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geekhack Marketplace => Great Finds => Topic started by: ander on Wed, 29 November 2017, 16:49:34

Title: [SOLD] Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: ander on Wed, 29 November 2017, 16:49:34
Lot of 4: Reuters D3-KP Trading keyboard 10-11-3030 (https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-4-Reuters-D3-KP-Trading-keyboard-10-11-3030/401381493994)


(https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/4twAAOSw~I5Zi2cT/s-l1600.jpg)


(https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/B4EAAOSwdxdZi2cG/s-l1600.jpg)


(https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/zeAAAOSwcklZi2cL/s-l1600.jpg)


(https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/~18AAOSwv-ZaIbH8/s-l1600.jpg)

Cherry MX Browns—and a mixture of dye-sub and pad printing, looks like.

Lot of four, BIN $55.00 + 34.00 U.S. shipping. That's right, for four of them.

If someone buys these and would like to send me one for telling you about them, that'd be swell.  :?)  (I'll pay your postage.)
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: ErgoMacros on Wed, 29 November 2017, 19:33:49
Looks like the G80-9009 keyboard era to me (1980's-1990's). The G80-9009 keyboards use Cherry clear switches, but no guarantees.
Both the keyboard and, apparently these, have DB-9 connectors. On the keyboards they run the same protocol as PS/2 and a simple adapter to PS/2 is possible.

If this wasn't a "lot of 4" I might just own one of these by now...
 ;-)

To rephrase what ander said...
    If someone buys these and would like to send me one in exchange for the likely pin-out, that'd be swell.  :-)  (I'll pay 2x your postage!)
    (Let the bidding begin.)
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: Techno Trousers on Wed, 29 November 2017, 20:18:26
Damn, those would make for pretty sweet gaming/macro pads, if they're not crappy rubber dome and can be converted to USB. Too many maybes for my current budget, unfortunately.
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: JP on Wed, 29 November 2017, 20:27:48
Looks like the G80-9009 keyboard era to me (1980's-1990's). The G80-9009 keyboards use Cherry clear switches, but no guarantees.
Both the keyboard and, apparently these, have DB-9 connectors. On the keyboards they run the same protocol as PS/2 and a simple adapter to PS/2 is possible.

If this wasn't a "lot of 4" I might just own one of these by now...
 ;-)

To rephrase what ander said...
    If someone buys these and would like to send me one in exchange for the likely pin-out, that'd be swell.  :-)  (I'll pay 2x your postage!)
    (Let the bidding begin.)

Best I could do would be half a keypad since one side is 'mine' and the other is 'yours'.
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: ander on Thu, 30 November 2017, 02:28:24
To rephrase what ander said...
    If someone buys these and would like to send me one in exchange for the likely pin-out, that'd be swell.  :-)  (I'll pay 2x your postage!)
    (Let the bidding begin.)

LOL... Okay, maybe all they'll want is two of 'em, so we can each have one. (I personally don't need more than two of anything.)
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: quake4mhg on Thu, 30 November 2017, 12:38:05
If we can re program it and replace some keycaps, gonna be supper fun :D
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: ander on Thu, 30 November 2017, 18:28:23
"Mine" and "Yours"—that'd be handy for divorce settlements.
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: taylorswiftttttt on Thu, 30 November 2017, 19:50:45
removed
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: ErgoMacros on Thu, 30 November 2017, 20:28:40
Well, they have the latest Reuters logo (as do some later G80-9009s) and
also have a Windows context menu key -- which is nowhere to be seen on my older G80-9009.

You may well be right about the caps and browns. (I didn't know about those.)
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: ErgoMacros on Sat, 02 December 2017, 01:18:09
New photos (or at least I didn't scroll to them) They are Cherry browns, and not the nice double-shots on my big keyboard.
Oh well. Another dream dies.
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: ander on Sat, 02 December 2017, 07:19:28
New photos (or at least I didn't scroll to them) They are Cherry browns, and not the nice double-shots on my big keyboard... Oh well. Another dream dies.

Geez, okay, so they're dye-sub... Where else are you gonna find wacky keys like those? And look at the secondary front-printed legends, and the little ALARM button. These are MKs, and they're odd, and they're like, $22 each. Some peeps here would pay that much for just the yellow Quit key. Wish they were selling them singly... I can't buy the batch and stay married.
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: ander on Sat, 02 December 2017, 07:21:02
LOL, do you see how they actually have each of those big buttons on 4 switches? Would 3 of them be dummies, just there for the springs?

BTW, here's the UK company (http://www.devlin.co.uk/products/input-devices/trading/) that makes these, if anyone's interested.
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: Techno Trousers on Sat, 02 December 2017, 08:54:31
Tempting...
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: ErgoMacros on Sat, 02 December 2017, 12:21:43
LOL, do you see how they actually have each of those big buttons on 4 switches? Would 3 of them be dummies, just there for the springs?

