Alps Appreciation

[Muirium]

What Type of board is that ? since i stumbled over one that looks just like it !

No you didn't.

Oh , youre right ! Thought they were identical , but only just now was it, that the different logo position hit me.Oh well, the devil is in the details

The whole shape of the keyboard is quite different, actually:



The Bigfoot version has a whole lot more going on above the function row. It's a fundamentally different size. You'll get to know the difference with practice. Especially if you get unlucky and lousy models start showing up in your collection!

There are some mechanical keyboards with a slim profile case like that. But many, many, many more rubberdomes. You're generally better off with big cased earlier vintage keyboards.

[guidemetothelight]

The Bigfoot version has a whole lot more going on above the function row. It's a fundamentally different size. You'll get to know the difference with practice. Especially if you get unlucky and lousy models start showing up in your collection!

There are some mechanical keyboards with a slim profile case like that. But many, many, many more rubberdomes. You're generally better off with big cased earlier vintage keyboards.

Thank you for all the help ! I really want to get better knowing all the differences between the boards , but since iam posting stuff here before buying anyway , most of the time that saved my ass

Thanks Guys !

[darkcruix]

Just random pictures of my little candy jars ...

[guidemetothelight]

Just random pictures of my little candy jars ...

yummy

[John Doe]

Spoiler:

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[thefarside]

Very nice - especially the Omnikey

[TNT]

Congrats on the Nissho

[darkcruix]

Some keys need another pass of retr0brighting, but it is mostly restored. It came originally with blue ones. I had to replace a few switches from the bottom row as they were not registering. I chose to replace all blue ones with amber for the modifiers in the Alpha block.

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[hellothere]

Now for something a little different.

I have to do repairs on most of my keyboards. I'm pretty sure I found the right combination for rusted key switch mounting plates. Please forgive that the photos were taken on my bench and my camera is an iPhone.

Spoiler:

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Plate2 - Copy.jpg (4.96 MiB) Viewed 7005 times

It looks awesome in person. Hand sanded to 1500 grit. Rust-Oleum white primer. Behr hammered black paint. Rust-Oleum matte clear enamel. You have to look really hard to see any pitting.

The Alps angle: it's a mounting plate from a Northgate OmniKey 102. White Alps.

[thefarside]

Looks great! The OmniKey 102 is my favorite alps keyboard. I’m guessing your plate is for a blue label?

[Polecat]

Looks great! The OmniKey 102 is my favorite alps keyboard. I’m guessing your plate is for a blue label?

Awesome job on this! I'm looking at the extra punched holes next to and above the up-arrow key, and I don't recall ever seeing a Northgate with this layout. Could this have been for a model that never actually happened?

[Polecat]

Looks great! The OmniKey 102 is my favorite alps keyboard. I’m guessing your plate is for a blue label?

Awesome job on this! I'm looking at the extra punched holes next to and above the up-arrow key, and I don't recall ever seeing a Northgate with this layout. Could this have been for a model that never actually happened?

I finally had a few minutes to open up an early Gen2 102 model (Vendor 222, PCB date 890416), which has an identical plate to hellothere's. There are no pads on the PC board for switches in the unused positions (as there were on some of the Gen3 models that shared PC boards and plates), so if Northgate did build a model with switches there it must have used a different PC board. Next I'll pop open Gen2 102 Vendor 333 and Vendor 777 models to see what we can learn from those.

[hellothere]

Looks great! The OmniKey 102 is my favorite alps keyboard. I’m guessing your plate is for a blue label?

Awesome job on this! I'm looking at the extra punched holes next to and above the up-arrow key, and I don't recall ever seeing a Northgate with this layout. Could this have been for a model that never actually happened?

I finally had a few minutes to open up an early Gen2 102 model (Vendor 222, PCB date 890416), which has an identical plate to hellothere's. There are no pads on the PC board for switches in the unused positions (as there were on some of the Gen3 models that shared PC boards and plates), so if Northgate did build a model with switches there it must have used a different PC board. Next I'll pop open Gen2 102 Vendor 333 and Vendor 777 models to see what we can learn from those.

