Alps Appreciation Thread

[chyros]

I suppose there could be another advantage of doing the mod by transplanting the sliders from the green Alps switches -- they have C2 rotational symmetry, so that you needn't worry about which side of the slider faces the switch plate.

You're such a chemist xD .

[Hypersphere]

If they kept the same spring, I do not know why the rebound should have been slowed by removing the tactile leaf. Did they lube the switch? If so, perhaps the viscosity of the lube was too high, thus retarding the resetting of the switch.

[Mattr567]

Huh, what's this. It's almost one of those Omron Wangs but in ANSI.
https://phoenix.craigslist.org/nph/sdp/5743873162.html

[E3E]

Huh, what's this. It's almost one of those Omron Wangs but in ANSI.
https://phoenix.craigslist.org/nph/sdp/5743873162.html

That's a sharp wang, man. If it had good switches, I'd be all over it.

[Mattr567]

Huh, what's this. It's almost one of those Omron Wangs but in ANSI.
https://phoenix.craigslist.org/nph/sdp/5743873162.html

That's a sharp wang, man. If it had good switches, I'd be all over it.

The model number is 725-3492-US, which reminds me of the 3770 but it's 'made by Honeywell'  so rubber dome or something non Alps probably.

[MandrewDavis]

Excuse the cell phone pics, but lets just say I worked everything out with the seller of the Black Alps NeXT keyboard...

It was a win/win for both of us since he wasn't going to sell the first three with either broken switches, a cracked case or non-functioning PCB.

Someone told me that when they linearised their AT-101w they thought that it felt too "slow" combing back up. But this may just be linear Alps in general compared to Cherry.

I didn't find this to be the case at all, could anyone tell me how close these feel to SKCL Brown Alps?

[mike52787]

Excuse the cell phone pics, but lets just say I worked everything out with the seller of the Black Alps NeXT keyboard...

Show Image

It was a win/win for both of us since he wasn't going to sell the first three with either a broken switches, a cracked case or non-functioning PCB.

Someone told me that when they linearised their AT-101w they thought that it felt too "slow" combing back up. But this may just be linear Alps in general compared to Cherry.

I didn't find this to be the case at all, could anyone tell me how close these feel to SKCL Brown Alps?

Ill buy 2 of those NeXt boards from you since those are my favorite switches :)

[E3E]

Excuse the cell phone pics, but lets just say I worked everything out with the seller of the Black Alps NeXT keyboard...

Show Image

It was a win/win for both of us since he wasn't going to sell the first three with either a broken switches, a cracked case or non-functioning PCB.

Someone told me that when they linearised their AT-101w they thought that it felt too "slow" combing back up. But this may just be linear Alps in general compared to Cherry.

I didn't find this to be the case at all, could anyone tell me how close these feel to SKCL Brown Alps?

Jesus. That's crazy. How much did that all cost you?

Also SKCL Brown have a cusiony bottom out which is quite nice. I'll have to compare with the AT101W I have and linearize a few, but I think it's quite different.

[MandrewDavis]

Excuse the cell phone pics, but lets just say I worked everything out with the seller of the Black Alps NeXT keyboard...

Show Image

It was a win/win for both of us since he wasn't going to sell the first three with either a broken switches, a cracked case or non-functioning PCB.

Someone told me that when they linearised their AT-101w they thought that it felt too "slow" combing back up. But this may just be linear Alps in general compared to Cherry.

It was a little over a hundred shipped, but the seller asked that I keep the one with black alps.

I didn't find this to be the case at all, could anyone tell me how close these feel to SKCL Brown Alps?

Jesus. That's crazy. How much did that all cost you?

Also SKCL Brown have a cusiony bottom out which is quite nice. I'll have to compare with the AT101W I have and linearize a few, but I think it's quite different.

It was a little over a hundred shipped, but the seller asked that I keep the one with black alps. @Mike I can certainly do that once I settle in with school, considering that I am back to going full time. I don't need five XD

[Mattr567]

Excuse the cell phone pics, but lets just say I worked everything out with the seller of the Black Alps NeXT keyboard...

