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Offline Altis

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KPT-102 Review
« on: Tue, 13 May 2014, 17:21:51 »
Hello fellow Geekhackers,

I thought I would write a little bit about the KPT-102 as there doesn't seem to be much information on it anywhere. This is my first review, so be kind.



I got this keyboard from a good friend of mine. It's the first mechanical keyboard I have ever used, back in the early 90s. I remember thinking it was really unique at the time, but never thought much of it until I got into keyboards. First thing I did of course was a full restore: took it all apart, cleaned everything thoroughly, cleaned and greased the switches.



The keyboard uses KPT alps (blue rectangular), which are clicky, very tactile, and fairly heavy. The switches are mounted on a plastic plate, and the body does seem to have a noticeable amount of flex and makes noise under pressure. This explains why it is a pretty lightweight keyboard. The keycaps feel pretty smooth, and are not pad-printed but rather double-shot. There are two uniquely-placed "\ |" keys in between the Ctrl and Alt keys on either side. The locking indicators are red, yellow, and green (in that order).



The keys feel quite and sound quite substantial. I would say they are heavier and more tactile than MX Blues, although I haven't tried Greens. I would describe them as 'crunchy', and some of the keys -- the less used groups (F-keys, upper right clusters) -- are particularly crunchy/snappy. The keys make quite a bit of noise overall, and have a hollow metallic 'ping' that can be heard upon upstroke.



The angle is quite steep when the feet are extended, and oddly enough, the two rubber pads located under the near-side of the keyboard are lifted off the surface when the feet are out, making it very easy to slide around. When the feet are retracted, the keyboard stays in place easily and the angle is normal.



The keyboard uses a 5-DIN connector, which I have rewired to a PS/2 connector. Strangely, there is a switch located near the connector on the electronic board itself that seems to prevent the keyboard from working. I had it wired up and could get the locking keys to work (light up the indicators), but no response from any other keys. I took it apart and moved the switch to the other position, and now it works normally. Not sure if it does something to the connections, perhaps changes the pin-out.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I will do my best to help. Thanks!

Altis
« Last Edit: Tue, 13 May 2014, 20:47:18 by Altis »
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Offline rowdy

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Re: KPT-102 Review
« Reply #1 on: Tue, 13 May 2014, 18:48:48 »
KPT switch info here.
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"Because keyboards are accessories to PC makers, they focus on minimizing the manufacturing costs. But that’s incorrect. It’s in HHKB’s slogan, but when America’s cowboys were in the middle of a trip and their horse died, they would leave the horse there. But even if they were in the middle of a desert, they would take their saddle with them. The horse was a consumable good, but the saddle was an interface that their bodies had gotten used to. In the same vein, PCs are consumable goods, while keyboards are important interfaces." - Eiiti Wada

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Ị̸͚̯̲́ͤ̃͑̇̑ͯ̊̂͟ͅs̞͚̩͉̝̪̲͗͊ͪ̽̚̚ ̭̦͖͕̑́͌ͬͩ͟t̷̻͔̙̑͟h̹̠̼͋ͤ͋i̤̜̣̦̱̫͈͔̞ͭ͑ͥ̌̔s̬͔͎̍̈ͥͫ̐̾ͣ̔̇͘ͅ ̩̘̼͆̐̕e̞̰͓̲̺̎͐̏ͬ̓̅̾͠͝ͅv̶̰͕̱̞̥̍ͣ̄̕e͕͙͖̬̜͓͎̤̊ͭ͐͝ṇ̰͎̱̤̟̭ͫ͌̌͢͠ͅ ̳̥̦ͮ̐ͤ̎̊ͣ͡͡n̤̜̙̺̪̒͜e̶̻̦̿ͮ̂̀c̝̘̝͖̠̖͐ͨͪ̈̐͌ͩ̀e̷̥͇̋ͦs̢̡̤ͤͤͯ͜s͈̠̉̑͘a̱͕̗͖̳̥̺ͬͦͧ͆̌̑͡r̶̟̖̈͘ỷ̮̦̩͙͔ͫ̾ͬ̔ͬͮ̌?̵̘͇͔͙ͥͪ͞ͅ

Offline Altis

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Re: KPT-102 Review
« Reply #2 on: Tue, 13 May 2014, 20:44:33 »
Thanks, Rowdy. Wasn't sure about posting a reference to Deskthority Wiki.
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Offline rowdy

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Re: KPT-102 Review
« Reply #3 on: Tue, 13 May 2014, 21:32:07 »
Quote from: Altis on Tue, 13 May 2014, 20:44:33
Thanks, Rowdy. Wasn't sure about posting a reference to Deskthority Wiki.

