Alps Appreciation Thread

[frogthejam19]

so the prices of these boards can fall back down to earth where they belong.

Prices "belong" at whatever point at least 1 person is willing to pay.
Just because every buyer always wants prices to be low is irrelevant.

 ) ) True. I'm but I wonder if this will sell. I don't doubt it though. If that Apple Keyboard with Sold for more than 300 I dont doubt that these will sell as well.
I wish more people understood this. At least they all seem to understand it when it's time to sell their stuff.

[E3E]

so the prices of these boards can fall back down to earth where they belong.

Prices "belong" at whatever point at least 1 person is willing to pay.
Just because every buyer always wants prices to be low is irrelevant.

 ) ) True. I'm but I wonder if this will sell. I don't doubt it though. If that Apple Keyboard with Sold for more than 300 I dont doubt that these will sell as well.
I wish more people understood this. At least they all seem to understand it when it's time to sell their stuff.

The AEK sold for more than $500.

This keyboard is actually a lot more rare as it is the double shot version of the Acer KB101, whereas normally the caps are dye sublimed ABS.

You seldom ever see these, to be honest. I think the price is fair IF there's someone crazy enough to pay for it, and there was someone from Japan crazy enough to pay $500 for a common board, not to mention one that was manufactured in Japan. I'm not sure of the AEK's distribution, but I'd imagine it'd be a bit more common seeing as other Japanese companies like NEC and Sharp and Alps itself seem to have oddles of noodles of boards over there in Sunrise Land.

Though it is an Apple board, so I don't know, maybe they weren't so common there despite being manufactured there. Perhaps that was just the PCB and not the housing.

[engicoder]

Most keyboards are done in solder pools these days, just look at a Keycool or Rapoo PCB. On both I've found random bits of solder from the process.

Through hole stuff has generally been done with wave soldering where the board with the leads pointing down is passed over a standing wave of solder.

[Blaise170]

Most keyboards are done in solder pools these days, just look at a Keycool or Rapoo PCB. On both I've found random bits of solder from the process.

Through hole stuff has generally been done with wave soldering where the board with the leads pointing down is passed over a standing wave of solder.

Not sure if you are agreeing with me but we are talking about the same thing.

[Venatorious]

PCB of a Microterm board I harvested the switches off of.

[sean]

PCB of a Microterm board I harvested the switches off of.

Cool! Do you plan on making use of the LED cutouts?

[Venatorious]

Cool! Do you plan on making use of the LED cutouts?

I really don't know how to be honest.  Can you install custom ones with the soarer converter?

[sean]

Cool! Do you plan on making use of the LED cutouts?

I really don't know how to be honest.  Can you install custom ones with the soarer converter?

I've never done it before so I'm unaware of the process myself. E3E probably has a write up about his LED mod somewhere.

[E3E]

Cool! Do you plan on making use of the LED cutouts?

I really don't know how to be honest.  Can you install custom ones with the soarer converter?

tl;dr: Many Alps PCBs don't allow for LED compatibility. If you do find one of the few that do (or are a wizard), then you'll still have to drill LED holes for each housing because only switches with LEDs inserted from the factory have holes in  the bottom housing for the LED legs.

I went the "easy" route for LEDs since I'm far from an electrical wizard. I chose the Duck Eagle PCBs since they were, at the time, the only PCBs (aside from a particular Leeku full-size PCB and the Duck Mini, and possibly the V60, although that would require a bit more work to get fully operational LEDs) that had options for LEDs.

This is primarily because the PCB was designed for MX or Alps switches, and by virtue of accepting Cherry MX, it also had LED pads.

That said, you'll have to take a drill to each one of the housings to allow the LED legs to actually pass through the housing because, unless the switches came pre-installed with LEDs, then there are no holes on the bottoms of those housings.

The new Infinity model also has LED compatibility now, so if you want to make some backlit Alps boards like mine, you can go for that! Might take a few months though.

The V60MTS (and V80MTS, I think) is supposedly compatible, but no one has documented using it with backlighting yet. You'll need resistors for that one.

EDIT: Soarer's uses TMK right? I have no idea how LEDs work on that system. Yep, no idea how it'd work on Soarer's or TMK.

[njbair]

Here's one I just finished building yesterday.



It's an Alps Party ANSI with blue Alps switches, Tai Hao Olivetti keycaps, and a blue-gray 3D printed Z-case from Ziptyze's recent buy.

