deskthority

MrDuul wrote: g***l?

Is it the beginning and last letter in the name?

Looks like my username!

You are a***g

Ah ok you are right.

I just need these switches ok? No hard feelings I will take pictures and add to wiki

http://www.ebay.com/itm/162541800054?_t ... 1758.m4704

Got a IBM M15 reserved for me.

MrDuul wrote: Got a IBM M15 reserved for me.

this is for you to post great finds, not for you to show off...

Here is a great find,

Vintage Acer kb-101a keyboard (skcm blue alps) $360.00 + $15 ship.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Acer-kb ... SwY3BZLh5A

From the seller:

"This board was originally meant to be a custom SKCM amber alps build - but after trying it out for a few weeks, I decided amber alps are a little too harsh for me. I spent a lot of time on this board making it look nice - here are the things I did to improve the board:
- hand cleaned each blue alps switch
- sand-blasted and painted the switch mounting plate
- replaced the thin ABS acer caps with double shot Tai Hao switches for the RGB writing on some modifier keys
- replaced the spacebar switch with an SKCM amber switch
- replaced the broken cable that came with the board (the current cable is from an acer 6011)"

I am a bit suspicious of cleaned alps switches. Because it means they were compelled to clean out the switches that they thought were scratchy and you cant take the scratchyness from alps.

codemonkeymike wrote: I am a bit suspicious of cleaned alps switches. Because it means they were compelled to clean out the switches that they thought were scratchy and you cant take the scratchyness from alps.

Same on the mounting plate. Why did it need to be sandblasted unless it was crusty and rusty to begin with? That alone would make the switches suspect.

for any other Brits out there, here's a cheap at102w in great condition and also a good condition model m ISO

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-IBM-K ... SwYvFZIdOF

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dell-AT102W-v ... Swq1JZMHtd

And agreed with codemonkeymike, it seems the seller put a lot of work into that keyboard, that instantly makes me wonder why he did. If it was in good condition in the first place you wouldn't need to put so much work in to it, and we all know alps keyboards in bad condition should be avoided due to the switches feeling like shit. Not to mention the seller knows exactly what he's selling and he's asking a shit load of money for it. I wouldn't go for it even if I had the money.

IBM 3277s on a classified in Madrid, Spain.

There's at least one DT user from Madrid, right?

No idea what the seller might expect for them, it's an "offers welcome" ad.

"para coleccionistas o fanáticos de la informática". Lol. Yo soy un fanático, de veras!

Techno Trousers wrote: "para coleccionistas o fanáticos de la informática". Lol. Yo soy un fanático, de veras!

"For collectors or computer fans". LOL. I am a fanatic, really!

Is this for the whole terminal?

Rare Vintage Epson Equity Computer Q503A computer keyboard made in Japan
Is this Fujitsu Leaf Spring switch?
$40 free ship
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-Vintage-Ep ... SwUKxYZIqR

snuci wrote: […] Incidentally, b***a is also known as g***l. For some reason, older auctions show those two letters.

eBay assigns a different code to the same buyer in the bid history and in the seller's feedback.
Here for example the highest bidder in this G80-2100 sale is coded differently in the bid history and in the seller's feedback.
Moreover, a different code can be shown depending on from where you access the bid history:
http://www.ebay.com/bfl/viewbids/172655 ... 7675.l2565
http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 7675.l2565

This is a consistent eBay feature.

cml wrote: IBM 3277s on a classified in Madrid, Spain.

There's at least one DT user from Madrid, right?

No idea what the seller might expect for them, it's an "offers welcome" ad.

Ok m8s I'm in talks with the guy.
In about 7 hours I'm visiting him.
I'll keep you all posted

Scottex wrote:

cml wrote: IBM 3277s on a classified in Madrid, Spain.

There's at least one DT user from Madrid, right?

No idea what the seller might expect for them, it's an "offers welcome" ad.

Ok m8s I'm in talks with the guy.
In about 7 hours I'm visiting him.
I'll keep you all posted

Congratulations! What a nice find.

Thanks for sharing, cml!

Scottex wrote:

cml wrote: IBM 3277s on a classified in Madrid, Spain.