So, those are force multipliers? ;-)

Edit: One other oddity is that whereas my keyboard is 12V, these pads are 9V. The colors do seem like a good match though. Including 2 different, but nearly-the-same greens.

Edit2: He does have 2 lots of 4... has had them for a while... and says... -NO REASONABLE OFFER WILL BE REFUSED-
Maybe we should make him an offer?
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: SamirD on Sat, 02 December 2017, 20:00:52
Those keycaps alone are pretty awesome.  Like the 'I Deal' key and 'Cancel Instrument' that would make a cool backspace.  But the most awesome are the 'Yours' and 'Mine'.

I saw that 9V on the back for power as well.  I wonder if these use a standard serial port or something different.
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: ander on Sun, 03 December 2017, 01:25:13
I gotta say, these are my faves of the whole bunch:


[attachimg=1]


They'd be just perfect for those times when you need a bit of extra help distinguishing Down from Up... And you know we all have them.
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: SamirD on Sun, 03 December 2017, 09:00:10
I gotta say, these are my faves of the whole bunch:


(Attachment Link)


They'd be just perfect for those times when you need a bit of extra help distinguishing Down from Up... And you know we all have them.
haha, elevator buttons need to be like that.

Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: ErgoMacros on Thu, 14 December 2017, 01:40:35
OK, I can't help going back and looking at these.

Have you noticed... he's lowered his price by $5.00? Now $84, shipped, for 4, so $21 each.

What do you get?
* 44 Cherry brown switches (less than $0.50 each if you tossed everything else)
* 38 less than stellar keycaps, but where else can you get two 2x2U caps like that?  (Again, if you tossed everything else, about $0.55 each )
* 1/2 of the boards have front legends for "E" to "Z". Abba need not apply.
* Mounting Plate
* Some odd interface, possibly something like serial I/O, but who knows.
* Case.
* The knob on the back indicates settable volume for the buzzer/alarm.
You could strip the controller out of it, wire a micro into the matrix with TMK or QMK software and gave a fun, if not great, macro board.

How about I offer him $30+$34 shipping. Makes them $16 each. I'll re-box and send to you in the US for $16+my shipping costs.
Do I have 3 takers?

Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: Techno Trousers on Thu, 14 December 2017, 11:27:39



How about I offer him $30+$34 shipping. Makes them $16 each. I'll re-box and send to you in the US for $16+my shipping costs.
Do I have 3 takers?

I'm in the US, and I'd take a chance on that. Count me in.
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: kinglukas38 on Thu, 14 December 2017, 22:29:59
OK, I can't help going back and looking at these.

Have you noticed... he's lowered his price by $5.00? Now $84, shipped, for 4, so $21 each.

What do you get?
* 44 Cherry brown switches (less than $0.50 each if you tossed everything else)
* 38 less than stellar keycaps, but where else can you get two 2x2U caps like that?  (Again, if you tossed everything else, about $0.55 each )
* 1/2 of the boards have front legends for "E" to "Z". Abba need not apply.
* Mounting Plate
* Some odd interface, possibly something like serial I/O, but who knows.
* Case.
* The knob on the back indicates settable volume for the buzzer/alarm.
You could strip the controller out of it, wire a micro into the matrix with TMK or QMK software and gave a fun, if not great, macro board.

How about I offer him $30+$34 shipping. Makes them $16 each. I'll re-box and send to you in the US for $16+my shipping costs.
Do I have 3 takers?

If you're willing to ship to Canada (and its not too expensive) I'd be interested
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: ErgoMacros on Thu, 14 December 2017, 23:38:43
That seems like a real shame, they are already in Thornhill, Ontario, Canada. But I'm willing to look into the shipping and let you know.
Sure you don't want to take over the "group buy?"

(Guess I'd better figure out how much these weigh. Oh, someone says 2lbs each.)

@Techno Trousers -- glad  you're in. :-)
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: ander on Fri, 15 December 2017, 00:36:43
Oh, yeah, and they're in Canada, too... Sorry I didn't notice that right off.
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: kinglukas38 on Fri, 15 December 2017, 00:44:14
That seems like a real shame, they are already in Thornhill, Ontario, Canada. But I'm willing to look into the shipping and let you know.
Sure you don't want to take over the "group buy?"

(Guess I'd better figure out how much these weigh. Oh, someone says 2lbs each.)

