Author Topic: eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB  (Read 21155 times)

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Offline eyesnine

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« Last Edit: Thu, 04 August 2011, 17:11:31 by eyesnine »

Offline BiNiaRiS

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eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #1 on: Thu, 04 August 2011, 17:29:29 »
killer deal. seller has 50 of them too.

edit: seller is meh. the keyboard does NOT come with a cable...but the cable is conveniently for sale by them as a separate auction.
« Last Edit: Thu, 04 August 2011, 17:50:33 by BiNiaRiS »
Check out my sales thread.

KMAC 2 w/ErgoClears
KBC w/Reds and Cherry doubleshots in imsto\'s case
G80-1800HAU w/ErgoClears
Realforce 87UB 55g
KMAC Titanium/Winkeyless (in the mail)

Offline 7bit

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eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #2 on: Thu, 04 August 2011, 17:52:17 »
Quote from: BiNiaRiS;393130
killer deal. seller has 50 of them too.

edit: seller is meh. the keyboard does NOT come with a cable...but the cable is conveniently for sale by them as a separate auction.

 
Organize a group buy!

Also: offer a low price for all of them and then go up step by step. Don't tell the seller you are a collector or something like that these are valuable.

Edit: I'm in for one or two, depending on price.
Buy key caps here: Round 5
Buy switches here: CherryMX

Offline jpc

  • Posts: 363
eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #3 on: Thu, 04 August 2011, 18:03:00 »
What switch is that?

RSI prevention recipe:[/B] Kinesis Contoured, Colemak layout, touch typing, Contour Design Rollermouse,  Logitech TrackMan Wheel, Logitech m570 trackball, "workrave" break timer software, "awesome" window manager, tenkeyless boards, cherry browns, Wang 724 with "ghetto green" ALPS, standing desk and/or comfy adjustable chairs, stress reduction, computer time reduction.

Fun non-ergonomic things: bolt modded Model M Space Saving Keyboards with new springs, Kensington Expert Mouse v7, Unicomp Endurapro, Northgates

Offline BiNiaRiS

  • Posts: 486
eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #4 on: Thu, 04 August 2011, 18:08:42 »
Quote from: jpc;393155
What switch is that?

They are for sure ALPS, but apparently can vary. I have seen online somewhere that these are pink ALPS sometimes.
Check out my sales thread.

KMAC 2 w/ErgoClears
KBC w/Reds and Cherry doubleshots in imsto\'s case
G80-1800HAU w/ErgoClears
Realforce 87UB 55g
KMAC Titanium/Winkeyless (in the mail)

Offline TexasFlood

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eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #5 on: Thu, 04 August 2011, 18:08:43 »
Anybody know what color alps these have?  The ALPS switches wiki says "the Wang 724 Terminal keyboard may have Black, Orange OR Pink ALPS."

Offline BiNiaRiS

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eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #6 on: Thu, 04 August 2011, 18:12:51 »
I just messaged the seller to see what he'd be willing to do price wise on 30 of these with cables. I'm not sure we'd save too much if I bought that many though since reshipping them may be too expensive. If he's will to let them go for like $15 w/cables + shipping it might be very worthwhile.
« Last Edit: Thu, 04 August 2011, 18:15:54 by BiNiaRiS »
Check out my sales thread.

KMAC 2 w/ErgoClears
KBC w/Reds and Cherry doubleshots in imsto\'s case
G80-1800HAU w/ErgoClears
Realforce 87UB 55g
KMAC Titanium/Winkeyless (in the mail)

Offline TexasFlood

  • Posts: 1084
eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #7 on: Thu, 04 August 2011, 18:14:01 »
Quote from: BiNiaRiS;393163
I just messaged the seller to see what he'd be willing to do price wise on 30 of these with cables. I'm not sure we'd save too much if I bought that many though since reshipping them may be to expensive. If he's will to let them go for like $15 w/cables + shipping it might be very worthwhile.
Might be cool for pink or orange, not sure I'd be in for blacks.