There's at least one DT user from Madrid, right?

No idea what the seller might expect for them, it's an "offers welcome" ad.

Ok m8s I'm in talks with the guy.
In about 7 hours I'm visiting him.
I'll keep you all posted

Hello everyone! My first post in this fantastic community.

A newbie question: is that a beamspring? It seems they have three of them:
http://es.wallapop.com/item/ibm-de-1980 ... 0-64357555

unoquepasa wrote:

Scottex wrote:
Hello everyone! My first post in this fantastic community.

A newbie question: is that a beamspring? It seems they have three of them:
http://es.wallapop.com/item/ibm-de-1980 ... 0-64357555

Yes indeed. Nice find, and welcome:-)

Edit: Here's a link from the DT Wiki on this system (including info on the keyboard)

http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/ ... _Dec77.pdf

ekeppel wrote:

unoquepasa wrote:

Scottex wrote:
Hello everyone! My first post in this fantastic community.

A newbie question: is that a beamspring? It seems they have three of them:
http://es.wallapop.com/item/ibm-de-1980 ... 0-64357555

Yes indeed. Nice find, and welcome:-)

Thank you.

It seems scottex might be very busy. Madrid is relatively near from Ontígola.

MrDuul wrote: Here is a great find,

Vintage Acer kb-101a keyboard (skcm blue alps) $360.00 + $15 ship.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Acer-kb ... SwY3BZLh5A

From the seller:

"This board was originally meant to be a custom SKCM amber alps build - but after trying it out for a few weeks, I decided amber alps are a little too harsh for me. I spent a lot of time on this board making it look nice - here are the things I did to improve the board:
- hand cleaned each blue alps switch
- sand-blasted and painted the switch mounting plate
- replaced the thin ABS acer caps with double shot Tai Hao switches for the RGB writing on some modifier keys
- replaced the spacebar switch with an SKCM amber switch
- replaced the broken cable that came with the board (the current cable is from an acer 6011)"

You guys all know you're commenting on and kind of crapping on Gainsborough's hard work, right? He has this board listed for less on our very own forums, and I would trust he put the work into it because he loves the board - if he says the switches are working and feel good, who are we to doubt that? Even if I had a board with Alps switches in good condition, I would still take the tops off and clean them out and make sure to clean the board inside and out, because this is my hobby and I love doing it.

codemonkeymike wrote: I am a bit suspicious of cleaned alps switches. Because it means they were compelled to clean out the switches that they thought were scratchy and you cant take the scratchyness from alps.

What a strange notion, and untrue. The restoration aspect of this hobby revolves around going into the most intimate of detail to bring the keyboard back into top shape, and when it comes to ALPS SKCL/M, unless the board is practically NIB they are never in top shape. He had the means to clean them, so he did. I don't really understand the point.

Regarding being unable to remove the scratchiness from them, you can strongly improve them with an ultrasonic cleaner. Of course there exists a point where they are beyond help, but that's Taobao territory

subcat wrote: The restoration aspect of this hobby revolves around going into the most intimate of detail to bring the keyboard back into top shape, and when it comes to ALPS SKCL/M, unless the board is practically NIB they are never in top shape. He had the means to clean them, so he did. I don't really understand the point.

Does he have the means to clean them? What do you define as top shape? The way I see it is that I don't know his process and it is generally right to assume that most people would choose to not open up a switch if it felt not scratchy as there are less crazy "clean everything down to the pcb" type people in the world then one may think.

subcat wrote: Regarding being unable to remove the scratchiness from them, you can strongly improve them with an ultrasonic cleaner. Of course there exists a point where they are beyond help, but that's Taobao territory

Alps have a higher surface area with the contacts so they have more points of wear wether that leads to more scratchiness is a point of contention. I have an ultra sonic cleaner and I know it can only do so much. Anecdotally I have not been able to improve a switch to the point were it would be close enough to new or lightly used to be acceptable for me.

codemonkeymike wrote:

subcat wrote: The restoration aspect of this hobby revolves around going into the most intimate of detail to bring the keyboard back into top shape, and when it comes to ALPS SKCL/M, unless the board is practically NIB they are never in top shape. He had the means to clean them, so he did. I don't really understand the point.