@Techno Trousers -- glad  you're in. :-)

50 +28 shipping for me, saves a good chunk of shipping right there. I could take the 'gb' over if 3 other people want boards (only 1 more now I guess).
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: ErgoMacros on Fri, 15 December 2017, 11:05:53
Cool, I'm in. And can be slow (cheap) shipping as far as I'm concerned.
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: ander on Fri, 15 December 2017, 14:44:06
Do my eyes deceive me, or could some of these be double-shot too?:


(https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/Z14AAOSwk-1aIbH~/s-l1600.jpg)


That'd make this the first board I'd ever seen with pad, dye-sub and DS keys... That alone would seem to make it collectable!

Heh, and check out the questionable hyphenation on "rel-ease".
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: kinglukas38 on Fri, 15 December 2017, 14:50:12
Those don't look doubleshot
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: ander on Mon, 18 December 2017, 03:32:05
Those don't look doubleshot

So the cross-hatching's just a structural thing, e.g. to make a thinner key stronger?
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: kinglukas38 on Mon, 18 December 2017, 06:55:22
could be the same molds for ds keys. if they were ds you would see the second color on the bottom
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: ander on Wed, 20 December 2017, 02:12:28
could be the same molds for ds keys. if they were ds you would see the second color on the bottom

Yeah, and it'd be dark, you're right.
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: SamirD on Fri, 22 December 2017, 23:14:11
So was the offer accepted?
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: kinglukas38 on Sat, 23 December 2017, 00:32:23
So was the offer accepted?
I haven't offered anything, not sure if ergo has or not
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: Techno Trousers on Sat, 23 December 2017, 00:52:21
It looks like the seller is away until 1/1, but if one of you guys can get it locked in then, that would be awesome.
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: ErgoMacros on Tue, 02 January 2018, 23:42:14
Hi All,

So where do we stand?
    Seller should be back from vacation.
    Sale ends Saturday, 11:50 AM PST (3+ days)
    Canada shipping is $28 for 4
    I'd proposed offering him $30+shipping for all 4.
   
    Participants:
        ErgoMacros is in for 1. USA
        Techno Trousers is in for 1. USA
        kinglukas38 is interested in 1, "if its not too expensive". Canada
        Maybe: Ander started this whole thing... do you want in too?

So, if Ander is in then all 4 are sold. Pricing would be, about:
    US$30 + US$28 shipping to Canada = US$58 to get them to kinglukas38 in Canada.
    That's US$58/4 = US$14.50 each before re-shipping.
    Shipping from Canada to USA might be in the $34/4 = $US8.50 region, plus re-boxing and at least a little something for kinglukas38 if he's doing all the leg work for the GB. So at least US$14.50+US$8.50 = US$23.00 to us yanks.

If Ander is not in, and we don't find a fourth then:
    * kinglukas38 gets 2?
    * and we split the costs as though there are only 3 units?

How do we proceed?
    * We need to know if we have a fourth. Ander, or others are you in?
    * We should all agree to the final plan.
    * kinglukas38 (or another Canadian) should make the seller an offer
    * kinglukas38 should get shipping prices so he knows his costs are covered, tell the rest of us.
    * We all agree. kinglukas38 sends us a paypal bill and we pay it. then kinglukas38 buys the 4 units.
    * Shipping happens
    * dancing in the streets ensues.

I really want to make sure that this is as safe as possible of kinglukas38 (or any other GB organizer).

Sound about right?
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: Techno Trousers on Wed, 03 January 2018, 00:12:17
^he did the math!

I'm good with up to $30 USD (re) shipped to me.
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: kinglukas38 on Wed, 03 January 2018, 00:15:41
I'm in pending we get a fourth or I pay slightly less for a second pad. Either way I'm down to handle shipping to me and to peeps who are interested  :thumb:
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: ErgoMacros on Wed, 03 January 2018, 00:36:47
Thanks kinglukas38!
Following Techno Trousers' lead, I'm in for $30, even $35 if needed, shipped to me.

(Here's hoping your tag-line is true. :-)
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: SamirD on Wed, 03 January 2018, 08:22:44
I hope Ander doesn't mind me speaking for him so he doesn't miss out.  He's based in Canada but also has a US shipping relay so shipping to him could be whichever is cheaper if he wants in.  :cool:
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: kinglukas38 on Wed, 03 January 2018, 15:00:23
Submitted an offer for 35+28 shipping, now we wait

E: snappy response, countered at 45 +28 shipping
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: ErgoMacros on Wed, 03 January 2018, 15:21:03
ErgoMacrso does math...
    US$45 + US$28 shipping to Canada = US$73 to get them to kinglukas38 in Canada.
    That's US$73/4 = US$18.25 each before re-shipping.

So at least US$18.25+US$8.50 = US$26.75 to us yanks.

kinglukas38, any way for you to easily check on shipping costs for the re-ship so we have a better idea of the total?