It happens :p

We are trying to rebuild the GH wiki.
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"Because keyboards are accessories to PC makers, they focus on minimizing the manufacturing costs. But that’s incorrect. It’s in HHKB’s slogan, but when America’s cowboys were in the middle of a trip and their horse died, they would leave the horse there. But even if they were in the middle of a desert, they would take their saddle with them. The horse was a consumable good, but the saddle was an interface that their bodies had gotten used to. In the same vein, PCs are consumable goods, while keyboards are important interfaces." - Eiiti Wada

NEC APC-H4100E | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED red | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED green | Link 900243-08 | CM QFR MX black | KeyCool 87 white MX reds | HHKB 2 Pro | Model M 02-Mar-1993 | Model M 29-Nov-1995 | CM Trigger (broken) | CM QFS MX green | Ducky DK9087 Shine 3 TKL Yellow Edition MX black | Lexmark SSK 21-Apr-1994 | IBM SSK 13-Oct-1987 | CODE TKL MX clear | Model M 122 01-Jun-1988

Ị̸͚̯̲́ͤ̃͑̇̑ͯ̊̂͟ͅs̞͚̩͉̝̪̲͗͊ͪ̽̚̚ ̭̦͖͕̑́͌ͬͩ͟t̷̻͔̙̑͟h̹̠̼͋ͤ͋i̤̜̣̦̱̫͈͔̞ͭ͑ͥ̌̔s̬͔͎̍̈ͥͫ̐̾ͣ̔̇͘ͅ ̩̘̼͆̐̕e̞̰͓̲̺̎͐̏ͬ̓̅̾͠͝ͅv̶̰͕̱̞̥̍ͣ̄̕e͕͙͖̬̜͓͎̤̊ͭ͐͝ṇ̰͎̱̤̟̭ͫ͌̌͢͠ͅ ̳̥̦ͮ̐ͤ̎̊ͣ͡͡n̤̜̙̺̪̒͜e̶̻̦̿ͮ̂̀c̝̘̝͖̠̖͐ͨͪ̈̐͌ͩ̀e̷̥͇̋ͦs̢̡̤ͤͤͯ͜s͈̠̉̑͘a̱͕̗͖̳̥̺ͬͦͧ͆̌̑͡r̶̟̖̈͘ỷ̮̦̩͙͔ͫ̾ͬ̔ͬͮ̌?̵̘͇͔͙ͥͪ͞ͅ

Offline Pacifist

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Re: KPT-102 Review
« Reply #4 on: Tue, 13 May 2014, 21:47:08 »
Quote from: rowdy on Tue, 13 May 2014, 21:32:07
Quote from: Altis on Tue, 13 May 2014, 20:44:33
Thanks, Rowdy. Wasn't sure about posting a reference to Deskthority Wiki.

It happens :p

We are trying to rebuild the GH wiki.

cept its really not happening :'(
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Offline Altis

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Re: KPT-102 Review
« Reply #5 on: Thu, 15 May 2014, 11:43:59 »
I should also note that it's substantially louder than my Model M. It's currently the loudest keyboard I have, overall.
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Offline digi

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Re: KPT-102 Review
« Reply #6 on: Thu, 15 May 2014, 11:46:20 »
Are the switches comparable or exactly the same as Blue Alps? I'm assuming yes? Nice board!
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Offline CPTBadAss

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Re: KPT-102 Review
« Reply #7 on: Thu, 15 May 2014, 11:49:42 »
Quote from: digi on Thu, 15 May 2014, 11:46:20
Are the switches comparable or exactly the same as Blue Alps? I'm assuming yes? Nice board!

IIRC from my testing, they didn't feel like complicated Blue Alps. A bit too stiff and crunchy as Altis pointed out in his review.

Nice review Altis. I wonder if that switch changes the keyboard from AT to XT and that's why it wasn't working.
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Offline AKIMbO

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Re: KPT-102 Review
« Reply #8 on: Thu, 15 May 2014, 13:09:41 »
Quote from: CPTBadAss on Thu, 15 May 2014, 11:49:42
Quote from: digi on Thu, 15 May 2014, 11:46:20
Are the switches comparable or exactly the same as Blue Alps? I'm assuming yes? Nice board!

