Author Topic: One man's trash is another man's treasure (Read 51746 times)

Daniel Beaver · « **Reply #100 on:** Sun, 12 September 2010, 20:26:53 »

I passed by my treasure trove again today.

Found lots of old Apple-brand stuff.

Weird mechanical switches

Boxes full of buried treasure

Gizmos I can't identify

And keyboards, of course. I found a couple of Model F-XT-ish boards that were hard-wired to a big IBM boxes. I had to leave these behind, since I couldn't unhook them.

Here was the day's haul. I am running out of space to store keyboards, so I was very choosy. Top left is a terminal Model F (Kishy, want?). Top right is a Model F with a space-saving layout; it has two connectors on the back, one which looks like a parallel port, one which looks like a serial port. Bottom left is a metal-label Model M. Bottom right is a Model F AT.

I also found dozens more Model Ms and ALPS boards, but ignored them for now. I'm an apartment dweller, so I can't afford to hoard so much crap. I'm still on a work trip (in the next-town over from my treasure trove, incidentally), so I won't be able clean or ship anything until Tuesday. PM me then if you want anything.

TexasFlood · « **Reply #101 on:** Sun, 12 September 2010, 20:44:34 »

Quote from: Daniel Beaver;222579

I passed by my treasure trove again today.

Weird mechanical switches

Show Image

Looks like a "space invader".

Quote from: Daniel Beaver;222579

Gizmos I can't identify

Show Image

Schoolmaster Filmstrip Projector?

KillerBee · « **Reply #102 on:** Sun, 12 September 2010, 21:24:56 »

Muuuuuust get more M's!! The force is too strong to hold back

Oqsy · « **Reply #103 on:** Sun, 12 September 2010, 23:05:35 »

ooo whichever F kishy hasn't spoken for pm sent

Shawn Stanford · « **Reply #104 on:** Mon, 13 September 2010, 06:37:08 »

Quote from: Daniel Beaver;222579

Gizmos I can't identify
Show Image

It's a filmstrip projector.

KillerBee · « **Reply #105 on:** Mon, 13 September 2010, 15:40:17 »

Sgt. Stanford dont lie that is the top secret proton blaster that we have to fight against the secret invisible weapons of mass destruction that you and me are looking for!

Must find that secret cove and bury myself in Model M clickyness!!

Shawn Stanford · « **Reply #106 on:** Mon, 13 September 2010, 21:39:34 »

Please report to the nearest government agency - the local Farm Bureau should do - for debriefing and re-education...

JBert · « **Reply #107 on:** Tue, 14 September 2010, 15:42:47 »

Quote from: Daniel Beaver;222579

And keyboards, of course. I found a couple of Model F-XT-ish boards that were hard-wired to a big IBM boxes. I had to leave these behind, since I couldn't unhook them.

Show Image

Sent you a PM for such a keycap set. I don't really need the spacebar so you can leave that one on.

Sadly, still no affordable buckling beam keyboard...

Daniel Beaver · « **Reply #108 on:** Wed, 15 September 2010, 14:06:42 »

I see now the issue with the Model F keys. On my Model F, I have double-piece model keys. It works well, but the clearance between keys is virtually nil when both are crooked (less than 1mm, probably close to 1/5th of a mm). There is probably enough variation between batches that in some cases you will get rubbing.

FYI, I just got back from my trip this morning, so I'm working on processing everyone's requests.

Daniel Beaver · « **Reply #109 on:** Sat, 23 October 2010, 02:16:49 »

Thread necrophilia!

I have spent a lot of time cleaning up these Alps keyboards, and have had something of a 180° opinion change about Alps in general. White ALPS, with a little bit of silicon grease on the sliders, compare quite favorably with my Filco (cherry blues). I'm rather appreciating the lack of hysteresis in the switch, and the lower-pitched click. Not quite as smooth as a cherry, but close. Still, it is an incredible time sink to open and clean 101 keys.

It has also become clear to me that white alps and blue alps are basically identical. still, blue is cool looking:

Unfortunately, my AT101W with blue Alps is on the fritz. Whole sections of the boards aren't working (i.e, the 4,5,6,3 and del key on the numpad). I'm not so sure how much more work I want to put into it.

