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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: niubio on Tue, 25 February 2014, 08:18:37
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It took a longer while to give this board a proper cleaning it deserved, but finally, it's done... Another HAL device which uses the same switch as Elwro Junior ("Unitra-Polam").
(http://utensilia.tk/urzadzenia/mera-kfap_mk45-kl/1.jpg)
(http://utensilia.tk/urzadzenia/mera-kfap_mk45-kl/6.jpg)
The case is made of VERY thick, solid, painted steel - it's the heaviest board I've ever came across (well, maybe except typewriters :)). It has a big-a$$ cable, unfortunately the plug has been cut-off... Caps are NOT double shots - it looks like all symbols have been engraved in the plastic and then filled with paint. It makes much sense, as paint will stay on the caps for a longer period of time.
Logic elements on the PCB have '74 mark :) But I must dissapoint all of you - it was produced in 1984 by Mera-KFAP union (KFAP stands for Krakowska Fabryka Aparatury Pomiarowej) for their little-known MK45 computer. It was a very limited run, some sources say ~50 machines were build! More info can be found here:
http://www.elwro.zafriko.pl/kat/mikrokomputery/mera_kfap (http://www.elwro.zafriko.pl/kat/mikrokomputery/mera_kfap)
And, of course, "toaster" video of my unit!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ26TqQcJ-Y (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ26TqQcJ-Y)
Some more pictures:
http://utensilia.tk/urzadzenia/mera-kfap_mk45-kl.html (http://utensilia.tk/urzadzenia/mera-kfap_mk45-kl.html)
"Shift lock" and spacebar caps were missing, so I salvaged them from another Junior. Unfortunately, switch placement under the spacebar is different in those two boards, so I've made a quick-and-dirty fix for that, using... modeling clay. Yeah, I know, I wanted to use fiber-glass putty or something pro like this, but I'll get back to that after makeing some improvements to my workshop. For now I just didn't want to make a mess out of it, and caps are so freakin' rare nowadays! Honestly, I would probably start to cry if I've screwed that one up.
How do the switch feel? Well, it's definitely worse than the one used in Elwro - I guess they improved their production process between 1984 and 1988, especially in terms of precision. Caps are obviously better on Elwro, as they are double shots - but here they feel REALLY old-school, almost like the machinery in the first Alien movie :)
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Great looking board!
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Jeeeeeesus christ! That is some seriously heavy duty metal!
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Whoa, that's a great layout!
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Thanks guys :)
Jeeeeeesus christ! That is some seriously heavy duty metal!
Yeah, it would hurt A LOT if you drop that brick on your foot :) I think it would barely leave a scratch on the case tho, in my opinion it is like indestructible. On the other hand, electronic PCB inside is really fragile - that's why I didn't make a disassembly video, only shot some pics of the guts when cleaning.
Whoa, that's a great layout!
I've read somewhere that MK45 was used mainly for engineering & financial calculations - this explains subtotal key on the numeric pad. They also put ALT key there ^-^ I wonder what REP stands for... Repeat last command maybe? Thinking about its location, must have been important... But the same can be said about "Caps lock" key on NCR boards then :D
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wow I've never seen anything like this. very cool!
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Ok, another vintage board on it's way... Tomorrow I'll shot the video and pics :)
1) Soviet bloc
2) Really old. Even older than Siemens board!
3) Really weird!
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You're lucky to live in Poland where you have access to many antique keyboards.
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You're lucky to live in Poland where you have access to many antique keyboards.
Hah! Got some bad news for you - I've already posted all my "rare" boards here (well, except for one that I'm going to write about tomorrow). And it took me one year to hunt them down on polish flea markets / online bulletin boards / etc. Hell, I bought my seriously beaten down Elwro Junior 3 years ago, and found replacement caps for it last summer (only thanks to some crazy random events!). It's not that easy as it seems to be :)
Not to mention sometimes it's a very expensive hobby. This guy with Elwro ripped me off, badly :/ But I don't regret it :)
EDIT: But you know, thinking of it again, you are right. Sometimes people in Poland sell really unique devices for ~$1-2. True, it happens!
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That numeric keypad gives another meaning to Soviet bloc(k) …
Engraved keycaps might sound like a good idea, but they get full of dirt and won't wipe clean. Not a substitute for doubleshots : )
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Ugh noooo, the pictures are blocked at work. I wanted to admire the 30 pounds of
Soviet Polish steel pretending to be a keyboard :(. Again, great find niubio! Looking forward to your next discovery :D.
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Ugh noooo, the pictures are blocked at work. I wanted to admire the 30 pounds of Soviet steel pretending to be a keyboard :(. Again, great find niubio! Looking forward to your next discovery :D.
Oh noooo! NSA is blocking pictures of my boards! Maybe thay don't like .tk domain @ your work?
Heey, it's not Soviet, it's Polish :)
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Oh noooo! NSA is blocking pictures of my boards! Maybe thay don't like .tk domain @ your work?
To be fair, 50% of the pictures on GH are blocked at work. Makes me a sad panda :(.
Heey, it's not Soviet, it's Polish :)
I've fixed my post :P
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I've fixed my post :P
I know, I know, it's a mental leap: soviet = communist. And it is indeed sort of a heap of communist steel :)
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Going to patch it into one of those USB AVR HID device boards ? http://wiki.geekhack.org/index.php?title=AVR-Keyboard (http://wiki.geekhack.org/index.php?title=AVR-Keyboard)
With that many wires its probably discreet row/column scan (8 rows, 21 columns)...