This keyboard has the Fohat Bolt-Modification, which further tightens the barrel and base plates together. The result is a dramatic improvement in crispness and sound.
I think the backlighting looks a bit weird only on the outside of the alphanumeric area, but otherwise it looks very nice :D .
the F122 bolt-mod by calling it the Fohat Bolt-Modification since he (I think) came up with the idea.
(And converting an F AT from the huge space bar to the Model M space bar ... I call that the WCass Space Bar Mod, since as far as I can tell it was their idea.)
I'm the guilty party here.
1) Much of what I know about restoring Model Fs comes from Fohat's posts, and in fact my love affair with Model Fs began with an F122 that he restored years ago and detailed in a post...
2) Regarding the lock light indicators, I personally thought outlining the section looked better, but I was on the fence for a while with it. Here's an F XT in which I used a single LED to indicate the Caps Lock ... Which looks better? It's probably a judgement call. Y'all can be my focus group! :D
3) I know some people will say that this keyboard is "too expensive." But the keyboard itself cost me $300, and I only got it after MONTHS of trying on Deskthority and /r/MechMarket. (I got another for $250 later, and another with the Xwhatsit for $300 more recently.) The Xwhatsit ... $35-ish. The custom cable ... $40-ish. Other parts and things ... $40 (guessing here). Had to buy a real drill because my Dremel was burning up cobalt bits ... $50. Already had the Hakko desoldering gun and Xtronic soldering station...
And besides that, I want to get more into the electronics-side of keyboards and thus I'm raising $$$ for a Rigol DS1104Z Plus. Either I do some kickass keyboard refurbishments and get paid for my time, start a GoFundMe page, or start offering handjobs for an oscilloscope.
I want buckling spring artisan keysets! I want complete keyboard programmability via a GUI with a representation of the board ala Ergodoz-EZ or TMK for my F122! I want to use my vintage board with my smart phone because typing with my thumbs sucks! I want new form factors of buckling spring and Alps boards! And there's certainly stuff that I haven't even thought of yet that can be included. But ain't none of that will ever happen unless a very smart person decides that they can make some money or even a living making those things possible.
I apologize for the rant. There isn't anyone here in which that last part was intended for. I had a run-in with someone elsewhere whining about how much I wanted for a vintage keyboard that I worked on, yet (lesser quality) keyboards from obscure group buys costing three times as much and expensive pieces of colored plastic shaped like spikey fish didn't seem to irk anyone...
Thank you for reading. Happy holidays! Don't drink and drive...
Edit: Regarding the Buy It Now price ... I don't really expect that anyone will do that. But I guess it's possible. Stranger things happen every day. But mostly, I just REALLY want that oscilloscope.
I'm back.Show Image(https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/0ZQAAOSwk1haTU7K/s-l1600.jpg)Show Image(https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/FOsAAOSweZJaTU7L/s-l1600.jpg)
You guys were right. Thanks!
Huge improvement!
Since I use the numpad and never turn it off, I would really want to achieve a way to let the light indicate "NumLock OFF"
Has anybody ever worked this out, particularly with a Teensy?
Since it is just an on/off signal to the LEDs, wouldn't an inverter do the job?
Some keyboards have the Caps Lock light as a round LED inside the Caps Lock key itself (so the keycap has a small transparent window). That's the most classy way to do it IMHO.
Wow! There is a lot of interesting and useful stuff here and I'm seriously grateful for the feedback.
I forgot to mention that Fohat (via Deskthority) was also responsible for getting me to use art foam. I was resistant to the idea that a $.99 item from a craft store would be suitable to my lofty endeavor (almost dropped my monocle in the chaffing dish!); but he was right...
And he's right about that bolt-mod. I had refurbished my own F122 before this one and used it for about a month without the bolt-mod before working up the courage to do it. So I got a Before and After with the same board, and it's sooooooooooo worthwhile!
Enough people have said that they didn't like the way the LEDs were implemented that I've pulled the listing and will redo them tomorrow. There will still be LEDs, but outlining entire sections of the keyboard might've been excessive...
Some keyboards have the Caps Lock light as a round LED inside the Caps Lock key itself (so the keycap has a small transparent window)...
Personally, I think the BEST way to indicate if the Caps Lock is active would be to incorporate Pavlok's (https://pavlok.com/) electric shock technology into the key. ;)
Since it is just an on/off signal to the LEDs, wouldn't an inverter do the job?