Hewlett/Packard 2645A terminal keyboard

[Red October]

Here's another of the keyboards that follow me home from work:  A tired old HP 2645A terminal keyboard, as featured in The Cassandra Crossing.





Compatible with Cherry?  I do not know.  They seem to fit the mounts on my IBM 6112884, though, which I have to say is giving me ideas.

Here's the connector: 


Anyone know how this communicates?  Remotely possible to connect to PC?

[chyros]

Oh wow, what switches are those? =o

[Red October]

Oh wow, what switches are those? =o

I do not know.  I will be glad to post anything that might help find out, though.  For starters they are linear and have a longish travel.  Setting a Zippo lighter on them pushed them down about halfway, and if you push it down it doesn't have the guts to lift the Zippo back up.  Maybe it did when it was new?

[quasistellar]

The slider picture is kinda blurry, but it could be some black Alps SKCC maybe?

Can you get a better picture of the slider?  Cross or T-shaped?

Oh, and does the top of the slider come off?

[quasistellar]

https://deskthority.net/wiki/File:Alps_integrated_membrane_white_side.jpg


Could be one of these but with a black slider.  The indentations on the sides of the switch casing are offset similarly to what I can see in your picture.

[chyros]

Looks cross-shaped to me, which would mean no SKCC.

They look a bit like SMK switches or their millions of clones, but the housing sits lower and the clips aren't in the right place. It's possible that it was another SMK clone.

[chyros]

https://deskthority.net/wiki/File:Alps_integrated_membrane_white_side.jpg


Could be one of these but with a black slider.  The indentations on the sides of the switch casing are offset similarly to what I can see in your picture.

You're right, they look just like them, but those are tactile, not linear. Maybe a new variant?

[CPTBadAss]

Oooo what an interesting board. I too wonder what those switches are. Are you planning on doing a teardown?

[jacobolus]

I asked HaaTa. Switch is ITW Magnetic Valve

Pics: https://plus.google.com/photos/113845661925823397356/albums/5735481286874647233

[xtrafrood]

Now I'm wondering if those keys are salvageable for modern use. I doubt they would fit on an mx board though

[chyros]

Now I'm wondering if those keys are salvageable for modern use. I doubt they would fit on an mx board though

Some vintage cross mounts actually fit MX switches, but virtually none of them take into account that the stem has to disappear into the switch, so some fit but none will work.

[xtrafrood]

Now I'm wondering if those keys are salvageable for modern use. I doubt they would fit on an mx board though

Some vintage cross mounts actually fit MX switches, but virtually none of them take into account that the stem has to disappear into the switch, so some fit but none will work.

I see now. That's a bummer. Still a nice find

[chyros]

Now I'm wondering if those keys are salvageable for modern use. I doubt they would fit on an mx board though

Some vintage cross mounts actually fit MX switches, but virtually none of them take into account that the stem has to disappear into the switch, so some fit but none will work.

I see now. That's a bummer. Still a nice find

I know right, I have some virtually solid MX-compatible keycaps that put Honeywells to shame, was gutted when I found they wouldn't work D: .

[Red October]

I really don't know if they'd fit Cherry MX, I don't have any such board.  If someone wants to gift me one so I can try, well I would graciously accept! 

They work fine on a 6112884, with a little TI99/4A thrown in to get the correct legends on the number keys.  I actually find this more agreeable to type on than the default keycaps on the 6112884.  I am happy.  The TI keys are sunken compared to the HPs.  I'll see if this becomes a problem in practice.  It's just a shame that I couldn't get more of the larger keys involved here; the TI just has no large keys besides right shift and the HP wasn't exactly flush with them as well, and while the "cursor fast" key might be the right width for left shift on the 6112884, the mounting scheme is subtly different, the HP has three cross-shaped holes, the IBM has one switch towards the right and one post towards the left that rides up into a simple cavity in the keycap, which bottoms out on a rubber o-ring on the post.  It would have required physically modifying one of those items, and I am simply unwilling to make it so either the HP or the IBM won't go back to the way they were meant to be. 

I don't have time for a teardown right now but I will see about later this week; I'll get there eventually, but for the meantime, this happened while I was swapping keycaps:



(It went back in fine)

[jacobolus]

I actually find this more agreeable to type on than the default keycaps on the 6112884.  I am happy.

Heresy. Those Alps caps are amazing, better than anything on the market today, and the HP ones are complete crap. :-)

[Red October]

I actually find this more agreeable to type on than the default keycaps on the 6112884.  I am happy.

Heresy. Those Alps caps are amazing, better than anything on the market today, and the HP ones are complete crap. :-)

I know... the keycaps are the whole reason I bought the 6112884; and the deeper scoop of the IBM keycaps is better, as is the fact that the IBMs are different per row, but for whatever reason, the height of the HP keycaps just puts them in the right place for me.  It's not what I was expecting, but it's what happened. 

[invariance]

Here's another of the keyboards that follow me home from work:  A tired old HP 2645A terminal keyboard, as featured in The Cassandra Crossing.
Anyone know how this communicates?  Remotely possible to connect to PC?

I wish I had your problem, vintage keyboards following me home.

Having a quick look through the reference manual (http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/hp/terminal/02645-90005_Nov-1978.pdf) I would guess the terminal scans the keyboard; there may not be an onboard controller.

That would make a very interesting and difficult restoration though.

[Red October]

So some folks were curious if these keycaps were Cherry compatible... I'm afraid the answer is no. 

[birdman]

Just found one of these, thinking about doing a restoration on it, this thing is great.