Author Topic: New guy needs help identifying keyboard & Alps-like sliders  (Read 11448 times)

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Offline ThirdLap

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New guy needs help identifying keyboard & Alps-like sliders
« on: Sun, 04 July 2010, 20:35:35 »
New guy here, recently indoctrinated into the world of better keyboards through the Mechanical Keyboard Guide thread on OCN.

After a ton of thrift shop scavenging, I've been able to get my hands on a number of decent mechanical keyboards at little cost.  My favorite find so far is my Northgate Omnikey 102, which I scored for seventy cents.

I did a thorough rejuvenation on the 102, but since I didn't have a PS/2 to USB converter until after doing all the work, I didn't discover the 'W' was non-functional until reassembling everything.  Additionally, two of the mounting posts of the key caps had cracked.

I was going to cannibalize another white Alps keyboard I had found for the switch and key caps, however after taking a second look I realized that I liked the layout of that keyboard a bit better. Additionally, despite being older (it uses an AT connector), the switches felt a bit more crisp and responsive. I decided to do a resto-mod of sorts on this keyboard and see if I liked it.

What confuses me is the lettering on the switches.  Rather than reading ALPS, some of the keys appear to read 'APC' or 'RPC' (can't quite make it out).  Are these switches any good?  Who made them?

After disassembly I noticed that while the entire switch assembly is essentially identical to a regular white Alps, the spring appears more linear, with smaller even spacing between the gaps of the spring.  The switches have a hefty click and noticeable tactile response to them.

Anyhow, I de-yellowed the keyboard and keys, added a steel plate from a Dell AT-101, modified a PS/2 cable to connect to the board directly, and sleeved the cable in black.  I've just finished reassembling it:



Here's a shot of the inside.  Apologies for the quality.



And here's one of the switches:



The back of the keyboard reads as follows:

FCC ID NO: HQK2VHKEYMOUSE
S.B.I. COMPUTER PRODUCTS INC.

Followed by the standard certification info.  There was a serial number sticker on it, which I can't find at the moment.

Any idea what I'm working with here guys?  What is this thing?

[EDIT:  Apparently the 'S.B.I.' in  S.B.I. Computer Products stands for Simon Brothers International, a now (apparently) defunct computer peripheral products manufacturer in Sacramento, the city in which the keyboard was acquired.  Found the connection between SBI and Packintell here: http://www.trademarkia.com/packintell-packaged-intelligence-73838851.html ]

Offline TexasFlood

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New guy needs help identifying keyboard & Alps-like sliders
« Reply #1 on: Sun, 04 July 2010, 21:04:04 »
Well it looks like a white alps, see this picture below from the Geekhack WIKI ALPS switches section .  However I can't find that FCC ID or company name searching the FCC database which is weird.


Offline ThirdLap

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New guy needs help identifying keyboard & Alps-like sliders
« Reply #2 on: Sun, 04 July 2010, 21:24:02 »
Right, that's what I thought, however none of the switches say Alps on them. Every tenth switch has either 'APC' or 'RPC' on it.  Odd.

Sorry, made a mistake with the FCC ID. It's actually HQK2VHKEYMOUSE, which comes back with this: https://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/oetcf/eas/reports/GenericSearchResult.cfm?RequestTimeout=500

Offline TexasFlood

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New guy needs help identifying keyboard & Alps-like sliders
« Reply #3 on: Sun, 04 July 2010, 22:47:51 »
Quote from: ThirdLap;199558
Right, that's what I thought, however none of the switches say Alps on them. Every tenth switch has either 'APC' or 'RPC' on it.  Odd.

Sorry, made a mistake with the FCC ID. It's actually HQK2VHKEYMOUSE, which comes back with this: https://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/oetcf/eas/reports/GenericSearchResult.cfm?RequestTimeout=500


I don't think you can link to most fcc searchs like that.  Some you can like a copy of the grant document.

But at any rate, they don't tell you a lot for devices like keyboards, basically who applied and their address, when they applied, when it was granted.  One interesting thing about your keyboard is that it appears to be the first equipment authorization granted to "Key Mouse".

HQK2VHKEYMOUSE is listed as:
Part 15 Class B Computing Device Peripheral
Key Mouse Electronic Enterprise Co Ltd
NO.3, WUGUNG 5TH RD.,
HSIN CHUANG CITY,TAIPEI COUNTY, Taiwan
Application Dated: 01/14/1989
Date of Grant: 04/12/1989

Key Mouse has a total of 30 grants and that was the first.  There is a year or two between each submission then after the first 5 a gap of 5 years and only wireless devices after that.

I got a little carried away here, huh? :wink:

