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Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 08:04
by seebart
//gainsborough wrote: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Zenith-Data-Sys ... SwB-1Y0z~5

Gonna guess green alps on this ZKB-2. How'd I do, Chyros?
Could be yellow Alps also,either way it looks nice. That's a good price provided it's undamaged. Chyros isn't the only member at DT. ;) Here's mine:

wiki/Zenith_ZKB-2

Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 08:16
by //gainsborough
seebart wrote:
//gainsborough wrote: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Zenith-Data-Sys ... SwB-1Y0z~5

Gonna guess green alps on this ZKB-2. How'd I do, Chyros?
Could be yellow Alps also,either way it looks nice. That's a good price provided it's undamaged. Chyros isn't the only member at DT. ;) Here's mine:

wiki/Zenith_ZKB-2

Lol - I'm just teasing. He's always guessing at the switches in these with some theory of his (is it by date?).

Yours is the one in the wiki? Looks super clean! It's interesting to me that the lock light switches are green on a board with green alps. I always thought they were the other variant. For example on both my yellow ZKB-2s they have green alps for the lock light keys - I just assumed they'd be yellow for the green alps boards. Seems I was wrong!

Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 08:25
by seebart
//gainsborough wrote: Lol - I'm just teasing. He's always guessing at the switches in these with some theory of his (is it by date?).
Zenith moved to yellow Alps pretty early with the ZKB-2, but don't ask me when exactly.
//gainsborough wrote: Yours is the one in the wiki? Looks super clean! It's interesting to me that the lock light switches are green on a board with green alps. I always thought they were the other variant. For example on both my yellow ZKB-2s they have green alps for the lock light keys - I just assumed they'd be yellow for the green alps boards. Seems I was wrong!
Yes that's mine. Hmm...not sure about the lock light theory? No, I don't think so. That would be wild though. :P Share some pics when you get yours!

Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 08:34
by //gainsborough
Image

;)

Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 08:40
by seebart
Haha OK fine. Still nothing proven. So this is your third ZKB-2? Nice. :o

Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 08:49
by //gainsborough
seebart wrote: Haha OK fine. Still nothing proven. So this is your third ZKB-2? Nice. :o
Lol, no silly! It's yours!

Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 08:52
by seebart
//gainsborough wrote:
seebart wrote: Haha OK fine. Still nothing proven. So this is your third ZKB-2? Nice. :o
Lol, no silly! It's yours!
Errr...not even if you're color blind. But your photoshop job is pretty good... ;) :lol:

wiki/File:Zenith_ZKB-2_Alps_SKCL_Green_ ... eycaps.JPG
Unbenannt.PNG
Unbenannt.PNG (812.81 KiB) Viewed 6265 times

Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 09:02
by //gainsborough
:D

Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 12:38
by Chyros
//gainsborough wrote: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Zenith-Data-Sys ... SwB-1Y0z~5

Gonna guess green alps on this ZKB-2. How'd I do, Chyros?
Yes, I'd say green as well. Again, if someone gets it, let me know if I was right or wrong, please.
Darkshado wrote:
taylorswiftttttt wrote: Model M with strange sublegends http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-Model-M-Key ... SwCU1Y0dvz

Edit: I guess those are just french. They're still cool tho
The layout is known as Canadian French, to be specific.
It's a very distinctive layout and it's often ridiculed for the E where the question mark is xD .

Image

Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 13:24
by Wodan

Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 13:33
by gnmar2723
Wodan wrote: This is _NOT_ a Nixie board:
http://www.ebay.de/itm/122410037899?ul_noapp=true
What switches then? Just normal vintage blacks? On a side note, what is that layout called? It's what all nixdorf boards seem to use for a layout.

Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 14:25
by seebart
gnmar2723 wrote:
Wodan wrote: This is _NOT_ a Nixie board:
http://www.ebay.de/itm/122410037899?ul_noapp=true
What switches then? Just normal vintage blacks? On a side note, what is that layout called? It's what all nixdorf boards seem to use for a layout.
Haha it's the same one the original buyer is now selling because he did not comprehend it would not have Nixies.

Those are magnetic Nixdorf switches like these gnmar2723:

keyboards-f2/nixdorf-sm-8890-t14370.html?hilit=nixdorf

Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 14:26
by Honthro
Is this worth it? Never tried Peerless, but a big fan of Model M and Model F XT switches

https://toronto.craigslist.ca/tor/sop/6054664154.html

Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 14:27
by seebart
Honthro wrote: Is this worth it? Never tried Peerless, but a big fan of Model M and Model F XT switches

https://toronto.craigslist.ca/tor/sop/6054664154.html
NO! Ask anyone.

Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 14:28
by Chyros
Honthro wrote: Is this worth it? Never tried Peerless, but a big fan of Model M and Model F XT switches

https://toronto.craigslist.ca/tor/sop/6054664154.html
Peerless are fairly polarising, but I think the overall consensus is negative. They feel like rough and less tactile MBS to me, although the type of feeling is similar. I once described Peerless as "the clicky switch whose greatest virtue is that it's not very clicky".

Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 14:29
by seebart
What we need is be able to test NIB Peerless but I bet they're still mediocre at best.

Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 14:31
by Honthro
Thanks gents

Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 15:04
by Chyros
seebart wrote: What we need is be able to test NIB Peerless but I bet they're still mediocre at best.
There was one on eBay very recently that I posted in the Finds thread, but I don't know if someone bought it.

Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 15:09
by seebart
Chyros wrote:
seebart wrote: What we need is be able to test NIB Peerless but I bet they're still mediocre at best.
There was one on eBay very recently that I posted in the Finds thread, but I don't know if someone bought it.
I vaguely remember someone mentioning having tried almost unused Peerless switches and it amounted to the same scratchy and inconsistent feel. Fujitsu is one of the few companies that made one of the smoothest switches with Leaf Spring third gen. and then Peerless. W T F ?!? :o :x

Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 15:49
by Harshmallow
Honthro wrote: Thanks gents
Hey Honthro - if you want to try Peerless in what seems to be NIB condition, try this ad. This guy's had this board up for a while. I considered buying it a few times but never did. $30 CAD isn't too steep if you just want to test them lol.

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-mice-keyboards-w ... nFlag=true

Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 15:56
by Harshmallow
seebart wrote:
//gainsborough wrote:
seebart wrote: Haha OK fine. Still nothing proven. So this is your third ZKB-2? Nice. :o
Lol, no silly! It's yours!
Errr...not even if you're color blind. But your photoshop job is pretty good... ;) :lol:

wiki/File:Zenith_ZKB-2_Alps_SKCL_Green_ ... eycaps.JPG
Unbenannt.PNG
Can y'all just tell me when a ZKB-2 pops up before building up a personal office fleet of them? All I want is one, one little keyboard with nice Green Alps :)

Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 16:01
by seebart
Harshmallow wrote: Can y'all just tell me when a ZKB-2 pops up before building up a personal office fleet of them? All I want is one, one little keyboard with nice Green Alps :)
I only have one myself. :roll:

Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 16:56
by Honthro
Harshmallow wrote:
Honthro wrote: Thanks gents
Hey Honthro - if you want to try Peerless in what seems to be NIB condition, try this ad. This guy's had this board up for a while. I considered buying it a few times but never did. $30 CAD isn't too steep if you just want to test them lol.

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-mice-keyboards-w ... nFlag=true
Thanks! Are you a fellow Canadian/Torontonian?

Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 17:04
by Harshmallow
Honthro wrote:
Harshmallow wrote:
Honthro wrote: Thanks gents
Hey Honthro - if you want to try Peerless in what seems to be NIB condition, try this ad. This guy's had this board up for a while. I considered buying it a few times but never did. $30 CAD isn't too steep if you just want to test them lol.

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-mice-keyboards-w ... nFlag=true
Thanks! Are you a fellow Canadian/Torontonian?
Yessir - I was a Scarberian and now I am a...Markam-ian? Markhamite? Martian, that sounds better lol.

Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 17:27
by Menuhin
A predecessor of the Optimus keyboard.
http://www.ebay.de/itm/192132505557

Image

Image

Each function key has its own digital display.
...
theBoard
When we were in the middle of the production, I've learned about the German inventor named Reinhard Engstler who was inspired by the IBM paper and designed the LCD-keys keyboard in 1984. Keyboard was on sale under different no-name brands. For example, last summer one Russian from Germany sent me a model branded simply 'theBoard' as a gift. Here is is side by side with Optimus Maximus:

It turned out that this keyboard (under the 'HOHE Electronics' and 'K-E-T TheBoard' brands) was on sale even in USSR. Here's an ad from the 'Business contact' magazine (#3, 1990).
...
Source from Optimus keyboard project old website: http://optimus-project.livejournal.com/52831.html

May not have the best switches to harvest from but is definitely an interesting keyboard for qualified engineers and skilled enthusiasts to bring it back to life.

Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 17:38
by kbdfr
Menuhin wrote: A predecessor of the Optimus keyboard.
http://www.ebay.de/itm/192132505557

Image

Image

Each function key has its own digital display. […]

[…]is definitely an interesting keyboard for qualified engineers and skilled enthusiasts to bring it back to life.
Halvar has one and posted pics of it long ago:
photos-f62/not-just-any-board-this-is-t ... t5726.html

I have one with its original box and LCDs even in the alpha keys as well.
And I have a bunch of technical documentation about it, which of course I will gladly contribute if someone buys this one.

Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 17:41
by Menuhin
Human-form forum indexing agents are everywhere! 8-)
A nice read.

This new one has also two columns of function keys on the left hand side, bigger than those on the older posts.

Are those instructions in German or in Russian?

Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 17:47
by kbdfr
In German.

Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 17:49
by Wodan
The big problem with that keyboard seems to be the software. Someone had them on 5.25" floppies but couldn't even read them with a proper drive :(

Posted: 23 Mar 2017, 17:51
by Menuhin
It looks super cool, the form is like a design from the older series of Star trek.
Star trek people don't really use "mechanical keys' and in keyboard if I remember correctly...