Strange new Alps switches in Sweden

elecplus · 12 Nov 2016, 18:43

These do not appear to be in the wiki.
http://www.bde.se/welcome.htm A gent in Sweden bought some of these switches from them, paying about $2 for 10 pieces. http://i.imgur.com/L5agnfc.jpg
The part number might be 58990003 and 58990002 which was the number mentioned in the catalog. http://www.bde.se/skat11_1.pdf

elecplus · 12 Nov 2016, 18:51

Update: According to Daniel Beardsmore, these are wiki/Alps_SKFF_series

Chyros · 13 Nov 2016, 00:10

Ooooh, SKFFs, interesting. Maybe I can get a few off of him

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elecplus · 13 Nov 2016, 01:55

Daniel did not buy them. Another person on a different list did. But you can order them off the catalog, I think.

Chyros · 13 Nov 2016, 02:59

They're an interesting design, I've been curious about them for a while. I'll see if I can get in contact with the guy

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atrere · 15 Nov 2016, 03:58

Man, if I spoke a lick of Swedish, I'd order a keyboard's worth. Stacked spring designs are fascinating.

Scarpia · 15 Nov 2016, 11:55

The two part numbers are both Alps, but have different depths below the plate (as seen in the photos in the OP). I have ordered a couple of packs of each so I could send a couple to whoever is interested (unless the original discoverer steps forward, that is). I haven't ordered a full keyboard's worth though

Scarpia · 16 Nov 2016, 11:08

The woman from BDE just emailed me back asking about the switches, since she's just had 3 people contact her about them including from the UK, which I'm sure doesn't happen every day

She'd been told about Deskthority by one of the people ordering, so she has an idea what the attention is about. Anyway, she seems very pleased that these switches might find some use, since they aren't really good for anything else. I've asked her how many they have in stock -- if they turn out to be great switches (a long shot?), it would be wonderful if there is enough supply to build at least a few full keyboards.

atrere · 19 Nov 2016, 01:23

Keep us updated. At absolute best, this could be (forgive the optimism here) Alps-made beam-spring equivalents with a mount that supports readily available NOS doubleshot SA via the Pingmaster.

drevyek · 19 Nov 2016, 02:12

It's the same mount as SKCC, right? So that'd mean that the M0110 and M011A are also in play for caps and plates.

Nuum · 19 Nov 2016, 02:25

On the smaller switches the footprint seems to be the same as on SKCC switches but the mount is different, it's angled and features a bar instead of a cross mount. So Apple M0110 and Pingmaster caps will most likely not fit.
The bigger switches are another story, the mount might be the same but the footprint is different.

drevyek · 19 Nov 2016, 03:17

The SKFF look almost like Futaba mount, or Mitsumi mount. Looking at Haata's photo album, they look like they might fit a wide range of caps. Only one way to find out though!

Futaba: wiki/File:BBC_Micro_Type_1_switch.jpg
Mitsumi: wiki/File:Mitsumi_standard_mechanical_l ... nition.jpg

Scarpia · 21 Nov 2016, 16:48

Just received a few bags of these. The short one is linear, while the big/tall one is ...wait for it.. clicky

I'll be sending out switches to various interested parties in the next few days, so they can be examined and documented more thoroughly.

Chyros · 21 Nov 2016, 16:52

Scarpia wrote: Just received a few bags of these. The short one is linear, while the big/tall one is ...wait for it.. clicky

I'll be sending out switches to various interested parties in the next few days, so they can be examined and documented more thoroughly.

Excellent! Yeah, SKFFs are supposed to be clicky, they're a vertical derivative of Alps plate spring switches

(except a bit more complicated, apparently). Looking forward to getting my hands on these switches!

Scarpia · 21 Nov 2016, 17:11

Ah but of course, I don't know why I had it in my mind that these were going to be linear

Another thing I noticed even with no equipment: the clicky sound can differ in pitch from one switch to the next. Not sure it would be noticeable in a keyboard (and you could just group them by pitch I suppose), but clicking them side by side and listening for it, you will notice a difference.

Chyros · 02 Dec 2016, 18:08

Bam, doing a new keyboard switch series exploring fun switches like these. The SKFFs are part 1, hope you enjoy

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Scarpia · 02 Dec 2016, 21:18

Excellent video Chyros! These turned out as interesting on the inside as their sound and feel.

drevyek · 03 Dec 2016, 07:41

I was hoping to hear them actuate in the video. I saw it on my youtube feed, and immediately thought "oh dang, he got those swedish SKFFs. Wonder what they sound like?"

What's the feeling of the super short springs? Compared to P70/75 plate-, or beamsprings?

Also, what is the keycap mount on them? Do they fit cherry or mitsumi? Or M0110 caps?

Chyros · 03 Dec 2016, 13:20

drevyek wrote: I was hoping to hear them actuate in the video. I saw it on my youtube feed, and immediately thought "oh dang, he got those swedish SKFFs. Wonder what they sound like?"

What's the feeling of the super short springs? Compared to P70/75 plate-, or beamsprings?

Also, what is the keycap mount on them? Do they fit cherry or mitsumi? Or M0110 caps?

Hahah, yeah, I probably should've put that in xD .

They sound and feel less extreme than normal Alps plate spring. They retain full travel despite the short spring, and feel really smooth and nice, with a subtle tactile bump and click. The mount fits SKCC caps, although M0110 caps have a downward-facing lip that clashes with the switch housing.

drevyek · 03 Dec 2016, 20:00

Chyros wrote: They sound and feel less extreme than normal Alps plate spring. They retain full travel despite the short spring, and feel really smooth and nice, with a subtle tactile bump and click.

Awesome! There sound fantastic. Glad to hear on the full travel, too.

The mount fits SKCC caps, although M0110 caps have a downward-facing lip that clashes with the switch housing.

That'd be why the M0110's use Tall Cream stems as opposed to the standard short stems. That's a shame- the M0110 is basically a modern layout.
But they would fit the pingmaster boards? that's pretty good to know- seems to be quite a few of them floating around.

Did we ever get to know how many they have in stock?

Chyros · 03 Dec 2016, 20:06

drevyek wrote:
Chyros wrote: They sound and feel less extreme than normal Alps plate spring. They retain full travel despite the short spring, and feel really smooth and nice, with a subtle tactile bump and click.
Awesome! There sound fantastic. Glad to hear on the full travel, too.

The mount fits SKCC caps, although M0110 caps have a downward-facing lip that clashes with the switch housing.
That'd be why the M0110's use Tall Cream stems as opposed to the standard short stems. That's a shame- the M0110 is basically a modern layout.
But they would fit the pingmaster boards? that's pretty good to know- seems to be quite a few of them floating around.

Did we ever get to know how many they have in stock?

Well they fit the caps, but not the boards, I think the pinouts and/or footprint wouldn't be compatible.

Mr.Nobody · 20 Dec 2016, 23:11