Although I'm generally a fan of the Infinity/HHKB layout for 60% boards, I bought this ANSI plate during Alps Party with the specific intention of using one of my Tai Hao Alps sets. I've already got the Tai Hao Dolch caps on my Filco Zero, and I had the Olivetti and WoB sets just sitting around. This board gives them something to do. And I have to say, these caps feel wonderful on the blue Alps switches.



This build was pretty straightforward, as the Tai Hao keycaps accept Alps stabilizer clips, so getting this to work with the Matias stabilizer set was pretty painless. I did have to bend new wires for the spacebar and right shift, and I'm still trying to think of a way to laterally stabilize Alps spacebars that don't have a spot for the little cylindrical plunger. If we had it all to do over again, I think the plates for Alps Party should have all had cutouts for Costar stabs as well as Alps. But live and learn, right? I'll come up with something.

The Tai Hao keycaps, like Alpine Winter, are very tight fitting into the switches. Too tight, I think. So I used the same trick on these caps as I first tried on Alpine Winter, shaving down two adjacent corners of the stem.



The rectangle shape, while very secure, is much less forgiving to tiny size differences than the Cherry MX stem. So if you have a cap that's too tight, you can relieve a lot of pressure by taking a utility knife and shaving a slice off of two corners. I usually do the two rear corners because they are the easiest to get to.

Note that the cap is still not loose by any means. It's plenty tight enough for heavy use. But it's much easier and safer to pull caps with this modification. So if you consider yourself a frequent keycap puller, it's definitely worth the extra time to perform this simple mod.

[BlueNalgene]

I demand appreciation of these glorious Alps boards.



They are his and hers boards I made for my girlfriend and I for Christmas. 



There is so much more room on my desk now that the AT101W has been replaced.




Edit: A longer explanation of the gift in the context of the GB can be found here.

[mastermachetier]

I demand appreciation of these glorious Alps boards.

Show Image

They are his and hers boards I made for my girlfriend and I for Christmas. 

Show Image

There is so much more room on my desk now that the AT101W has been replaced.

Show Image

Edit: A longer explanation of the gift in the context of the GB can be found here.

What board is that and how can I get them !! I have been wanting to transplant the orange alps from this m0116 onto something awesome.

[Blaise170]

If you want a 60% then I'd suggest getting a V60 and a 60% case from TEX or similar. I might actually get rid of my V60 soon, it's nice for typing but it's a pain without having dedicated Home, End, Del, etc.

[pwade3]

I don't know much about Alps at all, but I got suggested an idea over on /r/mk.

I have access to an old board with white alps, I'm not sure what it is offhand, but it's old enough that it's a 5 pin DIN cable. The problem is that it's yellowed from smoke/age and one keycap is missing and the stem of the switch is broken, the switches themselves felt pretty nice though. Someone suggested I harvest the switches and get something like the Infinity board on massdrop right now.

I thought this sounded like a fun little project, but I'm not sure about the costs since I have no soldering iron, etc. I've got a Shine 5 so this wouldn't be for my main board, it'd just be to maybe take to work or trade off/sell in the future. I mentioned it to my friend but he just asked why I'd use old switches instead of just buying new (plus if I went new, I could just go MX, so I'd have more keycap compatibility). Which is a pretty solid point, so here I am.

So what I'm wondering is would these old switches have any advantage over just buying new ones?

[axtran]

If you want a 60% then I'd suggest getting a V60 and a 60% case from TEX or similar. I might actually get rid of my V60 soon, it's nice for typing but it's a pain without having dedicated Home, End, Del, etc.

I actually recommend a custom with TMK. It really turned 60% into something super awesome since you can customize the daylights out of the board I'm going to be making one of my ALPS64 boards into an AEK with Blue ALPS, can't wait!

[mastermachetier]

If you want a 60% then I'd suggest getting a V60 and a 60% case from TEX or similar. I might actually get rid of my V60 soon, it's nice for typing but it's a pain without having dedicated Home, End, Del, etc.

I actually recommend a custom with TMK. It really turned 60% into something super awesome since you can customize the daylights out of the board I'm going to be making one of my ALPS64 boards into an AEK with Blue ALPS, can't wait!

did you end up making your own pcb from the files or did you purchase one ?

[Venatorious]

Wish there was a custom alps TKL PCB...

[romevi]

Wish there was a custom alps TKL PCB...

