Model M mini-micro??? Whuuuuaaah?

[clickclack]

So is this like the HHKB of Model Ms or...?

Here is my goofy adventure in trying to find out more about this little thing. I said earlier that I would post something on this, so here I go...

We are getting rid of some stuff at one of my jobs and in the auxilliary storage area I saw what I thought looked like a corner of a Model M. The problem with being into keyboards is I wanted very much to find out if I was right, and that's where the adventure begins...

The keyboard is about 20 feet away and I cant get to it (at least not yet) because of some industrial shelving, delicate vitrines (clear enclosures for art), unsteady crates with tons of crap in them, computer stuff, and last but not least chairs and desks. I also have a chest injury so I can't really go exploring anyway, but did that stop me? NOPE! I am stupid, so....

It's a dark-ish room and I was not really sporting much of a telephoto that day so here is me zoomed way in and leaning to within an inch of my life-

Yup, 20 feet of problems in all directions, so then I decide to get a little creative...

Creativity was not my strong suit that day so here is the pic I snapped as I fell off a small box while leaning over a crate full of junk. Oh, but I was not done yet I had more dumb ideas...

I am a monkey apparently and I think I can somehow scale obnoxiously filled and stacked boxes and got this shot above! I thought that I could still get a better view so I decided to climb up the industrial shelves to see if an aerial approach was the ticket!
 Well it wasn't and the result was this...

Me falling off the big industrial shelves and on to those ever so perfectly placed, obnoxiously packed and stacked boxes on top of crates.
Although I kinda scored on the name of machine the keyboard is attached to...kinda =S
However I am as persistent as I am stoooopid so....

SUCCESS!!!! clickclack cheated death once again and managed this incredibly useless photo at last!
But then I got cocky, and had to see if all the effort was worth it so....

I felt compelled to see if it made a clicky sound. Why? Well you don't trudge through the desert dehidrated only to kick the bucket at the end because you forgot you had a full cantine on ya, right?
So I took some quick bar clamps and tightened them together and taped a pair of scissors to one end to get my needed 90 degree bend and to provide a supple pivot for the #2 pencils pink rubber eraser. Basically a 12 and half foot long index finger.
So what was the result??
IT'S CLICKY! And I do believe it is of the buckling spring variety!!!!

What shall I do know I ask myself... what shall I do...
=D

I even bugged my boss to death (she now thinks I am officially nutz) with questions about it. But first I need some breakfast!

[aegrotatio]

I'm gonna guess a clicky ALPS or something similar on a GBC Signmaker machine (before they became part of ACCO Brands and Kensington).

[TexasFlood]

Don't recognize it, but did a quick and dirty enhancement that might help someone identify it.
Yes, I know, but I did say it was quick and dirty, didn't I? :biggrin:

[aegrotatio]

Looks like the numeric keypad is hidden under the blue bezel and is poking three extra keys.  I still say it's a Signmaker machine keyboard.  It would be interesting to take apart but those things are not cheap.

[Mental Hobbit]

On a quest like this, extreme measures are justified. Nothing shall stand in your way.

[kishy]

Does your bunny swear as much as Craig Ferguson's?

[Rajagra]

Don't underestimate how dangerous store rooms can be.

 

[didjamatic]

I like keyboards that don't work on PC's with the hope that one day I will get it to work on a PC.

[kriminal]

I like keyboards that don't work on PC's with the hope that one day I will get it to work on a PC.

you interested in a 83 key ibm model XT?  
scratch that imma keep it until...

[itlnstln]

I was going to post a vid of Jack Bauer saying "I give you my word," but apparently, people must not have noticed how often he said it, thus finding it funny enough to make a vid of.  

Bottom line - opportunity to post a funny, video response: fail.

[clickclack]

I'm gonna guess a clicky ALPS or something similar on a GBC Signmaker machine (before they became part of ACCO Brands and Kensington).

Yeah it's a Signmaker machine but the keyboard they usually use is something similar to the space invaders mechanism. I will look for pics of that later and post them.
I am pretty sure they are a buckling spring, it sounds just like it!
=)

Call the LA SWAT team!

How on earth did you respond with a picture that damn quick! haahaa
You have a talent my friend, TALENT!

