Hello. I'm brand new to the forums, I come seeking some assistance and would greatly appreciate any I recieve.
So, for the sake of context, I live in Argentina. I've also been longing for a mechanical keyboard for a very long time now.
So, on the Argentine version of Ebay, I found a (legit) company selling a terminal IBM Model M (Part No. 1390250, IBM Spanish 122 key). Price, 10USD. Price of all the other Model M's on the market... absolutely ridiculous. Anything with a cherry switch is as expensive as the Model M's. Of course, it's a terminal version. Apart from using a scan code that modern PCs don't understand so to say (as far as I was able to understand the matter), the keyboard uses a detachable SDL cable for the connection... and the board does not come with the appropriate cable. SDL cables are just outright not sold here, and import is out of the question due to the current (very draconic) legislation.
So, I've been trying to come up with a solution. Fashioning my own SDL cable obviously won't work, but I'm questioning the possibility of soldering off the SDL port itself, testing continuity (I don't have a multimeter, so if one of you happened to know where each contact in the port goes where on the board, I'd be very happy. I'm sure I could improvise with a spare LED, a battery and some wire once I've got the port out, though), and soldering the cut-up end of a USB/PS2/whatever-as-ong-as-five-wires cable directly onto the board. I'd add some sort of strain relief along the way. The USB cable would, of course, go to an atmega converter. Obviously, I'd like to know if this would even be a viable option. I have never soldered before, but I know how to do it properly in theory. Five contacts on the board and another five on the converter, shouldn't be hard at all.
Teensies are used for PS3 custom firmware downgrades (console piracy is big here), so the price for them has been artificially inflated to well over 100USD. I can get an Arduino Pro Micro for much, much less. It's based on the Atmega 32U4, so in theory this should work as well and in the exact same fashion (save for different pin-outs) as the Teensy. I just want to have that confirmed, also.
Lastly, I play games on my computer, and I know that the Model M is 2KRO. The overwhelming response on most places I've checked is that it's fine for almost all cases. I don't do anything particularly demanding, just some Battlefield, Osu!, and whatnot. I don't think I'll hit any sort of limitation, but if any of you have a say on this, I'd love to hear your opinion.