Mythbusters - The RipOmeter Tool

[Lenny_Nero]

Cant be bothered to wade thru, so my bad if its already been said.
but just in case no one has ...over here in the UK/GB

1p == 3.5 g or an eighth
2p == 7g or a quarter
A Benson *** or 10 quid (a cockle in local parlance) are a gram.

I have yet to check them on my pointer's scales,
but it was a well known 'street' measures everyone used in case they had no jiggers.

On keyboards use a few 1p's to start the stack then the 2's save a big pile.
Might get round to checking them against my Rabone gauges to see the truth,
but it matters not if we all use the same numbers.

...and a thumb end joint is an inch and the nail is 25 thou good for plug gaps.

[Internetlad]

hey ripster can i buy you coffee sometime?

I probably don't live anywhere near you so i'll just ship you a can of folgers.

[keyboardlover]

GLWNT.

[limmy]

Why not use pennies for more accuracy? They are easier to get and 2 pennies equal one nickel in weight. i.e. one penny = 2.500g
http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/?action=coin_specifications

Your dithering method only reduces friction hence creates downward bias of the measurement. What you want to measure is force required for the keys to actuate and it should include friction. Any method that would reduce friction by slightly shaking / by measuring in a car with running engine(origin of dithering) / by hitting the desk three times with constant force is biased and not representative unless you type in those situation.

[sordna]

I've been using the RipOMeter method on and off, but when I got these arcade buttons, I got the idea to measure the force with precision scale. It's really very easy, you hold the switch upside down, and you press down on the scale with the stem. I tried it with cherry reds too and it works fine (you just have to hook up the leads to an ohm-meter to tell the activacion point for linears). I even tried putting my Poker on the scale, zero-ing it, and measuring the force by simply pushing the H key, and the results were surprisingly accurate! Isn't a using a scale more accurate and even easier than RipOMeter ?

[Input Nirvana]

No respect for The Ripometer
Using a scale...where's the fun in that? Tech guys need to be more right-brained sometimes (reference Steve Jobs).

[sordna]

The RipOmeter has a margin of error of almost 5g. A digital scale with better accuracy/resolution than 5g will provide more accurate results and is easier to use. Modern digital kitchen scales are available with 1g accuracy/resolution.

Methodology:
1. Take a good digital scale and set it to grams.
2. Put the keyboard to be measured on the scale, in a balanced position, and zero the scale (tare button).
3. To validate scale accuracy if you have doubts, put a reference weight on the keyboard, or even some nickels! Each nickel should add 5g, so if 10 nickels on the keyboard show 50g, your scale is good.
4. The scale should show 0 with the keyboard on it and the weights removed. Push a key that falls over the center of the scale slowly, until the activation point. The highest reading you see right before the tactile point is overcome (or the switch registers for linear switches) is the actuation force. Try it a few times to be sure.
5. Measuring loose switches is even easier, you just hold the switch upside down, and push the center of the scale with the stem until the click happens (use an Ohm/continuity meter to determine the activation point for linear switches).
6. If Ripster says the RipOmeter is more accurate, just validate your scale's accuracy with nickels one more time.

[huttala]

Saw that you had Swedish Öre in that list, we don't have any coins for öre anymore.
So you should edit that and put 1kr, 5kr and 10kr in the list instead. They are the only coins we have left.
1Krona = 7grams
5Krona = 9.5grams
10Krona = 6.6grams

Hope this helps.