Author Topic: Blue Chip BTC-5060 vs non-branded version?  (Read 5771 times)

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Offline PortablePlatypus

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Blue Chip BTC-5060 vs non-branded version?
« on: Sat, 13 September 2014, 15:15:57 »
Picked this up today on the cheap. What exactly is the difference between this one and http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-BTC-Professional-BTC-5060-Keyboard-Series-E5X5R5BTC-5060-Wired-AT-Cable-/261590993293?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3ce809c98d? Is that one mechanical? Would I need an active or passive converter to test this?
« Last Edit: Sat, 13 September 2014, 20:02:26 by PortablePlatypus »

Offline Daniel Beardsmore

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Re: Blue Chip BTC-5060 vs non-branded version?
« Reply #1 on: Sun, 14 September 2014, 17:04:32 »
What the …?

I've never seen a BTC keyboard before with Key Tronic mount sliders. And compare those keycaps with these ones from Key Tronic's equivalent series:

http://deskthority.net/wiki/Key_Tronic_Model_F_clone_series

The typeface is identical!

That's really odd.

"Mechanical" has no useful meaning. BTC made both foam and foil capacitive keyboards, and rubber dome keyboards using both conductive dome (over PCB) and pressure dome (over three-layer membrane)

Yours above looks like a Key Tronic OEM, but the slider shafts don't resemble anything I've seen from Key Tronic. You need to open it up and check what branding is on the PCB.
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Offline PortablePlatypus

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Re: Blue Chip BTC-5060 vs non-branded version?
« Reply #2 on: Sun, 14 September 2014, 19:51:07 »
The board is marked BTC 5060 KB REV 5.0

Offline Daniel Beardsmore

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Re: Blue Chip BTC-5060 vs non-branded version?
« Reply #3 on: Mon, 15 September 2014, 02:50:35 »
They must have bought their keycaps from the same people who supplied keycaps to Key Tronic then! Or else they did a very good job of copying them.

I presume that this is indeed a foam and foil keyboard?
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Offline PortablePlatypus

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Re: Blue Chip BTC-5060 vs non-branded version?
« Reply #4 on: Mon, 15 September 2014, 03:14:53 »
They appear to be, yes. Kind of bummed that it's not worth nearly as much as I thought but hopefully I can still make some money on it as I only paid 5 bucks. Thanks for the info.

Offline Daniel Beardsmore

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Re: Blue Chip BTC-5060 vs non-branded version?
« Reply #5 on: Mon, 15 September 2014, 12:35:48 »
Nah, what you do is take a series of nice photos (inside and out) without the annoying timestamp across the picture, and write up the keyboard on the wiki:

http://deskthority.net/wiki/Category:BTC_keyboards

That's still an unknown product. Also, it means that this page is now out of date:

http://deskthority.net/wiki/BTC_foam_and_foil

Plus, the switch can be included here; this photo needs a lot of care as it needs to be lit well enough to see the shape of the plastic insert that holds the slider, as it does look to be a distinctly different shape from those used by Key Tronic:

http://deskthority.net/wiki/Other_mount_recognition#Key_Tronic_mount

Such keyboards are always a good learning experience and an opportunity to expand our collective knowledge. It also means that we now know that if the keyboard has "Key Tronic" mount switches and "Key Tronic" it could also be BTC.
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Offline PortablePlatypus

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Re: Blue Chip BTC-5060 vs non-branded version?
« Reply #6 on: Mon, 15 September 2014, 15:26:53 »
Don't really feel like opening it back up but I may get around to it.

Offline Daniel Beardsmore

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Re: Blue Chip BTC-5060 vs non-branded version?
« Reply #7 on: Mon, 15 September 2014, 16:40:38 »
It always makes your purchase worthwhile …
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Offline PortablePlatypus

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Re: Blue Chip BTC-5060 vs non-branded version?
« Reply #8 on: Mon, 15 September 2014, 17:05:03 »
I have a feeling I'm not as much of an enthusiast as many others here as I only bought this board to sell it and would rather not risk damaging it in any way.

Offline Daniel Beardsmore

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Re: Blue Chip BTC-5060 vs non-branded version?
« Reply #9 on: Mon, 15 September 2014, 17:13:28 »
I am sure it's worth all of the $5 you paid for it ;-)

It's the sort of keyboard that's not worth a whole lot, but really useful for adding to our collection of knowledge. I have to be careful otherwise I'd end up wall to wall of such keyboards, like on those TV programmes about hoarders ;-)  It's like my Neve Necam 96 keyboard: horrible to type on, and utterly useless, but it was the doorway into finally learning the difference between RAFI switches and Cortron/Devlin low-profile magnetic valve switches. That in turn was my way into getting in touch with Devlin and learning even more knowledge. I don't begrudge the money I spend on useless keyboards as it's part of our communal learning process.

Ideally you'd have an opportunity one day to compare those BTC keycaps with "real" Key Tronic keycaps and see if they actually are the same. The "&" is the chief giveaway — it's the same weird shape with both Key Tronic and your BTC keyboard.

Also, the controller chip and other chips should give you a rough idea about date of manufacture, and maybe some idea of whether these overlapped with Cherry MX mount switches or whether this was the old design. The FCC ID final action date is well after Cherry MX switches came out, but around the sort of time when you started seeing Asian boards with MX switches in.
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