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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: Hak Foo on Sat, 20 June 2009, 00:53:21

Title: 1391401 20 May 87
Post by: Hak Foo on Sat, 20 June 2009, 00:53:21

I found this one at the local thrift shop; $4 was worth it for the vintage.

It has a detachable cable (PS/2), and a different card than later Ms (the LED cable isn't a film or ribbon cable, but rather a bundle of wires, and the board is grounded to the metal plate with a thick connector.

It had about six rivets in the case (one fell off as I brushed the bottom of the board's riveted panel), and a seperate, large label on the bottom of that panel.

Also, the numpad + and Enter are stabilized.

It was missing F8 and F11 caps; I'm using a Lexmark donor for those... but the legends line up poorly.

The old legends are so sharp compared to Unicomp's.

I'm de-grunging.  Pics to follow once I get my replacement card-reader.

Title: 1391401 20 May 87
Post by: Hak Foo on Sun, 21 June 2009, 18:31:55

Okay, writing the followup post ON the '87 model.



It cleaned up fairly well with some Oxi-Clean and agitation on the keycap bag.  There were some spots of orangey-brown goo, and it had wicked inside some of the two-piece keys.  I suspect this keyboard was decommissioned after a Coke accident.  Given the vintage, possibly New Coke.

It feels a bit duller-- a touch quieter, a touch more pressure than the Customizer 104 next to it.  It lost two more rivets during the cleaning process (total: 8 as far as I know)


Relevant photos:

* Proof I'm not blowing smoke about the date.

(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=2789&stc=1&d=1245626816)

* Stabilizer bars for numpad + and enter.

(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=2793&stc=1&d=1245626816)

* Partial reassembly.  The Das M.  This is the first one I've seen with all the key heads the same colour.

(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=2792&stc=1&d=1245626816)

* LED panel.  Note the individually-wired cable.

(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=2791&stc=1&d=1245626816)

* Inner assembly label.  Our new lesson:  Someone who signed his initials "W" is responsible for those rivets that pop.  We can track him down now! :)

(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=2790&stc=1&d=1245626816)


Oddity:  The |\ key sits a littele higher than others in its row.  This is also true or the Customizer, but it's less prominent.

I had to steal spare keycaps for F8 and F11 from a later board.  The F8 text is too low, and the F11 too delicate)

Title: 1391401 20 May 87
Post by: nowsharing on Mon, 22 June 2009, 15:33:51

Wow, what a nice find. It looks like you've cleaned it up well. Talk about a great trip to the thrift shop, they're usually hubs of old technology, but an '87 M is quite a rarity.

Title: 1391401 20 May 87
Post by: watduzhkstand4 on Mon, 22 June 2009, 15:57:35

that looks very clean, nice one

Title: 1391401 20 May 87
Post by: Hak Foo on Mon, 22 June 2009, 19:51:17

I'm hoping it holds up.  I had it hooked with the USB-PS/2 converter I used for a while before getting a native-USB Customizer, and it dropped out (didn't respond to any keys) until I pulled and replugged the assembly.  It could be the adaptor or mainboard, but I'm having a hard time to decide which one stays on the desk and which goes into spares.