Alps Appreciation Thread

[digi]

Cherry are more better and smoother and superior tactility for gaming than ALPS which are old and not designed for gaming!

TELL HIM FOHAT!!!

[mrbishop]

i think this thread needs to be in a chat room not a forum LOL

[mike52787]

i think this thread needs to be in a chat room not a forum LOL

Petition to start an alps appreciation IRC
Mike52787
_________
_________
_________
_________

[digi]

Petition to start an alps appreciation IRC
Mike52787
digi
_________
_________
_________

Rules of the irc channel, must say bad things about @#(*&!

[alienman82]

removed.

[mike52787]

can I join ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

you were talking **** about blue alps, but you sent me a 6011 so yeah

[alienman82]

removed.

[mrbishop]

Petition to start an alps appreciation IRC
Mike52787
digi
MrBishop
_________
_________

[mike52787]

can I join ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

you were talking **** about blue alps, but you sent me a 6011 so yeah

e3e can't have all the leeku alps fun!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

damn straight

[alienman82]

removed.

[mike52787]

can I join ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

you were talking **** about blue alps, but you sent me a 6011 so yeah

e3e can't have all the leeku alps fun!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

damn straight

btw made a late night post office drop off since I had to ship four boxes.  you should get that very soon my friend ^_^


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks man <3

[klennkellon]

Does anyone have experience with FK-2001s made in the US? I've just discovered one.

I didn't know they were made in the US, I thought they were only made in China and Taiwan (or was it Thailand?)

[mike52787]

Does anyone have experience with FK-2001s made in the US? I've just discovered one.

I didn't know they were made in the US, I thought they were only made in China and Taiwan (or was it Thailand?)

Ill have to look at mine when I get home

[E3E]

Wow, this chat just blew up in the last hour--chat? I meant thread.


Petition to start an alps appreciation IRC
Mike52787
digi
MrBishop
E3E
_________

Added to the petition list.

That US made Focus sounds interesting.

you were talking **** about blue alps, but you sent me a 6011 so yeah

e3e can't have all the leeku alps fun!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

damn straight

Mike, did you finally get yourself a full-sized Leeku PCB? Gimmie the deetz!

Speaking of which, if you guys wanna help an Alps brotha out, you can nominate my Alps NCR build in the Keyboard of the Month nomination thread for July. https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=83640.msg2233428#new

It's only nominations now, so you'd have to +1, but if you think it's worthy, then by all means.

[alienman82]

removed.

[E3E]

Sweet man, I can't wait to see Mike put his Leeku Alps build together. Someone else has to do it!

I hope it'll fit together in the Avant Prime chassis. 

[mike52787]

Sweet man, I can't wait to see Mike put his Leeku Alps build together. Someone else has to do it!

I hope it'll fit together in the Avant Prime chassis. 

Haha I cant wait either. Im sure it will fit in the avant prime just fine, probably minimal modding needed. Im thinking of hotswap modding it, just in case I want to swap switches later on. Since Im already pouring so much money and time in it why not go the extra mile.

[MandrewDavis]

More

can I join ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

you were talking **** about blue alps, but you sent me a 6011 so yeah

e3e can't have all the leeku alps fun!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

damn straight

btw made a late night post office drop off since I had to ship four boxes.  you should get that very soon my friend ^_^

Looking forward to my package too, looking forward to trying greens.

Sweet man, I can't wait to see Mike put his Leeku Alps build together. Someone else has to do it!

I hope it'll fit together in the Avant Prime chassis. 

Haha I cant wait either. Im sure it will fit in the avant prime just fine, probably minimal modding needed. Im thinking of hotswap modding it, just in case I want to swap switches later on. Since Im already pouring so much money and time in it why not go the extra mile.

Very ambitious! Is it be hard to unclip Alps even when hotswap modded? .

BTW, how has everyone in this thread let Mike get away with "BS is the BeSt" for this long?

[mike52787]

More

can I join ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

you were talking **** about blue alps, but you sent me a 6011 so yeah

e3e can't have all the leeku alps fun!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

damn straight

btw made a late night post office drop off since I had to ship four boxes.  you should get that very soon my friend ^_^

Looking forward to my package too, looking forward to trying greens.

Sweet man, I can't wait to see Mike put his Leeku Alps build together. Someone else has to do it!

I hope it'll fit together in the Avant Prime chassis. 

Haha I cant wait either. Im sure it will fit in the avant prime just fine, probably minimal modding needed. Im thinking of hotswap modding it, just in case I want to swap switches later on. Since Im already pouring so much money and time in it why not go the extra mile.

Very ambitious! Is it be hard to unclip Alps even when hotswap modded? .