Thanks for the compliment! I currently have a Model F XT Personal Computer keyboard that also used this method. It's still in the drying phase, but it looks pretty good.

Yes, I'm pretty sure that this is one of the two Omnis I have with blue labels. Neither have the "trapdoor" for the dip switches under the label. I've got one keyboard relatively easily accessible. It has a PS/2 connector and 8 dip switches on the back next to the PS/2 connector.

I'm not sure about the extra hole. It doesn't strike me as something for a different language keyboard (e.g. QWERTY vs AZERTY). I'd love to say that it's specifically for the "Omni" key, but I haven't seen an Omnikey keyboard with an "Omni" key in this position. Also, please do note that I've had about a dozen or so (yes, I really did buy in bulk) OmniKeys at some point which varied in condition from "Eh" to "What did they do to this poor thing?!" It's probable that I've used the wrong plate for the wrong model on at least one occasion, but the plate definitely fits the blue label I have.

[Polecat]

There are actually three extra switch positions on that plate. The two next to the up arrow and the one above and to the left. My Gen2 102 with the same plate does not have pads on the PC board for switches there, and I've never seen a Northgate that actually used those switch positions. And I have 14 or 15 Northgates, as well as photos and a database with hundreds of examples documented. At least one of the Northgate books says that international versions were available, but I've never actually seen one of those. But as yu say those positions are not something we'd expect on a non-US layout. From the time frame (early Gen2 102, circa 1989) I'm guessing the extra positions were for a model that never happened. The Plus had just come out, and not long after that they introduced the Ultra and the 101I and 101N. That's why I'm curious if the later Gen2 102 models (Vendor 333 and 777) had those extra positions on the plates.

I don't think you can mix plates between different generations of Northgates. I did quite a bit of measuring when blindassassin was making up his replacement PC boards, and they were all different. That's documented here in the archives.

[hellothere]

I don't think you can mix plates between different generations of Northgates. I did quite a bit of measuring when blindassassin was making up his replacement PC boards, and they were all different. That's documented here in the archives.

I think you're probably right, at least with the "blank label" and "Gold Label" vs. anything else, as they have two screws to affix the PCB to the mounting plate, and five more to affix the whole assembly to the case. This isn't counting the four brass screw sockets.

I wonder what keyboard has the most screws.

[Polecat]

I think you're probably right, at least with the "blank label" and "Gold Label" vs. anything else, as they have two screws to affix the PCB to the mounting plate, and five more to affix the whole assembly to the case. This isn't counting the four brass screw sockets.

Here's the old thread with photos and measurements of the different Northgate versions, in case anyone is actually interested.

viewtopic.php?f=50&t=18276

In hindsight I wish I had bought a couple of these PC boards.

[amigastar23]

Just received a Monterey Mtek K104 white alps keyboard in very good condition today. Sounds so delicious.

[Muirium]

Rather handsome. The grille at the right is for cooling, in case it works its spell on you and you really let it rip with epic typing.

[amigastar23]

Typing is indeed epic with this thing. Now i have to look for a Blue Alps keyboard. But those don't go for cheap.

[Muirium]

Now you’re talking. The last few days I’ve typed on Model F, beamspring and blue Alps. They’re all so good. They’ll spoil you rotten! And you’ll love it, too.

[Polecat]

Just received a Monterey Mtek K104 white alps keyboard in very good condition today. Sounds so delicious.

Very nice! I'm using my gray one every day, have been since I got it. Early K104 models came with blue Alps (not to be confused with SMK "Monterey Blues" which were also available). Also available were double shot caps, which stayed around a bit longer than the blue Alps switches.

[amigastar23]

Just received a Monterey Mtek K104 white alps keyboard in very good condition today. Sounds so delicious.

Very nice! I'm using my gray one every day, have been since I got it. Early K104 models came with blue Alps (not to be confused with SMK "Monterey Blues" which were also available). Also available were double shot caps, which stayed around a bit longer than the blue Alps switches.

Is your Monterey with White or Blue Alps?

[Polecat]

Is your Monterey with White or Blue Alps?