Show Image

It was a win/win for both of us since he wasn't going to sell the first three with either a broken switches, a cracked case or non-functioning PCB.

Someone told me that when they linearised their AT-101w they thought that it felt too "slow" combing back up. But this may just be linear Alps in general compared to Cherry.

It was a little over a hundred shipped, but the seller asked that I keep the one with black alps.

I didn't find this to be the case at all, could anyone tell me how close these feel to SKCL Brown Alps?

Jesus. That's crazy. How much did that all cost you?

Also SKCL Brown have a cusiony bottom out which is quite nice. I'll have to compare with the AT101W I have and linearize a few, but I think it's quite different.

It was a little over a hundred shipped, but the seller asked that I keep the one with black alps. @Mike I can certainly do that once I settle in with school, considering that I am back to going full time. I don't need five XD

I'm also interested in one. Either cash or trade some restored SKCM Blues and/or SKCL Greens.

Can't bring myself to ruin my essentially NIB one.

[E3E]

Excuse the cell phone pics, but lets just say I worked everything out with the seller of the Black Alps NeXT keyboard...

Show Image

It was a win/win for both of us since he wasn't going to sell the first three with either a broken switches, a cracked case or non-functioning PCB.

Someone told me that when they linearised their AT-101w they thought that it felt too "slow" combing back up. But this may just be linear Alps in general compared to Cherry.

It was a little over a hundred shipped, but the seller asked that I keep the one with black alps.

I didn't find this to be the case at all, could anyone tell me how close these feel to SKCL Brown Alps?

Jesus. That's crazy. How much did that all cost you?

Also SKCL Brown have a cusiony bottom out which is quite nice. I'll have to compare with the AT101W I have and linearize a few, but I think it's quite different.

It was a little over a hundred shipped, but the seller asked that I keep the one with black alps. @Mike I can certainly do that once I settle in with school, considering that I am back to going full time. I don't need five XD

Very nice. I might take one more from you if you don't mind. I'm not looking to pop them in a full-size, so only enough for my hot swap boards and I'm golden.

That reminds me of my DocuTechs I got. Four of them for $100, originally like $90 but he undercharged me for shipping. I was so happy to have found them that I compensated the difference for him. Haha.

[Mattr567]

Hah everyone is interested in them. So with 2 for mike and 1 for me and 1 for E3E that leaves you with 1 SKCM Cream and 1 SKCM Black board.

[MandrewDavis]

Wow, that was quick. I just swapped the busted case with the one with the busted switch so I have 3 that are intact (one for me to be USB converted), and two to be harvested for switches. I will be PMing each of you soon to work the details.

I should break since someone also offered to buy the Pine Black switches for modding on Reddit, glad I picked up an Engineer desoldering pump this week

[E3E]

Wow, that was quick. I just swapped the busted case with the one with the busted switch so I have 3 that are intact (one for me to be USB converted), and two to be harvested for switches. I will be PMing each of you soon to work the details.

I should break since someone also offered to buy the Pine Black switches for modding on Reddit, glad I picked up an Engineer desoldering pump this week

Were the pine blacks not that great? I haven't tried the pine variant, but I always thought SKCM Black would be good if it had pine tops.

[MandrewDavis]

Wow, that was quick. I just swapped the busted case with the one with the busted switch so I have 3 that are intact (one for me to be USB converted), and two to be harvested for switches. I will be PMing each of you soon to work the details.

I should break since someone also offered to buy the Pine Black switches for modding on Reddit, glad I picked up an Engineer desoldering pump this week

Were the pine blacks not that great? I haven't tried the pine variant, but I always thought SKCM Black would be good if it had pine tops.

They are alright, I may end up keeping it. Better than bamboo no doubt, but the I much prefer the weighting of ivory and oranges.

One think that did come of talking to the seller is that labels with Palo Alto indicate ivory and Redwood City lables indicate blacks. This was based on him looking over his stock, hopefully others can confirm this.

