[GB] Alps Party 60% - Hannibal at the Gates

[E3E]

I got my board with the Browns for about 5€. So yeah I would say $80 is way tooooo much if you're just going to harvest the switches

Yeah $80 is a lot, but that is also a currency conversion from Japanese Yen. Still it is a lot. I'm just not sure where else I would find another board like that. I suppose patience is key with these things. I'll keep waiting.

You do have to keep in mind that tactile green Alps are more rare than Taxi Yellow, Blues, Browns, Salmons, and pretty much any other Alps switch out there.  $100 is considered a good price for Brown Alps, so $80 would be a great price.  I know some might disagree with me, but I was lucky when I stumbled into them and jacobulus is the only other person I know who has a board with them.

Almost every other switch, except linear browns.  They're both unicorn switches when it comes to how often they pop up.

[sean]

I got my board with the Browns for about 5€. So yeah I would say $80 is way tooooo much if you're just going to harvest the switches

Yeah $80 is a lot, but that is also a currency conversion from Japanese Yen. Still it is a lot. I'm just not sure where else I would find another board like that. I suppose patience is key with these things. I'll keep waiting.

You do have to keep in mind that tactile green Alps are more rare than Taxi Yellow, Blues, Browns, Salmons, and pretty much any other Alps switch out there.  $100 is considered a good price for Brown Alps, so $80 would be a great price.  I know some might disagree with me, but I was lucky when I stumbled into them and jacobulus is the only other person I know who has a board with them.

It's going to be pretty hard finding a board for it considering I can't even find information on what boards even came with them.

[E3E]

I got my board with the Browns for about 5€. So yeah I would say $80 is way tooooo much if you're just going to harvest the switches

Yeah $80 is a lot, but that is also a currency conversion from Japanese Yen. Still it is a lot. I'm just not sure where else I would find another board like that. I suppose patience is key with these things. I'll keep waiting.

You do have to keep in mind that tactile green Alps are more rare than Taxi Yellow, Blues, Browns, Salmons, and pretty much any other Alps switch out there.  $100 is considered a good price for Brown Alps, so $80 would be a great price.  I know some might disagree with me, but I was lucky when I stumbled into them and jacobulus is the only other person I know who has a board with them.

It's going to be pretty hard finding a board for it considering I can't even find information on what boards even came with them.

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=60956.0

This is pretty much all we've got documented, it seems. SKCM Greens are more simplified successors to SKCM Brown, so unless you're the kind of guy who prefers salmon Alps to orange Alps, I don't see any other reason to be too concerned over it.

Well, unless you just want them because they're rare, hehe. 

[nubbinator]

I got my board with the Browns for about 5€. So yeah I would say $80 is way tooooo much if you're just going to harvest the switches

Yeah $80 is a lot, but that is also a currency conversion from Japanese Yen. Still it is a lot. I'm just not sure where else I would find another board like that. I suppose patience is key with these things. I'll keep waiting.

You do have to keep in mind that tactile green Alps are more rare than Taxi Yellow, Blues, Browns, Salmons, and pretty much any other Alps switch out there.  $100 is considered a good price for Brown Alps, so $80 would be a great price.  I know some might disagree with me, but I was lucky when I stumbled into them and jacobulus is the only other person I know who has a board with them.

Almost every other switch, except linear browns.  They're both unicorn switches when it comes to how often they pop up.

Browns are easy.  IBM 5140.  Dime a dozen, but $80-200 for one.

[E3E]

I got my board with the Browns for about 5€. So yeah I would say $80 is way tooooo much if you're just going to harvest the switches

Yeah $80 is a lot, but that is also a currency conversion from Japanese Yen. Still it is a lot. I'm just not sure where else I would find another board like that. I suppose patience is key with these things. I'll keep waiting.

You do have to keep in mind that tactile green Alps are more rare than Taxi Yellow, Blues, Browns, Salmons, and pretty much any other Alps switch out there.  $100 is considered a good price for Brown Alps, so $80 would be a great price.  I know some might disagree with me, but I was lucky when I stumbled into them and jacobulus is the only other person I know who has a board with them.