Grant Date   FCC ID   Application Purpose   Lower Frequency in MHz   Upper Frequency in MHz
1989-04-12    HQK2VHKEYMOUSE    Original Equipment
1991-02-07    HQKRB-2001    Original Equipment
1993-12-20    HQKBITS6001    Original Equipment
1994-10-12    HQKBITS1001    Original Equipment
1997-03-28    HQKBITS9001    Original Equipment
2002-03-08    HQKKMEKF9801    Original Equipment    27.095    27.145
2002-03-08    HQKKMEMR325    Original Equipment    27.045    27.195
2004-04-26    HQKKMEKFYY01    Original Equipment    26.96    27.28
2004-04-26    HQKKMEMFYY33    Original Equipment    26.96    27.28
2005-04-21    HQKKMEMFB033    Original Equipment    27.045    27.045
2005-04-30    HQKKMEMFB033    Class II Permissive Change    27.045    27.045
2005-04-30    HQKKMEMFB033    Class II Permissive Change    27.045    27.045
2005-04-30    HQKKMEMFB033    Class II Permissive Change    27.045    27.045
2005-05-02    HQKKMEMFB033    Class II Permissive Change    27.045    27.045
2005-05-10    HQKKMEMYX138    Original Equipment    27.045    27.045
2005-05-20    HQKKMEKY7101    Original Equipment    27.045    27.045
2005-05-20    HQKKMEKF7101    Original Equipment    27.045    27.045
2005-05-23    HQKKMEKY7101    Class II Permissive Change    27.045    27.045
2005-05-24    HQKKMEKY7101    Class II Permissive Change    27.045    27.045
2009-02-04    HQKKMEMAXXYY    Original Equipment    2402.0    2480
2009-02-04    HQKKMERGXX2U    Original Equipment    2402.0    2480
2009-02-04    HQKKMEKAXXYY    Original Equipment    2402.0    2480
2009-02-04    HQKKMERGXXUM    Original Equipment    2402.0    2480
2009-02-04    HQKKMEMDXXYY    Original Equipment    2402.0    2480
2009-09-08    HQKKMEMAC233    Original Equipment    2402.0    2480
2009-09-08    HQKKMERGG5    Original Equipment    2405.0    2477
2009-09-08    HQKKMEKA7A81    Original Equipment    2405.0    2476
2010-04-07    HQKKMEKA3381J    Original Equipment    2405.0    2476
2010-04-07    HQKKMEMAC233J    Original Equipment    2405.0    2476
2010-04-07    HQKKMERGG5J    Original Equipment    2405.0    2476

Offline ThirdLap

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New guy needs help identifying keyboard & Alps-like sliders
« Reply #4 on: Sun, 04 July 2010, 22:54:34 »
Wow, thanks Tex.  Seems like it was a standard keyboard included with computers from a small company in Sacramneto known as PackIntell (Packaged Intelligence) that fell under SBI Computer Products Inc.

I'm wondering what the standard keyboard it based off of is.  I imagine its innards are the same as some other common mechanical keyboard out there.

Offline TexasFlood

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New guy needs help identifying keyboard & Alps-like sliders
« Reply #5 on: Mon, 05 July 2010, 00:12:07 »
Quote from: ThirdLap;199569
Wow, thanks Tex.  Seems like it was a standard keyboard included with computers from a small company in Sacramneto known as PackIntell (Packaged Intelligence) that fell under SBI Computer Products Inc.

I'm wondering what the standard keyboard it based off of is.  I imagine its innards are the same as some other common mechanical keyboard out there.

Of course the other good thing about the FCC ID is it should be common across all companies that resell the same keyboard under their brand.  In this case if you search for the Key Mouse Electronic Enterprise Co Ltd FCC ID of HQK2VHKEYMOUSE, you find this ebay listing, and in this case some references that require translation, examples one and two.

Offline kishy

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New guy needs help identifying keyboard & Alps-like sliders
« Reply #6 on: Mon, 05 July 2010, 00:37:21 »
That looks very Focusy/Northgatey.

Surely there is a relation somewhere?
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Offline ThirdLap

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New guy needs help identifying keyboard & Alps-like sliders
« Reply #7 on: Mon, 05 July 2010, 00:49:19 »
Quote from: TexasFlood;199586
Of course the other good thing about the FCC ID is it should be common across all companies that resell the same keyboard under their brand.  In this case if you search for the Key Mouse Electronic Enterprise Co Ltd FCC ID of HQK2VHKEYMOUSE, you find


I saw those, and while they're quite similar, those lack the Omnikey Ultra-like side and top function buttons.  Additionally, mine has four LEDs above the number pad, vs the three on those boards.

I hope to find a similar (common) keyboard with the same layout if possible, but its starting to look like its a fairly rare unit.

Quote from: kishy;199591
That looks very Focusy/Northgatey.

Surely there is a relation somewhere?


That's what I'm thinking.  My guess is that SBI Computer Products (Packintell) wanted to emulate the Omnikey Ultra at a lower cost, so they had Key Mouse Electronic Enterprise (KME) of Taiwan produce a similar design using Alps-like switches.   It seems SBI (Packintell) was a small computer company in Sacramento in the late 80s/early 90s.  

While it is certainly a great keyboard, it is certainly nowhere near as well-constructed as my 102, and not quite as enjoyable to use.

Offline ThirdLap

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New guy needs help identifying keyboard & Alps-like sliders
« Reply #8 on: Mon, 05 July 2010, 01:42:00 »
Quote from: ripster;199601
Those are Simplified Type 2's (XMs).

Looking at the ALPS wiki, it appears you are correct.

Offline ch_123

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New guy needs help identifying keyboard & Alps-like sliders
« Reply #9 on: Mon, 05 July 2010, 04:48:50 »
He would know - he wrote the thing.

Offline TexasFlood

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New guy needs help identifying keyboard & Alps-like sliders
« Reply #10 on: Mon, 05 July 2010, 13:40:02 »
Quote from: ThirdLap;199594
I saw those, and while they're quite similar, those lack the Omnikey Ultra-like side and top function buttons.  Additionally, mine has four LEDs above the number pad, vs the three on those boards.

I hope to find a similar (common) keyboard with the same layout if possible, but its starting to look like its a fairly rare unit.

My guess is that SBI Computer Products (Packintell) wanted to emulate the Omnikey Ultra at a lower cost, so they had Key Mouse Electronic Enterprise (KME) of Taiwan produce a similar design using Alps-like switches.   It seems SBI (Packintell) was a small computer company in Sacramento in the late 80s/early 90s.  

While it is certainly a great keyboard, it is certainly nowhere near as well-constructed as my 102, and not quite as enjoyable to use.

Sounds like a reasonable theory given the evidence.  Haven't yet seen any other keyboard just like it.  That one on ebay is similar but lacks the left function keys as you pointed out and has blue alps.