[Mattr567]

Mine says Redwood City and has Creams. AAE0211220

Sorry to disprove your theory.

[MandrewDavis]

That was shortlived lol, I guess it is truly is a game of chance

[chyros]

That was shortlived lol, I guess it is truly is a game of chance

It's always like that with Alps .

[alh84001]

Damn. I'm waiting for mine to arrive, with still some two weeks left. If it has black switches, I'd be interested in one with creams as well.

[klennkellon]

How do the creams in these NeXT boards compare to SKCM Orange or SKCM Salmon?

[rowdy]

Interesting how there are consistently more posts in the Alps appreciation thread than the HHKB love thread.

[mike52787]

Interesting how there are consistently more posts in the Alps appreciation thread than the HHKB love thread.

because alps is cooler than topre

[chyros]

Interesting how there are consistently more posts in the Alps appreciation thread than the HHKB love thread.

Alps is a much broad church. Their popularity even after they haven't been made for 20 years is a testament to the design, I guess.

[Hypersphere]

I suppose there could be another advantage of doing the mod by transplanting the sliders from the green Alps switches -- they have C2 rotational symmetry, so that you needn't worry about which side of the slider faces the switch plate.

You're such a chemist xD .

Yes -- I can't help myself. I suppose this applies to you as well, as it takes one to know one!

Regarding the popularity of Alps, when I discovered that it is possible to open Alps switches without desoldering, a whole new world of chimeric switches flashed through my mind.

Yesterday, I put a Matias Quiet slider into the white Alps switch under the spacebar on my latest Omnikey 101 whose switches tend to bind when they are struck off-center. Now the switch is free of binding and very quiet. Because it has the white Alps click leaf, it clicks faintly, but the downstroke and upstroke clacks are greatly attenuated.

I've also tried clipping the bottom damper on the slider from a Matias Quiet switch and transplanting it into a white Alps switch on the Omni 101 keyboard. It works as I had hoped -- the downstroke is undamped, but the return stroke is damped. This has been done by others as described in the following post and video:

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=72197.msg1764530#msg1764530

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqlKdKZobJA

I prefer the semi-damped switches to the fully damped ones, because the fully damped switches have a somewhat mushy feel when bottoming out. The semi-damped switches soften the blow of the return stroke, so that the effect is similar to the silencing produced by installing silencing rings in Topre switches.

[alh84001]

While on topic of dampening, has anyone tried using dampened sliders from cream damped switch in earlier alps switches - browns, greens, yellows, blues... Would this even make sense?

[mike52787]

While on topic of dampening, has anyone tried using dampened sliders from cream damped switch in earlier alps switches - browns, greens, yellows, blues... Would this even make sense?

I can try it with skcm creams and skcm blues. Will update when I get the chance.

[Hypersphere]

While on topic of dampening, has anyone tried using dampened sliders from cream damped switch in earlier alps switches - browns, greens, yellows, blues... Would this even make sense?

I recall emdude mentioning doing this -- cream damped sliders from an SGI in a brown Alps board. Because the dampers in a cream Alps do not extend beyond the ends of the slider, I think you would also need to use the tops from the damped cream switches. However, this is not the case with damped sliders from Matias Quiet switches -- the dampers extend beyond the ends of the slider, so you can use the tops of the recipient switch. I have done this with Matias Quiet sliders and white Alps switches.

[chyros]

I suppose there could be another advantage of doing the mod by transplanting the sliders from the green Alps switches -- they have C2 rotational symmetry, so that you needn't worry about which side of the slider faces the switch plate.

You're such a chemist xD .

Yes -- I can't help myself. I suppose this applies to you as well, as it takes one to know one!

Indeed. I use a lot of complicated words nowadays as well; a by-product of typing your thesis, I guess xD . You find fun words as well, such as "incompossible", "lixiviation" and "hypengyophobia" .

I wonder if C₂ symmetry is even used in areas outside chemistry xD .

[emdude]

While on topic of dampening, has anyone tried using dampened sliders from cream damped switch in earlier alps switches - browns, greens, yellows, blues... Would this even make sense?