Don't recognize it, but did a quick and dirty enhancement that might help someone identify it.
Yes, I know, but I did say it was quick and dirty, didn't I? :biggrin:
Quick and dirty you were not kiddin! I had a double take to make sure it was even from my photo! LoLz!

Lets see if I can pull up a better photo here in just a sec...
My boss said it was an IBM keyboard that they used for the Signmaker machine. Made it seem like they used it on a PC too!?!? The computer they used for it only had a PS/2 port so I would imagine it would work ya?
I didn't see an escape key. But I think I did see what looked to be a caps lock LED thingy on the capslock... let me see here...

[clickclack]

Looks like the numeric keypad is hidden under the blue bezel and is poking three extra keys.  I still say it's a Signmaker machine keyboard.  It would be interesting to take apart but those things are not cheap.

It is a Signmaker but this IBM itty bitty mini was added at a later date.

It's Unicomp's Space Saver prototype and they want it back.  They've been looking for it just like Apple lost their iPhone4.

Haahaaa =D
Well they can't have it! Tis mine seeee Tis mine! uhhh... well I hope anyway =P

On a quest like this, extreme measures are justified. Nothing shall stand in your way.

You have no idea! But more on that later.

Here is that capslock LED thingy I think it has-

[quadibloc]

I will be following this thread with interest! In my own life, I can report some very good fortune. As I noted elsewhere, I discovered the first Model M I had seen in a thrift shop for years a few days ago.

Well, visiting another thrift shop in a remote part of town that I seldom frequent, I found a model M2. I already had two buckling spring ones with the capacitor failure (which I have not yet tried to repair, but someday I will), and one rubber dome one that works.

This one was buckling spring.

And it actually works, no need to fix it! An incredible find for $2.99.

[clickclack]

Don't underestimate how dangerous store rooms can be.

 

No doubt! =S
This was too classic, I have to keep this picture!

[kishy]

I will be following this thread with interest! In my own life, I can report some very good fortune. As I noted elsewhere, I discovered the first Model M I had seen in a thrift shop for years a few days ago.

Well, visiting another thrift shop in a remote part of town that I seldom frequent, I found a full-sized but more compact Model M. I already had two buckling spring ones with the capacitor failure (which I have not yet tried to repair, but someday I will), and one rubber dome one that works.

This one was buckling spring.

And it actually works, no need to fix it! An incredible find for $2.99.

That sounds like a Model M2, not a Model M.

[MarkWilliamson]

If that's really an IBM BS keyboard then ... whoa!  Why haven't we heard of these things before!?

[chimera15]

Really interesting. It's like you spotted Laputa in the clouds. roflol

No function keys, so definetely not a fully functioning pc keyboard...

Could probably be rewired with a hhkb.

[quadibloc]

That sounds like a Model M2, not a Model M.

Yes, it is a Model M2, the one with the tantalum capacitor fix described here; the label on the keyboard doesn't say "M2", though, so I had to look up the thread to find out what it is called here.

Part Number 1395300.

Also, I've been Googling to try and find information about that keyboard. What I found was that the device was perhaps a VnM SignMaker, made by Cobra Systems. Currently, they offer it with keyboards that don't look at all like a Model M, and I could find no information about older styles of keyboard for it.

[kishy]

Yes, it is a Model M2, the one with the tantalum capacitor fix described here; the label on the keyboard doesn't say "M2", though, so I had to look up the thread to find out what it is called here.

Part Number 1395300.

Oh great...further ambiguity with IBM labeling.

[audioave10]

I hope your chest injury is not severe...

[quadibloc]

Given that you've found the keyboard is clicky, no doubt it will have mechanical switches. This makes sense, because it was likely made in a relatively short production run, and a rubber dome keyboard requires a great deal of custom tooling for parts that are designed based on the layout of the whole keyboard.

But I think, too, that it is extremely unlikely that the keyboard will have been made by IBM or Lexmark, and also unlikely that it uses any other form of buckling spring technology. The styling of the Model M was widely imitated - and IBM was in the computer business, not in the OEM keyboard business. So I am predicting, like some others, ALPS or Cherries as by far the most likely possibility.

[ch_123]

I was going to post a vid of Jack Bauer saying "I give you my word," but apparently, people must not have noticed how often he said it, thus finding it funny enough to make a vid of.  

Bottom line - opportunity to post a funny, video response: fail.

Even some of the characters in the show have picked up that fact. One of the villians in season 5 in particular.

