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geekhack Marketplace => Great Finds => Topic started by: Infinite north on Mon, 02 August 2010, 20:19:02

Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: Infinite north on Mon, 02 August 2010, 20:19:02
Saw this the other day but I don't have a use for it. awesome metal case, industrial strength plug.

(http://www.ezlister.net/Images/EZ5/228761-0.jpg)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190424259109&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190424259109&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT)
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: kriminal on Mon, 02 August 2010, 20:25:56
err what kind of switches would these have?
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: Infinite north on Mon, 02 August 2010, 20:53:20
Good question! buy it and find out.
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: kriminal on Mon, 02 August 2010, 21:21:07
>_>
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: Laggy-gaga on Mon, 02 August 2010, 22:34:24
Look like cherry style, and 2-shot probably
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: Oqsy on Mon, 02 August 2010, 23:00:08
I just bid on this sucker.  Could work out well if it is indeed a 2 shot cherry (looks like something along the lines of an 1800
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: Infinite north on Mon, 02 August 2010, 23:01:25
Quote from: Laggy-gaga;208566
Look like cherry style, and 2-shot probably


I don't know about that, if I was going to guess anything I would say alps but the key caps look funny so who knows.
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: Oqsy on Mon, 02 August 2010, 23:08:49
It might indeed be ALPS, as the legends look red on the left modifier keys, much like my northgate.
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: kriminal on Tue, 03 August 2010, 00:00:02
yeah when i saw it, my first thought was alps..
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: Laggy-gaga on Tue, 03 August 2010, 03:36:04
Only Few alps keyboards use that kinds of enter key
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: ch_123 on Tue, 03 August 2010, 04:39:31
Very similar to that German military trackball keyboard. My money is on Marquardt switches.

Quote
Only Few alps keyboards use that kinds of enter key


I can think of more than a few =P But yes, I guess a majority of US layout Alps keyboards used the inverted-L enter.
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: Oqsy on Tue, 03 August 2010, 19:57:03
16 minutes to go and still the highest bidder...  I don't trust a single one of you ebay sniper motherf#$%ers, but I think it's mine.
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: Infinite north on Tue, 03 August 2010, 20:15:31
Well I am glad you got it, I would like to know whats in it. I just don't care enough to buy it. I hope it works out well for you.
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: microsoft windows on Tue, 03 August 2010, 20:20:52
That is a neat keyboard. Definitely industrial strength.
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: Oqsy on Tue, 03 August 2010, 20:38:53
before I won it I emailed the seller asking him to pull a keycap and take a pic, but he was afraid of damaging the board...  oh well, i'll find out soon enough :D
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: EverythingIBM on Wed, 04 August 2010, 01:20:59
Quote from: Oqsy;208876
before I won it I emailed the seller asking him to pull a keycap and take a pic, but he was afraid of damaging the board...  oh well, i'll find out soon enough :D


Tell him he's a stupid pansy and plucking off a key won't do a damn thing, especially if he's advertising it as "industrial strength". Rather counter-intuitive.
Well hurry up and tell us! I WANT TO KNOW, I CAN'T WAIT.
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: ch_123 on Wed, 04 August 2010, 05:00:30
Quote from: Oqsy;208864
16 minutes to go and still the highest bidder...  I don't trust a single one of you ebay sniper motherf#$%ers, but I think it's mine.


I demand a cookie if it turns out to have Marquardt switches.
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: Oqsy on Wed, 04 August 2010, 17:34:35
I'll let you know, ch
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: Oqsy on Fri, 06 August 2010, 17:47:27
It does NOT appear to be cherry or ALPS switches.  I'll have to look closer at the Marquadt switches to make a call there, but I seem to remember they had a cross shaped stem like cherries... this board appears to have a mechanical stem with a rubber dome slid BETWEEN the key cap and the stem, essentially taking the place of a spring.  The action is interesting to say the least.  I'll post pics tonight or tomorrow.
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: ch_123 on Fri, 06 August 2010, 17:55:31
Quote from: Oqsy;209965
It does NOT appear to be cherry or ALPS switches.  I'll have to look closer at the Marquadt switches to make a call there, but I seem to remember they had a cross shaped stem like cherries... this board appears to have a mechanical stem with a rubber dome slid BETWEEN the key cap and the stem, essentially taking the place of a spring.  The action is interesting to say the least.  I'll post pics tonight or tomorrow.


