deskthority

This is a simple Mod that I am doing to get my Model F terminal keyboard ready for daily use once my replacement controller arrives. More photos will be uploaded when finished.

The first stage of the process was the usually dissemble and cleaning I don't have any photos of this but the usual process applies soak all plastic parts in hot water with dishwasher soap or washing powder I like http://www.costco.co.uk/view/product/uk ... 8.1/119903 this stuff will clean anything

The back plate and bottom of the steel plate where painted with matt black hammerite spray paint, I wish now I had used some sort of primer first but it does the job. Next time i will go the whole hog and take it all the way down to the metal acid etch prime and use a satin black spray paint and then seal it.

First of all I fitted a full sized USB B connector to the hole in the back plate where the original cable came out( i do not trust mini USB i have supported older blackberries in a corporate environment for too log to have anything but a deep built in hatred of them, they all fail its just a matter of how long until they do, and my fingers are too fat for micro), its just the right hight ( how did they know!) but if you have quite a fat socket like i had you will have to remove the plastic cover on the bottom of it, 2 holes drilled with a hand drill allow it to be fixed to the inner case.


Next was to make a hole for the USB port in the plastic case, not too hard, used a dremmle like tool to cut away and then a file to smooth it off, a little bit messy but i am considering painting the case anyway. It fits very well i impressed myself with this one




This was to reinforced the case where I cut it, a few thin bits of plastic and what i like to call poor man's fibreglass ( gaffa tape soaked in super-glue) this wont add a huge amount of strength ( although it does support it more than you would think) its mainly to stop cracks forming in the now 30 year old plastic.



The ribbon cable had come off the board ( about 5 of the connections ) this may be why the usual converter would not work but it had to be replaced and i was dammed if i was de-soldering that ribbon cable form the controller and then somehow stripping tinning and re-soldering it, far quicker to just replace it with some wire of about the same gauge and jut make sure its about the same length when i solder in the new controller. ( gaffa tape again saves the day insulating the wires, once the controller is in place and tested the wires will be hot glued into place)


That is it so far, I have some keys on order form unicomp to PC'ífy the layout a bit, mainly just the number pad keys around the outside, Insert, Home, Page up and so. The left hand keys will be Prnt Screen, Scroll Lock, Pause and Esc as they are not in the usual place on the terminal layout the remaining keys will be numbed M1 to M6 ( macro keys for autohotkey scripts ) F1 to F24 will be ordered when i have a little more cash they will be green keys as a throwback to my very first computer this little baby http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org ... A3010.html ( best rubber domes i have ever used by the way)

Does anyone know the colour code for the plastic that IBM used on the F and M I would like to repaint the case as there are a few scratches and cracks i have had to patch up but i don't want it to change i want it to look original.

Also does anyone know where i can get a decent full sized USB A to B cable that coiled ? The only ones I can find are micro.

Nice. I look forward to seeing this finished.

If you're going to paint it anyway, you could aim for the much sought-after IBM Indistrual grey. I know that rindorbot here on the forums did just that to his Kishsaver.

And as for the USB cable, you could ask Pexon to make you a custom one. Otherwise, you could just buy a hot air gun and a really long USB cable, but I don't know how well that would work.

OO that's a good point industrial could work if anyone know what colour to use for that let me know!

I think rindorbot told us RAL 40 stone grey, but double check perhaps!

RAL 7030 Stonegrey!
http://deskthority.net/photos-f62/kishs ... t7483.html

Some case repair work, the idea of that 7030 paint is growing on me i am going to see what a local paint shop would charge to prime and spray it.



New Space bar stabiliser, yes i know its a mess ( nothing a bit of paint wont hide) it took quite a bit of trial and error to get the right size of metal strip bent at the correct angle, is nice and sturdy now ( thanks to corsair for its thick steel PCI slot covers )


smashed right shift, i hope i can use a model M one with the insert as there is a free barrel next to it



Edit

I just tried it with the model M right shift and stabiliser insert and lets just say that insert aint coming out any time soon.
The barrels must be smaller on the F, the shift key was also very stiff to press down leading me to think that the space between the barrels on an F is ever so slightly different than an M i am open to suggestions on this ( oh and if anyone has another stabiliser insert in the UK i would be happy to take it off your hands i aint damaging the barrel off my F to save my crappy lexmark model m 's right shift that i hardly ever use anyway

My cable arrived a few days ago

(Not my photo but it is my cable)

Wow, gorgeous. How much does a cable like that set you back?

About £20 but it depends on the length of the cable and the spec,

http://deskthority.net/vendors-f52/pexo ... t4583.html

this guy does an amazing job worth every penny

I was aware of Pexon, but this cable really caught my eye. Thanks!

Simple but stylish

its HMS grey if you are interested

UPDATE ( pictures soon)


OK the replacement controller is installed and working well, i will have to replace the full sized b connector on the back as the one i got is not working well for this application.

I will get one without a cable and just legs and wire it into the end of a cheap micro USB.

Key caps have been replaced mostly with ones from an XT and they feel far better ( 1 part caps).

I have also done a slight modification to the barrels, they where moving slightly as i think my foam is a bit thin, i put a small drop of super glue in the gap between the barrel and the metal plate, not enough to glue it in permanently but enough to stop it moving. This has improved the key feel even further it feels on part with an XT now.

Still unsure on the paint i am happy with the look at the moment but its not perfect due to a few repaired cracks, so the question is do i go grey or do i just get some paint close to what it is now and touch up the cracks?

I still don't know what i am going to do about the F row, i would like green F keys but i don't think unicomp can do F13 to F24 and even if they can there printing is crappy compared to the older printing.

For anyone using the replacement capsence controller on a 122 F this is m current layout ( no layers implemented yet, please note that your calibration keys may be different depending on the design of the PCB.