BTW, how has everyone in this thread let Mike get away with "BS is the BeSt" for this long?

shouldnt be too bad, the retaining clips on my blue alps are pretty ****ed up because the plate had been shifted down at one point apparently. And as for the BS is the BeSt I love capacitive bs, is that a crime? )

[E3E]

Sweet man, I can't wait to see Mike put his Leeku Alps build together. Someone else has to do it!

I hope it'll fit together in the Avant Prime chassis. 

Haha I cant wait either. Im sure it will fit in the avant prime just fine, probably minimal modding needed. Im thinking of hotswap modding it, just in case I want to swap switches later on. Since Im already pouring so much money and time in it why not go the extra mile.

Here's what you'll need:

For drilling, this is what I've used: https://www.amazon.com/Dremel-220-01-Rotary-Tool-Station/dp/B00068P48O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1470287496&sr=8-1&keywords=dremel+drill+press

bits: https://www.amazon.com/Dremel-628-01-Piece-Drill-Bit/dp/B0000302Z3/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1470287518&sr=8-1&keywords=dremel+drill+bits

Sockets:

http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/8134-HC-12P2/8134-HC-12P2-ND/2188089 for switches, though you might want to go tin to save some cash

http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/6-1437514-6/A107431-ND/2135765 for the LEDs; same as above applies

In general, just check out my build log on my hotswap Eagle for a good idea of all that you'll be in for: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=77497.msg1952047#msg1952047

Fair warning, it is a lot of work and you will need a heaping helping of patience to get it down. Buying a conductive ink pen for repairing traces is a good idea, because you will ruin some traces and pads. Make sure to not accidentally bridge the ground plane with any connections to the switches. This can be a huge pain in the ass, but I DID look at the Leeku PCB before I built it and I think it'd be easier than most to hotswap mod. The traces are out of the way, so you won't have any crazy repairs or reroutes to do. Not many at least.

Also, use a blunt soldering tip to insert the sockets with heat as it makes the PCB more malleable. I tested out the sockets on a vintage PCB first. It snapped it. Modern double-sided PCBs should be safe, but use caution; none of the korean PCBs I've done this on have had an issue where it seemed they'd break.

 Some kind of glue like Loctite Ultra Control Gel is a good idea for securing sockets. I actually used Aves Apoxie Sculpt for this for the Eagles and Loctite for the Orion v2 and Lightpad. The epoxy will ensure a pretty much permanent hold. The glue works well, but  this epoxy clay is good for building up more material for the sockets to adhere to, which is good for the MXAlps kinds of PCBs that have a bit of empty space in account for Cherry MX switches.

You can expect to pay ~ $130. I just added 220 of each socket type and it totalled $135 before shipping.

I decided against it for my NCR because this was a board I was damn sure of when I built it, haha. The Orion probably won't ever be anything but SKCM Blue, but admittedly, I hot swapped that one just because I thought the gold sockets would look really awesome with the acrylic bottom.

[E3E]

shouldnt be too bad, the retaining clips on my blue alps are pretty ****ed up because the plate had been shifted down at one point apparently. And as for the BS is the BeSt I love capacitive bs, is that a crime? )

Once those tabs are loosened or broken off, it does make removing them a lot easier, but it will require quite a bit of wiggle work to remove them for the most part. It can be a real pain sometimes, but you truly cannot beat the convenience of replacing and changing out switches at will. 

I always have a huge grin on my face after swapping a switch.

Also.

Alps4lyfe

[mike52787]

shouldnt be too bad, the retaining clips on my blue alps are pretty ****ed up because the plate had been shifted down at one point apparently. And as for the BS is the BeSt I love capacitive bs, is that a crime? )

Once those tabs are loosened or broken off, it does make removing them a lot easier, but it will require quite a bit of wiggle work to remove them for the most part. It can be a real pain sometimes, but you truly cannot beat the convenience of replacing and changing out switches at will. 

I always have a huge grin on my face after swapping a switch.

Also.

Alps4lyfe

hold on, I just had a revelation. what is stopping me from just buying a cherry only leeku if Im gonna hot swap mod
anyway? It would be alot more work, but it would be cheaper and easier to source.

[E3E]

shouldnt be too bad, the retaining clips on my blue alps are pretty ****ed up because the plate had been shifted down at one point apparently. And as for the BS is the BeSt I love capacitive bs, is that a crime? )

Once those tabs are loosened or broken off, it does make removing them a lot easier, but it will require quite a bit of wiggle work to remove them for the most part. It can be a real pain sometimes, but you truly cannot beat the convenience of replacing and changing out switches at will. 

I always have a huge grin on my face after swapping a switch.

Also.

Alps4lyfe

hold on, I just had a revelation. what is stopping me from just buying a cherry only leeku if Im gonna hot swap mod
anyway? It would be alot more work, but it would be cheaper and easier to source.

A hotswap mod with Cherry would actually be a lot easier and not nearly as hard as an Alps-based hot swap mod since you would not need to do any drilling; the sockets for Cherry MX fit right into the vias. There's no need to bore them out. Alps pins are wider, and so they require that additional space to actually fit.