The Clueboard comes close enough. Not exactly TKL, but there are still the arrows and you can program the two other buttons to whatever you wish.

[axtran]

Wish there was a custom alps TKL PCB...

There is one. I have it in my Orion v2.

[njbair]

Wish there was a custom alps TKL PCB...

If all you want is an Alps TKL, try to snag a used Filco Zero. Rock solid chassis, should be easy enough to swap out switches, becomes programmable with a Pegasus Hoof, and it's compatible with the Aluminum TKL case tops for sale on mechanicalkeyboards.com.

[CPTBadAss]

If all you want is an Alps TKL, try to snag a used Filco Zero. Rock solid chassis, should be easy enough to swap out switches, becomes programmable with a Pegasus Hoof, and it's compatible with the Aluminum TKL case tops for sale on mechanicalkeyboards.com.

The V80 with a Hasu to Hasu converter might be a viable option too.

[romevi]

Wish there was a custom alps TKL PCB...

If all you want is an Alps TKL, try to snag a used Filco Zero. Rock solid chassis, should be easy enough to swap out switches, becomes programmable with a Pegasus Hoof, and it's compatible with the Aluminum TKL case tops for sale on mechanicalkeyboards.com.

Dang. Nice. May try this route.

[njbair]

If all you want is an Alps TKL, try to snag a used Filco Zero. Rock solid chassis, should be easy enough to swap out switches, becomes programmable with a Pegasus Hoof, and it's compatible with the Aluminum TKL case tops for sale on mechanicalkeyboards.com.

The V80 with a Hasu to Hasu converter might be a viable option too.

Very much so. I just looked into it, and I didn't even realize there was a V80 version with Fuhua white Alps clone switches, in addition to the V80 MTS models. I have those switches in my Filco Zero and I like them a lot.

I would love for someone with a V80 to crack it open and get a look at the controller. Since the board is made by Costar, could it be compatible with the existing replacement controllers?

[E3E]

If all you want is an Alps TKL, try to snag a used Filco Zero. Rock solid chassis, should be easy enough to swap out switches, becomes programmable with a Pegasus Hoof, and it's compatible with the Aluminum TKL case tops for sale on mechanicalkeyboards.com.

The V80 with a Hasu to Hasu converter might be a viable option too.

Very much so. I just looked into it, and I didn't even realize there was a V80 version with Fuhua white Alps clone switches, in addition to the V80 MTS models. I have those switches in my Filco Zero and I like them a lot.

I would love for someone with a V80 to crack it open and get a look at the controller. Since the board is made by Costar, could it be compatible with the existing replacement controllers?

I believe itzmeluigi has checked this out and found that they are not. KBP says that they will look into adding a more traditional controller as is found on the Filco Zero itself. He said that V80MTS is manufactured in the same factory as the Zero was, which is super intriguing. They are very similar.

[itzmeluigi]

Yup KBP told me that the V80 controller is not removable, they said they would look into it, but that would probably be a while.

Also the Filco Zero does fit in the Vortex TKL Alu case, but the plate needs to be sanded 0.5mm to fit, and the Vortex case has clearance issues when using a custom controller, depending on what controller your using you might have to cut away at some of the aluminum near the controller area. https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=212 Its out of stock now though.

The TEX TKL Alu cases that mk.com will receive soon should have all of the issues mentioned above fixed and has much better design that will make any keyboard also have a removable cable which is really nice.  https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=280

[njbair]

Yup KBP told me that the V80 controller is not removable, they said they would look into it, but that would probably be a while.

Also the Filco Zero does fit in the Vortex TKL Alu case, but the plate needs to be sanded 0.5mm to fit, and the Vortex case has clearance issues when using a custom controller, depending on what controller your using you might have to cut away at some of the aluminum near the controller area. https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=212 Its out of stock now though.

The TEX TKL Alu cases that mk.com will receive soon should have all of the issues mentioned above fixed and has much better design that will make any keyboard also have a removable cable which is really nice.  https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=280

That's a nice case. Looks like it comes in black, red, and dark gray. I would probably get the dark gray. I love the removable USB option as well.

[Magna224]

OOh. I'll have to find an aluminum case for my V80 sometime... I've been meaning to put my Blue ALPS in for a while but the case would make it so much better.

[shareandenjoy]

I made a Matais custom and have been super happy with it!

[Delirious]

I made a Matais custom and have been super happy with it!