Offline BiNiaRiS

  • Posts: 486
eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #8 on: Thu, 04 August 2011, 18:40:57 »
Quote from: TexasFlood;393166
Might be cool for pink or orange, not sure I'd be in for blacks.

If the price seems decent I will verify that before we do anything else.
Check out my sales thread.

KMAC 2 w/ErgoClears
KBC w/Reds and Cherry doubleshots in imsto\'s case
G80-1800HAU w/ErgoClears
Realforce 87UB 55g
KMAC Titanium/Winkeyless (in the mail)

Offline BiNiaRiS

  • Posts: 486
eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #9 on: Thu, 04 August 2011, 20:56:05 »
The seller offered them to me at $35 shipped per keyboard w/cables...so basically free shipping vs buying them yourself. Then I'd need to reship these which would probably be around $15 or less to the US so you'd be looking at $50 a pop or so. That does bring it down from $65 if you were to buy them alone. I didn't realize that the cables are custom made by them, which makes the cost appropriate.

He also offered them at $30 each and I could cover shipping...maybe someone has a UPS or FedEx account that could make this cheaper?

Just thinking outloud.
Check out my sales thread.

KMAC 2 w/ErgoClears
KBC w/Reds and Cherry doubleshots in imsto\'s case
G80-1800HAU w/ErgoClears
Realforce 87UB 55g
KMAC Titanium/Winkeyless (in the mail)

Offline eyesnine

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eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #10 on: Thu, 04 August 2011, 21:42:31 »
I think that the switch type needs to be determined before the group buy can be organized.

I searched the model number 725-3770 and there are two geekhack hits and one kbdmania hit - all say that these are pink sliders.

It looks like this could be a very interesting group buy if the seller can confirm the switch type - I can't imagine how rare it is to have a large quantity of NIB pink ALPs boards available at a very reasonable price.

Offline BiNiaRiS

  • Posts: 486
eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #11 on: Fri, 05 August 2011, 00:02:42 »
I'll find out the switch type.

What we really need is someone on here from NH that could pick them up locally.


Quote from: eyesnine;393297
I think that the switch type needs to be determined before the group buy can be organized.

I searched the model number 725-3770 and there are two geekhack hits and one kbdmania hit - all say that these are pink sliders.

It looks like this could be a very interesting group buy if the seller can confirm the switch type - I can't imagine how rare it is to have a large quantity of NIB pink ALPs boards available at a very reasonable price.



Sent from my EVO
Check out my sales thread.

KMAC 2 w/ErgoClears
KBC w/Reds and Cherry doubleshots in imsto\'s case
G80-1800HAU w/ErgoClears
Realforce 87UB 55g
KMAC Titanium/Winkeyless (in the mail)

Offline calavera

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eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #12 on: Fri, 05 August 2011, 00:49:24 »
If they're pink switches, I'm down for one for sure

Offline litster

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eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #13 on: Fri, 05 August 2011, 00:55:29 »
Quote from: calavera;393380
If they're pink switches, I'm down for one for sure

Me too.

Offline REVENGE

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eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #14 on: Fri, 05 August 2011, 03:30:30 »
Meh, these have been selling for over 6 months. Always a good source for Pink ALPS, solid keyboard too.

Also, he used to include the cable. Don't know why he stopped.
◕ ‿ ◕

Offline jpc

  • Posts: 363
eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #15 on: Fri, 05 August 2011, 07:40:42 »
How could I pass up some Wang Labs kit? They're locally grown.

So I made an offer for two boards and two cables. The seller agreed, they're on their way. Sweet! I've got a nice set of doubleshots on a dead Northy to swap onto one of these, if they aren't doubleshot already.

Who doesn't enjoy a big Pink Wang ... or two at once?

RSI prevention recipe:[/B] Kinesis Contoured, Colemak layout, touch typing, Contour Design Rollermouse,  Logitech TrackMan Wheel, Logitech m570 trackball, "workrave" break timer software, "awesome" window manager, tenkeyless boards, cherry browns, Wang 724 with "ghetto green" ALPS, standing desk and/or comfy adjustable chairs, stress reduction, computer time reduction.