Almost every other switch, except linear browns.  They're both unicorn switches when it comes to how often they pop up.

Browns are easy.  IBM 5140.  Dime a dozen, but $80-200 for one.

I said linear Browns, yo. SKCL Brown. Not tactile.

It's going to be pretty hard finding a board for it considering I can't even find information on what boards even came with them.

Unsurprisingly, it seems that the Xerox Docutech was used for printer systems. If you can find any old print shops that have old equipment, you MIGHT be able to find one there... iiiif it isn't still being used.

[sean]

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=60956.0

This is pretty much all we've got documented, it seems. SKCM Greens are more simplified successors to SKCM Brown, so unless you're the kind of guy who prefers salmon Alps to orange Alps, I don't see any other reason to be too concerned over it.

Well, unless you just want them because they're rare, hehe. 

I may settle for orange or salmon Alps since I'm looking for tactile. Also I'm going to stay away from cream switches since I haven't had a good experience with them. Regardless I'm following some Ebay search terms for greens in case something pops up.

[MAR82]

More

I'm not saying everyone will get one for 5€. But as I said, I think $80 is too much if you're just going to harvest. I think the most I would spend on a harvest board would be $50.

Did you get yours locally or online?

I got mine online and locally. Found the guy, online (ebay) and saw he lived 5min from where I work. So I went over and got 5 different boards for 30€ (so I guess I paid 6€ and not 5€ for each).
- Xerox
- Model M (rubber dome)
- Silicon Graphics E02737052 (foam and foil http://imgur.com/a/vTNsE#0)
- Apple EKII
- Sun-2

The guy collects old computers and was selling some keyboards he didn't have the computers that went with them.

I'm also thinking of making an IC on PMKB, that would be based off the keyset from the Xerox
here's a unfinished rough idea (WIP) of what the TKL part would look like

Show Image

I like the colours

what legends would you go with?

I don't want to invade this thread any more with my stuff. So I went ahead and made an IC
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=77809.0

[sth]

IM LATE BUT PLEASE DONT BRING THE GH-ILL-PAY-ANYTHING-FOR-WHAT-I-WANT ATTITUDE TO ALPS BOARDS

LEAVE THAT **** TO VINTAGE CHERRY HUNTERS AND CLICK CLACKS PLSSSSS

[sean]

IM LATE BUT PLEASE DONT BRING THE GH-ILL-PAY-ANYTHING-FOR-WHAT-I-WANT ATTITUDE TO ALPS BOARDS

LEAVE THAT **** TO VINTAGE CHERRY HUNTERS AND CLICK CLACKS PLSSSSS

Who's saying that?

[cheddarbek]

IM LATE BUT PLEASE DONT BRING THE GH-ILL-PAY-ANYTHING-FOR-WHAT-I-WANT ATTITUDE TO ALPS BOARDS

LEAVE THAT **** TO VINTAGE CHERRY HUNTERS AND CLICK CLACKS PLSSSSS

At the going rate of +$1 a switch for blues, that ship may have sailed I'm afraid.

[Hypersphere]

<snip>
Browns are easy.  IBM 5140.  Dime a dozen, but $80-200 for one.

The IBM convertible computer (Model 5140) is indeed a great source for Alps fanciers. The main typing area of the keyboard has tactile brown Alps and the half-size F-keys and arrow keys have what I think are linear yellow Alps. Moreover, the switches are topped off with beautiful dye-sublimated PBT keycaps. This keyboard has an embedded numeric keypad, and the keypad keycaps have front-printed numbers in blue.

I managed to get one of these keyboards today on eBay for $65 shipped in a rare stroke of good fortune. I've seen the IBM 5140s listed for as much as $495 plus almost $50 for shipping. When I have seen these listings, I have written to the sellers asking if they would be willing to sell only the keyboard (plus I have offered to walk them through the process of disconnecting it without damaging any of the components). Of course, they all say "No". Well, today, one of the sellers agreed to sell only the keyboard, but he went ahead without my instructions and damaged the connector when disconnecting it. Without any prompting from me, he countered with $65 shipped, which I readily accepted. Now it is on its way... Hurrah!