Don't recognize it, but did a quick and dirty enhancement that might help someone identify it.
Yes, I know, but I did say it was quick and dirty, didn't I? :biggrin:

Show Image

I will be following this thread with interest! In my own life, I can report some very good fortune. As I noted elsewhere, I discovered the first Model M I had seen in a thrift shop for years a few days ago.

Well, visiting another thrift shop in a remote part of town that I seldom frequent, I found a model M2. I already had two buckling spring ones with the capacitor failure (which I have not yet tried to repair, but someday I will), and one rubber dome one that works.

This one was buckling spring.

And it actually works, no need to fix it! An incredible find for $2.99.

Swap the controller board from the rubber dome one into one of your defunct buckling spring ones.

[quadibloc]

Swap the controller board from the rubber dome one into one of your defunct buckling spring ones.

I was thinking of that, but saving the cost of a couple of tantalum capacitors is hardly a big deal - if the boards are compatible.

The problem, of course, is the major nature of the fix; removing not just all the keys, but all the springs, to get at the controller board. Using the board from the rubber dome one won't avoid that.

On the other hand, if the boards are compatible, the board from the rubber dome one might be more reliable than my own soldering job...

[Brodie337]

The only solution:

[Rajagra]

Hahaha. Screwed. I just got it.

(I've never seen the show, that's my excuse.)

[Brodie337]

Maybe a more local thing?

[clickclack]

If that's really an IBM BS keyboard then ... whoa!  Why haven't we heard of these things before!?

Probably a good reason, i guess.

Really interesting. It's like you spotted Laputa in the clouds. roflol
No function keys, so definetely not a fully functioning pc keyboard...
Could probably be rewired with a hhkb.

LoL!
I like that idea though =)

I hope your chest injury is not severe...

Show Image

Well it didn't look that bad! =S haahaa
I had a broken sternum from a car accident a while ago, and I am having chronic problems unfortunately as a result =(
Though recently (crosses fingers) its seems to be getting a tiny bit better.

Given that you've found the keyboard is clicky, no doubt it will have mechanical switches. This makes sense, because it was likely made in a relatively short production run...

no doubt!

So I heard that they cleared out that room the other day, and my coworker said she snapped a pic of it for me... so just waiting on that =)

[kishy]

...snapped a pic? Why didn't you have her take the keyboard?!?

[TexasFlood]

Even some of the characters in the show have picked up that fact. One of the villians in season 5 in particular.

That CSI mockery is too funny, :biggrin:.  It's hard to believe shows with such a supposed focus on science routinely "enhance" images till they show much more detail then the original contained.  Guess it's sort of like Star Trek with the transporter etc, a fictional device to move the story along.

[spolia optima]

You should just charge the pile. dive right in there, damn the consequences.

[audioave10]

In Ghostbusters terms, Clickclack has become the "Keymaker" and is important to us. I don't want him injured anymore.

[audioave10]

[clickclack]

Show Image

ROFL!!!
That's a riot! Too classic for words =D

The only solution:

Show Image

YES!!!
Excellent suggestion! haahaaahaa!

[aegrotatio]

I suggest the pile of crap movie "The Fresh Prince as the Enemy of the State" where they take a surveillance video and proceed to enhance it to take an item out of a bag in the video.  I am Sh!tting you not.

[TexasFlood]

I suggest the pile of crap movie "The Fresh Prince as the Enemy of the State" where they take a surveillance video and proceed to enhance it to take an item out of a bag in the video.  I am Sh!tting you not.

I saw that movie.  Besides what you mentioned, this is one of those movies that takes a lot of liberties with what satellites can do.  I was watching CSI earlier and they enhanced, uh, something, I didn't even catch what the source was, till they could see a landmark structure out a hotel room window.  Then they "triangulated" the location of the room from that and went room to room comparing the grainy photo to the actual room until they determined which room it was, with apparent absolute certainty.  First of all, I'm pretty sure triangulation requires 3 points. And second, seems likely that grainy photo would be a close match to a number of rooms.  Can drive you crazy if you think about it.

[clickclack]

You should just charge the pile. dive right in there, damn the consequences.

LoLz!!!

In Ghostbusters terms, Clickclack has become the "Keymaker" and is important to us. I don't want him injured anymore.

Haahaaa, me neither!

