Alps Appreciation Thread

[Mattr567]

Lol. How is it?

[Hypersphere]

I never thought I'd buy an FK-2001...

Show Image

...but I did.

Handsome board! (Except for that BAE!).

[chyros]

I never thought I'd buy an FK-2001...

Show Image

...but I did.

Handsome board! (Except for that BAE!).

Yeah, ewww, it's terrible, he should sell it to me instead - can't have an embarassingly ugly board like that.

[E3E]

I never thought I'd buy an FK-2001...

Show Image

...but I did.

Handsome board! (Except for that BAE!).

Yeah, ewww, it's terrible, he should sell it to me instead - can't have an embarassingly ugly board like that.

I feel bad now, but I swear, this is the one time I actually message a seller with an offer that they go through with it. I've had so many occasions of "SURE, I'D BE HAPPY TO SELL TO YOU/SELL AT THAT PRICE -- NEVERMIND!!!" One of those was actually on a Focus FK-2001, as I'm sure Unfocused knows (it's fine though haha). Another was on a Packard Bell T9102. I mean, I completely understand letting it go to auction as opposed to taking offers, but it's still frustrating.

I know trying to close auctions early is a little lame, but people are prone to that. I backed out initially from buying it since I felt it was impulsive, but the seller shipped it anyway. xP 
 
So beyond that, there's some interesting things to note so far:

Noting the other user and only documented case of this board on this forum (there was another someone sold here in 2011 with an apparently terribly rusted plate, but pictures hosted on this site beyond a certain year seem to all be broken), there's some differences.

1) His key caps seemed to have been pad printed. These are double shots from Tai Hao. I call them the missing link, since Tai Hao has a modern WoB set but it doesn't have the 7u bottom row included. 
 
2) His board seemed to use clone switches. Mine uses genuine Alps SKCM White switches, pine.
 
This is strange since my serial number is higher than the one his had. Other than that, there's not too much to note I guess. The cable is in good condition, the board is in good shape. No rust, no heavy shine. Feels good.

[chyros]

I never thought I'd buy an FK-2001...

Show Image

...but I did.

Handsome board! (Except for that BAE!).

Yeah, ewww, it's terrible, he should sell it to me instead - can't have an embarassingly ugly board like that.

I feel bad now, but I swear, this is the one time I actually message a seller with an offer that they go through with it. I've had so many occasions of "SURE, I'D BE HAPPY TO SELL TO YOU/SELL AT THAT PRICE -- NEVERMIND!!!" One of those was actually on a Focus FK-2001, as I'm sure Unfocused knows (it's fine though haha). Another was on a Packard Bell T9102. I mean, I completely understand letting it go to auction as opposed to taking offers, but it's still frustrating.

I know trying to close auctions early is a little lame, but people are prone to that. I backed out initially from buying it since I felt it was impulsive, but the seller shipped it anyway. xP 
 
So beyond that, there's some interesting things to note so far:

Noting the other user and only documented case of this board on this forum (there was another someone sold here in 2011 with an apparently terribly rusted plate, but pictures hosted on this site beyond a certain year seem to all be broken), there's some differences.

1) His key caps seemed to have been pad printed. These are double shots from Tai Hao. I call them the missing link, since Tai Hao has a modern WoB set but it doesn't have the 7u bottom row included. 
 
2) His board seemed to use clone switches. Mine uses genuine Alps SKCM White switches, pine.
 
This is strange since my serial number is higher than the one his had. Other than that, there's not too much to note I guess. The cable is in good condition, the board is in good shape. No rust, no heavy shine. Feels good.

Hey man, all is fair in love and keyboards xD . I'll snag one someday :) .

[E3E]

Hey man, all is fair in love and keyboards xD . I'll snag one someday .

Hahaha. Well, if I do ever sell it, you'll be the first to know!

I'm surprised we've seen as many as we have. One last year, one so far in 2017. Before that it was high and dry, or so it seems. 2011 being the last time it was seen, or at least mentioned anywhere that I can find. Jeez.

[Mattr567]

I never thought I'd buy an FK-2001...

Show Image

...but I did.

Handsome board! (Except for that BAE!).

