Author Topic: Alps Appreciation Thread  (Read 2437433 times)

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Offline mike52787

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3600 on: Sat, 17 September 2016, 15:17:37 »
I can help document another one when mine comes in the mail. should get it Monday.

Offline Hypersphere

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3601 on: Sat, 17 September 2016, 16:26:23 »
In today's mail I received a Zenith 163-73. It has yellow Alps and dye-sub PBT caps. It is XT/AT-selectable via a DIP switch on the back of the keyboard. I am typing on it now in AT mode. The yellow switches are quite smooth and reported as slightly heavier than green Alps, but I have not yet tried them side by side.

The board is very clean with no corrosion on the plate. It also feels very solid. Unfortunately, there is one key that responds only intermittently -- the Backspace/Pipe key to the right of the shortened Right Shift. This is particularly unwanted, because I plan to use this key as Fn. I am hoping that the key will become fully functional after cleaning -- including using a contact cleaner.

I am also considering a click/tactile mod, but I first I want to test out the board thoroughly with unmodified switches.

Suggestions welcome for a possible click/tactile mod. I am not sure which components (slider, top housing, spring, tactile/click leaf) would be compatible with the bottom housing and switchplate in yellow Alps.

Some potential donor Alps or Alps-clone switches that I have available include black, blue, damped cream, undamped cream, white, damped white, Matias Click, and Matias Quiet.

I did have quite a few brown Alps in IBM 5140 boards, but I've been selling these, and the last one is currently collecting bids (I found brown Alps a bit too stiff for prolonged typing).





 

Offline chyros

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3602 on: Sat, 17 September 2016, 17:09:39 »
In today's mail I received a Zenith 163-73. It has yellow Alps and dye-sub PBT caps. It is XT/AT-selectable via a DIP switch on the back of the keyboard. I am typing on it now in AT mode. The yellow switches are quite smooth and reported as slightly heavier than green Alps, but I have not yet tried them side by side.

The board is very clean with no corrosion on the plate. It also feels very solid. Unfortunately, there is one key that responds only intermittently -- the Backspace/Pipe key to the right of the shortened Right Shift. This is particularly unwanted, because I plan to use this key as Fn. I am hoping that the key will become fully functional after cleaning -- including using a contact cleaner.

I am also considering a click/tactile mod, but I first I want to test out the board thoroughly with unmodified switches.

Suggestions welcome for a possible click/tactile mod. I am not sure which components (slider, top housing, spring, tactile/click leaf) would be compatible with the bottom housing and switchplate in yellow Alps.

Some potential donor Alps or Alps-clone switches that I have available include black, blue, damped cream, undamped cream, white, damped white, Matias Click, and Matias Quiet.

I did have quite a few brown Alps in IBM 5140 boards, but I've been selling these, and the last one is currently collecting bids (I found brown Alps a bit too stiff for prolonged typing).
Try to clean the switchplate, maybe compressed air will help as well. If cleaning efforts fail you can replace the switch, or even just the switchplate.

To mod, you'll need to swap the top housings as the cutout obstructs the tactile/click leaf. With your selection of tactile switches at hand I wouldn't do a tactile mod, as none of those are particularly smoothly tactile, and I think the tactile leaf is to blame for it. I think Matias leaves fit inside, but the feeling is a bit different from Alps switches. For a click-mod you can use white leaves, or you can click-mod the tactile leaves (see my video on how to do that). Again you can also use Matias leaves.
Check my keyboard video reviews:


Offline E3E

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3603 on: Sat, 17 September 2016, 17:16:01 »
Some potential donor Alps or Alps-clone switches that I have available include black, blue, damped cream, undamped cream, white, damped white, Matias Click, and Matias Quiet.

With your selection of tactile switches at hand I wouldn't do a tactile mod, as none of those are particularly smoothly tactile, and I think the tactile leaf is to blame for it.

Blue and Cream switches are smooth though! At least in my opinion. :P I think either would be a fine choice. Both use tall switch plates as opposed to the SKCL Yellow's short plates, but it shouldn't cause much of an issue.

