix. Number the shift register pins as you see fit (remembering that the order will be reversed on the top side of the pcb) then set the multimeter to continuity. Place one probe on the switch pin, then run the other probe along the shift register pins until you hear a beep then write down that pin 1 of that switch goes to pin x of the shift register. As the matrix has diodes you would want to measure from the diode to the shift register and that would be the other pin of the switch. What you should then get is the switch matrix which can then be used later to wire up the teensy, assuming that you do not find an easier non destructive way of converting it first. Though if you are needing to change the functionality of the keys then you would probably need the controller replacement anyway to enable programming.
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- Location: United Kingdom
- Main keyboard: Modded IBM Model F AT
- Main mouse: Mionix Naos 8200
- Favorite switch: Capacitive Buckling Springs
- DT Pro Member: -
- Contact:
Will try and do this tonight this is my first time doing this kind of PCB tracing so let hope I can cope.
Thanks for the help.
Thanks for the help.
- 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
Take a look at this for some help:
viewtopic.php?p=450022#p450022
Matrix mapping is a bit of a black art. But it's step 1 for any controller replacement.
viewtopic.php?p=450022#p450022
Matrix mapping is a bit of a black art. But it's step 1 for any controller replacement.
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- Location: United Kingdom
- Main keyboard: Modded IBM Model F AT
- Main mouse: Mionix Naos 8200
- Favorite switch: Capacitive Buckling Springs
- DT Pro Member: -
- Contact:
I will take a look at that Thanks.
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- Location: United Kingdom
- Main keyboard: Modded IBM Model F AT
- Main mouse: Mionix Naos 8200
- Favorite switch: Capacitive Buckling Springs
- DT Pro Member: -
- Contact:
I have fully mapped the key matrix of the key communications keyboard sorry about going from 18 to 22 for the pins. It is because I thought there were other pins involved but either way we can still determine the key matrix. Please let me know if this helps in converterting the keyboard and what firmware I would use on the pro micro.
Thanks.
Thanks.
- swampangel
- Location: Canada
- Main keyboard: Northgate Omnikey 101
- DT Pro Member: -
You've mapped the rows. There will be another set of (more) pins representing the columns.
You can look at the back and see traces going across that form the row. The adjacent pins will form the columns.
The yellow line is a row. The red circles are *examples* of the pins you will have to map to form the columns.
You can look at the back and see traces going across that form the row. The adjacent pins will form the columns.
The yellow line is a row. The red circles are *examples* of the pins you will have to map to form the columns.