Fun non-ergonomic things: bolt modded Model M Space Saving Keyboards with new springs, Kensington Expert Mouse v7, Unicomp Endurapro, Northgates

Offline BiNiaRiS

  • Posts: 486
eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #16 on: Fri, 05 August 2011, 13:40:30 »
Quote from: jpc;393469
How could I pass up some Wang Labs kit? They're locally grown.

So I made an offer for two boards and two cables. The seller agreed, they're on their way. Sweet! I've got a nice set of doubleshots on a dead Northy to swap onto one of these, if they aren't doubleshot already.

Who doesn't enjoy a big Pink Wang ... or two at once?

Well if you wanted pinks, you will be disappointed. The seller confirmed that ALL of these have black alps :\
Check out my sales thread.

KMAC 2 w/ErgoClears
KBC w/Reds and Cherry doubleshots in imsto\'s case
G80-1800HAU w/ErgoClears
Realforce 87UB 55g
KMAC Titanium/Winkeyless (in the mail)

Offline TexasFlood

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eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #17 on: Fri, 05 August 2011, 14:00:40 »
Quote from: BiNiaRiS;393630
Well if you wanted pinks, you will be disappointed. The seller confirmed that ALL of these have black alps :\
I was afraid of that when I found this old message in a geekhack forum search this morning.

Offline jpc

  • Posts: 363
eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #18 on: Fri, 05 August 2011, 14:05:38 »
Well, dang. We'll see what the Ripometer says about these. Lighter is better.

If the switch bases are compatible, maybe I can move the switch innards over from the dead Northy to make a Wangate.

RSI prevention recipe:[/B] Kinesis Contoured, Colemak layout, touch typing, Contour Design Rollermouse,  Logitech TrackMan Wheel, Logitech m570 trackball, "workrave" break timer software, "awesome" window manager, tenkeyless boards, cherry browns, Wang 724 with "ghetto green" ALPS, standing desk and/or comfy adjustable chairs, stress reduction, computer time reduction.

Fun non-ergonomic things: bolt modded Model M Space Saving Keyboards with new springs, Kensington Expert Mouse v7, Unicomp Endurapro, Northgates

Offline Pylon

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« Reply #19 on: Fri, 05 August 2011, 14:06:08 »
Supposedly in the smoothness of the actuation mechanism.

Offline TexasFlood

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eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #20 on: Fri, 05 August 2011, 15:38:24 »
Think I found sound pictures of the same board here.  Can't be 100% sure but think it's the same one.  There is a shot of the stems there that you can zoom in on and brighten.  Scroll to the left after the page opens to find it.
« Last Edit: Fri, 05 August 2011, 15:40:45 by TexasFlood »

Offline TexasFlood

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« Reply #21 on: Fri, 05 August 2011, 15:41:01 »
Think I found sound pictures of the same board here.  Can't be 100% sure but think it's the same one.  There is a shot of the stems there that you can zoom in on and brighten.  Scroll to the left after the page opens to find it.

Offline TexasFlood

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eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #22 on: Fri, 05 August 2011, 15:50:43 »
Think I found some pictures of the same board here.  Can't be 100% sure but think it's the same one.  There is a shot of the stems there that you can zoom in on and brighten.  Scroll to the left after the page opens to find it.

Offline TexasFlood

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eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #23 on: Fri, 05 August 2011, 18:41:13 »

Offline EverythingIBM

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eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #24 on: Fri, 05 August 2011, 20:11:56 »
Quote from: TexasFlood;393876
Show Image

I was waiting for the "wang" joke to surface. What an unfortunate company name, lol.
Keyboards: '86 M, M5-2, M13, SSK, F AT, F XT

Offline TexasFlood

  • Posts: 1084
eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #25 on: Fri, 05 August 2011, 20:16:21 »
Quote from: EverythingIBM;393945
I was waiting for the "wang" joke to surface. What an unfortunate company name, lol.
I wasn't the first, hah!  Hey, it was the dude's name, what are you gonna do?  He was kinda torqued at IBM over mistreatment over a patent so felt very competitive with them.  He was just absorbed into his vertical market and didn't see the general purpose PC coming until it was too late.  We had an old Wang system at work years ago, so we could fire it up to get old unique documents if needed.  Built like a tank it was.

