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geekhack Marketplace => Great Finds => Topic started by: Mental Hobbit on Thu, 14 January 2010, 18:15:55

Title: [de] Model F?
Post by: Mental Hobbit on Thu, 14 January 2010, 18:15:55

Everybody take a close look at this (http://cgi.ebay.de/alte-Tastatur-Keyboard-fuer-PC-QWERTZ_W0QQitemZ330395382706QQcmdZViewItemQQptZM%C3%A4use_Tastaturen?hash=item4ced1973b2) please.
F-keys, alt, ctrl, caps lock - are there any old keyboards with that layout other than the Model F?

I don't want a Model F btw, so if you think it is one, feel free to bid on it.

Title: [de] Model F?
Post by: ch_123 on Thu, 14 January 2010, 18:20:18

Definitely not a Model F.

And yes, all the "IBM clones" of the time imitated the XT and AT layout, making it rather hard to distinguish between them. There's some here (http://sandy55.fc2web.com/keyboard/alps.html) which are all Alps boards.

Best case scenario with one of those imitation Fs is that you get Blue Alps. Other than that, it's anyone's guess and you could end up with rubber domes, or worse - foam and foil switches...

Title: [de] Model F?
Post by: Mental Hobbit on Thu, 14 January 2010, 18:33:09

You're right. This one (http://sandy55.fc2web.com/keyboard/bios_exp.html) looks almost identical, except of LED placement.
Learned something new again.

Title: [de] Model F?
Post by: ch_123 on Thu, 14 January 2010, 18:42:36

A guy I knew in school supposedly had one of those with Black Alps.

If it had the lock lights in the same place as Sandy's one, it would have blue Alps, and therefore definitely worth buying. As it stands, you'll probably get Alps, but it's hard to know which one.

Title: [de] Model F?
Post by: lowpoly on Fri, 15 January 2010, 04:17:11

MCI was an early PC clone manufacturer. That was my first Personal Computer. I trashed the keyboard somewhen. Which I understandably really regret today. Might have to get this one, thanks for posting it.

Title: [de] Model F?
Post by: lowpoly on Fri, 15 January 2010, 12:44:26

Got it.

Title: [de] Model F?
Post by: ch_123 on Fri, 15 January 2010, 12:47:23

Do you remember whether it was mechanical or not?

Title: [de] Model F?
Post by: lowpoly on Fri, 15 January 2010, 13:05:10

Unfortunately not. My computer is an XT so this might be a different model. I even searched for photos, but nothing.

Title: [de] Model F?
Post by: Mental Hobbit on Fri, 15 January 2010, 13:10:19

Congrats to lowpoly on getting it without major investment. ;) #

@ch_123: Could it be non-mechanical? I was under the impression the rubber dome menace didn't start until about 1990.

Title: [de] Model F?
Post by: ch_123 on Fri, 15 January 2010, 13:59:19

There were rubber dome keyboards in the late 80s AFAIK, but the real crap from back then had foam and foil switches (http://www.pcguide.com/ref/kb/const/switchFoam-c.html). By all accounts, these were even worse than rubber domes.

Title: [de] Model F?
Post by: rdjack21 on Fri, 15 January 2010, 15:19:19

Oh yes they were really bad. I had the displeasure of typing on one back then.

Title: [de] Model F?
Post by: lowpoly on Thu, 21 January 2010, 04:40:47

Turned out to be a BTC-5060 foam and foil switch keyboard.

There's  a spring under each single-shot keycap. After about 50% of the travel the foil/foam hits the pcb. Keys need a lot more pressure after that.

Not sure if it is XT or AT. Can I destroy anything by connecting an XT 'board to ps/2?

This guy (http://showcase.netins.net/web/tkz/BTC-5060/BTC-5060.htm) is looking for one (pics).

Title: [de] Model F?
Post by: ch_123 on Thu, 21 January 2010, 04:47:33

It's AT - it has lock lights and the appropriate layout.

Either way, they're electrically compatible. You could even use XT keyboards in certain AT motherboards that had the right BIOS support.

Title: [de] Model F?
Post by: lowpoly on Thu, 21 January 2010, 04:52:51

What confused me was that the 'board in the link I posted had lock lights too but the model # has XT in it (but the fcc-id has AT in it).

Title: [de] Model F?
Post by: lowpoly on Thu, 21 January 2010, 04:58:15

Hm, connected it and it doesn't work. Of course it could be broken.

Title: [de] Model F?
Post by: kishy on Thu, 21 January 2010, 05:19:18

Quote from: lowpoly;152609

What confused me was that the 'board in the link I posted had lock lights too but the model # has XT in it (but the fcc-id has AT in it).

XT-AT autosensing or switchable, perhaps?

Title: [de] Model F?
Post by: ch_123 on Thu, 21 January 2010, 06:55:00

Quote from: lowpoly;152611

Hm, connected it and it doesn't work. Of course it could be broken.

Is there an AT/XT switch somewhere?

Title: [de] Model F?
Post by: lowpoly on Thu, 21 January 2010, 10:16:47

Quote from: ch_123;152635

Is there an AT/XT switch somewhere?

Maybe on the pcb, but not reachable from the outside.