Yeah, like Chyros says, you will need SKCM top housings for the mod, but that should be obvious.

Offline chyros

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3604 on: Sat, 17 September 2016, 17:28:29 »
Some potential donor Alps or Alps-clone switches that I have available include black, blue, damped cream, undamped cream, white, damped white, Matias Click, and Matias Quiet.

With your selection of tactile switches at hand I wouldn't do a tactile mod, as none of those are particularly smoothly tactile, and I think the tactile leaf is to blame for it.

Blue and Cream switches are smooth though! At least in my opinion. :P I think either would be a fine choice. Both use tall switch plates as opposed to the SKCL Yellow's short plates, but it shouldn't cause much of an issue.

Yeah, like Chyros says, you will need SKCM top housings for the mod, but that should be obvious.
Oh yeah, I missed SKCM Cream. You can use blue leaves too, but if anything those are quite valuable as originals. It might be better to just solder in the blues as a whole.
Check my keyboard video reviews:


Offline Hypersphere

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3605 on: Sat, 17 September 2016, 17:40:33 »
@Chyros: Thanks for the tips!

Alps boards provide a fascinating playground filled with surprises and modding options. I've just now dismantled the Zenith and removed the keycaps for cleaning, although this board as I received it from eBay was quite clean already. The yellow stems stand out nicely against the matte black background of the plate.

Although some of the bits and pieces of the board were new to me, its construction has been well documented with photos in the DT wiki:

https://deskthority.net/wiki/Zenith_163-73

The Zenith is very nicely put together with some interesting extras, such as a layer of electrical shielding between the case and PCB. The electronic components on the top front of the PCB are so attractive against the cream-colored background, I am tempted to use the keyboard without a case or to make a transparent one. The underside of the green PCB is also unusually pristine.

This keyboard also holds the record among keyboards I have owned for the highest number of stabilized switches -- 12 in all, including the spacebar. With the exception of the "square J" Return/Enter key, which binds if pressed on the ascending portion of the "J", all the stabilized keys work smoothly and quietly with no binding or rattling.

Although I would prefer a standard US ANSI layout, this Zenith has some characteristics that lend itself to efficient remapping in a quasi-HHKB style. These features include the extra-large Right Bracket that can serve as Backspace and the split Right Shift that provides a potential Fn key.

Offline E3E

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3606 on: Sat, 17 September 2016, 18:25:19 »
Ahh yeah, I love the white colored PCBs from the olden days.




The early DocuTechs had them.

Funny, that the late DocuTechs had amber/orange PCBs and a dull green mask. The early 6085s had an amber PCB and dull green mask too, while the later ones were white like this one with a vivid green mask.



I don't like the amber colored PCBs as much, aesthetically.

The Zenith seems nice. A rare source for a 1.75u shift key and the only one I can think of in beige that would go well with an AT101 PBT set.

Offline chyros

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3607 on: Sat, 17 September 2016, 18:26:12 »
This keyboard also holds the record among keyboards I have owned for the highest number of stabilized switches -- 12 in all, including the spacebar. With the exception of the "square J" Return/Enter key, which binds if pressed on the ascending portion of the "J", all the stabilized keys work smoothly and quietly with no binding or rattling.
Yes, Zenith were very fond of stabilisers xD . There's 13 in my ZKB-2R, which also replaced the rod stabiliser with another wire one, hence the extra. Well, it's stabilised all right! xD
Check my keyboard video reviews:


Offline E3E

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3608 on: Sat, 17 September 2016, 18:35:40 »
This keyboard also holds the record among keyboards I have owned for the highest number of stabilized switches -- 12 in all, including the spacebar. With the exception of the "square J" Return/Enter key, which binds if pressed on the ascending portion of the "J", all the stabilized keys work smoothly and quietly with no binding or rattling.
Yes, Zenith were very fond of stabilisers xD . There's 13 in my ZKB-2R, which also replaced the rod stabiliser with another wire one, hence the extra. Well, it's stabilised all right! xD

The ridiculous thing with Alps is that keys down to 1.5u had the ability to be stabilized. I've usually only seen it done down to 1.75u. I forget if I've ever seen a 1.5u key stabilized. It'd be funny to see a custom plate support stabilization for all keys down to 1.5u, haha.