By just buying a Cherry MX Leeku PCB, you'd side-step a lot of pain and misery and also risk and the frustration of trying to find (and potentially ruin) the Alps compatible PCB, unused at that.

Here are the sockets for Cherry MX:

http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/8134-HC-8P3/A114359-ND/1151726 Switches

http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/6-1437514-7/6-1437514-7-ND/2135766 LEDs

There are other socket options too, but these are flush sockets, which are nice to have.

If you did this, you'd pretty much be doing the opposite of what I was doing and you'd be putting Cherry in an Alps board. That'd be pretty funny.

[mike52787]

shouldnt be too bad, the retaining clips on my blue alps are pretty ****ed up because the plate had been shifted down at one point apparently. And as for the BS is the BeSt I love capacitive bs, is that a crime? )

Once those tabs are loosened or broken off, it does make removing them a lot easier, but it will require quite a bit of wiggle work to remove them for the most part. It can be a real pain sometimes, but you truly cannot beat the convenience of replacing and changing out switches at will. 

I always have a huge grin on my face after swapping a switch.

Also.

Alps4lyfe

hold on, I just had a revelation. what is stopping me from just buying a cherry only leeku if Im gonna hot swap mod
anyway? It would be alot more work, but it would be cheaper and easier to source.

A hotswap mod with Cherry would actually be a lot easier and not nearly as hard as an Alps-based hot swap mod since you would not need to do any drilling; the sockets for Cherry MX fit right into the vias. There's no need to bore them out. Alps pins are wider, and so they require that additional space to actually fit.

By just buying a Cherry MX Leeku PCB, you'd side-step a lot of pain and misery and also risk and the frustration of trying to find the Alps compatible PCB, unused at that.

Do you think the holes I would have to drill for the alps pins would affect any traces? Depending on how the board is made I may need to insulate the holes before inserting the sockets to advoid hitting the ground plane. would either of the cherry holes line up with one of the alps pins?

[rowdy]

The biggest problem is that most of the legacy Alps keyboards have their own unique layout. 

I bought a set of the modern "Dolch-esque" doubleshots a few months ago, and they are very nice, but the bottom row is not compatible with the common vintage boards like Dell, Northgate, and Focus. Is is very sad.

The Tai Hao set?

I bought one too (GB support!) and I don't even have an Alps keyboard )

[E3E]

Do you think the holes I would have to drill for the alps pins would affect any traces? Depending on how the board is made I may need to insulate the holes before inserting the sockets to advoid hitting the ground plane. would either of the cherry holes line up with one of the alps pins?

Generally, they won't interfere with the ground plane as long as the drilling stays within the circumference of the pad. For entirely new positions I had to drill for my Eagles, as the Alps positions did not include the 6.25u bottom row, etc, I used a mill bit to grind away the mask and copper beneath so it was just the PCB substrate left behind, then inserted the sockets and created routes to them with the conductive ink.

You're probably going have at least one issue when doing the mod. I have with every single hot swap mod I've done, and it required troubleshooting but it all ultimately worked out. It's not a simple mod to do for Alps.

As far as messing with the traces goes, maybe, but way the traces were routed, they seemed out of the way from potential drilling issues. I'd still get the conductive ink to be safe.

[Magna224]

Does anyone have experience with FK-2001s made in the US? I've just discovered one.

I didn't know they were made in the US, I thought they were only made in China and Taiwan (or was it Thailand?)

Very interesting. I have had a few but they've all been Taiwan/China like you said. I wonder the quality of a US made one or what switches it would have. The ones from the late 80s with blue ALPS are pretty solid keyboards while the Chinese feel just as cheap as a Chicony (Maybe a little better ).

[klennkellon]

It's from 93' but I had one made in China from  95'!that used SKCM White. It's totally a gamble!

The Focus is really a wheel of fortune but its a forgiving one. You either get SKCM Blue or OA2 clones, which are pretty good as far as clones go! Or those Omrons but I could not find any information on them.

[Mattr567]

It's from 93' but I had one made in China from  95'!that used SKCM White. It's totally a gamble!

The Focus is really a wheel of fortune but its a forgiving one. You either get SKCM Blue or OA2 clones, which are pretty good as far as clones go! Or those Omrons but I could not find any information on them.

My FK-3001 was made in mid-late 89 and has SKCM White, made in Taiwain. Must have just missed the cutoff for SKCM Blue.

Oh, I had one of those Omron Focus's, sold it to Chyros. Its the same one as in his FK-727 video in fact. They came on early pre 2001 boards like the FK 555, 727, 747 etc. Most of those have SKCM Blues but of course I ended up with the rare one lol. Made in 87.

[chyros]

ALPS is like the embodyment of the phrase "they don't build them like they used to"

Yeah definitely xD . That's a perfect description in fact xD .

