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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: downforce on Mon, 23 July 2012, 13:08:24
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Was doing random searching and stumbled across this and was wondering what model this is http://petermoulding.com/keyboards?
Does anyone know?
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It looks precisely like later Key Tronic keyboards. I think that this keyboard was made by Key Tronic for Honeywell as an OEM, and not made by Honeywell before they sold their keyboard manufacturing to Key Tronic (per, the article).
The Key Tronic KT2000 "ErgoForce" looks just like it. That board has the Key Tronic logo on the top left, where there is an empty space on this board. AFAIK, Key Tronic still makes these, or very similar keyboards, but unfortunately, they don't export them out of the USA any more. The boards last longer, and keep their good feel longer than most other rubber dome boards, so there should be plenty of usable ErgoForce boards on the second-hand market.
To comment on the article:
- The lack of friction in Key Tronic keyboards are attributed to two things: 1) The barrel is circular while most other rubber domes have a square barrel for the plunger. 2) Key Tronic boards are lubricated with a teflon solution. (RO-59KT).
- The barrel/plunger are both plastic, not metal. Only the curved backplane and stabilizer bars are metal.
- The word "click" refers to the sound, among enthusiasts. What the author refers to as "clicky feel", we call "tactile feel".
- Low travel keyboards are not necessarily cheaper to produce than full-travel rubber dome keyboards. Scissor switches are more complicated.
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Cool thanks for the reply! I've seen them come up on Gumtree before and didn't know what they were. Hoping for a bargain mech switch board :D
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Note that they are not mechanical. However, they are often voted as being people's favourite rubber dome keyboard.
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Yeah Keytronic made one of my truly favorite rubber dome keyboards as well. If you must use rubber dome they are a good way to go in my opinion.
(of course barring the topre hybrid)