Yeah, ewww, it's terrible, he should sell it to me instead - can't have an embarassingly ugly board like that.

I feel bad now, but I swear, this is the one time I actually message a seller with an offer that they go through with it. I've had so many occasions of "SURE, I'D BE HAPPY TO SELL TO YOU/SELL AT THAT PRICE -- NEVERMIND!!!" One of those was actually on a Focus FK-2001, as I'm sure Unfocused knows (it's fine though haha). Another was on a Packard Bell T9102. I mean, I completely understand letting it go to auction as opposed to taking offers, but it's still frustrating.

I know trying to close auctions early is a little lame, but people are prone to that. I backed out initially from buying it since I felt it was impulsive, but the seller shipped it anyway. xP 
 
So beyond that, there's some interesting things to note so far:

Noting the other user and only documented case of this board on this forum (there was another someone sold here in 2011 with an apparently terribly rusted plate, but pictures hosted on this site beyond a certain year seem to all be broken), there's some differences.

1) His key caps seemed to have been pad printed. These are double shots from Tai Hao. I call them the missing link, since Tai Hao has a modern WoB set but it doesn't have the 7u bottom row included. 
 
2) His board seemed to use clone switches. Mine uses genuine Alps SKCM White switches, pine.
 
This is strange since my serial number is higher than the one his had. Other than that, there's not too much to note I guess. The cable is in good condition, the board is in good shape. No rust, no heavy shine. Feels good.

Wait there was a Packard Bell T9102 on ebay? Where?

[E3E]

Wait there was a Packard Bell T9102 on ebay? Where?

Yep, on eBay, and I had asked the seller if they'd be down with selling it for soooome amount. They initially agreed. Except they decided to let it go to auction instead, haha.

It didn't look as nice as yours. Yours is the only one I've seen to date without yellowing on the indicator label.

[E3E]

Welp. looks like the FK-2001 has got some tissues. By that, I mean for some weird reason, the alpha grid is completely borked in terms of response. Like I type and sometimes it doesn't register, sometimes it does. Very unreliable.

The strange part is that the number pad is responsive. What gives? I tried changing the only electrolytic capacitor out. Maybe I'll have to end up buying a normal FK-2001 as a donor if I can't figure this out.

[chyros]

Welp. looks like the FK-2001 has got some tissues. By that, I mean for some weird reason, the alpha grid is completely borked in terms of response. Like I type and sometimes it doesn't register, sometimes it does. Very unreliable.

The strange part is that the number pad is responsive. What gives? I tried changing the only electrolytic capacitor out. Maybe I'll have to end up buying a normal FK-2001 as a donor if I can't figure this out.

Sounds like one of the traces is buggered.

[E3E]

Welp. looks like the FK-2001 has got some tissues. By that, I mean for some weird reason, the alpha grid is completely borked in terms of response. Like I type and sometimes it doesn't register, sometimes it does. Very unreliable.

The strange part is that the number pad is responsive. What gives? I tried changing the only electrolytic capacitor out. Maybe I'll have to end up buying a normal FK-2001 as a donor if I can't figure this out.

Sounds like one of the traces is buggered.

I was actually talking to Engicoder to help troubleshoot! We couldn't get to the  bottom of it. I even replaced the ceramic resonator for a crystal oscillator pulled off of one of the Tandem PCBs, because we thought the resonator might've been screwy. Nope!
 
Turns out, the cheapest of all my converters made it work like a charm. This thing is picky!

Shibber my ****ing timbers.

I made this video for the eBay seller who was skeptical, but ended up figuring it out by the end of the video.

As you can tell, I'm also much too lazy to edit my videos.  )

Also... Orihalcyon... Halcon. Derp. I never looked too closely at Aram's user name. So much for assumptions!

[E3E]

Welp, I decided to do something I've always wanted to do with my Orion.





Ever since seeing the black FK-2001 with the bottom row that's missing with the modern Tai Hao sets, I wanted to try it out on the Orion.

I miss my Chinese PBT caps already. This is cool and all, but I don't know, meh.