Zul is the GateKeeper, ClickClack is the KeyMaster.  I hope his SO doesn't know about Zul.

Zul is my girl! She can't levitate in bed though (we are still working on that one).

...snapped a pic? Why didn't you have her take the keyboard?!?

That would be silly, I am the one who wants it, not her.
(see what I did there)


I don't have the picture yet but the cord has "IBM" on it.

[clickclack]

I have a tiny bit more info on it now.

-It was not attached to the signmaker machine
-has "IBM" somewhere on the cord
-It was initially made by IBM
-It has what looks like a caps lock key LED
That's all I can for sure right now.

I should be getting the picture of it within the next couple of days.
I'm not working there right now so it's a bit slow going. I would be thrilled if it has a working PS/2 cord and Buckling Springs! LoLz
I hope it works XD

[Brodie337]

JUSTSTEALTHEFUGGINKEYBOARDALREADYFORTHELOVEOFGODTAKEITTAKEITTAKEITNAO!!!!

I'm sorry... I forgot my Prozac.

EDIT: Hmm... The forum put a space in that sentence that I didn't.

[clickclack]

To Brodie337-
Straight up LoLz!

So I just checked my email and notice I got the photo. It was taken from a camera phone. I can tell it has buckling springs for sure and that definately looks like a caps lock light to me.

So here is the full size pic I got from my email-


I am excited about it and I hope I can use it when I get the chance =)

[kishy]

Paging sethstorm...unfortunately, there already is a buckling spring HHKB, and clickclack has found it.

Holy crap this is awesome. Please get more info, or the whole keyboard. I realize you're practically buried in keyboards but this thing needs to be documented in detail with full disassembly photographs.

[phoenix]

Someone (everybody) please call Unicomp and tell them to just make this keyboard again with more modifier keys.

[chimera15]

Holy crap, it looks like it has a ps/2 plug on it? Wth?

Awesome board.

If it's compatible, I bet it would reach m15 prices if you ebay'd it.  Quite a rarity.

[Brodie337]

Surely you wouldn't ebay such a rare beast?

[lowpoly]

Holy ...!

You have to find out why and where the company got it. If it was sold with or for some machine there might be a warehouse of NIB replacement parts somewhere.

[clickclack]

...Holy crap this is awesome. Please get more info, or the whole keyboard. I realize you're practically buried in keyboards ...

IHh fheenk fpho koo! PEEEEEHHHHHHTOOEY! BLEH! Sorry I had some keycaps in my mouth (that sometimes happens when the keyboards topple me!
What I meant to say was- I think so too! I would love to have it as a "whole" keyboard.

Someone (everybody) please call Unicomp and tell them to just make this keyboard again with more modifier keys.

I seriously doubt that will ever happen, sure would be nice if they could make it though =P

Holy crap, it looks like it has a ps/2 plug on it? Wth?
Awesome board.
If it's compatible, I bet it would reach m15 prices if you ebay'd it.  Quite a rarity.

Good eyes! Sure does huh?
I wonder what else we can tell from the photo. Should probably examine it blown up and look around.
If everything works I would love to use it as my portable laptop keyboard.

Surely you wouldn't ebay such a rare beast?

If I had another one I might, LoL! =D
Seriously though I would notify you guys before I would toss it on the bay.
I have a feeling it's alot more rare than what some are thinking.
I really want to know now if that caps lock light works. I am itching to test it out!

[noctua]

Phenomenal, you have found the Genesis of Geekhack-ology..

[ch_123]

Someone (everybody) please call Unicomp and tell them to just make this keyboard again with more modifier keys.

Not going to happen, but they could have some lying around... who knows...

[phoenix]

Not going to happen, but they could have some lying around... who knows...

Chuck didn't recognize it and guessed it's a very early terminal keyboard, which it clearly isn't. Knowing the part number would help.

[aegrotatio]

Very interesting and no Function keys, either.
So when you push the spring down with a pencil eraser, the spring buckles and the foot clicks?
The lack of forthcoming, in-focus pictures and part number info would make anyone else call bullsh!t by this time.

[sixty]

Almost guessing this has been modded and cut out of a model M by someone or a third party company or something. Eitherway, its an incredible find. More pictures please!

PS: Looks like there are also green LEDs under both of the CTRL keys? Check the close up picture.