Offline BiNiaRiS

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eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #26 on: Fri, 05 August 2011, 22:27:36 »
Still talking with the seller about these. Even though they are blacks, this still seems like a good deal. If we were able to buy 40 of these, he'd go down to $30shipped per keyboard with the cables. That would be $45 shipped per board even with me having to reship them out as the middle man. I'm debating if this is worth setting up a group buy for. He said he has 70 of these and knows where to get more of them.

If we could find someone on here in NH that could pick them up locally and was willing to ship them all out, that would be amazing, but that is a long shot for sure.
Check out my sales thread.

KMAC 2 w/ErgoClears
KBC w/Reds and Cherry doubleshots in imsto\'s case
G80-1800HAU w/ErgoClears
Realforce 87UB 55g
KMAC Titanium/Winkeyless (in the mail)

Offline TexasFlood

  • Posts: 1084
eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #27 on: Sat, 06 August 2011, 10:34:13 »
I don't know.  Per the ALPS switches wiki, there are many Dell models with the same switch and a more standard layout, which I've passed on for less.  The Wangs are quite likely better built.  Have to think whether it's worth it for the novelty, maybe.
« Last Edit: Sat, 06 August 2011, 22:31:25 by TexasFlood »

Offline BiNiaRiS

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eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #28 on: Tue, 09 August 2011, 15:30:38 »
I have been still talking to the seller about this. He would be willing to essentially drop ship these for us and give us tiered pricing depending on how many we can order. Here's the pricing he just gave to me:

30 $47.50ea, 40 $45.00ea, 50 $40.00ea, 60-70 $37.50ea, prices include shipping for any US continental state.

How this would work, is everyone pays me, then I pay the seller and give him a list of addresses and he will ship them all for us.

He keeps upping the price on these which is irritating. Started at $20, then $22.50 and just within the last hour he upped them to $25 and for some reason my shipping price went up by like $0.25 as well. When these were first listed , I thought a offer of $15 would easily be accepted. At that price, shipped to me, on the opposite side of the country, my shipped price would have been $50 so now this doesn't seem like too much of a discount.
Check out my sales thread.

KMAC 2 w/ErgoClears
KBC w/Reds and Cherry doubleshots in imsto\'s case
G80-1800HAU w/ErgoClears
Realforce 87UB 55g
KMAC Titanium/Winkeyless (in the mail)

Offline Hak Foo

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eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #29 on: Tue, 09 August 2011, 20:49:33 »
I did one of these a while ago.

Good news:  It has really tall feet.  Many of the special keys are mappable (they're alt-Fxx).  The keys are dyesub and of decent quality.

Bad news:  Control-alt are very low; synthetic noise is both fake sounding and does not trigger on some modifiers.

Might be worth the effort if you want to mod it up a little-- new modifiers, and ghetto-whiting the switches, maybe cut the speaker.
Overton130, Box Pale Blues.

Offline jpc

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eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #30 on: Wed, 10 August 2011, 09:50:47 »
The mailman brought this today. This is Fun! This keyboard presses all my buttons.

It looks, feels, and sounds like 1993. Nostalgia NIB for $30. Open the box and enjoy it.

I love the retro synthetic click noise. The click noise has a volume knob, but in their wisdom, the designer decided not to let you turn it completely off.

Black ALPS actuate on the high side of the stroke. The tactile point isn't super crisp -- you don't fall off a cliff -- it's more like rubbing marbles together -- like a Cherry brown. I measured 65g on the ripometer. It's fun, it feels like you're doing something, and it's less effort than a Model M at 75-80g.

Side note: That 65g is 11 US nickels and 4 US pennies. A US penny weighs 2.5g -- half a nickel, so you can get higher precision. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Ripometer HD! **fanfare**

The Help, Cancel, Erase, and GL keys send Alt-F? combinations, so you could map them.