In the meantime, my Filco has been sitting in a corner all this week, replaced by this wonderful thing:

Cleaned inside and out, with cleaned and re-lubricated white alps. It feels great to type on. The keys are awesome too: double shot, multi-color.

Build quality is quite good. The bottom half of the case is steel. The soldering is very consistent on the PCB. And, to my surprise, full NKRO.

I have no idea what sort of keyboard this is. The manufacturer is "Reason Technology", and the model number is simply "101". I couldn't find a date anywhere. It uses an AT connection, so it's probably fairly old (it WAS in the same lot as all my other Model Fs). Huh.

Moogle Stiltzkin · « **Reply #110 on:** Sat, 23 October 2010, 03:40:25 »

I'm very impressed by your find. Gratz.

People don't know what their throwing away in the trash sometimes o_O;

hoggy · « **Reply #111 on:** Sat, 23 October 2010, 16:12:31 »

You know, I use an in/out tray to store my keyboards, maybe I should just leave them outside on the window still...

...Please tell me you've let it in by now.

Daniel Beaver · « **Reply #112 on:** Sat, 23 October 2010, 16:19:24 »

Actually, I never picked that one up, as it was permanently attached to the machine behind it. It's going to sit outside allll winter.

8_INCH_FLOPPY · « **Reply #113 on:** Sat, 23 October 2010, 17:35:49 »

I keep hearing that white ALPS and blue ALPS are the same, but they feel completely different to me. White take so much more force. At least, mine do.

keyb_gr · « **Reply #114 on:** Sat, 23 October 2010, 18:53:22 »

Quote from: 8_INCH_FLOPPY;237750

I keep hearing that white ALPS and blue ALPS are the same, but they feel completely different to me. White take so much more force. At least, mine do.

Then either you've got simplifieds there or they are in need of cleaning & lubing. Apparently they can develop significant friction upon off-center keypresses if dusty. No wonder ALPS are hit'n'miss.

Daniel Beaver · « **Reply #115 on:** Sat, 23 October 2010, 19:36:17 »

It may be that they are, in fact, somewhat different when observed under close scrutiny. Still, I would be willing to bet that the difference is cause either by wear or by lubrication.

The blue ALPS I have tried have all felt great, wheras the white ALPS have required cleaning and lubrication before they felt comparable.

I R SCEPTICAL.
Also, the placebo effect is strong.

NewbieOneKenobi · « **Reply #116 on:** Sat, 23 October 2010, 22:22:20 »

Model F! The keyboard of my childhood, before I realised I'd never make it into IT studies due to maths and physics. I still coded my way out of physics and maths homework on one (QBasic FTW!) and gave the code to the rest of the class. You'd be willing to part with one of the four?

Daniel Beaver · « **Reply #117 on:** Sun, 24 October 2010, 00:41:41 »

Ripster: I could send you a couple if you wanted. The bottom half is, in fact, a bit different. Not sure how much of a difference it really makes.

acfrazier: Watch the marketplace. I'm gearing up to do a whole bunch of restorations and bolt mods.

NewbieOneKenobi: Sorry, all those are long gone.

codek · « **Reply #118 on:** Sun, 07 November 2010, 01:18:44 »

Quote from: Daniel Beaver;222579

I passed by my treasure trove again today.

Found lots of old Apple-brand stuff.

Show Image

Weird mechanical switches

Show Image

Boxes full of buried treasure

Show Image

Gizmos I can't identify

Show Image

And keyboards, of course. I found a couple of Model F-XT-ish boards that were hard-wired to a big IBM boxes. I had to leave these behind, since I couldn't unhook them.

Show Image

Here was the day's haul. I am running out of space to store keyboards, so I was very choosy. Top left is a terminal Model F (Kishy, want?). Top right is a Model F with a space-saving layout; it has two connectors on the back, one which looks like a parallel port, one which looks like a serial port. Bottom left is a metal-label Model M. Bottom right is a Model F AT.

Show Image

I also found dozens more Model Ms and ALPS boards, but ignored them for now. I'm an apartment dweller, so I can't afford to hoard so much crap. I'm still on a work trip (in the next-town over from my treasure trove, incidentally), so I won't be able clean or ship anything until Tuesday. PM me then if you want anything.

did you get this from the Swan station on the island from LOST?