I'm still in, as I said before, up to US$30 to $35.
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: AuthenticDanger on Wed, 03 January 2018, 15:27:12
Submitted an offer for 35+28 shipping, now we wait

E: snappy response, countered at 45 +28 shipping

Yeah, I submitted that offer a while back when I had them add photos of the switches. They are *VERY* firm on the price :(
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: kinglukas38 on Wed, 03 January 2018, 15:44:16
assuming one board fits in a 12x12x4" box and weighs less than 2lbs I can ship for 12-15 usd. Stepping down to a smaller box doesn't seem to help price, based more on weight afaik
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: Waateva on Wed, 03 January 2018, 15:51:10
Damn, these are cool!  I may be interested in taking the 4th (if it's still available) assuming they are pretty much plug-n-play.
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: ErgoMacros on Wed, 03 January 2018, 16:28:08
Hi,

* Not plug-n-play. Not USB or PS/2.
* Probable RS232
* and wil need a 9VDC power-supply.

I guess the options for getting one running are something like:
* Reverse engineer what's there. Probably RS232 to USB or PS/2 to USB. Maybe use/adapt existing adapter.
* Replace the controller to scan the matrix and output USB. Base on existing controllers.
* Could rewire/hand wire, but that's probably even more work.
* Something else I haven't thought about?

Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: ander on Wed, 03 January 2018, 18:35:50
Sorry to leave you hanging, guys; I couldn't get back here sooner.

No, I won't be buying one of these, as fun as it'd be. (I'd particularly love having the up/down arrow keys that actually say "UP/DOWN", LOL.) You go ahead and enjoy, and thanks for thinking of me.
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: ErgoMacros on Wed, 03 January 2018, 19:20:12
OK, thanks Ander.

So, we still have 1 available... any takers?
@Waateva you still interested?

Edit: Measuring the photos it looks like the keyboards are about 7.25" x 7.25" x 2".
        Well within the packing size.

Edit2: And this site: https://www.surplusandparts.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1002
         says: Shipping Weight: 2lbs.

So shipping is looking good. :-)
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: kinglukas38 on Thu, 04 January 2018, 13:37:45
I could try offering 40, but past that I think I'll have to pull out
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: Techno Trousers on Thu, 04 January 2018, 14:27:38
Maybe this just isn't meant to be. I have to admit I'd be a lot more enthusiastic if they were PS/2 or USB. As is, I don't even know if I'd be able to get it working.
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: Waateva on Thu, 04 January 2018, 14:32:20
I'm not tech savvy enough to get it working on my own, and the price seems a bit steep just for the caps, as cool as they are.  Think I'm gonna have to hold off.
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: ErgoMacros on Thu, 04 January 2018, 15:05:00
OK, looks like we're at 3 buyers, and probably won't happen...

ErgoMacros does more math...
    US$45 + US$28 shipping to Canada = US$73 to get them to kinglukas38 in Canada.
    That's US$73/3 = US$24.33 each before re-shipping.
    kinglukas38 is quoting $12-$15 for re-shipping.

So US$24.33+US$15 = US$39.33 to us yanks, $24.33 to kinglukas38 who'd end up with two of them.

Given that it's an unknown protocol and may take a converter to use, even if it were PS/2 and that could
add another $6.50 to $40 to get USB. I guess we should pass.

Thanks all, for your interest.
ErgoMacros
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: Techno Trousers on Thu, 04 January 2018, 15:12:03
I appreciate everyone who tried to make this work! Let's keep an eye out for a lot of them that wouldn't need conversion, and maybe we can do it then.
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: ErgoMacros on Thu, 04 January 2018, 15:30:48
or if we could find docs on this one, or if we had one to reverse-engineer...
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: ErgoMacros on Thu, 04 January 2018, 15:32:19
or if we could find docs on this one, or if we had one to reverse-engineer...
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: Photoelectric on Thu, 04 January 2018, 15:51:23
Very cool.  Wonder if they'd work with my WEY connector box...  I need to look at it.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/photoelectric_effect/12196066056/in/album-72157640265177153/

I might be interested in one of these.
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: kinglukas38 on Thu, 04 January 2018, 16:23:17
I'm fine with offering 40+28 for shipping if these can get converted. I'd actually want to use one
Title: Re: Lot of 4 colorful Reuters mini-boards, $89 shipped
Post by: ErgoMacros on Fri, 05 January 2018, 12:01:39
Quote
Very cool.  Wonder if they'd work with my WEY connector box...  I need to look at it.

@Photoelectric:
  Based on my experience ti date of reverse-engineering the G80-9009 and it's Breakout Box, I'd say
this keypad "must be" either RS232 with a line for transmit, or a PS/2 Data and Clock (2 lines) protocol.

  Either way, based in the WEY HC200C docs I've seen I believe these are electrically comparable.
  However, I can't speak to the scan codes that are sent, and what the computer would do with them.