The board is well built. The dye sub keys look crisp and high contrast; they have practically no texture. The larger keys are well stabilized, they feel like the smaller keys. The space bar measures at 60g. Good, I don't like extra-heavy space bars.

The layout of the nav cluster is a little weird. Everything is there; you could remap it to be a standard nav cluster. The LEDs are built right into the Lock keys, which is neat, until you realize that you cannot see the Caps Lock indicator while your finger is over the key. Oops. The Wang makes up for this with awesome AMBER colored LEDs, and TEAL legends on the Alt keys and numpad. Otherwise the layout is totally ANSI. The standard keys all report the codes they should.

It's a lovely living artifact of an era gone by.

RSI prevention recipe:[/B] Kinesis Contoured, Colemak layout, touch typing, Contour Design Rollermouse,  Logitech TrackMan Wheel, Logitech m570 trackball, "workrave" break timer software, "awesome" window manager, tenkeyless boards, cherry browns, Wang 724 with "ghetto green" ALPS, standing desk and/or comfy adjustable chairs, stress reduction, computer time reduction.

Fun non-ergonomic things: bolt modded Model M Space Saving Keyboards with new springs, Kensington Expert Mouse v7, Unicomp Endurapro, Northgates

Offline jpc

  • Posts: 363
eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #31 on: Wed, 10 August 2011, 10:21:58 »
Clarification. The keys have a texture. It is finer grained than most boards. If you compare a key's top to its side, the top has a subtle texture.

RSI prevention recipe:[/B] Kinesis Contoured, Colemak layout, touch typing, Contour Design Rollermouse,  Logitech TrackMan Wheel, Logitech m570 trackball, "workrave" break timer software, "awesome" window manager, tenkeyless boards, cherry browns, Wang 724 with "ghetto green" ALPS, standing desk and/or comfy adjustable chairs, stress reduction, computer time reduction.

Fun non-ergonomic things: bolt modded Model M Space Saving Keyboards with new springs, Kensington Expert Mouse v7, Unicomp Endurapro, Northgates

Offline Sam

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eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #32 on: Thu, 11 August 2011, 00:47:27 »
Quote from: jpc;396412
Side note: That 65g is 11 US nickels and 4 US pennies. A US penny weighs 2.5g -- half a nickel, so you can get higher precision. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Ripometer HD! **fanfare**

Not so fast there.  You first need to check the date of the penny.  Pennies made after 1982 do weigh 2.5 grams.  But pennies made prior to 1982 weigh 3.11 grams.  Pennies made in 1982 could be either.  It's because pennies were originally copper, but are now only zinc plated copper.  They changed the content because the copper in the old pennies were worth more than a cent, meaning the mint would lose money if they still made them out of copper.  If you happen to get a steel penny made in 1943, it weights 2.67 grams.

As for nickels, the only ones to watch out for are ones made during the WWII era, where they used some silver in them.  Not sure though what they weigh.  You'd be better off selling them though if you happen to come across one being the high price of silver means they're worth a whole lot more than 5 cents.

Offline Hak Foo

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« Reply #33 on: Thu, 11 August 2011, 00:50:22 »
Even the base metal 5c coin has exceeded 5c in metal value, they say.

The spotting feature for the WWII silver (35% IIRC) 5c coins is the large mint-mark above Monticello.  Either a P, D, or S.
Overton130, Box Pale Blues.

Offline Sam

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« Reply #34 on: Thu, 11 August 2011, 00:55:56 »
If you're interested to see the melt values of various coins, have a look here:
http://www.coinflation.com/

You're right, a nickel now costs slightly over 5 cents for the raw materials.

Offline Sam

  • Posts: 189
eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #35 on: Thu, 11 August 2011, 00:57:33 »
Quote from: ripster;396850
20 Nickels?  $1.00.

The RipOmeter?  Priceless.

Nope, the raw materials for 20 nickels is worth $1.173278 as of now.