What makes it more amusing to me is that Alps keys work remarkably well without stabilization for the most part, aside from the space bar and some of the more odd enter keys (too lazy to check out a 2.75u right shift).  They're pretty usable. Alps was just being a little OCD about stabilization. Nothing wrong with that though. :P
« Last Edit: Sat, 17 September 2016, 18:37:25 by E3E »

Offline Hypersphere

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3609 on: Sat, 17 September 2016, 18:55:49 »
The stabilizers in the Toshiba T1200 "laptop" are amazing -- they look like steel rods rather than wires. Very serious stability!


Offline E3E

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3610 on: Sat, 17 September 2016, 19:07:37 »
The stabilizers in the Toshiba T1200 "laptop" are amazing -- they look like steel rods rather than wires. Very serious stability!

Ohh, can you take any pictures of those (or share any that you know of)? They SOUND amazing.

Offline atrere

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3611 on: Sat, 17 September 2016, 20:37:09 »
Some more research for anyone pursuing the goal of silent Alps -
As you may have seen in the typing video earlier, the space bar was the loudest key by several orders of magnitude.
I could have lubed the stabilizer, but before I busted out the Teflon spray, I had another idea. There are clips on the underside of the space bar that hold the wire stabilizer in place, and besides the stabilization plunger, they are the lowest elements on the bar.
So I cut some of the sticking rubber foot material that came with my Sentraq case down to size, and affixed it to each of the clips. Additionally, I took an O-ring from another keyboard, twisted it double, and stuck it on the base of the stabilizing peg on the keycap. 
This is the result:
I am unsure as to whether or not I should do anything about the other stabilized keys, but none of them were as egregious as the space bar.

Offline mike52787

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3612 on: Sat, 17 September 2016, 20:45:15 »
Some more research for anyone pursuing the goal of silent Alps -
As you may have seen in the typing video earlier, the space bar was the loudest key by several orders of magnitude.
I could have lubed the stabilizer, but before I busted out the Teflon spray, I had another idea. There are clips on the underside of the space bar that hold the wire stabilizer in place, and besides the stabilization plunger, they are the lowest elements on the bar.
So I cut some of the sticking rubber foot material that came with my Sentraq case down to size, and affixed it to each of the clips. Additionally, I took an O-ring from another keyboard, twisted it double, and stuck it on the base of the stabilizing peg on the keycap. 
This is the result:
I am unsure as to whether or not I should do anything about the other stabilized keys, but none of them were as egregious as the space bar.
Sounds good!

Offline waqar

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3613 on: Sun, 18 September 2016, 20:36:27 »
Locking Cream Caps Lock! Harvested from AEK Circa 1986

Offline Mattr567

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3614 on: Sun, 18 September 2016, 23:00:47 »
So instead of buying a $70 5140 I decided i'm going to buy a Pingmaster. What are my conversion options? I really like Chyros's layout and want to use it.

Good choice? ;)
Wang 725-3770 SKCM Brown, 1995
Zenith 163-73 - SKCM Blue, 1990
KBP V60 MTS - SKCM Amber w/ Canon HiPros
IBM P77, SKCC Green, 1984
IBM P70 - Alps Plate Spring, 1989
Compaq MX 11800, MX Black, 1997

Offline Wingpad

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3615 on: Sun, 18 September 2016, 23:11:00 »
So instead of buying a $70 5140 I decided i'm going to buy a Pingmaster. What are my conversion options? I really like Chyros's layout and want to use it.

Good choice? ;)
Ping masters are definitely different, I have a certain fondness for mine but I have never used it... Mostly because I never got an adapter. Was going to build my own with a Teensy but I know Hasu sells them. I was lucky enough to get mine when the NIB Japanese ones were still on eBay :D
« Last Edit: Sun, 18 September 2016, 23:22:25 by Wingpad »

Offline Dokyun

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3616 on: Mon, 19 September 2016, 00:07:13 »
So instead of buying a $70 5140 I decided i'm going to buy a Pingmaster. What are my conversion options? I really like Chyros's layout and want to use it.

