Qtronix KT-30BP

[engicoder]

I came across this board in a heap of dell rubber domes at a flea market. Covered in grime with its cord severed at the case, it didn't look like much. Popping a cap revealed vintage mx blues making worth the $5 bill I spent to take it home. Turned out to be a Qtronix KT-30BP. The case case is cheap and the trackball now feels like its turning in gravel, but the vintages blue feel pretty nice. The sound seems less harsh when  compared to modern blues. Could just be age, I suppose. Unexpectedly, the PCB includes anti-ghosting diodes. The keycaps are a mix of double-shot and dye-sub. The 1u keycaps are double-shot. All others are dye-sub. They seem to be Tao Hao. The case and trackball at this point are pretty average, but I think the PCB, switches and plate may have a future in a custom case. If only Qtronix had copied the G80-1800 exactlu instead of swapping the status LED's to left side of the function row.

Pics: (More on Deskthority wiki)

[merlin64]

That's a nice find, looks like you cleaned it up really well.

I can't find a reference to that exact model but this comes close
http://deskthority.net/wiki/Qtronix_KT-30

[R1N3]

Dude... So sick!

[chyros]

Wow, that's pretty funky Oo . The trackball kinda looks like an actual mouse got melted into the case xD .

[Seranite]

Great job cleaning that up, that must have been a chore. What was your cleaning method, what did you use?

[gaucho_81]

sweet keyboard!! A few months back I bought a new keyboard for my office It's exactly the same as yours (I bought it because the reduced size, my model m won't give me enough room for my mouse) Its exactly the same board minus the trackball (mine is black). Is branded Adesso model MK 135b, feels pretty good to type on, has cherry mx blues same as yours also.
Do you know the date of manufacturing? Pretty interesting how they keep using the same molds and design for so long. The tooling and R&D must have been paid more than a decade ago by now, lol

[engicoder]

s

Great job cleaning that up, that must have been a chore. What was your cleaning method, what did you use?

Simple but effective: Soap and hot tap water then scrub with sponges and tooth brushes. Some goo-gone for sticky stuff. Most boards can be cleaned this way. Once in a while I get a board with something tougher like paint or truly permanent marker. In that case, nothing usually works except abrasives.

[hwood34]

Vintage MX blues are really an awesome switch, you got a great deal on that board even if the rest of it is useless (why did so many old boards have to use that stupid bigass enter?)

[engicoder]

Vintage MX blues are really an awesome switch, you got a great deal on that board even if the rest of it is useless (why did so many old boards have to use that stupid bigass enter?)

Its simple...IBM.

IBM put the big ass enter on the AT keyboard and everyone followed. It should probably be called the AT enter key, but Big Ass Enter has more flair.
Same thing happened after the Model M came out.

[FoxWolf1]

Hey, some of us actually like the big-ass enter key (so long as there's also a full-sized backspace)...

Now, having the escape key where F1 is supposed to go, on the other hand-- I could see that creating a lot of annoyance, at least during the initial adjustment period.