deskthority

Got some hopefully cool stuff coming in later today, but the idiot AusPost office is making me wait until 4pm.

digital_matthew wrote: This is...something...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Apple- ... :rk:3:pf:0

Its beautiful is what it is. I don't know or care what's under the hood of that thing but is would fun to find out.

Ah yes, I smell MicroSwitch.

The keyboard fairy has arrived...

1 of 4: Took a chance on this numpad because Sanwa sometimes used Alps.
No such luck. Although interestingly the keycaps are Alps mount they just use a weird black adapter.

2 of 4: Another Sanwa SKB-M109UH, great source for transparent Alps keycaps.
Dumb apple font though. They use Black Alps.

3 of 4: SIGMA AFK-7711, I couldn't find any info on this board so I took a shot in the dark.
Turns out it's a Cherry mount slider of some kind.
Really cool caps though, I think they are Dye Sublimated.
And some re-legendables too, which is fun.

4 of 4: How about this for a finale, I have been searching for Alps editing keycaps for a while.
I saw the centrally mounted locklights on this beauty and thought it was worth the gamble.
Sure enough it's our good friend SKFM switches!
The ones with LEDs are even double shots. Now that's a win!

So much for "Sigma". Looks like I found a new Chicony.

Congrats, man! I nominate you for this year's greatest find award!

Good heavens! Are these the two pieces of stone inscribed with the Ten Commandments when Moses ascended Mount Sinai? The ones that Exodus 31:18 refers to as the "Tablets of the Testimony"?

But wait, there are actually three, not two. So were there in fact Fifteen Commandments? What sacred switches will those keyboards come with? Will the Vatican be placing bids?

Makes you wonder what further wonders the holiday season may have in store...

Keybug wrote: But wait, there are actually three, not two. So were there in fact Fifteen Commandments? What sacred switches will those keyboards come with? Will the Vatican be placing bids?

Funny you should mention this...

Lol, I'm cracking up. I may have seen this in my youth and drawn on it in subconsciously...

Oddball on ebay: Podworld with a Micro Switch label???

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-Vintage-Po ... :rk:1:pf:0

Polecat wrote: Oddball on ebay: Podworld with a Micro Switch label???

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-Vintage-Po ... :rk:1:pf:0

It's a micro switch ST keyboard, the box and manual don't seem to belong to it.

[quote="Noobmaen";p=432944

It's a micro switch ST keyboard, the box and manual don't seem to belong to it.[/quote]

Thks, that makes a lot more sense.

flowerlandfilms wrote: 2 of 4: Another Sanwa SKB-M109UH, great source for transparent Alps keycaps.
Dumb apple font though. They use Black Alps.

WP_20181220_17_13_23_Pro (2).jpg

WP_20181220_17_13_28_Pro (2).jpg

Damn, any options of finding one of these in the EU
Love the transparent caps

Dingster wrote:

flowerlandfilms wrote: 2 of 4: Another Sanwa SKB-M109UH, great source for transparent Alps keycaps.
Dumb apple font though. They use Black Alps.

WP_20181220_17_13_23_Pro (2).jpg

WP_20181220_17_13_28_Pro (2).jpg

Damn, any options of finding one of these in the EU
Love the transparent caps

pm'd

zrrion wrote:

digital_matthew wrote: This is...something...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Apple- ... 2965138878

Its beautiful is what it is. I don't know or care what's under the hood of that thing but is would fun to find out.

JP! wrote: Ah yes, I smell MicroSwitch.

Flat top 3? Stepped modifiers? Definitely Micro Switch Hall effect. It even has an XMIT key.

I'll put a bid on this one, but I'm honestly not expecting to win it. Those relegendable sphericals are super interesting.

Please go bid! Save me from myself!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Apple- ... 2965138878

XMIT wrote:

zrrion wrote:

digital_matthew wrote: This is...something...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Apple- ... 2965138878

Its beautiful is what it is. I don't know or care what's under the hood of that thing but is would fun to find out.

JP! wrote: Ah yes, I smell MicroSwitch.

Flat top 3? Stepped modifiers? Definitely Micro Switch Hall effect. It even has an XMIT key.

I'll put a bid on this one, but I'm honestly not expecting to win it. Those relegendable sphericals are super interesting.

Please go bid! Save me from myself!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Apple- ... 2965138878

A month ago we had almost the same board in a different case:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-Micro-Swi ... true&rt=nc

And these have allready been converted:
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=19688

Looks like SF Goodwill is selling an "Avant Stellar", an Omnikey knockoff from about 12 years ago.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Creati ... 3057275186

I've bid here too, but won't mind being outbid. But if you see this here, and outbid me, I feel like you should post with teardown photos and clean it up well.