(Attachment Link)

Right Shift = Denied

This man knows his keyboard. Mad props!!

[romevi]

I made a Matais custom and have been super happy with it!

(Attachment Link)

Ow, my eyeballs.

[khronokrator]

I don't know much about Alps at all, but I got suggested an idea over on /r/mk.

I have access to an old board with white alps, I'm not sure what it is offhand, but it's old enough that it's a 5 pin DIN cable. The problem is that it's yellowed from smoke/age and one keycap is missing and the stem of the switch is broken, the switches themselves felt pretty nice though. Someone suggested I harvest the switches and get something like the Infinity board on massdrop right now.

I thought this sounded like a fun little project, but I'm not sure about the costs since I have no soldering iron, etc. I've got a Shine 5 so this wouldn't be for my main board, it'd just be to maybe take to work or trade off/sell in the future. I mentioned it to my friend but he just asked why I'd use old switches instead of just buying new (plus if I went new, I could just go MX, so I'd have more keycap compatibility). Which is a pretty solid point, so here I am.

So what I'm wondering is would these old switches have any advantage over just buying new ones?

It really depends. Based on your description of the board, I'd imagine the switches may not be in the best condition, but if you say they still feel pretty nice, then maybe?

It also really depends on precisely what kind of white Alps are actually  in the board. White Alps are probably the most common Alps switch (and the one that had the largest variety of clones), and come in a huge amount of varieties--but IMO the only ones that are really desirable from a collector's standpoint are the original SKCM White Alps, the ones which have little "pine slits" on the sides. Any other switch is likely to be simplified, if not a clone, and therefore not nearly as good, IMO. (Though I've heard the OA2 type clones feel pretty nice, I can't comment on them specifically.)

If it has simplified switches, you might as well just buy a brand new set of 150 Matias Clicky switches for about $60 and use those instead. IMO, there isn't much difference in key feel between Simplified Alps and Matias Clicky, so you might as well go with something that's guaranteed new from the factory for such a project. Or, as you said, you might as well go with Cherries since Alps aren't really made anymore and don't have an 'after-market' niche to nearly the same degree.

All of that is just IMO, of course. There's a lot of Alps experts on GH who might advise you differently.

[Vittra]

Yup KBP told me that the V80 controller is not removable, they said they would look into it, but that would probably be a while.

Also the Filco Zero does fit in the Vortex TKL Alu case, but the plate needs to be sanded 0.5mm to fit, and the Vortex case has clearance issues when using a custom controller, depending on what controller your using you might have to cut away at some of the aluminum near the controller area. https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=212 Its out of stock now though.

The TEX TKL Alu cases that mk.com will receive soon should have all of the issues mentioned above fixed and has much better design that will make any keyboard also have a removable cable which is really nice.  https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=280

That's a nice case. Looks like it comes in black, red, and dark gray. I would probably get the dark gray. I love the removable USB option as well.

Silver, Green, and Blue as well for the TEX. All 6 showing on incoming stock. Will have to keep this Filco Zero / V80 info in mind.

[deductivemonkee]

I made a Matais custom and have been super happy with it!

(Attachment Link)

Right Shift = Denied

This man knows his keyboard. Mad props!!

And here I am only using right shift, never left.

[fohat.digs]

And here I am only using right shift, never left.

I do use left but it is probably 70/30 right. It may be close to 50/50 with the alphas but almost exclusively right for the mods.

 

[njbair]

And here I am only using right shift, never left.

I do use left but it is probably 70/30 right. It may be close to 50/50 with the alphas but almost exclusively right for the mods.

In high school keyboarding class, they taught us to use the Shift key on the opposite hand as the key you want to shift. I've done it this way without thinking for about 20 years.

I recently built a Planck keyboard, which only has one Shift key (left) in the default layout. I can do that, but I have to think hard about what I'm doing. Then again, I have to think hard about everything I do on a Planck at this point.

[Blaise170]

I've always used left shift for almost everything. I've found that probably use right shift only 5% of the shift mods I do.

[romevi]

And here I am only using right shift, never left.

I do use left but it is probably 70/30 right. It may be close to 50/50 with the alphas but almost exclusively right for the mods.

In high school keyboarding class, they taught us to use the Shift key on the opposite hand as the key you want to shift. I've done it this way without thinking for about 20 years.

This is exactly what I do.

[njbair]

Funny how the widest non-spacebar key is, for many people, probably the most underused on the keyboard.

