New Beamspring Converters on Ebay

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tron

19 Apr 2019, 18:09

Just noticed this new converter shipping from China. Looks like it uses the stock connector-

https://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-Beam-Sprin ... Sw57Zctt5F

https://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-Beam-Sprin ... SwAJdcttLy
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JP!

19 Apr 2019, 20:20

I just found these as well. The same seller even has a converter for the hard to convert 3178 Model F.
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orihalcon

20 Apr 2019, 20:26

I saw those as well!

Main disadvantage I would say is seemingly being unable to change the layout. I'm half curious as to what the original speaker in a Displaywriter actually sounds like as I've never seen a video with that working with the original system, though probably is one out there somewhere.
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PlacaFromHell

20 Apr 2019, 20:45

Also stock beamsprings don't have a very slow scan rate or something like that? I remember that Chyros was complaining about something like that in his first beamspring review.
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tron

20 Apr 2019, 21:28

PlacaFromHell wrote: 20 Apr 2019, 20:45 Also stock beamsprings don't have a very slow scan rate or something like that? I remember that Chyros was complaining about something like that in his first beamspring review.
I'm pretty sure the voltage wasn't set properly in Chyrosran's 3278 review video (check out the comments calling out the dropped keys). Also if you watch the video at 1:43 you can see the Xwhatsit controller wasn't sitting flush against the PCB (the full size 3278 needs a notch cut in the controller to make full contact with all the PCB fingers). I couldn't even get my 3278 to register properly without the Xwhatsit mod so I'm surprised he was even able to type on it.

Regarding max typing speed on a beamspring, Mog genius hit 120wpm before getting drops (not sure if he had the solenoid on or not).
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PlacaFromHell

20 Apr 2019, 22:01

I thought he was using the older controller/converter (I don't remember the name). What do you mean with drops?
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tron

20 Apr 2019, 22:17

PlacaFromHell wrote: 20 Apr 2019, 22:01 I thought he was using the older controller/converter (I don't remember the name). What do you mean with drops?
It does look like the 3278 in his review video used an older Xwhatsit controller but I'm not sure what changed between revisions.

According to Mog genius 120 wpm is the max speed he can hit before getting key/input drops on a beamspring. Apparently the controller can't keep up but I'm not sure if 120 wpm is with/without the soldenoid on.
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PlacaFromHell

20 Apr 2019, 22:28

If I understand well, could be with the solenoid on. I usually play games that require a lot of keyboard spamming and I don't notice any problems.
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pr0ximity

21 Apr 2019, 05:21

Mine drops all the time when I hit my stride and the solenoid is on. So much so that I generally leave the solenoid off. I'm not a particularly fast typist, but common 3-4 key patterns frequently exceed the threshold on or of the later keypresses.
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Sangdrax

21 Apr 2019, 05:59

It's usually a timing thing. If you can cut down the timing on the solenoid to minimum, then you won't get any problems at least up to 85wpm. Probably faster, but that's about as high as I can go. I'm not particularly fast. Thomas had the problems in his video because the owner hadn't tuned the solenoid.

Here's a controller from the exact same age with the solenoid timings tightened and you can see the difference. Just skip to about 30-40 seconds.
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stevenlvv

26 Apr 2019, 07:17

Converters Demo Video, Thanks!
https://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDE1NDY0 ... 244740.0.0
https://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDE1NDY0 ... 244740.0.0
https://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDE1NDYz ... 244740.0.0
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stevenlvv

26 Apr 2019, 07:32

As you known, the rated power supply of solenoid in beam spirng & 3178 keyboard is 8.5V or 12V. In the beginning, I tried to use USB +5V to generate +8.5V or +12V with one DC/DC for solenoid power supply. But this way is not successful due to inductive load and limitation of USB power. Finally, I used one external power supply for solinoid driven, and keyboard control board only depends on USB power.

For 6580's internal speaker, the USB power is enough to drive it. I used one DC/DC to generate +8.5V, so the 6580 converter doesn't need external power supply.
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kmnov2017

22 Jun 2019, 01:46

What are you using for these converters. Is it a modified soarers or TMK firmware? And what about the Chip?
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Fkazim

22 Jun 2019, 02:19

kmnov2017 wrote: 22 Jun 2019, 01:46
What are you using for these converters. Is it a modified soarers or TMK firmware? And what about the Chip?
He most probably uses a pro micro in terms of Soarers it might use that but more likely some custom firmware.
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