[E3E]

<snip>
Browns are easy.  IBM 5140.  Dime a dozen, but $80-200 for one.

The IBM convertible computer (Model 5140) is indeed a great source for Alps fanciers. The main typing area of the keyboard has tactile brown Alps and the half-size F-keys and arrow keys have what I think are linear yellow Alps. Moreover, the switches are topped off with beautiful dye-sublimated PBT keycaps. This keyboard has an embedded numeric keypad, and the keypad keycaps have front-printed numbers in blue.

I managed to get one of these keyboards today on eBay for $65 shipped in a rare stroke of good fortune. I've seen the IBM 5140s listed for as much as $495 plus almost $50 for shipping. When I have seen these listings, I have written to the sellers asking if they would be willing to sell only the keyboard (plus I have offered to walk them through the process of disconnecting it without damaging any of the components). Of course, they all say "No". Well, today, one of the sellers agreed to sell only the keyboard, but he went ahead without my instructions and damaged the connector when disconnecting it. Without any prompting from me, he countered with $65 shipped, which I readily accepted. Now it is on its way... Hurrah!

Congrats, Hypersphere!

Yep, the caps are likely from the same manufacturer who supplied the PBT and ABS key caps for the AEK I/AEK II, Zenith ZKB-2, Z-150, the NeXT non-ABD boards, the very first versions of the Dell AT101, Leading Edge DC-2014/3014, SGI Granite, some Acer boards, etc etc. In other words, they really are the creme de la creme of Alps caps, at least in my opinion! Whoever manufactured those caps really did a great job and supplied a lot of the big shots. 
 
The smaller keys on the board use SKCL compact as far as I know! Interesting little things. I just recently scored one for $27 (before shipping) that flew under the radar. I also asked the seller to ship only the keyboard component of the computer, and he agreed. Luckily, the PC is already somewhat damaged, so I don't think he's too worried about breaking it.  It was going to come with a lot of neat accessorie but with a $50 shipping charge to boot. How exactly DOES one remove the keyboard without damaging the computer? It's likely just a latch right? This might be good to know, just in case the seller runs into any problems.
 
So, whenever that's done, I'll be able to get the board for a pretty damn low price! I'm definitely curious to try these brown tactiles out and see if these really are as good as they seem to be!

[vivalarevolución]

I was feeling a bit better today, so 50/100 orders packed. 

I also took some pictures of the powder coated plates.  The first picture was taken with the plate sitting in a blue TeX Al case with flash, and the second picture was taken in a silver TeX Al case without flash.  This should give you an idea of the color with some searchable references.  The flash/noflash thing was due to some annoying reflection I got while in the silver case that made the color look off.

Show Image

Show Image

Edit: Those aren't TeX cases, they are non-branded ones from a recent Massdrop sale.  My mistake.

Wow, those are beautiful.

[sth]

IM LATE BUT PLEASE DONT BRING THE GH-ILL-PAY-ANYTHING-FOR-WHAT-I-WANT ATTITUDE TO ALPS BOARDS

LEAVE THAT **** TO VINTAGE CHERRY HUNTERS AND CLICK CLACKS PLSSSSS

Who's saying that?

last page

IM LATE BUT PLEASE DONT BRING THE GH-ILL-PAY-ANYTHING-FOR-WHAT-I-WANT ATTITUDE TO ALPS BOARDS

LEAVE THAT **** TO VINTAGE CHERRY HUNTERS AND CLICK CLACKS PLSSSSS

At the going rate of +$1 a switch for blues, that ship may have sailed I'm afraid.

thats why we trade 

[E3E]

IM LATE BUT PLEASE DONT BRING THE GH-ILL-PAY-ANYTHING-FOR-WHAT-I-WANT ATTITUDE TO ALPS BOARDS

LEAVE THAT **** TO VINTAGE CHERRY HUNTERS AND CLICK CLACKS PLSSSSS

At the going rate of +$1 a switch for blues, that ship may have sailed I'm afraid.

thats why we trade 

Truth.