[Tuntematon]

I feel like white on black looks best in Cherry font. These are a maybe a little too reminiscent of present day, generic, cheapo Dell/HP etc. keyboards. Not really fair, 'cause these came first, but that's the vibe I get. Still, not a bad look. 

[Mattr567]

I was actually talking to Engicoder to help troubleshoot! We couldn't get to the  bottom of it. I even replaced the ceramic resonator for a crystal oscillator pulled off of one of the Tandem PCBs, because we thought the resonator might've been screwy. Nope!
 
Turns out, the cheapest of all my converters made it work like a charm. This thing is picky!

Shibber my ****ing timbers.

I made this video for the eBay seller who was skeptical, but ended up figuring it out by the end of the video.

As you can tell, I'm also much too lazy to edit my videos.  )

Also... Orihalcyon... Halcon. Derp. I never looked too closely at Aram's user name. So much for assumptions!

Does it work on straight PS/2? If so then its the converter. But if it only works on that cheapo USB converter than that's really weird.

I had a picky Z-150 once. Worked on PS/2 on Windows but not on Linux. So I tried on the blue cube but it didn't work at all. Then tried an active Adesso one and it worked on both OS's. The downside was that the LED's didn't light up but at least it worked. That Adesso one has worked on every keyboard since (including my FK-3001, so it might be good for your black 2001 as well). The 163-73 works just fine on Linux btw. Here's the link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00008ZPED/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Guess that's Windows backwards compatibility for ya Some 84 key keyboard driver or something.

[UnFocused]

I feel bad now, but I swear, this is the one time I actually message a seller with an offer that they go through with it. I've had so many occasions of "SURE, I'D BE HAPPY TO SELL TO YOU/SELL AT THAT PRICE -- NEVERMIND!!!" One of those was actually on a Focus FK-2001, as I'm sure Unfocused knows (it's fine though haha).

 

[E3E]

FINALLY GOT ONE!

Haha, how've you been, man?

I feel like white on black looks best in Cherry font. These are a maybe a little too reminiscent of present day, generic, cheapo Dell/HP etc. keyboards. Not really fair, 'cause these came first, but that's the vibe I get. Still, not a bad look. 

Yeeeah, it definitely fit the OEM look I was going for. It was something I found cool as a concept, to make a custom look like an unassuming keyboard, but that's exactly what it looks like. It fulfills that purpose too well.

I'm now back to the 11 degree aluminum bottom and the Chinese PBT caps as stated. Ugh, what a pain though. The entire process took hours to go back and forth. Pulled some switches out because the Tai Hao caps are just that tight. 
 
All good now though!  The flat acrylic bottom is always really nice because of the view of that red PCB and the gold holtite sockets, but eh. That'd be good for a portable configuration since it makes the Orion laughably light. The weight is close to 8 lbs with the aluminum bottom with copper weight.
 

Does it work on straight PS/2? If so then its the converter. But if it only works on that cheapo USB converter than that's really weird.

I'm using a laptop as a DTR, so unfortunately, I have no PS/2 port to test with. Yeah, I'm glad it works at all, though I also don't see myself using it too often either. It's a really nifty board though.

[Wingpad]

I have been away from this thread for a while... been juggling a number of things in real life (and a GB on deskthority) so I haven't had much time to check in here. That being said, I am making a return to brag:

^ Tandem 6526 with Striped Ambers

As for what I have been up to in absentia, aside from the Xerox converter, I have also been working on a custom 75% keyboard designed for use with Apple PBT keycaps. I had a preliminary plate fabbed with some help from ALH, there were a few issues with the layout but I (think) they were corrected and hope to have a working prototype in the near future. You will have to forgive me if I decide to call it the Wingman75 (and for the super yellowed spacebar). Here is a bit of a sneak peek:

More

[menuhin]

@Wingpad

3rd person to have Striped Amber!
They are some kind of early linear switches with cushioned feeling towards bottoming out, right?

75% is my preferred format factor: are you going to hand-wire this 75%?
Hope you can create an open-source PCB for this layout if you can, and the plate - well, this is not so simple, I understand, just look at the many revisions of Alps64 to debug / improve / streamline it.

[yuppie]

Just got my AEKii and I'm loving it. Wish I could find some caps though...