XMIT wrote: Looks like SF Goodwill is selling an "Avant Stellar", an Omnikey knockoff from about 12 years ago.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Creati ... 3057275186

I've bid here too, but won't mind being outbid. But if you see this here, and outbid me, I feel like you should post with teardown photos and clean it up well.

I have no interest in bidding on this. Just curious -- What would be the attraction for the Avant Stellar? I had the impression that this brand was an attempt to continue with a Northgate-like keyboard, but that the quality was substantially diminished. For my money, the Northgate Omnikey 101 with the US ANSI layout is the best of this line of keyboards -- too bad they didn't make this model with blue Alps like the NG 102 Gold Label (and its unfortunate they didn't make the Gold Label in a US ANSI version).

Theoretically, it's not a difficult board to ANSI-mod... there's a hole for the |\ switch in the right place on the plate, so all you'd need is to drill holes in the PCB and jumper it in. (Or use one of BlindAssassin111's PCBs)

Still, nothing to recommend it over an older Northgate if you're already having to buy used.

Hypersphere wrote:

XMIT wrote: Looks like SF Goodwill is selling an "Avant Stellar", an Omnikey knockoff from about 12 years ago.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Creati ... 3057275186

I've bid here too, but won't mind being outbid. But if you see this here, and outbid me, I feel like you should post with teardown photos and clean it up well.

I have no interest in bidding on this. Just curious -- What would be the attraction for the Avant Stellar? I had the impression that this brand was an attempt to continue with a Northgate-like keyboard, but that the quality was substantially diminished. For my money, the Northgate Omnikey 101 with the US ANSI layout is the best of this line of keyboards -- too bad they didn't make this model with blue Alps like the NG 102 Gold Label (and its unfortunate they didn't make the Gold Label in a US ANSI version).

I was the first bidder, but I was just lowballing it in case it went cheap. Not something I need to have, with 14 Northgates here already I already need to find a way to stack them higher.

Here's my black Avant with the ANSI mod. The earlier Northgates, all versions I believe*, also had the plate punched for this, but the PCB on some versions might take a bit of rerouting.

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=17564

The hard part is finding decent caps since the layout (all versions) is a bit odd. The Avants had winkeys on the bottom row, unlike the earlier Northgates. And The black Avants, and at least some of the beige ones, had crappy pad-printed caps, with blobs of clear paint over the printing. The case, plate, and PCB were of comparable quality to the early Northgates, it's the switches and caps that went downhill. And there's the problem with the EEPROM for the programming function. I hope someone here gets this!

*edit - this should probably say "...the earlier Omnikeys..." because Northgate also had OEM keyboards that came with their systems. The Omnikeys (101, 102, Plus, Ultra, Ultra-T, etc.) were sold separately, and are the ones most of us are most familiar with.

@Polecat: Thanks for the link to your Avant ANSI mod! Very ingenious. That mod would make the layout perfect for me, because when I refurbish boards and convert them to USB, I use Soarer's or Hasu's converter to remap them to something close to a HHKB layout. That split Right Shift is perfect -- I would remap the 1.0u Backslash key to Fn and the 1.5u Backslash to Backspace.

IBM Wheelwriter 3 Keyboard for $34 +shipping

https://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-Wheelwrite ... SwEphcB~Qt

And a bolt modded one as well- https://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-Wheelwrite ... Sw0d1cBAa8

An ARC (Chicony) keyboard. Looks like pine white Alps in fairly good shape:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/ARC-KB-5181-by ... %7Ciid%3A1

Mostly I wanted to tear into an Avant Stellar and compare to a Northgate Omnikey. See what parts were made by the same manufacturers and what parts weren't. I missed my chance to buy them new 12 years ago. I remember passing on it because of the Big Ass Enter.

I do have an Omnikey Ultra-T that is in the middle of an ANSI mod. It's been in limbo for a while. queued behind some other projects.

I really don't need more keyboards for the collection. There are a couple that would be interesting to have. Mostly I need to finish cleaning and converting the ones I already have.

Hypersphere wrote: @Polecat: Thanks for the link to your Avant ANSI mod! Very ingenious. That mod would make the layout perfect for me, because when I refurbish boards and convert them to USB, I use Soarer's or Hasu's converter to remap them to something close to a HHKB layout. That split Right Shift is perfect -- I would remap the 1.0u Backslash key to Fn and the 1.5u Backslash to Backspace.

Thanks, but I can't take credit for the idea. I believe someone here did it before I did, or at least suggested it. The mod took all of twenty minutes, but I just wired the new switch across the original backslash. Ultimately I'd like to find an unused spot in the matrix so it generates a different scan code that can be remapped independently, but I haven't gotten that far yet. The Avant was going to be my main driver, but that was before I was talked into saving the Multitech KB-101A I'm using now.

Well I don't see this in the Wiki, under Systel or General Instrument. Anyone recognize the switches?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-Vintage-K ... rk:16:pf:0