I recall emdude mentioning doing this -- cream damped sliders from an SGI in a brown Alps board. Because the dampers in a cream Alps do not extend beyond the ends of the slider, I think you would also need to use the tops from the damped cream switches. However, this is not the case with damped sliders from Matias Quiet switches -- the dampers extend beyond the ends of the slider, so you can use the tops of the recipient switch. I have done this with Matias Quiet sliders and white Alps switches.

Could you clarify how the dampers on the Cream Damped switch would be an issue?  I can use the SKCM Brown switch tops just fine.  I don't think any other switch top would work either because of the dummy switchplate.

From a cursory comparison, Cream Damped and undamped sliders look the same to me aside from the recesses for the rubber dampers.

@alh84001, I ended up putting damped sliders in my SKCM Brown keyboard because bottoming out has fatiguing..  It feels a lot like a rubber dome now, quite pleasant to use actually.  You lose the sound from bottoming out though.

[Hypersphere]

@Chyros: C2 symmetry outside of Chemistry? Certainly! As you no doubt know, point groups, symmetry elements, and symmetry operations are based on group theory. Chemical structures represent just one application; there are also applications to other areas of mathematics, physics, music, cryptography, ....

One of my favorite words from inorganic chemistry is "nephelauxetic". We geeks owe so much to the Greeks!

@emdude: Looks like I was mistaken about the ability of damped cream sliders to exert their damping effect in a chimeric switch with a housing other than that from a damped cream switch. I hadn't tried this myself. I have tried putting a slider from a Matias Quiet switch into the housing for a white Alps, and the Matias Quiet slider does exert its damping effect in the chimeric switch. Hmm -- chimeric -- another word derived from the Greek!

[chyros]

@Chyros: C2 symmetry outside of Chemistry? Certainly! As you no doubt know, point groups, symmetry elements, and symmetry operations are based on group theory. Chemical structures represent just one application; there are also applications to other areas of mathematics, physics, music, cryptography, ....

One of my favorite words from inorganic chemistry is "nephelauxetic". We geeks owe so much to the Greeks!

Ah yes, good one, I remember that one now xD . If you like funky words, not much beats H. P. Lovecraft, by the way xD .

And yeah, I know that symmetry operations are quite a diverse thing, but would they refer to that as C₂ outside of chemistry? Or would they have their own nomenclature? Certainly if I talked to someone on the street about it they wouldn't have a clue, I think xD. 

[Hypersphere]

@Chyros: Moral of the story -- never speak to anyone on the street.

[chyros]

@Chyros: Moral of the story -- never speak to anyone on the street.

I've barely even SEEN the street for months now, locked away in the office until midnight every day xD .

[MandrewDavis]

Quick question that I can't seem to find the answer to; do the keycaps on the Apple M0116 have the same profile as the ones on the AEKs?

[emdude]

Quick question that I can't seem to find the answer to; do the keycaps on the Apple M0116 have the same profile as the ones on the AEKs?

Yes.  Very useful if you have keysets from both and want to use an Esc with the mount oriented normally for a 60% build.

[MandrewDavis]

Quick question that I can't seem to find the answer to; do the keycaps on the Apple M0116 have the same profile as the ones on the AEKs?

Yes.  Very useful if you have keysets from both and want to use an Esc with the mount oriented normally for a 60% build.

Exactly what I thinking. Thanks!

[alh84001]

A thought popped into my head - did any of you guys like enough to have SKCM greens tried to click-mod a switch or two? I wonder how they would compare to other clicky alps.

[E3E]

A thought popped into my head - did any of you guys like enough to have SKCM greens tried to click-mod a switch or two? I wonder how they would compare to other clicky alps.

Chyros has, but because of the way the leaf works in greens, they don't cause a click.

[Adgar]

I got this one from Taobao as the price of membrane keyboard,  It called "ALPS blue switch" by some of my friends. This keyboard remind me the time of 90s, I remembe at that moment , the desktop of My primary school with the same color of this one. It also remind me the classical Nike shoes.Cortez..