White Alps, circa 1990. I swapped the PC board and plate from a beige K104 that I used for ten years or so until I wore the legends off the caps. Best keyboard I've ever owned, and it still worked perfectly. I had a gray K104 about 30 years ago, and had been looking for another one ever since.

viewtopic.php?p=486795#p486795

There were several changes in white Alps switches over the years, which affect the sound and feel. They are definitely *not* all the same! The very early ones with unbranded upper housings, from 1989 or so, sound and feel like blues. This set is later than that, a bit heavier, but still crisp and subtle. There were more changes after that, and condition also matters, so trying to find and identify a good set is always a bit of a gamble.

[amigastar23]

Is your Monterey with White or Blue Alps?

White Alps, circa 1990. I swapped the PC board and plate from a beige K104 that I used for ten years or so until I wore the legends off the caps. Best keyboard I've ever owned, and it still worked perfectly. I had a gray K104 about 30 years ago, and had been looking for another one ever since.

Nice, so nostalgia plays a big role too, right?
I just watched Chyrosran22 video on Alps SKCL Green keyboard, i think i'm gonna hunt for an Alps green in the future. I would love a linear Alps keyboard.

[darkcruix]

Spoiler:

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More candy ... still looking for some lime and lemon taste

[amigastar23]

Spoiler:

IMG_4790.JPG

More candy ... still looking for some lime and lemon taste

Lol, that reminds me of those Weed containers from cannabis dispensaries.
Anyway it looks awesome.

[darkcruix]

Spoiler:

IMG_4790.JPG

More candy ... still looking for some lime and lemon taste

Lol, that reminds me of those Weed containers from cannabis dispensaries.
Anyway it looks awesome.

"Shhh!"

[Polecat]

Nice, so nostalgia plays a big role too, right?
I just watched Chyrosran22 video on Alps SKCL Green keyboard, i think i'm gonna hunt for an Alps green in the future. I would love a linear Alps keyboard.

I suppose that's a part of it. I've been banging away on computer keyboards since the mid-'80s, including terminals, which of course was before we got to choose our own keyboard. After that I worked at an electronics recycling place where I had thousands of keyboards go through my hands, and it didn't take me long to decide that Alps was it. Non-beige color schemes were pretty limited in the early PC days, but then a thing called NeXT came out, and black made a comeback. I painted some computer cases and a monitor or two, but the only part of a keyboard I could paint was the case. I eventually found the first gray Monterey as part a batch of gray Costar keyboards that came through, and I bought a black Focus (new!) not long after that. I have nothing against beige keyboards, except that they turn yellow. But so did the printed caps on my first gray Monterey. This one has double shot caps, and I'm hoping it doesn't suffer the same fate. I've eliminated a lot of the daytime sunlight from my desk for that reason. Anyway, the first gray Monterey was a favorite, and finding a replacement was a big enough deal to get me to go over my self-imposed 50 dollar limit.

Mu, the grille on a Monterey K104 is about as useful as a bicycle to Charlie Tuna (not to be confused with Billy G.).

[Muirium]

Mu, the grille on a Monterey K104 is about as useful as a bicycle to Charlie Tuna (not to be confused with Billy G.).

I like it because it reminds me a bit of the go-faster stripes so inherent to Apple’s 1980s Snow White Design Language. They were everywhere in the day. Looks quite boss on the original “platinum” beige shade, as intended. But yellowing wrecks the esthetic badly.

Speaking of which: yellowing is just the fate which awaits ABS. Darker shades of ABS still yellow, you just don’t notice it as much. Other plastics are immune from yellowing, so my beige IBMs are still their original colour. Even the plastic SSKs, let alone the painted zinc Kishsaver and Beamspring. I’ve heard Model M cases were PVC. Mine are all unmarked by telltale shadowing, and my reference NIB SSK is the same.

[Polecat]

I like it because it reminds me a bit of the go-faster stripes so inherent to Apple’s 1980s Snow White Design Language. They were everywhere in the day. Looks quite boss on the original “platinum” beige shade, as intended. But yellowing wrecks the esthetic badly.

Interesting. This explains perfectly the two different colors used on the Northgate OmniMac keyboards, and why neither is the same as the beige used on all the other Northgates. For some reason neither of the OmniMac plastic colors seems to have the yellowing problem often seen on the beige ones.