Offline jpc

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eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #36 on: Tue, 16 August 2011, 23:42:11 »
Sam, thanks for the tip. My pennies are all newer than 1982.

RSI prevention recipe:[/B] Kinesis Contoured, Colemak layout, touch typing, Contour Design Rollermouse,  Logitech TrackMan Wheel, Logitech m570 trackball, "workrave" break timer software, "awesome" window manager, tenkeyless boards, cherry browns, Wang 724 with "ghetto green" ALPS, standing desk and/or comfy adjustable chairs, stress reduction, computer time reduction.

Fun non-ergonomic things: bolt modded Model M Space Saving Keyboards with new springs, Kensington Expert Mouse v7, Unicomp Endurapro, Northgates

Offline jpc

  • Posts: 363
eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #37 on: Wed, 17 August 2011, 00:15:13 »
Time for an update... on my Wang.

I opened the switches and removed the tactile leaves. The result is a smooth, quiet, linear switch that actuates at about 50g (reduced from 65g on the stock switches.)

Less is more.

Lower force is better for my RSI. Why make tired fingers climb over a tactile bump? The Wang provides a synthetic click noise on each keypress, that's all the positive feedback I need.

These Wangs are a steal, if you want linear and don't mind doing surgery.

If you try this, be careful on those ALPS stabilizers folks. You want to detach the wire from the plastic widgets mounted in the metal plate BEFORE popping the key cap. I was lucky, my dead Northy donated a widget identical to the one I broke...
« Last Edit: Wed, 17 August 2011, 06:07:35 by jpc »

RSI prevention recipe:[/B] Kinesis Contoured, Colemak layout, touch typing, Contour Design Rollermouse,  Logitech TrackMan Wheel, Logitech m570 trackball, "workrave" break timer software, "awesome" window manager, tenkeyless boards, cherry browns, Wang 724 with "ghetto green" ALPS, standing desk and/or comfy adjustable chairs, stress reduction, computer time reduction.

Fun non-ergonomic things: bolt modded Model M Space Saving Keyboards with new springs, Kensington Expert Mouse v7, Unicomp Endurapro, Northgates

Offline TexasFlood

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eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #38 on: Wed, 17 August 2011, 15:45:44 »
So, in summary your Wang is no longer tactile and that's working well for you?  I have an urge to come up with a "that's what she said" joke but going to resist. :wink:

Offline jpc

  • Posts: 363
eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #39 on: Wed, 17 August 2011, 16:24:58 »
Yeah, I like it gentle.

Wait, what....

RSI prevention recipe:[/B] Kinesis Contoured, Colemak layout, touch typing, Contour Design Rollermouse,  Logitech TrackMan Wheel, Logitech m570 trackball, "workrave" break timer software, "awesome" window manager, tenkeyless boards, cherry browns, Wang 724 with "ghetto green" ALPS, standing desk and/or comfy adjustable chairs, stress reduction, computer time reduction.

Fun non-ergonomic things: bolt modded Model M Space Saving Keyboards with new springs, Kensington Expert Mouse v7, Unicomp Endurapro, Northgates

Offline jpc

  • Posts: 363
eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #40 on: Fri, 19 August 2011, 11:17:01 »
This board is not NKRO.

Converted my 2nd one to linear switches today. The wiki calls them "ghetto green ALPS." So much for NIB.

RSI prevention recipe:[/B] Kinesis Contoured, Colemak layout, touch typing, Contour Design Rollermouse,  Logitech TrackMan Wheel, Logitech m570 trackball, "workrave" break timer software, "awesome" window manager, tenkeyless boards, cherry browns, Wang 724 with "ghetto green" ALPS, standing desk and/or comfy adjustable chairs, stress reduction, computer time reduction.

Fun non-ergonomic things: bolt modded Model M Space Saving Keyboards with new springs, Kensington Expert Mouse v7, Unicomp Endurapro, Northgates

Offline jpc

  • Posts: 363
eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #41 on: Mon, 22 August 2011, 19:40:47 »
Vintage Wang kit rocks!  Well, here's a caveat about these. I had some trouble with one of the cables.