[Techno Trousers]

It would drive me bonkers if I had to use only one shift and move a hand way off the home position to capitalize the letters on the shift side. Goodbye 100 WPM!

[fohat.digs]

It would drive me bonkers if I had to use only one shift

Yes, the 1-shift users are not likely to be people who regularly type proper sentences and standard text.

[mastermachetier]

It would drive me bonkers if I had to use only one shift

Yes, the 1-shift users are not likely to be people who regularly type proper sentences and standard text.

Strange thing is I type like 90wpm using one shift. The way i do it is the left pinky hits the shift when I have to shift everything else stays on the home row. Now that I am thinking about it I really don't capitalize the letters q or z often, a occasionally and i just hit it when my left hand ring finger if I am holding shift.

[deductivemonkee]

And here I am only using right shift, never left.

I do use left but it is probably 70/30 right. It may be close to 50/50 with the alphas but almost exclusively right for the mods.

In high school keyboarding class, they taught us to use the Shift key on the opposite hand as the key you want to shift. I've done it this way without thinking for about 20 years.

This is exactly what I do.

Yeah well I type with like 4 fingers. Bad habits hard to break.

[Techno Trousers]

Strange thing is I type like 90wpm using one shift. The way i do it is the left pinky hits the shift when I have to shift everything else stays on the home row. Now that I am thinking about it I really don't capitalize the letters q or z often, a occasionally and i just hit it when my left hand ring finger if I am holding shift.

What about capitalizing W,E,R,T? I'm just curious.

[Blaise170]

I'm a one shifter with ~95WPM. I also don't do home row so maybe if I properly typed I could do 100+.

[fohat.digs]

so maybe if I properly typed I could do 100+

I really think that it is a matter of what you get used to. I bet my brother-in-law can do 60+ wpm using only 2 index fingers. It is crazy to watch.

[Delirious]

Strange thing is I type like 90wpm using one shift. The way i do it is the left pinky hits the shift when I have to shift everything else stays on the home row. Now that I am thinking about it I really don't capitalize the letters q or z often, a occasionally and i just hit it when my left hand ring finger if I am holding shift.

What about capitalizing W,E,R,T? I'm just curious.

The "Q" would be the weird one, I have super stretch my ring finger to press "q" while holding down left shift with pinky. W, E, R, and T are easy: just use left hand exclusively. With enough training it's pretty easy, I guess my fingers are long and skinny enough to afford doing so effortlessly. To overcompensate over-usage of left pinky I use my right thumb exclusively to hit the spacebar.

[Techno Trousers]

Strange thing is I type like 90wpm using one shift. The way i do it is the left pinky hits the shift when I have to shift everything else stays on the home row. Now that I am thinking about it I really don't capitalize the letters q or z often, a occasionally and i just hit it when my left hand ring finger if I am holding shift.

What about capitalizing W,E,R,T? I'm just curious.

The "Q" would be the weird one, I have super stretch my ring finger to press "q" while holding down left shift with pinky. W, E, R, and T are easy: just use left hand exclusively. With enough training it's pretty easy, I guess my fingers are long and skinny enough to afford doing so effortlessly. To overcompensate over-usage of left pinky I use my right thumb exclusively to hit the spacebar.

Thanks! I guess it's not as cumbersome as I thought it would be. I'm an old timer who was taught the cross-shifting method too, so using a single shift sounded like it would be extra work. I guess it could even be faster when YELLING a couple of short words.

[mastermachetier]

Strange thing is I type like 90wpm using one shift. The way i do it is the left pinky hits the shift when I have to shift everything else stays on the home row. Now that I am thinking about it I really don't capitalize the letters q or z often, a occasionally and i just hit it when my left hand ring finger if I am holding shift.

What about capitalizing W,E,R,T? I'm just curious.

So I just type using the recommended fingers in all the other keys.

[mastermachetier]

[/quote]

The "Q" would be the weird one, I have super stretch my ring finger to press "q" while holding down left shift with pinky. W, E, R, and T are easy: just use left hand exclusively. With enough training it's pretty easy, I guess my fingers are long and skinny enough to afford doing so effortlessly. To overcompensate over-usage of left pinky I use my right thumb exclusively to hit the spacebar.
[/quote]

I also exclusively use my right thumb on the space bar!

[Venatorious]

I made a Matais custom and have been super happy with it!

(Attachment Link)

And I thought the TEX Beetle was bad...