[Wingpad]

@Wingpad

3rd person to have Striped Amber!
They are some kind of early linear switches with cushioned feeling towards bottoming out, right?

75% is my preferred format factor: are you going to hand-wire this 75%?
Hope you can create an open-source PCB for this layout if you can, and the plate - well, this is not so simple, I understand, just look at the many revisions of Alps64 to debug / improve / streamline it.

Well, fourth, Ohaimark had 'em before he sold 'em, haha. Yeah, that's a pretty apt description of 'em.

I will likely handwire the prototype but I'll try to create a PCB for it at some point or another. It's non-trivial but I'm up for the challenge.

[mike52787]

Just got my AEKii and I'm loving it. Wish I could find some caps though...

what do you mean? AEK caps are top of the line alps caps.

[alienman82]

removed.

[mike52787]

Just got my AEKii and I'm loving it. Wish I could find some caps though...

what do you mean? AEK caps are top of the line alps caps.

there inlines the problem with alps

no **** of course

[E3E]

AEK caps are boring

[Wingpad]

AEK caps are boring

They're boring, yes, but available everywhere and conducive to weird layouts. They're not great but definitely not bad.

[Delirious]

If they have bumps on F and J instead then I think AEK caps are end game.

[alienman82]

removed.

[Mattr567]

I have been away from this thread for a while... been juggling a number of things in real life (and a GB on deskthority) so I haven't had much time to check in here. That being said, I am making a return to brag:

Show Image

^ Tandem 6526 with Striped Ambers

As for what I have been up to in absentia, aside from the Xerox converter, I have also been working on a custom 75% keyboard designed for use with Apple PBT keycaps. I had a preliminary plate fabbed with some help from ALH, there were a few issues with the layout but I (think) they were corrected and hope to have a working prototype in the near future. You will have to forgive me if I decide to call it the Wingman75 (and for the super yellowed spacebar). Here is a bit of a sneak peek:

More

Show Image

Show Image

Awesome man! Is that one of the ones off ebay? What do you think of them? Plans?

Great to see progress on the Xerox converter too :cool:

AEK caps are boring

Japanese ones aren't ;)

[Delirious]

If they have bumps on F and J instead then I think AEK caps are end game.

you can flatten off the bumps.. I don't rely on them, so I don't care, but I could see how it'd be annoying

I like uniform texture so unless I can sandblast the entire set I'm not going to mess with a key here or there. But that's another project far into the future because I have too many already atm.

I do agree japanese ones are sexy, still sad that I didn't pick up a set when Blaise was selling them

[E3E]

Haha, I'm just being a snob. AEK caps are high quality for sure, but they're just so commonly seen that I don't find then as interesting as other sets. Yeah, I've seen Russian Cyrillic, Hebrew, Chinese, and Japanese variants, which are pretty nifty, sure.

My favorite are probably the uniform Chinese PBT caps, Cherry profile FAME caps, and hi pros.

[Wingpad]

Awesome man! Is that one of the ones off ebay? What do you think of them? Plans?

Yes, this is one of the ones from the most recent eBay bunch. First impressions were positive, mine seem pretty clean and I think they live up to the hype. I have yet to do a side-by-side comparison but they seem a lot like SKCL Greens with the springs from sprit's most recent GB. Plans are to put them in a Mira/LZ-CLS/Whatever I can get my hands on. I would like a TKL and I'll try to scrounge around to find one.

AEK caps are boring

Japanese ones aren't

Show Image

Well, in terms of aesthetics, you are not wrong; however, as much as I love my Japanese AEKII keycaps... the profile is still rather bland.

[MandrewDavis]

If they have bumps on F and J instead then I think AEK caps are end game.

you can flatten off the bumps.. I don't rely on them, so I don't care, but I could see how it'd be annoying

I like uniform texture so unless I can sandblast the entire set I'm not going to mess with a key here or there. But that's another project far into the future because I have too many already atm.

I do agree japanese ones are sexy, still sad that I didn't pick up a set when Blaise was selling them

I just swap the F/J keys with the ones on D/K. If there were other spacebar options, I would consider dying a set black for a neat stealth look. 