Good choice? ;)

Hasu's converter will make it work with the speaker...it can do a pretty loud beep, actually. You have to plug it into the converter first before you plug the USB end into a computer, after that there's about a 5-10 second initialization period you gotta sit through before it will start registering input. IIRC Hasu's notes indicated that this is actually part of the 4704 protocol specification.

I dont pull mine out too often, but I thought the experience of being able to unbox a new old stock IBM keyboard from the 80s was worth the price of admission alone.


Offline chyros

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3617 on: Mon, 19 September 2016, 02:08:46 »
So instead of buying a $70 5140 I decided i'm going to buy a Pingmaster. What are my conversion options? I really like Chyros's layout and want to use it.

Good choice? ;)
Mine came pre-converter thankfully, it's got a Soarer's on it. The Soarer's comes with a bizarre layout by default but you can reprogram it — I might still have the file lying around if you're interested :) . The switches are a little stiff for my taste, but they're really smooth and I type pretty fast on it. Good choice, it's a nice board! :)
Check my keyboard video reviews:


Offline alh84001

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3618 on: Mon, 19 September 2016, 07:47:42 »
I posted this on DT, but for those who are not active there, just a small treat.



Don't be too jealous though, about two thirds of those blues are not actually working :/ I'll have to disassemble the switch plates, clean them, and see if that helps.

Offline Hypersphere

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3619 on: Mon, 19 September 2016, 08:00:01 »
@alh84001: Should be a splendid board if you can get all the blues working. Is the Scroll Lock LED actually a different color from the other two LEDs?

Offline alh84001

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3620 on: Mon, 19 September 2016, 08:11:18 »
They are all different color. I got a set of 6 colors of 50pcs 2x5x7mm LEDs, and in addition to changing LEDs, I also had to change their pull-up resistors. I had to use some 4.5 kOhm resistors for red and blue to make them sufficiently dim. Green LEDs are borked I think, since I had to keep the 300 Ohm resistor for it, which were there with the original green LEDs.

Offline E3E

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3621 on: Mon, 19 September 2016, 08:19:30 »
I posted this on DT, but for those who are not active there, just a small treat.
Show Image



Don't be too jealous though, about two thirds of those blues are not actually working :/ I'll have to disassemble the switch plates, clean them, and see if that helps.

Are those SKCM Oranges? They look so red in the picture.

Offline alh84001

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3622 on: Mon, 19 September 2016, 08:28:27 »
Are those SKCM Oranges? They look so red in the picture.

Yes they are. They are quite saturated in color, but not quite like in that picture. I guess iPhone camera decided to make everything "better".

Offline yasuo

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3623 on: Mon, 19 September 2016, 08:59:21 »
My favorite alps in few least way is salmon and cream alps or almost all apple II kb
« Last Edit: Mon, 19 September 2016, 09:04:17 by yasuo »
Logitech MK220 Colemak DH
SplitSyml by Moz BlacksMx fuk blacks

2/3 8.5pm                                          in de la my september month ya da all get my fukka "fake message"

Offline atrere

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3624 on: Mon, 19 September 2016, 11:25:40 »
So instead of buying a $70 5140 I decided i'm going to buy a Pingmaster. What are my conversion options? I really like Chyros's layout and want to use it.

Good choice? ;)
Extremely good choice. I'm typing this reply on my Pingmaster right now. I prefer the SKCC Greens to the loose SKCM Green and even Honeywell Hall effect switches that I've tried. Having a sculpted spherical profile, doubleshots, and BNIB IBM/Alps quality all in one makes it, in my opinion, one of the best keyboards money can buy. Certainly the best deal out there in the world of vintage keyboards. That also might be because I'm a total Japanophile and I love the legends.
Things to watch out for: It will take your hands some time to get used to the extra row of characters between '/ and Shift/Enter. Try not to map anything too destructive to the key to the right of the 1u backspace (I may have mapped that to undo/redo - I live dangerously). And learn to love the ping.