The seller builds the cables himself. He sent me two cables, one worked fine and the other didn't. The seller remembers testing them both. He offered to replace the bad cable at no charge. Great! So I sent it back, he received it today, tested it again and says it works for him.

Hmmm. This cable works in New Hampshire but not in Massachusetts, apparently.

This was my reply to the seller tonight...

Quote
On 08/22/2011 01:20 PM, (Seller) wrote:
> Hi, The cord you sent back is perfectly fine. Works and oms out just
> fine. Did you send the right one?

Hi (Seller),

No kidding! Haha. Yes, I sent the right one.

So, I have a guess about what's going on...

Here's a diagram of the pinout of the good and bad cables.

The good cable ties pin "D" (on the modular plug in the diagram) to pin 4 on the AT plug. The bad cable ties pin "D" to the shield of the AT plug. That's the only difference between them.

What's AT pin 4? It's ground. The AT standard requires pin 4 be GND:
  http://www.computer-engineering.org/ps2protocol/

My guess is that the AT standard does not specify what the shield is connected to -- it could be unconnected or it could be grounded at the host.

If an AT/PS2 port grounds its shield, then the good and bad cables will behave the same, they will both work. This must be what you see.

If an AT/PS2 port leaves its shield unconnected, then the bad cable does not provide any ground pin to the keyboard. This must be what I see. Sure enough, the PS2 port I tested with does not ground its shield.

Also I found a PS2-to-AT adapter (not one of yours) that does not connect the AT shield to the PS2 shield. In practice there seems to be no guarantee that real hardware connects the shield.

The only pinout that works with all AT/PS2 ports is the "OK cable" pinout in the diagram. Would you please send me another one of those?

Thanks,


Do I have the right diagnosis here?

This seller wants to make it right, and I want to help him.

[ Attachment Invalid Or Does Not Exist ] 24876[/ATTACH]
« Last Edit: Mon, 22 August 2011, 20:13:09 by jpc »

RSI prevention recipe:[/B] Kinesis Contoured, Colemak layout, touch typing, Contour Design Rollermouse,  Logitech TrackMan Wheel, Logitech m570 trackball, "workrave" break timer software, "awesome" window manager, tenkeyless boards, cherry browns, Wang 724 with "ghetto green" ALPS, standing desk and/or comfy adjustable chairs, stress reduction, computer time reduction.

Fun non-ergonomic things: bolt modded Model M Space Saving Keyboards with new springs, Kensington Expert Mouse v7, Unicomp Endurapro, Northgates

Offline TexasFlood

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eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #42 on: Mon, 22 August 2011, 21:01:26 »
Sounds logical to me, but what do I know?

Offline jpc

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eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #43 on: Mon, 22 August 2011, 22:10:57 »
I noticed something funny about this board. AT pin #3, the one that is "Not Implemented" on the official AT spec, is soldered to a trace on the PCB. This trace branches off in 3 directions. I was shy about removing the shielding to follow these traces. How might an extra data (?) signal be used?

It's not typical to connect this pin. On a Northgate Omnikey Ultra T, the same #3 pin is not connected to anything at the keyboard end.

Maybe the board has features that only work when it's hooked up to its native terminal? The board has features beyond a typical PC keyboard. It has 5 LEDs, the usual 3 plus two more, which there seems to be no way to activate (sad, because I want lots of amber LEDs on at all times.) It also has a speaker, maybe that can do more than just generate artificial key clicks. Maybe the board is programmable somehow?

Was there a canonical usage for the "not implemented" #3 pin on the AT connector?

RSI prevention recipe:[/B] Kinesis Contoured, Colemak layout, touch typing, Contour Design Rollermouse,  Logitech TrackMan Wheel, Logitech m570 trackball, "workrave" break timer software, "awesome" window manager, tenkeyless boards, cherry browns, Wang 724 with "ghetto green" ALPS, standing desk and/or comfy adjustable chairs, stress reduction, computer time reduction.