[E3E]

Did anyone say they had an HHKB plate they weren't using? I might like one! Please do shoot me a PM if you'd like to part with one. It's not imperative that I have one though.

[BlueNalgene]

Update:

I have successfully gone to and returned from Canada for my little trip, despite the best efforts of a very grueling customs experience.  Since my return, I have organized the rest of the shipment.  I ran out of packing peanuts, so there is still some minor filling to do, but that is pretty much done.  Monday I will begin the process of stamping and sending the CONUS packages and I will begin filling out the customs forms for the INTL packages. 

The add-on trinket I had 3D printed arrived, and the parts work.  The fit is tight on some due to the nature of the 3D printing process, but they work.  If the extra material proves too tight for the cap you are trying to use, you can always scrape the cruciform with a knife to loosen the fit.

They came in a printed shell to hold the 100 free bits from escaping


And the juicy things were within


The winners of the custom caps have been picked.  The method I used to choose the winners was, rolling 2d10 die (one for each digit) gave the number of a row on my spreadsheet.  The spreadsheet rows were not in any particular order, and the die have been acceptably random in the past.  The winners will be kept a surprise until the package is received.  You will know if you have won, because in the ziploc with the 3D printed part there will be a medicine bottle with the cap in it. 


The current leftovers which I will be selling off are:
3 stab sets
~1800 quiet click switches
~250 linear switches
~350 click switches

These will be sold first come first serve.  Some people have already PM'd me asking for them, and I will be replying to them all tonight.  If you buy things now, you avoid extra shipping charges because I can just throw them in with your first box.

[njbair]

Just 2,500 leftover switches, nbd.

[BlueNalgene]

Just 2,500 leftover switches, nbd.

By the look of things, they won't last too long. 

[deductivemonkee]

Update:

I have successfully gone to and returned from Canada for my little trip, despite the best efforts of a very grueling customs experience.  Since my return, I have organized the rest of the shipment.  I ran out of packing peanuts, so there is still some minor filling to do, but that is pretty much done.  Monday I will begin the process of stamping and sending the CONUS packages and I will begin filling out the customs forms for the INTL packages. 

The add-on trinket I had 3D printed arrived, and the parts work.  The fit is tight on some due to the nature of the 3D printing process, but they work.  If the extra material proves too tight for the cap you are trying to use, you can always scrape the cruciform with a knife to loosen the fit.

They came in a printed shell to hold the 100 free bits from escaping

Show Image

And the juicy things were within

Show Image

The winners of the custom caps have been picked.  The method I used to choose the winners was, rolling 2d10 die (one for each digit) gave the number of a row on my spreadsheet.  The spreadsheet rows were not in any particular order, and the die have been acceptably random in the past.  The winners will be kept a surprise until the package is received.  You will know if you have won, because in the ziploc with the 3D printed part there will be a medicine bottle with the cap in it. 


The current leftovers which I will be selling off are:
3 stab sets
~1800 quiet click switches
~250 linear switches
~350 click switches

These will be sold first come first serve.  Some people have already PM'd me asking for them, and I will be replying to them all tonight.  If you buy things now, you avoid extra shipping charges because I can just throw them in with your first box.

You were in Canada? You should've walked to my house and given me my stuff! It's the big blue one with white trim!

[BlueNalgene]

You were in Canada? You should've walked to my house and given me my stuff! It's the big blue one with white trim!

Sorry eh.  I was in MB not BC.  With 20cm of snow in one day, all the houses had the white trim.

[deductivemonkee]

You were in Canada? You should've walked to my house and given me my stuff! It's the big blue one with white trim!

Sorry eh.  I was in MB not BC.  With 20cm of snow in one day, all the houses had the white trim.

I see what you did there.

[phosphoric]

Update:

I have successfully gone to and returned from Canada for my little trip, despite the best efforts of a very grueling customs experience.  Since my return, I have organized the rest of the shipment.  I ran out of packing peanuts, so there is still some minor filling to do, but that is pretty much done.  Monday I will begin the process of stamping and sending the CONUS packages and I will begin filling out the customs forms for the INTL packages. 

