Beginner Introduction

[Trent]

Hello all, I am Trent.

I wanted to introduce myself, give a bit of background, and ask some beginner questions. So, I am new to the input device subculture since about two days ago. I saw an IBM Model M and something changed inside of me (lol)...

So, I've enjoyed clicky keyboards for a very long time, but have never been into the technical specifications of them, or modifications. For the longest time I had an offbrand AT keyboard that was clicky. I don't recall the model, but I do remember a weird feature of it was that it had F13-F20 keys. I spilled a bawls on it, and well that was the end of that one.

For the longest time, I have been using a Focus 2001 (FK-2001)


That is not a picture of mine, but it is the same model. It originally came with a plastic dustcover, but I hated it so I took it off of the keyboard. So, my dilemma is, am I using the god tier, or should I still shoot for an IBM Model M? Mine is a bit out of shape, but I am terrified of breaking it during a cleaning. What cleaning products do you use to make your clicky keyboards nice? What is your best resource to find clicky keyboards? Where would I go about looking to find replacement keys for my shift, alt, ctrl, and esc to pimp out the board?

So many questions, and I am sure that I will have to go ask these again on sub threads, but I just wanted to give a small introduction rant. This is a very cool board and I look forward to reading and writing on it!

Trent

[Ascaii]

Alright...first off welcome to the club

For cleaning I use: a can of compressed air, some q-tips, swabs, warm water, simple green, paper towels, and dental tabs. The dental tabs are used for the keys...remove the keys and put them in a bowl with the tabs. Let them dry afterwards. Compressed air + wet q-tips take care of cleaning the barrel plate.

For replacement caps for the model M you will need to get in touch with Unicomp in Kentucky.
For Alps...youll have better luck with vintage boards.

[Trent]

Ok, another question. This is an AT keyboard, I have it modified to connect to PS/2 to my desktop. I have tried adding a PS/2 -> USB adapter (the simple ones) but they have failed to work. Do I need a special PS/2 -> USB adapter or are there just too many adapters? I would love to have:
AT -> PS/2 -> USB -> Extended USB Cable -> Computer

Or if there is a straight AT -> USB that works too!

[Gilgam]

i have two boards with AT -> PS/2 -> USB -> Computer and it works fine.
Some PS2/Usb adapters fail with some keyboard. The blue cube is big but works fine.

I didn't find any AT/USB adapter

[Ascaii]

The blue cube/ziotek seems to be the best one available.

[RC-1140]

Well, basically PS/2 is the same protocol as the AT Protocol, with the plug as the only difference, so a good PS/2 -> USB Adaptor should work for AT keyboards as well. The only problem is, that some adaptors don't deliver enough power to the PS/2 plug, with the result, that some mechanical keyboards don't work with them. The blue cube is always a good choice, but sometimes you're lucky with a cheap adaptor too. I for myself just bought 4 cheap PS/2 to USB Adaptors from the german online store "Pollin" and they work great with my Model M. Another common problem is, that some adaptors only support ANSI, but not ISO, so the 105th key (the one next to the left Shift) doesn't work.

RC-1140

[Mrinterface]

Ok, another question. This is an AT keyboard, I have it modified to connect to PS/2 to my desktop. I have tried adding a PS/2 -> USB adapter (the simple ones) but they have failed to work. Do I need a special PS/2 -> USB adapter or are there just too many adapters? I would love to have:
AT -> PS/2 -> USB -> Extended USB Cable -> Computer

Or if there is a straight AT -> USB that works too!

1. I never found a AT->USB.

2. I use several AT to PS/2 and PS/2 to USB converters. Some work , some don't. I never really got a handle on them. I just keep trying till the combination of them work...

Typing this on a AT connected chicony kb-5181 :

The AT to PS/2 to USB

P1010935.JPG (144.86 KiB) Viewed 5372 times

[Trent]

Oh I see! I was using some basic converter but I'll try a few others. I have seen the blue one sold at a few places online, and always saw that it got great ratings. After some researching I have found the understanding between alps and other key models.

If dental caps don't work with the keys, will bleach and water work? I am looking to get the white keys whiter. Most of them have dingy yellow tint from age.

[mintberryminuscrunch]

i can recommend

Code: Select all

 aten uc-10km 

[RC-1140]

well, the best solution for yellowing is retr0brite, but that might be a little too oversized.

And for USB/PS2 adaptors the most important thing is, that it's an active adaptor. These small purple USB/PS2 plug adaptors do nothing but connect the PS/2 pins to the USB pins. They do absolutely no conversion. These active things really convert the PS/2 protocol to the USB HID protocol.

[Ascaii]

bleach is tricky...it might cause some reactions with the plastic leading to ugly caps. I would recommend trying the bleach/water on the bottom of a cap for 10 minutes and seeing if there is any melting/discoloring.

[Trent]

The cleaning suggestions helped a lot! The FK-2000 is working better than it ever has. Thanks for the introductions!

[Ascaii]

sounds good, what did you do?

[Trent]

I got all of the keys off (really need to get a key puller though, got a few small scratches on the edges of some of them but no worries. Put all of the keys in a bowl with warm water and put denture cleaning tabs in (I assume that is what you meant by dental tabs, if not either way it worked great). Used some simply lysol wipes on the board. I had trouble getting the case off and didn't want to damage the keyboard so I didnt take the shell off. Compressed air cans on the switches, turns out I have white alps switches. Let the keys dry for about 30min, and when placing them back on shot compressed air inside of them. The results were good, it took a few hours for the keys to 100% dryout but it was a great success.

And I found a nifty link where a key making company was selling small alps key caps, and bought a red background white text Esc key for $1.25, will post a picture when I am done with the complete product.

[Ascaii]

I got all of the keys off (really need to get a key puller though, got a few small scratches on the edges of some of them but no worries. Put all of the keys in a bowl with warm water and put denture cleaning tabs in (I assume that is what you meant by dental tabs, if not either way it worked great). Used some simply lysol wipes on the board. I had trouble getting the case off and didn't want to damage the keyboard so I didnt take the shell off. Compressed air cans on the switches, turns out I have white alps switches. Let the keys dry for about 30min, and when placing them back on shot compressed air inside of them. The results were good, it took a few hours for the keys to 100% dryout but it was a great success.

And I found a nifty link where a key making company was selling small alps key caps, and bought a red background white text Esc key for $1.25, will post a picture when I am done with the complete product.

Great job, thats exactly what I meant. Denture tabs, the one thing every keyboard geek should have in his cleaning kit^^.

[Trent]

Great job, thats exactly what I meant. Denture tabs, the one thing every keyboard geek should have in his cleaning kit^^.

I did some research to determine if it was the right thing when I began the cleaning. It seems that they have a variety of uses for cleaning so I don't mind having the 40 tabs that I do.

[ripster]

Oops. Let's try again. Opening up a FK-2001:

http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title= ... Wiki#Other

[Trent]

Oops. Let's try again. Opening up a FK-2001:

http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title= ... Wiki#Other

Oh thank you I did not see this. Geekhack won't let me register an account for some reason, and I have not browsed that board quite yet.

[ripster]

Bunch of weirdos and homosexual brolove.

[Trent]

Bunch of weirdos and homosexual brolove.

I wouldn't know , no account lol