[Tuntematon]

Haha, I'm just being a snob. AEK caps are high quality for sure, but they're just so commonly seen that I don't find then as interesting as other sets. Yeah, I've seen Russian Cyrillic, Hebrew, Chinese, and Japanese variants, which are pretty nifty, sure.

My favorite are probably the uniform Chinese PBT caps, Cherry profile FAME caps, and hi pros.

Their commonness is part of what makes them great. It is possible to acquire multiple sets and piece together a complete set for a custom layout. You are still somewhat limited with the legends, but you can always black them out with a dye job. Also, the profile is great. I'm a fan. The sideways stems on the F keys are a real bummer though.

[Delirious]

If they have bumps on F and J instead then I think AEK caps are end game.

you can flatten off the bumps.. I don't rely on them, so I don't care, but I could see how it'd be annoying

I like uniform texture so unless I can sandblast the entire set I'm not going to mess with a key here or there. But that's another project far into the future because I have too many already atm.

I do agree japanese ones are sexy, still sad that I didn't pick up a set when Blaise was selling them

I just swap the F/J keys with the ones on D/K. If there were other spacebar options, I would consider dying a set black for a neat stealth look. 

Thinking of sanding one down to see how deep is the dyed sub, if shallow enough I could go for the blank set. I much refer blanks but I suspect it's not as easy as it sounds. Maintaining consistent height is difficult.

[menuhin]

Haha, I'm just being a snob. AEK caps are high quality for sure, but they're just so commonly seen that I don't find then as interesting as other sets. Yeah, I've seen Russian Cyrillic, Hebrew, Chinese, and Japanese variants, which are pretty nifty, sure.

My favorite are probably the uniform Chinese PBT caps, Cherry profile FAME caps, and hi pros.

Their commonness is part of what makes them great. It is possible to acquire multiple sets and piece together a complete set for a custom layout. You are still somewhat limited with the legends, but you can always black them out with a dye job. Also, the profile is great. I'm a fan. The sideways stems on the F keys are a real bummer though.

+1

Just like we normally won't see potatoes as treasures, but without its introduction to Europe, much of the Europeans would have died out and cultures vanished, and many revolutions including the industrial revolution would not have taken place.

[menuhin]

Haha, I'm just being a snob. AEK caps are high quality for sure, but they're just so commonly seen that I don't find then as interesting as other sets. Yeah, I've seen Russian Cyrillic, Hebrew, Chinese, and Japanese variants, which are pretty nifty, sure.
...

Would love to see a media thread dedicated to the rare AEK boards mentioned above.

[menuhin]

Awesome man! Is that one of the ones off ebay? What do you think of them? Plans?

...
First impressions were positive, mine seem pretty clean and I think they live up to the hype. I have yet to do a side-by-side comparison but they seem a lot like SKCL Greens with the springs from sprit's most recent GB.
...

Sprit's springs of how much cN weight are you talking about?

[Mattr567]

Awesome man! Is that one of the ones off ebay? What do you think of them? Plans?

Yes, this is one of the ones from the most recent eBay bunch. First impressions were positive, mine seem pretty clean and I think they live up to the hype. I have yet to do a side-by-side comparison but they seem a lot like SKCL Greens with the springs from sprit's most recent GB. Plans are to put them in a Mira/LZ-CLS/Whatever I can get my hands on. I would like a TKL and I'll try to scrounge around to find one.

AEK caps are boring

Japanese ones aren't

Show Image

Well, in terms of aesthetics, you are not wrong; however, as much as I love my Japanese AEKII keycaps... the profile is still rather bland.

At least it makes it less bland looking :p

So out of the 4 or so Tandems, 2 have been confirmed Brown and 1 so far Amber.

Haha, I'm just being a snob. AEK caps are high quality for sure, but they're just so commonly seen that I don't find then as interesting as other sets. Yeah, I've seen Russian Cyrillic, Hebrew, Chinese, and Japanese variants, which are pretty nifty, sure.
...

Would love to see a media thread dedicated to the rare AEK boards mentioned above.

