hi all
a thread that keeps on giving rises again
i came across a TietoEnator-branded (?) Omnikey and figured yous guys would like a closer look. the board was scavenged from office disposal in Sydney, Australia. i was pleased to find that it is in pretty much perfect working order, and cleaned it thoroughly, despite it not appearing to be anything really special. my first unintentional quasi-retro keyboard find, yay.
relevant points, based on this thread:
- it has what I believe to be SKBMFA Alps switches (simplified clicky white)
- some switches appear to be mounted upside down - 'ALPS' is written right-side-up on a few rows.
- the board must have been made sometime between 1999 and 2008 - the company's name was only TietoEnator during those years.
- like the other boards in this family, the up arrow has an embedded green LED and is a mint green color, feels linear
- the PCB has 101-102-PROGRAMMABLE written on it, says DESIGNED BY KIDDO (
), and copyright 1995
- the PCB has a perforated line between the left panel of 12 keys (one 2x5 bank plus one 2x1 bank) and the rest of the board, and there is a printed indication to chop-er-off at that point if the board was to be a 104-key model instead of 116-key
- under the top-left flap with TietoEnator branding, there are no DIP switches
- there is no key or button available to enter any sort of programming mode
- the device has a PS/2 connector which requires an active PS/2 to USB converter
- the `~ and Esc keys are switched from their usual locations
- only the N, M, and E keys are double-shot. the rest are printed
- it appears as though the board was customized for TietoEnator (hence the non-standard keys like CANCEL, INTERRUPT, FORWARD, BACKWARD, REDSPLY, etc). perhaps the double-shot keys were replacements taken from other devices? the printed keycaps are thin and janky.
- i like the colors. Ctrl = red, Shift = green, Alt = blue
i will hold onto this board for a week or so and then try and find somebody who likes loud things to take it. if anybody wants any other photos, please speak relatively soon or forever hold your peace. i was enjoying myself far too much during the teardown, cleanup, and reassembly to take any photos, but i would be delighted to do it all again if people are curious.
(oh, the photos are mostly upside down. too bad)