geekhack
geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: 1391406 on Sat, 05 July 2014, 09:49:13
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These (http://imgur.com/a/0wQqo) look like Blue ALPS to me, but I'm curious if anyone else has another opinion. The owner states it doesn't say ALPS on the switch but rather has the letter C. It's a Copam board if that means anything.
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They look to be the wrong shade of blue. All the blue alps I've seen are a darker dusky blue with no making on the top of the casing.
Think they might be these simplified Alps (http://deskthority.net/wiki/Simplified_Alps_Type_III)
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from what i understand not "all" alps switches have alps printed on the top side
the side tabs and slits look right, but as far as the color i have not received my blue alps board yet- those have blue alps know far better
the blue does seem more of the shade of my blue aruza switches?
is it possible that without the alps logo they are simplified vs complicated- i do not know
if daniel peeps here he can tell you for sure
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Well, from my experience.. taking accurate pictures of those blue sliders is difficult. I would say those are complicated blue alps but that's just my take.
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Open one up :)
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a better picture would help
i copied and tried to clean up in photoshop, but it is kind of poor already and blew up
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You can't really tell the difference of blue Alps and their clones unless you have a good close up of the top of the switch housing (this one is ways too blurry) or unless you open one up. In this case the shade of blue seems too intense for me, too, so I guess they're the ones Captain linked.
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They look to be the wrong shade of blue.
I must disagree with you. Here is an actual photo of a Leading Edge 2014 opened up (surely for the first time in 25+ years).
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I must disagree with you. Here is an actual photo of a Leading Edge 2014 opened up (surely for the first time in 25+ years).
Still less intense than the ones on the mystery board:
[attachimg=1]
And your picture is in bright daylight while his is rather shadowy.
That said, it's hard to tell from the pictures. If you can get it for cheap go for it.
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The board isn't for sale but rather has already been sold to someone who's inquiring as to which switch it used. My guess was Blue ALPS but the pictures leave so much detail out that all there is to go on is shape and color.
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Still blurry but here's a different shot:
(http://i.imgur.com/DmYxfBo.jpg)
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They look real to me.
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Hmmm...
[attachimg=1]
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Simplified Alps Type III uses a genuine Alps shell, albeit a badly made one (it looks like Alps threw a load out or they got stolen from the factory). What someone did was fit clone switch contacts inside a real Alps shell. (There is however another clone that uses a custom-made shell that looks far more authentic on the outside, but on the inside has all the correct grooves to support the contacts. The slider colour has never been shown, but I am assuming ivory from its omission.)
Besides, the numbering on top often doesn't show up in photos.
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The ones in that post are definitely blue Alps. The layout, stepped modifiers, and DIN plug matches the time frame too. Blue Alps switches don’t have any “Alps” branding printed on the top, but only on the bottom of the switch housing.
It’s possible the camera white balance wasn’t adjusted the same as other photos of blue Alps switches. (But the color looks about right to me.)
You could probably fetch $70–90 for it on ebay pretty easily, maybe more.
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The ones in that post are definitely blue Alps.
How can you tell that they're not the simplified ones?
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How can you tell that they're not the simplified ones?
I thought that blue Alps were archaic.
Does a simplified version exist?
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I thought that blue Alps were archaic.
Does a simplified version exist?
I mean the Simplified Alps Type III (http://deskthority.net/wiki/Simplified_Alps_Type_III).
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Simplified Alps Type III were an attempt to produce "fake Alps", i.e. switches that con people into believing that they have real Alps switches. One of the factories producing Alps switches (e.g. Goldstar Alps, or Forward Electronics) made one or more bad batches of switches with a lot of the mould numbering missing (leaving empty circles) and someone got hold of the shells. You can see one of the switches here: Datadesk Switchboard (http://deskthority.net/wiki/Datadesk_Switchboard) — the correct internals are present, indicating the switches are legitimate, just badly made.
There would have only been a small supply of these bad shells, so I imagine Simplified Alps Type III was very short-lived. The OP's keyboard looks the right age for genuine blue Alps, and the sliders have the characteristic blue-grey tone, instead of the vivid blue used in the fake Alps sliders. (Only the shells would have been defective and thrown out, so someone like Himake would have had to dye some white sliders blue, hence getting the colour wrong).
Simplified Alps Type III has only been seen once, maybe twice, in a Focus FK-2001.
There is also alps.tw type OA1 (http://deskthority.net/wiki/Alps.tw_Type_OA1) which is a custom batch of switches where the exterior of the shell resembles blue Alps or very early (unbranded) white Alps, but internally is structured to support the Alps clone contact mechanism. There are no other photos of OA1, suggesting that it just had a regular ivory slider, but I do not know. I don't know that the keyboard has ever been seen, and I do not know that it ever went into production; Hua-Jie AKF Cherry MX mount (http://deskthority.net/wiki/Hua-Jie_AKF_Cherry_MX_mount) is another variant, that I do not think ever got made. I have a document from Himake depicting a similar switch (AK-LEN) that they told me was never manufactured; that had the "wings" but, according to the drawing, not the "side panels" of real Alps (where the sides go wider).
And no, I have no reason to believe that blue simplified Alps exists. Blue was long gone by then; it was only made for a few years.
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What about the Rosewill Striker RK6000 (http://techreport.com/review/26428/rosewill-striker-rk-6000-mechanical-keyboard-reviewed) with Tai Hao APC switches (http://deskthority.net/wiki/Tai-Hao_APC_series) in them. Those look remarkably like the Blue Alps switches and the sliders are a more vivid blue. I'm still not convinced those are Blue Alps in those pictures.
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Man, the sh!t gets deep.
I wonder whether the "vivid" blue is the giveaway.
My blue Alps, probably all old/original, at least a couple of hundred of them by now, have gone from from "pale" (more common) to "bright" blue (less common) but never "vivid" to my eyes at least.
The ones in the upper right of the previous photo are the most pure true cerulean blue I have yet seen.
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APC switches are Four-tab clones (http://deskthority.net/wiki/Four-tab_clone). The OP's switches have long side tabs and slits.
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APC switches are Four-tab clones (http://deskthority.net/wiki/Four-tab_clone). The OP's switches have long side tabs and slits.
Hm ok. Wish we had a clear picture. Just because I've never seen a vivid blue on a Blue Alps slider doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Would be nice to see a proper pic and one of the bottom of the switch housing.
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I don’t think these look any more vivid than regular SKCM blue switches, I’m pretty sure it’s just the way the camera processed the image that has you folks confused.
Here’s the image to look at (the other one clearly has boosted saturation):
(http://i.imgur.com/7ibrbMg.jpg)