It's one of my three daily drivers, and though I mainly use it for gaming, it's refreshing for when I want to type on something that feels and sounds more refined than the more workhorse-like Model F.

Offline alh84001

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3625 on: Mon, 19 September 2016, 11:41:11 »
So now that I'm about to go and fix those blues, I was wondering - what makes blues, well, blues? :)

When I compared them to whites, one obvious difference was the slider material. White sliders are more slippery, but blues (even with lube removed) feel smoother. However, looking at the spring and contact leaf, I didn't see any difference (granted, I'm not known to have the keenest eye for details). If I were to transplant blues to another switch housing, would sliders, springs and leaves be enough?

What I'm thinking about is, putting blue parts in SKCM cream housings which have long grey switchplate (the same as my blues). To all those in the audience that are screaming, no, these would not be creams from the NeXT keyboard :). They would come from a non-working Canon typewriter.

Offline klennkellon

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3626 on: Mon, 19 September 2016, 13:36:20 »
I've ordered a soldering kit. Going to practice switch soldering with some Cherry switches but once I'm comfortable I'm going to find some SKCM Orange and make my "Alps Paradise" V80.

Offline mike52787

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3627 on: Mon, 19 September 2016, 15:23:06 »
Appreciate this boys :D

Offline E3E

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3628 on: Mon, 19 September 2016, 15:26:50 »
Appreciate this boys :D
Show Image


Matias white blanks, eh? They look quite nice.  :cool:

Offline mike52787

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3629 on: Mon, 19 September 2016, 15:29:16 »
Appreciate this boys :D
Show Image


Matias white blanks, eh? They look quite nice.  :cool:
Unfortunately it really highlights how yellowed the case is. Any suggestions for colors to paint the case?

Offline klennkellon

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3630 on: Mon, 19 September 2016, 16:03:48 »
Appreciate this boys :D
Show Image


Matias white blanks, eh? They look quite nice.  :cool:
Unfortunately it really highlights how yellowed the case is. Any suggestions for colors to paint the case?
White goes good with almost anything, that being said I think it would look good in black or white.

You could also retr0brite but I believe that the plastic in general is a slightly off-white so it still wouldn't look perfect.

Offline Hypersphere

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3631 on: Mon, 19 September 2016, 16:11:40 »
@mike52787: You might try charcoal gray or graphite so that the difference from the white keycaps would not be as stark as it would be with black.

Offline Wingpad

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3632 on: Mon, 19 September 2016, 16:13:44 »
@mike52787: You might try charcoal gray or graphite so that the difference from the white keycaps would not be as stark as it would be with black.
+1 to this, I like this idea. Industrial Gray could be interesting as well if you could find a suitable paint. I'd also consider sticker-bombing it or hydro-dipping it.
« Last Edit: Mon, 19 September 2016, 16:18:15 by Wingpad »

Offline E3E

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3633 on: Mon, 19 September 2016, 16:33:19 »
I agree with hypersphere. I think charcoal grey, like a nice modern, cool grey, would go fantastic in contrast with the pure white key caps.
 
That said, my first thought was a sterile-looking all-white, which would be kind of stunning for a big ol' behmoth like that.

Go for the charcoal though! Oh, you could even do a dual tone kind of thing. Charcoal top and white metal back plate. That'd be sliiiick.

Offline mike52787

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3634 on: Mon, 19 September 2016, 16:36:28 »
I agree with hypersphere. I think charcoal grey, like a nice modern, cool grey, would go fantastic in contrast with the pure white key caps.
 
That said, my first thought was a sterile-looking all-white, which would be kind of stunning for a big ol' behmoth like that.

Go for the charcoal though! Oh, you could even do a dual tone kind of thing. Charcoal top and white metal back plate. That'd be sliiiick.
Well, Ill soon be disassembling this baby to swap in the SKCM Creams I bought from MandrewDavis, so when its open and desoldered, I ll paint the plate. Ive heard that omnikey pcbs are a pain in the ass to remove due to the soldered bolts, but I had good luck removing the bolts on my avant prime.