Does he have the means to clean them? What do you define as top shape? The way I see it is that I don't know his process and it is generally right to assume that most people would choose to not open up a switch if it felt not scratchy as there are less crazy "clean everything down to the pcb" type people in the world then one may think.

subcat wrote: Regarding being unable to remove the scratchiness from them, you can strongly improve them with an ultrasonic cleaner. Of course there exists a point where they are beyond help, but that's Taobao territory

Alps have a higher surface area with the contacts so they have more points of wear wether that leads to more scratchiness is a point of contention. I have an ultra sonic cleaner and I know it can only do so much. Anecdotally I have not been able to improve a switch to the point were it would be close enough to new or lightly used to be acceptable for me.

I guess I would define 'top shape' as lightly used or new, as you said. They are nototious for being more susceptible to dust and dirt (as I'm sure you know) and the general consensus from alps fanatics is that most of the time the switches they get are noticeably worn, but that's usually improved by the ultrasonic process. Gains has a big ol ultrasonic cleaner, so why not throw em in there?
Anyway, regardless of all that I don't agree with the way people jumped to conclusions in this thread under the pretense of basically nothing. If you had queries about the condition of the switches you could have just asked him, he would no doubt reply honestly.

Beamspring with a built in wasps nest

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Ibm-D ... 2137701350

@codemonkeymike @ekkepel
Of course the board was dusty, that's why I cleaned it. The plate had minor rust spots, and I didn't want to hand sand it, so I had it blasted to save time, and plus I wanted to re-paint the plate anyway because I think it looks really nice with the color I used. The switches were also dusty, that's true, which is why I cleaned all of them. None of the dust caused any irreversible damage to sliders and top housing rails - I actually haven't run into any switches bad enough to not benefit greatly from being cleaned yet *knocks on wood* - though, I also haven't purchased any taobao level switches.

As I said in my [WTS] post, the switches are certainly not on high tier/unused blue alps level - the board was purchased used, so that was never going to be the case anyway - I do, however, feel that they are good representatives of blue alps. This community has done so much for me, I would never try to deceive community members into buying a shitty keyboard.

If there are questions about the board, though, I will certainly reply to any PMs.

@harshmallow @subcat
appreciate it, dudes =)

I certainly don't follow every thread here on DT or GH, and it's nearly impossible to correlate most DT/GH members with their eBay usernames, so no offense was intended with my comment.

Like many, I believe it's wise to be cautious when buying on eBay, and there's there's really nothing wrong about trying to deduce an item's condition when we don't have a lot to go on, is there?

Knowing that the listing comes from a fellow DT member changes things a great deal. I wish you all the best in your auction!

removed.

DoctorDubplate wrote: Beamspring with a built in wasps nest

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Ibm-D ... 2137701350

dayum, dayum, dayum.......and UK layout isn't so bad....ships to UK only, though

cml wrote: IBM 3277s on a classified in Madrid, Spain.

There's at least one DT user from Madrid, right?

No idea what the seller might expect for them, it's an "offers welcome" ad.

unoquepasa wrote:
Hello everyone! My first post in this fantastic community.

A newbie question: is that a beamspring? It seems they have three of them:
http://es.wallapop.com/item/ibm-de-1980 ... 0-64357555

DoctorDubplate wrote: Beamspring with a built in wasps nest

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Ibm-D ... 2137701350

That's five for today .

---

Is this what I think it might be?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Texas-Instrumen ... 2240166204

Slom wrote: Is this what I think it might be?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Texas-Instrumen ... 2240166204

SD series hall effect

keyboards-f2/ti-portable-terminal-with- ... 13465.html

ekeppel wrote: I certainly don't follow every thread here on DT or GH, and it's nearly impossible to correlate most DT/GH members with their eBay usernames, so no offense was intended with my comment.

Like many, I believe it's wise to be cautious when buying on eBay, and there's there's really nothing wrong about trying to deduce an item's condition when we don't have a lot to go on, is there?

Knowing that the listing comes from a fellow DT member changes things a great deal. I wish you all the best in your auction!

Indeed, the issue is trust and I trust no one on ebay. But I do trust those on DT/GH.