IIRC from my testing, they didn't feel like complicated Blue Alps. A bit too stiff and crunchy as Altis pointed out in his review.

Nice review Altis. I wonder if that switch changes the keyboard from AT to XT and that's why it wasn't working.

I agree with CPT, they feel nothing like comp blues.  KPT switches are meh tbh...however the caps are a direct swap for true alps boards and almost always doubleshot. There are usually several cyrillic kpt boards on  ebay at any given moment.
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Offline Altis

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Re: KPT-102 Review
« Reply #9 on: Thu, 15 May 2014, 16:18:32 »
Quote from: digi on Thu, 15 May 2014, 11:46:20
Are the switches comparable or exactly the same as Blue Alps? I'm assuming yes? Nice board!

I haven't used Blue Alps, only black (in an AT101), so I'm not sure how they would compare. They are certainly loud, tactile, and quite heavy. The word that comes to mind when I use them is 'crunchy', for sure. I think the nature of the casing and plate add to this.

Quote from: CPTBadAss on Thu, 15 May 2014, 11:49:42

IIRC from my testing, they didn't feel like complicated Blue Alps. A bit too stiff and crunchy as Altis pointed out in his review.

Nice review Altis. I wonder if that switch changes the keyboard from AT to XT and that's why it wasn't working.

That could very well be. I didn't play with it too much once it started working. I'm going to hard-wire a PS/2 cable to the board once I get a donor that's a similar colour. Fortunately I have a PS/2 connector on my computer still (and my work computer via legacy port extender) for these old keyboards... although I'd probably have a new computer by now if I didn't spend it all on keyboards.  :rolleyes:
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Offline Daniel Beardsmore

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Re: KPT-102 Review
« Reply #10 on: Tue, 03 June 2014, 19:14:22 »
Hello Altis

Could I trouble you please for a photo of the rear label confirming the FCC ID, for reference purposes? It should say "IYNKPT-102", the same as the better-known, but really tacky-looking version:

http://kbtalking.cool3c.com/article/13939

Thanks
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Offline Altis

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Re: KPT-102 Review
« Reply #11 on: Sat, 07 June 2014, 00:29:04 »
Quote from: Daniel Beardsmore on Tue, 03 June 2014, 19:14:22
Hello Altis

Could I trouble you please for a photo of the rear label confirming the FCC ID, for reference purposes? It should say "IYNKPT-102", the same as the better-known, but really tacky-looking version:

http://kbtalking.cool3c.com/article/13939

Thanks

I will post a photo tomorrow, but it does say "IYNKPT-102" next to FCC ID on the rear label.
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Offline Daniel Beardsmore

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Re: KPT-102 Review
« Reply #12 on: Sat, 07 June 2014, 06:57:30 »
Thanks.

I've just realised: those are Tai-Hao keycaps.

Interestingly, it's also got one if not two of the keycaps I'm looking for: 2u backspace and front row backslash, as unyellowed Tai-Hao. (Not sure how well the backslash would work between shift and Z on an ISO board.) I also need a Tai-Hao caps lock, but it's for an AT102W which has a stupid non-standard stepped caps lock that's something like 1 mm out from a normal keycap. The caps lock keycap I do have doesn't fit.
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Offline Altis

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Re: KPT-102 Review
« Reply #13 on: Sun, 08 June 2014, 13:38:08 »
Quote from: Daniel Beardsmore on Sat, 07 June 2014, 06:57:30
Thanks.

I've just realised: those are Tai-Hao keycaps.

Interestingly, it's also got one if not two of the keycaps I'm looking for: 2u backspace and front row backslash, as unyellowed Tai-Hao. (Not sure how well the backslash would work between shift and Z on an ISO board.) I also need a Tai-Hao caps lock, but it's for an AT102W which has a stupid non-standard stepped caps lock that's something like 1 mm out from a normal keycap. The caps lock keycap I do have doesn't fit.

Did you still want a photo of the label, or was it just the FCC ID you were interested in?
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Offline Daniel Beardsmore

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Re: KPT-102 Review
« Reply #14 on: Sun, 08 June 2014, 15:37:15 »
I wanted to confirm the FCC ID, but having a photo is always good as it prevents anyone from doubting.
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