Indeed. I did some googling and found two confirmed variants. Russian Cyrillic and Chinese. Interesting how they changed the position of the main legends of the Russian ones and the colorfulness of the Chinese ones. As well as giving Russians ISO while giving the entire Asian market (including Japan) ANSI lol :)) I do like the colorfulness of the Chinese ones but the symbols of the Japanese variants are nicer.
Russian:

Chinese:

[E3E]

Thinking of sanding one down to see how deep is the dyed sub, if shallow enough I could go for the blank set. I much refer blanks but I suspect it's not as easy as it sounds. Maintaining consistent height is difficult.

I'd imagine the dyesubbing is around the same depth between cap sets. I sanded arrow keys from my IBM P70 set to make blanks as makeshift winkeys for an AT101 set. You definitely could sand the legends off, but it'd probably look cleaner and be more efficient and practical to use a sandblaster for that.

Would love to see a media thread dedicated to the rare AEK boards mentioned above.

I think I've mixed up hebrew for a cyrillic model now that I think about it. It was a secret santa gift to seebart on Deskthority one year. Pretty sure it was Russian Cyrillic, since I can't find anything on Hebrew.

Standard common AEK sets are great to have for PBT experiments and just messing around with. The profile isn't bad; I used to really like it when I was new to Alps, but it (and the legends) eventually fell out of favor with me. They are very well made though, of course.

[smithyithy]

What profile are AEK caps? Would they be the same as, for example, Alpine Winter or BadWrench's modifiers?

[Hypersphere]

What profile are AEK caps? Would they be the same as, for example, Alpine Winter or BadWrench's modifiers?

Apple has its own profile for the AEK. I don't think it intentionally matches any other profile, but you could try mixing other caps to see how they look along with AEK caps.

[smithyithy]

Cool, yeah I'll try to pick up a set of AEK and mixing them with a few things on a 65%

[MandrewDavis]

What profile are AEK caps? Would they be the same as, for example, Alpine Winter or BadWrench's modifiers?

Not quite, BadWrench's set was run in DCS profile.

[E3E]

What profile are AEK caps? Would they be the same as, for example, Alpine Winter or BadWrench's modifiers?

One of my first Alps projects mixed these profiles:





AEK profile is very different from any other profile out there, so you won't be finding any matches. Maybe try designing resin cast or 3D printed mods or something.

[Hypersphere]

What profile are AEK caps? Would they be the same as, for example, Alpine Winter or BadWrench's modifiers?

Not quite, BadWrench's set was run in DCS profile.

It would be nice if someone could add the profile for Matias keycaps to this very helpful guide.

[smithyithy]

Thanks chaps.

E3E that doesn't look too bad to be honest, think I could live with that.

[E3E]

Thanks chaps.

E3E that doesn't look too bad to be honest, think I could live with that.

I'm actually not very picky with profile mixing either when it comes to Alps. There's not many options, and it usually doesn't look THAT off.

[zombimuncha]

What are the slits for? On the tops of pine SKCM switches - is it some kind of vibration damping thing? Do they contribute to the difference in feel between pine and bamboo?

[Hypersphere]

What are the slits for? On the tops of pine SKCM switches - is it some kind of vibration damping thing? Do they contribute to the difference in feel between pine and bamboo?

Yes, the slits appear to serve as a damping mechanism. They attenuate the noise of the return stroke and also lessen the clatter from simply touching the keys. They are a major contributor to the difference in sound (and perhaps also feel) between pine and bamboo switches.

[E3E]

What are the slits for? On the tops of pine SKCM switches - is it some kind of vibration damping thing? Do they contribute to the difference in feel between pine and bamboo?

Yes, the slits appear to serve as a damping mechanism. They attenuate the noise of the return stroke and also lessen the clatter from simply touching the keys. They are a major contributor to the difference in sound (and perhaps also feel) between pine and bamboo switches.

There's certainly a difference in feel, no possibility about it. The slits give a bit more "spring" to the feel, I think. If you've ever compared pine and bamboo SKCM Blacks, Whites, or SKCM Greens to each other, it's definitely something you can feel.

The lack of slits (bamboo) just lends itself to a cheaper feel. Little more rounded, less resolution.