[alh84001]

Damn my indecisiveness!

There was a Xerox 6085 on eBay available, but someone got it. It has more switches than IBM 5140, and is a keyboard in its own right. However, IBM could be made to work relatively easy, and for Xerox it would either need to be hand-wired or "scrapped" for switches. I hate choices like this.

[E3E]

It's from 93' but I had one made in China from  95'!that used SKCM White. It's totally a gamble!

The Focus is really a wheel of fortune but its a forgiving one. You either get SKCM Blue or OA2 clones, which are pretty good as far as clones go! Or those Omrons but I could not find any information on them.

My FK-3001 was made in mid-late 89 and has SKCM White, made in Taiwain. Must have just missed the cutoff for SKCM Blue.

Oh, I had one of those Omron Focus's, sold it to Chyros. Its the same one as in his FK-727 video in fact. They came on early pre 2001 boards like the FK 555, 727, 747 etc. Most of those have SKCM Blues but of course I ended up with the rare one lol. Made in 87.

I was tempted to buy this, but I decided against it. Alps only for me.

[klennkellon]

I'm undampening my Matias Quiet Clicks, here is a sound comparison between the two.

feature=youtu.be

[bocahgundul]

May I join this alps appreciation IRC? I may not like alps that much but well I like talking about keyboards n stuff

[Mattr567]

I'd like to join the irc too. You guys know me

[mike52787]

Ooooh. Old focus boards. so delicious. This is the 2nd taobao board I received, but the first I ordered. Not sure how that works, but ok ) It has some cool spherical-ish caps, but they are pad printed thick ABS. The legends are worn off on a few keys though unfortunately. Does anyone know how to remove pad printed legends? these could make cool spherical blanks.









As for the irc, Ill be working on it sometime soon. Everyone is welcome

[E3E]

I'd like to see those spherical could-be blanks, good fellow.

[digi]

Ooooh. Old focus boards. so delicious. This is the 2nd taobao board I received, but the first I ordered. Not sure how that works, but ok ) It has some cool spherical-ish caps, but they are pad printed thick ABS. The legends are worn off on a few keys though unfortunately. Does anyone know how to remove pad printed legends? these could make cool spherical blanks.

Show Image

Show Image

Show Image

Show Image

As for the irc, Ill be working on it sometime soon. Everyone is welcome

Nice get! Blues in a Focus, you don't see many of those..

[Mattr567]

Nice man! Those are in way better condition than mine were lol.

[mike52787]

I'd like to see those spherical could-be blanks, good fellow.

Here you go.






These would be really sweet caps if the legends werent so worn.

[mrbishop]

Wow

sent from my chess board

[alienman82]

removed.

[mike52787]

Ooooh. Old focus boards. so delicious. This is the 2nd taobao board I received, but the first I ordered. Not sure how that works, but ok ) It has some cool spherical-ish caps, but they are pad printed thick ABS. The legends are worn off on a few keys though unfortunately. Does anyone know how to remove pad printed legends? these could make cool spherical blanks.

Show Image

Show Image

Show Image

Show Image

As for the irc, Ill be working on it sometime soon. Everyone is welcome

looks to be the same plate as the acer I gave you, but the one I sent doesn't have rust

does it have cutouts for the 103 key layout? its normal ansi not split right shift right?

[alienman82]

removed.

[mike52787]

Ooooh. Old focus boards. so delicious. This is the 2nd taobao board I received, but the first I ordered. Not sure how that works, but ok ) It has some cool spherical-ish caps, but they are pad printed thick ABS. The legends are worn off on a few keys though unfortunately. Does anyone know how to remove pad printed legends? these could make cool spherical blanks.

Show Image

Show Image

Show Image

Show Image

As for the irc, Ill be working on it sometime soon. Everyone is welcome

looks to be the same plate as the acer I gave you, but the one I sent doesn't have rust

does it have cutouts for the 103 key layout? its normal ansi not split right shift right?

ah didn't notice the shift.  Yes it's normal ANSI WKL layout.

But does it have cutouts where the winkeys should go?

[alienman82]

removed.

[mike52787]

yes

sweet

[mike52787]

I have removed the legends from some of the semi-spherical/sculpted caps, and it worked well. now to clean and whiten them. its like 5 minutes of scrubbing with a q tip and brake fluid on each cap. fun. looks like I know what im doing for the next week.

[E3E]

Are you going to retrobrite them?

They remind me of the profile Apple used for its AEK keyboards and the profile used for those old TI boards with SKCM Brown switches.

[mike52787]

Are you going to retrobrite them?

They remind me of the profile Apple used for its AEK keyboards and the profile used for those old TI boards with SKCM Brown switches.

Most likely, They are small enough I will probably just soak them in hydrogen peroxide instead of mixing up a paste.