[Adgar]

It sounds very good clear and melodious.

[mike52787]

It sounds very good clear and melodious.

Those are alps clones, called KPT Blues. I have heard very good things about them. Could you make a typing demonstration video to share with us?

[Hypersphere]

I found a Toshiba T1200 and harvested the beautiful doubleshot Alps-mount keycaps. The switches are some sort of Alps-mount linear. I think they are the same ones that Webwit described in a post on DT:



https://deskthority.net/photos-f62/toshiba-t1200-minitouch-t4656.html

Has anyone here tried using these switches in a custom-built keyboard? I would suppose that they would have non-standard pins, and I think they are PCB-mounted.

[mike52787]

I found a Toshiba T1200 and harvested the beautiful doubleshot Alps-mount keycaps. The switches are some sort of Alps-mount linear. I think they are the same ones that Webwit described in a post on DT:

(Attachment Link)

https://deskthority.net/photos-f62/toshiba-t1200-minitouch-t4656.html

Has anyone here tried using these switches in a custom-built keyboard? I would suppose that they would have non-standard pins, and I think they are PCB-mounted.

pcb mount, nonstandard pins, fairly rough keyfeel, no thanks

[Hypersphere]

The "Octagonal" switches on my Toshiba T1200 felt fairly smooth to me. However, the deal breakers for salvaging the switches were the non-standard pin configuration and the PCB mount. I did save the nice thick double-shot keycaps, however; they have stems that are compatible with Alps and Matias switches. This was certainly a solidly built machine. Even the keycap stabilizers were heavy-duty -- the gauge makes them look more like steel rods than wires.

[Wingpad]

Finally picked up the bottom row keys for my AT101W project. I am ever so pleased with how it turned out:


Black AT101W with the alphas and most mods from an AT101 and the bottom row keys from an AT101W. Orange Alps Switches, AT101 weight plate (actually makes a noticeable difference) and obligatory Geekhack swag. Now onto more interesting projects... like when I eventually get a Northgate Omnikey

[Mattr567]

Looks good man. Now I'm not the only one with an SKCM Orange swapped AT101
Pic from my swap:

[Wingpad]

Looks good man. Now I'm not the only one with an SKCM Orange swapped AT101
Pic from my swap:

Show Image

IIRC fohat has one as well; that being said I think yours wins just because the SGI Granite is a far cooler looking board, haha. In any case, they're fun, aren't they?

[fohat.digs]

fohat has one as well; that being said I think yours wins just because the SGI Granite is a far cooler looking board,

Dell/orange was one of my first transplant projects and still one of my favorites.

Did you adjust the photos, or where did you get those "electric" glowing bright orange switches? All of my orange switches came from Apples and were much more faded looking. Sometimes it was even a bit difficult to tell orange and salmon apart.

And I got a Wang with salmons that were so faded out that I sold a handful of them to another user here as "creams" thinking that they were just a bit more pink-ish than usual.

[chyros]

Can anyone give a side-be-side sound comparison of a stock AT101 versus an orange-modded AT101/

[Wingpad]

Can anyone give a side-be-side sound comparison of a stock AT101 versus an orange-modded AT101/

My stockish AT101 is currently in pieces (because I harvested its keycaps and weight plate for this project) but if I ever put it back together I could record one. That being said, I think the difference in sound would be rather marginal since, for me, it's mostly a key feel thing. If I remember correctly they sound more or less identical except that I'm less prone to bottoming out on my orange-modded one. Others might have a different opinion here but when it comes to tactile switches sound really isn't high on my priorities list.

An interesting tidbit is that I did put one Blue Alps switch in this build (along with a SKCL Green in the Pause/Break/PrintScr/ScrollLck cluster to serve as a mini "switch tester") and I can say that Blue Alps really sound nice in this chassis. They have a nice, deep click and they reverberate with the entire chassis causing a satisfying "ping." It kind of makes me wish that I built this board with Blue Alps