Got a hall effect microswitch, posting pics

[hallyscomet]

Hi guys, first post, thanks for having me. I bought a Microswitch hall-effect keyboard from eBay with the hope of making it my daily driver. Pictures for your pleasure below:


The keyboard itself.

Keycap.

The back has no identifying markers, except for this little window which probably says micro/switch.

The serial plug.

These are my assumptions:
It's hall-effect.
With a serial plug.
It "powers on."
Assuming my assumptions, my next step is to buy a serial to usb adapter and see what happens. I want it to connect via usb so I can use it with my laptop and desktop, even though it's likely going to be desktop-only.

Feel free to tell me how beautiful it is and request more pictures. I'll take it apart soon and show you that. I love it, especially the color scheme. Also feel free to correct me if it's not hall-effect or if it's not beautiful. We'll see how practical the arrow keys are (lol). I use linux, so eventually I'm going to have to construct some control, alt, super keys etc....

Any advice or thoughts on similar keyboards appreciated. Happy to be a member of this forum.

[Ascaii]

Talk to haata, he is the resident expert on these vintage switches.

[kps]

Didn't this keyboard come up in another thread recently? The keyboard is from a Burroughs B20 series machine. The odds of that DE9 connector being a "serial plug" (IBM PC style) are pretty close to zero — it's far more likely that applying RS232 voltages to it will toast the keyboard.

[hallyscomet]

Didn't this keyboard come up in another thread recently? The keyboard is from a Burroughs B20 series machine. The odds of that DE9 connector being a "serial plug" (IBM PC style) are pretty close to zero — it's far more likely that applying RS232 voltages to it will toast the keyboard.

Thanks I'll look into that. Bah! I was hoping it would be as simple as RS232, but if it's before that time, I'm probably out of luck. You are right, this is a Burroughs B20 keyboard, thanks. I'll look for that thread.

[kbdfr]

[…] I'll look for that thread.

http://deskthority.net/marketplace-f11/ ... t4172.html

[GH1391401]

good looking keyboard, life needs more 1/2 and 1/4 buttons

[Icarium]

It's beautiful!

You will probably need a Teensy to make an adapter but then it's just a matter of finding out the protocol.

[hallyscomet]

It's beautiful!

thanks!

You will probably need a Teensy to make an adapter but then it's just a matter of finding out the protocol.

I'm slowly gathering that. I'm seeing that this is going to be a long term project. I'll order a teensy soon and root around the keyboard to find out what I can.

[webwit]

Any advice or thoughts on similar keyboards appreciated. Happy to be a member of this forum.

Some similar keyboards here:

http://deskthority.net/keyboards-f2/the ... s-t98.html
http://deskthority.net/photos-videos-f8 ... t1381.html

Also info here:
http://deskthority.net/wiki/Honeywell_Hall_Effect

Great catch!

[HaaTa]

Oh, sent you a PM hallyscomet before I even looked at the thread

Anyways, already decoded the protocol for this one.

This is the Scan module I wrote https://gitorious.org/kiibohd-controlle ... Switch8304.

Bug me on IRC once you get a Teensy 2.0. Shouldn't need a ++, but safer.


I do have a pinout list somewhere. But it's probably in Canada...and I'm in California right now. Not too hard to figure out the pins though. Vcc and Gnd are usually pretty obvious. Just put some of the chip part numbers into google and trace the pins.

[hallyscomet]

Oh, sent you a PM hallyscomet before I even looked at the thread

Anyways, already decoded the protocol for this one.

This is the Scan module I wrote https://gitorious.org/kiibohd-controlle ... Switch8304.

Bug me on IRC once you get a Teensy 2.0. Shouldn't need a ++, but safer.


I do have a pinout list somewhere. But it's probably in Canada...and I'm in California right now. Not too hard to figure out the pins though. Vcc and Gnd are usually pretty obvious. Just put some of the chip part numbers into google and trace the pins.

Hot crackers, already decoded! I ordered a Teensy++ today, thanks.

[Icarium]

HaaTa knows so much about vintage keyboards that he was suspected of being a time traveller once. But then somebody noticed that if he had a time machine and only travelled 40 years to talk about keyboards he would have to be a complete idiot, so that theory was discarded.

[sth]

Hey a time traveller can have hobbies too.

[fossala]

Does this keyboard have hall effect switches?

[Icarium]

Looks like it in the second picture.

[HaaTa]

This keyboard was actually my daily driver for a good few weeks (quite a while for me). Enjoyed it much
Keycaps are nice and deep.

LEDs are controlled over a separate data line, so it's possible to use Lock as Ctrl . IIRC

Looking over my code (bah, just found a minor bug , doesn't really affect functionality though), looks like there are 3 "control" lines, then Vcc and Gnd.
1 for input data, 1 for output data, 1 reset/hold line

[hallyscomet]

Does this keyboard have hall effect switches?

Yup. It is really smooth. All I've done is pretend to type, as I haven't yet gotten my teensy.

This keyboard was actually my daily driver for a good few weeks (quite a while for me). Enjoyed it much
Keycaps are nice and deep.

These are the thickest keycaps I have ever seen! I want to run one over in a car to see if it would crack.

LEDs are controlled over a separate data line, so it's possible to use Lock as Ctrl . IIRC

Looking over my code (bah, just found a minor bug , doesn't really affect functionality though), looks like there are 3 "control" lines, then Vcc and Gnd.
1 for input data, 1 for output data, 1 reset/hold line

Lock as ctrl would be awesome, with code as alt. I use linux, and I'm always looking for keyboards without the cheesy Windows brand key. My window manager, awesome, uses the super key (the same key minus the brand) so I'll be looking for a replacement. Mayhap the meta-sounding "over type"?

[HaaTa]

Well, that's awesome...I'm an awesome user too
*cringe*

But yeah I think I used the over type or copy key for Super.

[fossala]

Got mine just now in the post. Good condition, just 2 scratches to the case (small ones).

[Ascaii]

Got mine just now in the post. Good condition, just 2 scratches to the case (small ones).

Did the seller have any more?

[fossala]

Don't think so, he didn't have good English though.

[HaaTa]

Oh, and for fossala and hallyscomet, something else. You'll need an inverter for the input data line (maybe for the output to the keyboard as well). A typical Hex Inverter will do fine (power it off of USB).

It did occur to me, but it "might" be possible to write a serial port driver for this keyboard. But it's really not worth it, since I'd have to program a different driver per OS...still easier just to use a protocol to usb adapter