The add-on trinket I had 3D printed arrived, and the parts work.  The fit is tight on some due to the nature of the 3D printing process, but they work.  If the extra material proves too tight for the cap you are trying to use, you can always scrape the cruciform with a knife to loosen the fit.

They came in a printed shell to hold the 100 free bits from escaping

Show Image

And the juicy things were within

Show Image

The winners of the custom caps have been picked.  The method I used to choose the winners was, rolling 2d10 die (one for each digit) gave the number of a row on my spreadsheet.  The spreadsheet rows were not in any particular order, and the die have been acceptably random in the past.  The winners will be kept a surprise until the package is received.  You will know if you have won, because in the ziploc with the 3D printed part there will be a medicine bottle with the cap in it. 


The current leftovers which I will be selling off are:
3 stab sets
~1800 quiet click switches
~250 linear switches
~350 click switches

These will be sold first come first serve.  Some people have already PM'd me asking for them, and I will be replying to them all tonight.  If you buy things now, you avoid extra shipping charges because I can just throw them in with your first box.

these trinkets make me horny and i'm not sure how to feel about that

[cheddarbek]

Update:

I have successfully gone to and returned from Canada for my little trip, despite the best efforts of a very grueling customs experience.  Since my return, I have organized the rest of the shipment.  I ran out of packing peanuts, so there is still some minor filling to do, but that is pretty much done.  Monday I will begin the process of stamping and sending the CONUS packages and I will begin filling out the customs forms for the INTL packages. 

The add-on trinket I had 3D printed arrived, and the parts work.  The fit is tight on some due to the nature of the 3D printing process, but they work.  If the extra material proves too tight for the cap you are trying to use, you can always scrape the cruciform with a knife to loosen the fit.

They came in a printed shell to hold the 100 free bits from escaping

Show Image

And the juicy things were within

Show Image

The winners of the custom caps have been picked.  The method I used to choose the winners was, rolling 2d10 die (one for each digit) gave the number of a row on my spreadsheet.  The spreadsheet rows were not in any particular order, and the die have been acceptably random in the past.  The winners will be kept a surprise until the package is received.  You will know if you have won, because in the ziploc with the 3D printed part there will be a medicine bottle with the cap in it. 


The current leftovers which I will be selling off are:
3 stab sets
~1800 quiet click switches
~250 linear switches
~350 click switches

These will be sold first come first serve.  Some people have already PM'd me asking for them, and I will be replying to them all tonight.  If you buy things now, you avoid extra shipping charges because I can just throw them in with your first box.

We demanded 'silly' trinkets, not awesome and practical ones.

Worst. GB. Ever.

[tofgerl]

Are those stabiliser inserts? They look far too huge...

[phosphoric]

Are those stabiliser inserts? They look far too huge...

they're meant to be alps-mx adapters so you can fit your mx keycaps on your alps switch

[tofgerl]

Oh, ok! I thought stab inserts were a little odd 😊

[BlueNalgene]

Quick update:

Mailing has begun.  12/100 have been shipped.  I'm going to work on the rest now.

The extras are selling quickly.  Stocks are at:
1 stab set
53 linear
130 click
~850 quiet click switches

If you are interested in the extras and combining the shipment, you should order TODAY.  I'm getting this **** in the mail.

[SJHL]

Its happening!

[njbair]

Awesome news. Can't wait to see the Post Your Alps thread in the near future...

[nickheller]

Great to hear this is shipping, I really need to pick up some cases though 

[njbair]

Great to hear this is shipping, I really need to pick up some cases though 

I'm right there with you. I have no idea what cases in going to use for these things. I have a black TEX alu case that's holding an Infinity right now. I'll probably get rid of the Infinity and use that case for an Alps build. I also have a TEX clear acrylic case but that doesn't look very good...

[nickheller]

Great to hear this is shipping, I really need to pick up some cases though 

I'm right there with you. I have no idea what cases in going to use for these things. I have a black TEX alu case that's holding an Infinity right now. I'll probably get rid of the Infinity and use that case for an Alps build. I also have a TEX clear acrylic case but that doesn't look very good...