Offline E3E

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3635 on: Mon, 19 September 2016, 16:40:18 »
I agree with hypersphere. I think charcoal grey, like a nice modern, cool grey, would go fantastic in contrast with the pure white key caps.
 
That said, my first thought was a sterile-looking all-white, which would be kind of stunning for a big ol' behmoth like that.

Go for the charcoal though! Oh, you could even do a dual tone kind of thing. Charcoal top and white metal back plate. That'd be sliiiick.
Well, Ill soon be disassembling this baby to swap in the SKCM Creams I bought from MandrewDavis, so when its open and desoldered, I ll paint the plate. Ive heard that omnikey pcbs are a pain in the ass to remove due to the soldered bolts, but I had good luck removing the bolts on my avant prime.

Good luck. :D Oh nice. White keys, cream switches, charcoal bezel, white back panel. Reminds me of piano keys or an ice cream sandwich.

Either way, however you decide to go through with the customization, I'm looking forward to seeing it. :)

Offline mike52787

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3636 on: Mon, 19 September 2016, 16:44:30 »
Off the topic of my omnikey, I recieved my granite today and I also recieved the sony mystery board. Rubberdomes -_- The granite caps are so beautiful though, I know the font is subjective, but I love it!

Offline E3E

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3637 on: Mon, 19 September 2016, 16:56:43 »
Off the topic of my omnikey, I recieved my granite today and I also recieved the sony mystery board. Rubberdomes -_- The granite caps are so beautiful though, I know the font is subjective, but I love it!

One of my first Alps keyboards was an AEK, and as the font on SGIs reminds me of the font on AEK caps, I was initially attracted to SGI caps quite a bit until my view flipped on both AEK and SGI caps and I began to dislike them, haha.

They're both good, high quality keysets, but just not in my tastes.

Offline Hypersphere

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3638 on: Mon, 19 September 2016, 17:38:10 »
@E3E: I agree about the AEK and SGI caps. The designs are unfortunate, because otherwise, the thickness and build quality are excellent.

For me, the AEK caps have four strikes against them -- the orientation of the F-key row, the profile, the D and K homing keys instead of the usual F and J homing keys, and the oblique font.

The SGI caps have only one feature that I don't like -- the Italic font.

However, I am also not fond of the color of either set of caps -- usually a cold gray, although apparently some of the SGI sets are more of a beige tone.

The SGI caps also seem to have two varieties of font weights -- one heavier and one lighter. I prefer the heavier weight.

It's difficult to find a good-looking standard US ANSI set of keycaps for Alps-mount switches in dye-sub PBT or even in doubleshot ABS. I usually end up using alphanumeric dye-sub PBT caps from the IBM 5140 and blank black ABS mods plus spacebar from Matias.


Offline alh84001

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Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3639 on: Tue, 20 September 2016, 01:49:59 »
Ive heard that omnikey pcbs are a pain in the ass to remove due to the soldered bolts, but I had good luck removing the bolts on my avant prime.

Oh, yes they are. One of my Omnikeys had only one bolt soldered, so I was lucky there. Another one has all the bolts soldered. So, you better open it and check. The technique I used in the end is, that I melted solder on the top of the bolt a bit (you need a good soldering iron for that, as that amount of solder and the metal PCB all dissipate heat from the contact point really quickly) to make a piloting hole, and then I used a 3mm boring bit and drilled the top of the bolt to dettach head of the bolt which is on the PCB, from the rest of the bolt in the plate. I then used a heat gun to remove the head part from the PCB, and just enough of the bolt was peeking out of the plate, to just unscrew it with pliers.

As for SGI/Apple keycaps, I personally love them. But, as noted earlier, that cold grey in the SGI makes them hard to match. And rotated top row of Apple's keycaps makes them suitable for 60% only. Legend position on Apple's keycaps is also a bit strange, and I still don't know what to think of it.
« Last Edit: Tue, 20 September 2016, 02:23:22 by alh84001 »

Offline Norman_the_Owl

  • Posts: 115
  • Location: New Jersey
Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3640 on: Tue, 20 September 2016, 07:22:21 »
 http://i.imgur.com/BEDjCIj.png

New keycap set from evangs on reddit, will be available in alps.