Daniel Beaver · « **Reply #119 on:** Sun, 07 November 2010, 12:54:33 »

I'm not a watcher of LOST, so the reference is lost on me.

Pylon · « **Reply #120 on:** Sun, 07 November 2010, 14:23:22 »

Quote from: Daniel Beaver;243846

I'm not a watcher of LOST, so the reference is lost on me.

Show Image

If you play crash cymbals or high hat on crash cymbals, that means to muffle it immediately after the note by pushing it onto your chest.

quadibloc · « **Reply #121 on:** Sun, 07 November 2010, 17:23:09 »

Quote from: Daniel Beaver;222579

Gizmos I can't identify.

That is a filmstrip projector. When I was a child, they used them a lot in school.

Basically, a short length of film is projected one image at a time. So it is optically equivalent to a slide projector, but the mechanics for advancing from one image to the next is simpler.

Fwiffo · « **Reply #122 on:** Sun, 07 November 2010, 18:12:20 »

Flashbacks from health class...
"Billy is confused by the changes going on in his body. *beeeep*"

8_INCH_FLOPPY · « **Reply #123 on:** Tue, 09 November 2010, 22:55:51 »

Quote from: Daniel Beaver;222579

Boxes full of buried treasure

Show Image

Is that that keyboard in the middle of the box a space-cadet, or am I hallucinating? I call dibs.

Fwiffo · « **Reply #124 on:** Tue, 09 November 2010, 23:10:41 »

I call secondary dibs on any reasonably decent condition space cadet you find.

msiegel · « **Reply #125 on:** Tue, 09 November 2010, 23:46:05 »

tertiary dibs!

wait, that's a mac plus keyboard 0_o

although there looks like a model f/xt behind it

rantenki · « **Reply #126 on:** Wed, 10 November 2010, 00:10:33 »

I'll just leave this here: http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/11/the_mechanical_glory_of_the_ibm_sel.html

tl:dr; Video:

Daniel Beaver · « **Reply #127 on:** Wed, 10 November 2010, 00:34:05 »

Nope, not a Space Cadet. Sorry!

Epic video, BTW. I have three Selectrics and enjoy them immensely. They are my favorite machine of any type. Make magazine is worth subscribing to, especially if you are a member of this crowd.

EDIT: WHOA, I did not realize that Whippletrees had that property (transmitting pseudo-digital output via discrete analog input). I was not informed of this in my mechanical linkage class in college.

Shawn Stanford · « **Reply #128 on:** Wed, 10 November 2010, 06:16:00 »

What the hell is a 'Space Cadet' keyboard?

zefrer · « **Reply #129 on:** Wed, 10 November 2010, 06:34:56 »

Who knows man, space invader switches maybe?

Shawn Stanford · « **Reply #130 on:** Wed, 10 November 2010, 07:05:22 »

After I asked I made a more thorough search of gh and managed to find a picture of a wierd-ass Symbolics keyboard that I think was being called a 'Space Cadet' keyboard.

woody · « **Reply #131 on:** Wed, 10 November 2010, 08:12:24 »

IIRC the Wikipedia entry on keyboard has picture of it. The board heavy on modifiers.

Senor_Cartmenez · « **Reply #132 on:** Wed, 10 November 2010, 08:39:54 »

I can't ignore it any longer...

Every time I read the title of this thread I HAVE TO think of this:

Daniel Beaver · « **Reply #133 on:** Thu, 11 November 2010, 23:07:03 »

Here's the deal:

I'm moving back to home to Puerto Rico at the end of November. I cannot take these keyboards with me. I probably can't store them anywhere up here in Minnesota (I currently keep them in my apartment's garage space). So I'm going to be throwing them all out at the end of the month, UNLESS people want to buy them from me for cheap. So... PM me if you want anything that I posted in this thread. I hate to see good keyboards go to waste.

msiegel · « **Reply #134 on:** Thu, 11 November 2010, 23:43:12 »

yarr, cheap keyboards off the starboard bow!

there's so much booty, ye might have to sell em in lots, matey

Daniel Beaver · « **Reply #135 on:** Thu, 11 November 2010, 23:43:55 »

Ugh, but that may be what it takes. I knew I would regret hauling all these back home with me.

msiegel · « **Reply #136 on:** Thu, 11 November 2010, 23:46:07 »

arrr there any more dirty XTs in that treasure hole?

