Northgate Omnikey 101 SKCM White Alps
Thanks to exhortations from Fohat, I picked up this gem from eBay for about 60 USD shipped. It arrived expertly packed and in excellent working condition. It was also reasonably clean for an eBay purchase. Furthermore, this particular Northgate model had the standard ANSI layout with a horizontal Enter key rather than a flipped L design.
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Although I began my mechanical keyboard journey with full-size keyboards (IBM XT and IBM Model M), shortly after seriously entering enthusiast territory my favorite form factors became TKL and 60%. After acclimating to these compact versions, I thought I would never go back to a full-size keyboard, but as soon as I typed on the Omnikey 101, I decided to clean it up and add it to my active rotation.
One of the first things I noticed about the Omnikey 101 was its substantial weight -- 4 lbs 12 oz (about 2.15 kg). It also felt extremely solid with no flex or creaking. The heft and solidity derive from a steel plate fastened with four screws and a steel back on the case held to the thick plastic top by six screws. The construction makes the Omnikey 101 feel even sturdier than an IBM Model M. Unlike the Model M, the Northgate is not held together with plastic rivets that degrade and break over time. Apparently, the Omnikey 101 was introduced in 1991, the same year that IBM turned over production of the Model M to Lexmark.
The keycaps are attractive ABS doubleshots with touches of color, such as red legends on the Esc and Ctrl keys.
Typing on the Omnikey 101 is a pleasure. The switches are SKCM white Alps, and on this board they feel extremely smooth. I find the switch weight ideal for me -- neither too heavy nor too light. Likewise, the click is audible without being overly noisy, and the tactility provides reassuring feedback without being overbearing. Indeed, I find these white Alps just about as satisfying as the blue Alps on my Leading Edge DC-2014. As others have noted, the perceived (and/or actual) quality of white Alps seems to vary quite a lot, depending upon manufacturing parameters and how clean the switches are.
On the top left of the keyboard there is a little door with the Northgate logo that hides a bank of 8 DIP switches and a red selector switch. These enable a number of features, including swapping CapsLock and Ctrl (along with Alt and Ctrl on the bottom row), switching the entire keyboard to a Dvorak layout, and changing the repeat rate.
When I started the clean the board, I was initially disappointed when it seemed that the logo was slightly damaged. It turned out that it still had the thin protective film attached. I peeled off the film revealing a pristine logo that looked like it was made just yesterday. Likewise, the label on the bottom of the board was in perfect condition.
I happen to like detachable cables, and the Omni has a DIN6 female cable connector on the back right-hand side. The supplied cable terminates with a male AT-type connector. I attached this to an active "Blue Cube" USB adapter, plugged it into the USB hub to my computer, and the keyboard was up and running. All the keys registered and the three lock lights worked. It would be quite easy to modify this board to a flush-mount USB connector either with or without a Soarer's converter. Notice also the flip-out legs to elevate the board to what I consider a comfortable typing height. Behind the feet are tabs that can be used for cable management.
Another treat came when I discovered that the keyboard worked with my Hasu USB-USB converter. I suppose I should not have been surprised by this, given that the keyboard worked with an active AT to USB converter. However, I had set up the Hasu converter to work with standard-layout TKL and 60% keyboards, and I would need to remap it slightly to account for the Winkeyless layout of the Omnikey 101. For now, to get my preferred HHKB layout, I will be using keyboard remapping software.
Overall, I highly recommend the Northgate Omnikey 101 for those who like tactile/clicky Alps switches in a full-size keyboard with a standard ANSI layout.
It's not often I like dark caps on a light case.