Sounds like a rubber sleeve switch. They're used in the IBM M4-1, various laptop keyboards from the early 90s, and the occasional desktop keyboard.

Seems like I won't be getting my cookie after all :P
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: Oqsy on Fri, 06 August 2010, 17:56:00
Mitsumi?  Sounds like a sexy japanese punk girl :P
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: Oqsy on Fri, 06 August 2010, 17:56:59
I've never heard of or seen such a switch design.  Oh well, live and learn ;)

ch_123:
NO COOKIE FOR YOU!
(http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2006/11/22/seinfeld_300_061122113004726_wideweb__300x300,1.jpg)
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: microsoft windows on Fri, 06 August 2010, 18:06:23
So this keyboard is a rubber dome with sliders?
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: Oqsy on Fri, 06 August 2010, 19:05:15
It appears so, but the slider is below the rubber dome...  it's bizarre.
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: microsoft windows on Fri, 06 August 2010, 19:09:55
That does seem like a strange mechanism for a key. Maybe the rubber dome is used to keep dirt out of the key mechanism.
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: Oqsy on Fri, 06 August 2010, 22:15:09
That might have been a design consideration, but the rubber dome also acts as a spring to make the key cap bounce back after actuation.
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: ch_123 on Sat, 07 August 2010, 04:35:30
It's not a rubber dome with slider. The rubber sleeve provides the tactility and the hysteresis, and the shaft on the underside of the keycap sticks through a hole and actuates the membrane directly

See pictures of a dismantled M4-1 here. (http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?t=3925&page=10&do=comments&highlight=Unicomp)
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: Oqsy on Sat, 07 August 2010, 12:48:15
The feel isn't that bad really... I just wish the space bar were a bit stiffer.  It *is* hard to imagine this being used in an industrial setting, however.
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: sixty on Sat, 07 August 2010, 17:00:45
I would be careful about this one.. the keycaps look 100% identical to a terminal age HP keyboard I own. Same red legends, same weird curve on the keycaps. The HP board is a rubberdome. But who knows, maybe you get lucky with this one.
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: microsoft windows on Sat, 07 August 2010, 17:03:30
Well, different keyboards are for different people.
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: Findecanor on Sat, 07 August 2010, 18:13:22
Quote from: Oqsy;209965
this board appears to have a mechanical stem with a rubber dome slid BETWEEN the key cap and the stem, essentially taking the place of a spring.

Sounds like a foam and foil keyboard, like the KeyTronic. A rubber cylinder in-between the keycap and slider. The keycap snaps to the slider.
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: Oqsy on Sat, 07 August 2010, 18:14:18
sixty, have you read the thread at all?  I've had the board for 2 days, and it appears to be a mechanical switch with a rubber dome for "hysteresis" as ch put it.  It is definitely an AT board, and works fine with an AT-PS/2 adapter.
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: ch_123 on Sat, 07 August 2010, 20:01:52
Well. It's basically a rubber dome switch, except the keycap actuates the contacts instead of the dome. I wouldn't call it mechanical.

Quote from: kishy;210139
Yeah, this is what that Mitsumi used. Nasty nasty thing, hated typing on that.

Approximate feel of a BTC foil and foam keyboard. Not sure if the Mitsumi has a membrane though.


The M4-1 feels like a stiff scissor switch keyboard. I'd imagine that the rubber sleeve would work better for shorter travel than longer ones.
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: Oqsy on Sat, 07 August 2010, 22:09:08
Well, I suppose we could get into a debate on the meaning of the word "mechanical".  It could be argued that rubber dome boards are mechanical as well, and the touch screen or roll up membrane boards are the only non-mechanical boards.  I really don't want to have that debate, but if backed into a corner I could make a case.  

Anyway, without taking apart the board and seeing the way the "switch" makes contact with leads or a membrane, I can't really argue by the definition for "mechanical" most widely accepted here.  I also have no plans to disassemble this board to check any time soon.
Title: Ge fanuc industrial keyboard
Post by: sixty on Sat, 07 August 2010, 22:56:50
Quote from: Oqsy;210218
sixty, have you read the thread at all?  I've had the board for 2 days, and it appears to be a mechanical switch with a rubber dome for "hysteresis" as ch put it.  It is definitely an AT board, and works fine with an AT-PS/2 adapter.


Hah, No I have not. I was stuck on page 1 and assumed the thread ended there. I guess I lack sleep. Apologies.