Daniel Beaver · « **Reply #137 on:** Thu, 11 November 2010, 23:50:40 »

This post has pictures of everything I have left, though some of this stuff has been sold. A lot of the Model M's are gone, as well as some of the ALPS boards. No Model F's of any kind left, sorry. I'm thinking $5 per keyboard plus shipping to take it off my hands. FYI, I will not clean anything, but I will ensure that any board I sell is fully operational.

Quote

More pictures. I layed them out more orderly. These are the ones I haven't cleaned yet.

Show Image

Model Ms
Show Image

Terminal Model Ms, and also a Model F (can you spot it?)
Show Image

In this picture:

Topmost left, and second down from the left:
Labled "TO-300". These have black cherries and doubleshot keys, and a phone-line style connector. I suspect someone here would be interested in a full set of cherry-compatible doubleshot keys.

Bottom Left, second from the bottom: It has a trackball, that's all I know.

Bottom Left: some Apple keyboard.

Top Right: another one of those strange HP keyboards, with the *****in keys.

Right, second down: a brand-less keyboard with yellow-orange alps.

Right, Third down: just a Model M, but with a frayed cable. This will be a donor board.

Show Image

Top right: an AT&T branded board with strange, pink keyswitches. I'll get a picture up soon. Uses a serial (?) cable. The key feel is quite good, actually, better than any other keyboard in the bunch (with the exception of the Model F keyboards).

Middle left: Two Dell Quietkeys, standard rubber dome keyboards. MS Windows pimped these, and I have to agree with his basic assessment of them.

Right, second down: White ALPS, doubleshot keys. The label has been washed away by the rain.

Right, third down: Another Dell 1301W. This one is in better shape than the one I posted previously in this thread.

Show Image

Right, bottom: another white ALPS board, with doublshot keys.

Left, bottom: Why, whatever could this be? :whoo:

Show Image

jaynoon · « **Reply #138 on:** Fri, 12 November 2010, 00:59:42 »

Do you still have the white Alps (right, 2nd down, bottom picture) or is that one of the ones that's already gone?

Shawn Stanford · « **Reply #139 on:** Fri, 12 November 2010, 06:35:40 »

I will definitely take a couple of Model Ms for $5 plus shipping.

Lanx · « **Reply #140 on:** Fri, 12 November 2010, 06:41:33 »

me 2 as well i'd like 2 model M's to see how'd i'd be able to mod em 5$ per plus shipping.

kps · « **Reply #141 on:** Fri, 12 November 2010, 09:03:05 »

PM sent requesting one Terminal M and one PC M donor.

ironman31 · « **Reply #142 on:** Fri, 12 November 2010, 09:05:04 »

I PMed you a little while ago about some keyboards

woody · « **Reply #143 on:** Fri, 12 November 2010, 10:02:58 »

Daniel Beaver, that should be a pre-2006 Forester, no?

Daniel Beaver · « **Reply #144 on:** Fri, 12 November 2010, 12:38:33 »

woody: Yep

Rest: PM me if you are interested in cheap Model Ms, and I can ship them out ASAP.

jaynoon: I may have used that particular one as donor board for switches, I'll check.

Oqsy · « **Reply #145 on:** Fri, 12 November 2010, 16:38:40 »

beaver: pms a plenty

ironman31 · « **Reply #146 on:** Fri, 12 November 2010, 22:41:52 »

payment sent

KillerBee · « **Reply #147 on:** Fri, 12 November 2010, 22:51:06 »

PM-PM!

Ohh Boy! Ohh Boy

Daniel Beaver · « **Reply #148 on:** Sun, 14 November 2010, 11:59:37 »

I have time today to head out to my stash, so I should be PMing people who are interested in boards today or tomorrow with pictures and specific part numbers out to people.

kps · « **Reply #149 on:** Sun, 14 November 2010, 13:19:32 »

Quote from: kishy;246720

If anyone gets one of the 122-keys from Daniel which has the right-angle plug, and intends to throw away that original cord, I'd appreciate having it instead...

(properly detached from the inside, not cut, and with no connector or cord damage ideally)

I can do that; I intend to do an internal USB conversion. However, I won't have the board in my possession until the new year.

News:

Author Topic: One man's trash is another man's treasure (Read 51746 times)

woody

woody