I had a black TEX alu case, but I sold it. Now I feel pretty silly since I could of used it for one of these boards. You can buy them directly from TEX though, so I may try and get another one of the black ones for my aekii layout board, and maybe a blue one for my infinity that will use Alpine Winter. We'll see!

[deductivemonkee]

Quick update:

Mailing has begun.  12/100 have been shipped.  I'm going to work on the rest now.

The extras are selling quickly.  Stocks are at:
1 stab set
53 linear
130 click
~850 quiet click switches

If you are interested in the extras and combining the shipment, you should order TODAY.  I'm getting this **** in the mail.

Was mine one of those 12? What? Int'l isn't shipping today? Awww....

[merlin64]

PMed you! =)

[hasu]

I'm not saying everyone will get one for 5€. But as I said, I think $80 is too much if you're just going to harvest. I think the most I would spend on a harvest board would be $50.

Did you get yours locally or online?

I got mine online and locally. Found the guy, online (ebay) and saw he lived 5min from where I work. So I went over and got 5 different boards for 30€ (so I guess I paid 6€ and not 5€ for each).
- Xerox
- Model M (rubber dome)
- Silicon Graphics E02737052 (foam and foil http://imgur.com/a/vTNsE#0)
- Apple EKII
- Sun-2

The guy collects old computers and was selling some keyboards he didn't have the computers that went with them.

Great deal! it looks to me like robbing
Did you post pics of Sun-2 somewhere?

[MAR82]

Not yet, it's still locked away in my basement. But if you want I can pull it out and take a few pictures. So far I don't have any plans for it, since I don't think its mechanical and I'm not sure what connection it uses (all I remember is that it's not ps2).
I really should have another look at it!

[CommonCurt]

Quick update:

Mailing has begun.  12/100 have been shipped.  I'm going to work on the rest now.

The extras are selling quickly.  Stocks are at:
1 stab set
53 linear
130 click
~850 quiet click switches

If you are interested in the extras and combining the shipment, you should order TODAY.  I'm getting this **** in the mail.

Getting close.  Still trying to decide which color SKCM switches I'm going to use.  I'll probably go with the Orange's I have already available.

[tominabox1]

Blue, sent you a PM regarding shipping my order.

[Zealousy]

Holy moly it's coming! Winter starting is the best thing that could happen for this ALPS party! I'm not ready! (ok I am but also waiting for Apline Winter DCS)

[nathanrosspowell]

Oh damnnnn, time to start de-soldering my infinity PCB!

You're my boy, Blue 

[deductivemonkee]

I'm glad you went with secret cap winners blue I just hope CONUS people won't say they got 'em before I even get my package, I like suspense.... ^{so did I win?}

[koalapear]

Just got my order from the Matias stabilizer sub-buy. Also looks like I won a red elephant as well! These stabs will be great for my Monarchs. Thanks BlueNalgene!

[Tyr]

Looking forward to this. Looks like it will arrive before the Massdrop Planck kit I ordered in august  Now that's some good GB'ing.

[deductivemonkee]

I was hoping to assemble mine during my Christmas vacation but I don't see that happening... Damn you Canadian customs!

[deductivemonkee]

Have the international orders shipped yet?

[CommonCurt]

Pretty sure I got my shipping notification.  Thanks Blue 

It's going to be delayed due to holiday shipping congestion tho.

[Geroximo]

If anyone wants to sell a PCB, I would gladly buy it.

[mgcross]

Got my AEKII plate and PCB in the mail today! The plate is so thick and solid. A little nervous as I've never soldered diodes before, but looks fairly straightforward (cathode->square pad). Blue Alps and AEKII caps are ready to go. Thanks for all your hard work on this, Blue!

[SJHL]

Thank you again for your hard work!

After driving back home, I noticed a package that was waiting for me. Not only the plate was inside, I also got one of the elephant (Drunken Delirium?) artisan! Def woke me up in the morning. Went to work a little late just to assemble everything. Priorities first, right? 





Happy Holidays, everyone!