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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: mougrim on Fri, 07 March 2014, 08:08:23
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Well, I was rummaging in a closet at my work where under pile ot PC detritus I found this curious AT/XT board. From the label on the back I understood it called Monterey K108.
First I thought this was one of that mass-produced rubber-domed boatds from AT era, but when I pressed a few buttons, it felt all nice and clicky. Board was rather dirty from a long use on industrial PC (probably), but apart from that legends on buttons are almost pristine. Latin symbols are probably sublimated-printed, but Cyrillic ones just printed on top of keys - pretty ****ty, but not worn off.
Haven't tested it yet, so I dunno if it still work - my AT to PS/2 adapter will arrive only next week. But if not...can it be restored the same way some do with old Model F?
As for feeling I get from switches... it's pretty much like ALPS ones. Is it ALPS or some Chinese rip-off?
Anyway, is this board any good?
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Pull a keycap and see what is underneath.
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Pull a keycap and see what is underneath.
Done. Yep, it definitely Alps mount, but I googled about this keyboard, and finally remembered about Desktority. So - it's almost definitely SMK Alps mount switches. Well... Not bad, I suppose.
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Monterey blue switches have a lot of fans. I haven't had a chance to try them myself though. Enjoy!
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As for feeling I get from switches... it's pretty much like ALPS ones. Is it ALPS or some Chinese rip-off?
Anyway, is this board any good?
I really like those alps-mount SMK (“monterey blue”) switches a lot.
If you clean that board up, you should be able to get $80-100 for it on ebay without much trouble, but I recommend just keeping it and using it.
http://deskthority.net/wiki/SMK_Alps_mount
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nice find, k108 has monterey blues, thats a great looking board.
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Monterey blue switches have a lot of fans. I haven't had a chance to try them myself though. Enjoy!
Well, for now I'm armed with a lot of wet towelettes and planning to clean it all from up to down. But later, when I'll get my AT - PS/2 adapter, I definitely want to try it out. It has very crispy, clean click and require a lot less pressure to activate than my Unicomp BS. Well... I almost definitely remain with Unicomp board, but it's nice to have at hand Monterey one.
But I still don't know if it's work. Well... hope it is so.
I really like those alps-mount SMK (“monterey blue”) switches a lot.
If you clean that board up, you should be able to get $80-100 for it on ebay without much trouble, but I recommend just keeping it and using it.
http://deskthority.net/wiki/SMK_Alps_mount
No way I'm selling it. Well, definitely not now. It was such a sudden find - like a hidden gem in pile of rubbish :) So I'm gonna clean it up, test it and maybe in future I'll think about USB mod.
I'll post some photos when it'll be nice and clean.
By the way - anyone know about Monterey keycaps? They are due-sublimated or just printed?
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If you want to fully clean that sucker, you could carefully remove the keycaps (especially be careful of the big enter, as it probably has 2 stabilizer wires under there) and dunk them in a container full of water with a few denture tabs, let them soak for a few hours, then replace the water and add some dish soap and swirl them around to remove the residue from the denture tabs and any remaining dirt, then rinse them and leave them to dry. Then you could unscrew all the screws on the back and remove the 2 pieces of the case, and wash those with some soap and water and let them dry. On the plate, the spaces between switches can probably just be wiped down with your towelettes or whatever.
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If you want to fully clean that sucker, you could carefully remove the keycaps (especially be careful of the big enter, as it probably has 2 stabilizer wires under there) and dunk them in a container full of water with a few denture tabs, let them soak for a few hours, then replace the water and add some dish soap and swirl them around to remove the residue from the denture tabs and any remaining dirt, then rinse them and leave them to dry. Then you could unscrew all the screws on the back and remove the 2 pieces of the case, and wash those with some soap and water and let them dry. On the plate, the spaces between switches can probably just be wiped down with your towelettes or whatever.
Thank for advice! Today I'll probably just wipe what I can from case with aforementioned towelettes and then remove and wipe all alphabetical/numerical keys. But tomorrow, when I'll remember where I put my screwdrivers...
Yep. Big keys can be tricky... Especially that bad-ass enter key :)
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Yeah, I like monterey blues too. The actuation point is closer in location to cherry blues, than alps though.
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By the way - anyone know about Monterey keycaps? They are due-sublimated or just printed?
80s and 90s pad printing (assuming that's what it is) was always uncoated thick ink, which is gloss and distinctly raised:
[attachimg=1]
Dye-sublimation printing has the keycap's own matte surface, and is completely smooth. Check the underside of a keycap to make sure it's not doubleshot, as that was more common than dye-sub.
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Dye-sublimation printing has the keycap's own matte surface, and is completely smooth. Check the underside of a keycap to make sure it's not doubleshot, as that was more common than dye-sub.
Nah, it's not doubleshot, I checked. And after that I compared it with my Unicomp board - which has sublimated-printed keycaps. I think it just printed over - mind, letters are not very raised, but definitely glossy... Still, it's printed pretty good...
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Vintage pad printing is decent in terms of appearance. I can't comment on durability — while it's true that most keyboards you find have no worn legends, it may simply be that all those with worn legends simply got thrown away!
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Vintage pad printing is decent in terms of appearance. I can't comment on durability — while it's true that most keyboards you find have no worn legends, it may simply be that all those with worn legends simply got thrown away!
Well, it looks pretty decent, yes. And judging on all that dirt it seen pretty heavy use... Maybe at that time all keyboards with worn legends really got thrown away... But at that time in my country it was simply too expensive to just throw up. Hell, I saw some keyboards with worn legends which were "repainted" by hand. But it was long ago...
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nice find. I use a similar keyboard with monteray switches for my daily driver. I did a cable swap from 5 pin din to ps2 from a random gateway rubber dome keyboard I had.
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nice find. I use a similar keyboard with monteray switches for my daily driver. I did a cable swap from 5 pin din to ps2 from a random gateway rubber dome keyboard I had.
Well, I'll test it when I'll get my adapter. Then - I have some derelict ps/2 rubberdome keyboards too :)
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Well... it works... kinda. Not all keys are registering, though. Well... that not the case. They ARE registering, but some of them - only after bottoming with force. And then they could be registered as doubles. Still going to clean it up, though, but... This is disturbing. What the problem could be?
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Oh boy.
With Alps switches, you can open the top and reseat all the parts, and remove any dirt that's got inside. SMK switches don't come apart that easily — you need to remove the PCB first, I think, and they're hell to get back together.
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Oh boy.
With Alps switches, you can open the top and reseat all the parts, and remove any dirt that's got inside. SMK switches don't come apart that easily — you need to remove the PCB first, I think, and they're hell to get back together.
I think this is dirt, yes. It works... just not very good.