Fun non-ergonomic things: bolt modded Model M Space Saving Keyboards with new springs, Kensington Expert Mouse v7, Unicomp Endurapro, Northgates

Offline jpc

  • Posts: 363
eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #44 on: Mon, 22 August 2011, 22:33:38 »
Seller wrote back:

Quote

LOL It was is the factory end. RJ was wired correctly. Strange it worked in all my computers. I will double check with ohm meter in the future for these. ... yes your findings are correct.

I'll send out the replacement cable tomorrow.


I think he's saying that his task, crimping the RJ connector onto an AT cord, was done right. The trouble was at the AT-connector end of the "factory" AT cords he uses; there was some unexpected variability there.

He's been responsive and quick to correct this. Considering how easy it would be to miss this issue -- when the "bad" cable would test OK in some PS2 ports -- you can hardly blame him.

It should be safer to buy these, now that the seller's correcting this particular issue.

RSI prevention recipe:[/B] Kinesis Contoured, Colemak layout, touch typing, Contour Design Rollermouse,  Logitech TrackMan Wheel, Logitech m570 trackball, "workrave" break timer software, "awesome" window manager, tenkeyless boards, cherry browns, Wang 724 with "ghetto green" ALPS, standing desk and/or comfy adjustable chairs, stress reduction, computer time reduction.

Fun non-ergonomic things: bolt modded Model M Space Saving Keyboards with new springs, Kensington Expert Mouse v7, Unicomp Endurapro, Northgates

Offline spolia optima

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eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #45 on: Tue, 23 August 2011, 02:43:38 »
The Wang 724 is seriously an unsung hero around here.. Nearly perfect keyboard, made back when keyboards MEANT somethng.
$20+Shipping is a killer deal. If there are any left, I'll be making an offer for 3 of them this friday.
keyboards!

Offline spolia optima

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eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #46 on: Tue, 23 August 2011, 02:47:53 »
Black ALPS or not, it blows the Dell AT101 out of the water
Also IMHO black alps are just fine when they're new. Problem is, like all ALPS they get dirty easily and start to feel like crap if you don't keep them clean. Anyone heard of a feather duster?
keyboards!

Offline jpc

  • Posts: 363
eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #47 on: Tue, 23 August 2011, 08:46:58 »
Quote from: spolia optima;403678
The Wang 724 is seriously an unsung hero around here.. Nearly perfect keyboard, made back when keyboards MEANT somethng.
$20+Shipping is a killer deal. If there are any left, I'll be making an offer for 3 of them this friday.

I'm buying two more after the seller comes through with the fixed cable. One to keep NIB and one for my girlfriend. It is a killer deal, they really are NIB. I should post a pic of the box.

Noticed something else on these. The microcontroller is not soldered to the PCB, it's socketed. You could perhaps extract it and read out the firmware. Then you could modify it to light up the dark LEDs, or to make the 8 nonstandard buttons send unique key codes instead of Alt-Fx combinations, or fix the key assignment on the nav cluster to be more standard. Next time I'll check what kind of uC it is.

RSI prevention recipe:[/B] Kinesis Contoured, Colemak layout, touch typing, Contour Design Rollermouse,  Logitech TrackMan Wheel, Logitech m570 trackball, "workrave" break timer software, "awesome" window manager, tenkeyless boards, cherry browns, Wang 724 with "ghetto green" ALPS, standing desk and/or comfy adjustable chairs, stress reduction, computer time reduction.

Fun non-ergonomic things: bolt modded Model M Space Saving Keyboards with new springs, Kensington Expert Mouse v7, Unicomp Endurapro, Northgates

Offline itlnstln

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eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #48 on: Tue, 23 August 2011, 11:59:28 »
ALPS.  Damn, I was hoping for Cherrys.

I love pounding on some Cherrys with my Wang.


Offline spolia optima

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eBay US: Wang 724 $20 + shipping NIB
« Reply #49 on: Tue, 23 August 2011, 16:26:49 »
Quote from: itlnstln;403908

I love pounding on some Cherrys with my Wang.

well played, good sir
keyboards!