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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: jazza on Sat, 13 June 2009, 00:31:57

Title: Play ID the switch
Post by: jazza on Sat, 13 June 2009, 00:31:57

Hi folks!
A mewbie to mechanical keyboards here with a request!

I'm a PhD student and some nights work at the nearby radio telescope looking after experiments and things. It gets pretty late and I get pretty tired/bored so the other day I walked around prying keys off keyboards to see if any were non rubber domed.

To my surprise there were four different types of (I think) non-rubber domed switches I saw. I suppose it might not be that surprising considering the large amount of old equipment we use (if it ain't broke don't fix it) the pc we use to control the drives is a 486...

Anyone want to tell me what they are? I apologise for the poor quality of the images but they were taken with a phone (in flight mode...).

Thanks! Jay

(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=2637&stc=1&d=1244870911)

(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=2638&stc=1&d=1244870911)

(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=2639&stc=1&d=1244870911)

(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=2640&stc=1&d=1244870911)

Title: Play ID the switch
Post by: xsphat on Sat, 13 June 2009, 01:09:38

Pic one is Alps white, two is OLD SCHOOL Cherry, don't know 3, but 4 looks like a rubber dome with a guide of some kind.

Title: Play ID the switch
Post by: chimera15 on Sat, 13 June 2009, 01:58:19

http://www7.ocn.ne.jp/~hisao/jiku.htm

This is the master page that everyone here always refers to when they want to know what type of switch something has.

First one is a common alps white.

Second looks like an early alps?

Third no idea.

The 4th keyboard with the round top has the same type of switch that I have in an old pcjr keyboard, not sure what it's called...  not sure it's on that list.

I think it might be the top part of a fujitsu linear...  

The ones in my pcjr keyboard are definately fujitsu linears, but that one looks a bit different...  It might be a fujitsu clicky.  Can you take the white part off and show what's underneath?
If it's a straight metal contact that's just pushed down by the plastic plunger it's a Fujistu.

http://www7.ocn.ne.jp/~hisao/image/fujitsuten.htm

Title: Play ID the switch
Post by: jazza on Sat, 13 June 2009, 04:13:29

Cheers, guys!
I like the feel of the white alps.

Full view of the second keyboard. I think it's my favourite somehow purely on looks.
Really could use a clean though!

4th comes from a Sun workstation. I'll see if I can pry the next bit off when I'm next out there, and investigate number 3 more. Nice link!
Jay

(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=2642&stc=1&d=1244884350)

Title: Play ID the switch
Post by: chimera15 on Sat, 13 June 2009, 13:08:28

Quote from: ripster;95969

Whoah!  I'm starting to worry about our Space Exploration program.

Could be a Comet crashing toward our planet and I wouldn't trust those keyboards to punch in the right coordinates.

They went to the moon with less computing power than an apple ][.  Mercury didn't have any computers all, they're fine. lol

Some serious collectors item boards there though. lol  I bet Sandy would buy em for a lot, yen are getting awesome exchange rates right now. lol

Title: Play ID the switch
Post by: cchan on Sat, 13 June 2009, 14:41:59

#4, the sun keyboard, is a plunger over rubber dome. god those things are mushy. I hate them.

#3 looks like my apple design keyboard, another slider over rubber dome design. This time it doesn't suck.

Title: Play ID the switch
Post by: ch_123 on Sat, 13 June 2009, 15:08:35

Third one reminds me of the Dell Quietkey rubber dome.