It's DSA, presumably abs and presumably massdrop

Edit: confirmed abs and not massdrop

There is an IC here on GH
« Last Edit: Tue, 20 September 2016, 19:03:16 by Norman_the_Owl »

Offline Wingpad

  • Posts: 286
  • The Kumquat Kid
Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3641 on: Tue, 20 September 2016, 07:25:21 »
http://i.imgur.com/BEDjCIj.png

New keycap set from evangs on reddit, will be available in alps.

It's DSA, presumably abs and presumably massdrop
Ah, so they are selling Lightcycle outside of just the MiniVan... Let's get the hype train rolling, guess I'll need to build a board to use this set on.

Offline E3E

  • Posts: 2831
Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3642 on: Tue, 20 September 2016, 07:53:38 »
http://i.imgur.com/BEDjCIj.png

New keycap set from evangs on reddit, will be available in alps.

It's DSA, presumably abs and presumably massdrop

Oh no, my wallet.

Offline mike52787

  • Posts: 1030
  • Location: South-West Florida
  • Alps Aficionado
Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3643 on: Tue, 20 September 2016, 08:05:58 »
Great, more stuff to spend money on.

Offline Hypersphere

  • Posts: 1886
  • Location: USA
Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3644 on: Tue, 20 September 2016, 09:48:44 »
If the Alps set is DSA profile, I will pass. I cannot type on a flat profile. I need a sculpted profile, both for typing and aesthetics.




Offline WarCommand

  • Posts: 115
  • Location: USA
Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3645 on: Tue, 20 September 2016, 11:20:12 »
If the Alps set is DSA profile, I will pass. I cannot type on a flat profile. I need a sculpted profile, both for typing and aesthetics.
+1. DSA is miserable to type on for me. Set looks great though.

Offline Hypersphere

  • Posts: 1886
  • Location: USA
Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3646 on: Tue, 20 September 2016, 12:22:38 »
Although I use Cherry mx and clones very little, I couldn't resist buying the Granite set. It looks elegant when viewed directly from above, but it was problematic to type on because of the flat DSA profile. Aesthetically, I also prefer a tall sculpted profile that nicely showcases each row of caps. This is achieved dramatically by the SA profile and progressively less so by OEM, Cherry, DCS, and Leopold. IBM Model F and M keyboards achieved this with uniform-profile caps and a curved switch plate.


Offline Mattr567

  • Posts: 840
  • Location: SoCal
Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3647 on: Thu, 22 September 2016, 18:24:11 »
Just got the extra SGI from itzmeluigi. Simply wonderful condition. The case is non-yellowed and the switches feel brand new! SKCM White Damp. Think I will keep this board intact. Will sell off my only Cherry board to pay for the needed caps.
Wang 725-3770 SKCM Brown, 1995
Zenith 163-73 - SKCM Blue, 1990
KBP V60 MTS - SKCM Amber w/ Canon HiPros
IBM P77, SKCC Green, 1984
IBM P70 - Alps Plate Spring, 1989
Compaq MX 11800, MX Black, 1997

Offline Hypersphere

  • Posts: 1886
  • Location: USA
Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3648 on: Thu, 22 September 2016, 18:45:28 »
Better keep your canary clear of that keyboard. The white damp will kill it. ;)




Offline Mattr567

  • Posts: 840
  • Location: SoCal
Re: Alps Appreciation Thread
« Reply #3649 on: Thu, 22 September 2016, 19:28:13 »
Super forgot I had this. Futaba Low Profile Linear, gritty AF. Came off some Sun Car Diagnostic machine. Are those caps SKCC compatible? Super colorful. Also what should I do with it?
Pics from a while ago.


Wang 725-3770 SKCM Brown, 1995
Zenith 163-73 - SKCM Blue, 1990
KBP V60 MTS - SKCM Amber w/ Canon HiPros
IBM P77, SKCC Green, 1984
IBM P70 - Alps Plate Spring, 1989
Compaq MX 11800, MX Black, 1997