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Author Topic: What kind of switches are these?  (Read 2957 times)

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Offline bladamson

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What kind of switches are these?
« on: Sat, 25 December 2010, 03:41:43 »
I have a board like this, with a broken switch on the numpad (that's not me prying with a screwdriver, btw, just a picture off the interwebs):



Anyone have any idea what these are?  They look kinda like cherry black, but with a longer stem. :3  Fake cherries that could be replaced with real cherries?

The board is from an Apple ][e Platinum, but it's not the same kind of switch as is in my earlier ][s.

The magic smoke escaped from the mainboard, so I think the keyboard might make a neat mini to haul around with my laptop, especially if I hack the numpad off of it (which I guess would solve the broken keyswitch problem too lol).  Or it'll give me something to do until my next contract starts, anyway. :P
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woody

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What kind of switches are these?
« Reply #1 on: Sat, 25 December 2010, 03:52:32 »
Hmm, I have a bunch of various Apple IIs and clones, but no Platinum. IIRC they differ from model to model. Best and worst are IIc.
Have you tried repairing the motherboard?
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Offline bladamson

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What kind of switches are these?
« Reply #2 on: Sat, 25 December 2010, 04:22:05 »
Quote from: woody;268581
Hmm, I have a bunch of various Apple IIs and clones, but no Platinum. IIRC they differ from model to model. Best and worst are IIc.
Have you tried repairing the motherboard?


Nah, I haven't tried to fix it.  My old rev B ][e still works fine (or at least it did last time I plugged it in, which was ages ago), and I do all my ][-ing on an emulator these days anyway.  This one is just for parts. :P  If I fixed it, it'd go on ebay, and I don't think I could get more than $10-ish for it anyway, cos I have no monitor for it, the disk drives are hooked to the ][e card in my mac LC, and it's way way yellowed.

I was never much of a fan of the ][c.  It lost all the inherent hackability without all the expansion slots and the aux port. :3
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woody

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What kind of switches are these?
« Reply #3 on: Sat, 25 December 2010, 04:40:55 »
You could just try getting enhanced //e board off evilBay. At one time they were dirt cheap. Or a IIgs ROM 01 board, although I'm fuzzy now on exactly which keyboard interface it supported.

If you haven't done so already, try the "comp.sys.apple2" newsgroup for II-related stuff, and "comp.sys.apple2.marketplace" if you wish to inquire with a WTB.
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Offline bladamson

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What kind of switches are these?
« Reply #4 on: Sat, 25 December 2010, 05:03:12 »
I'm mostly interested in figuring out if I can fit blue mx switches into the plate and use the same keycaps.  I want to desolder the pcboard and redo the key matrix with #30 connection wire. :3
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Offline Findecanor

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What kind of switches are these?
« Reply #5 on: Sat, 25 December 2010, 06:50:42 »
Hard to see in the picture because of the lighting, and black on black, but, it looks a bit like the older NEC switches.
This page is a good reference.
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Offline bladamson

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What kind of switches are these?
« Reply #6 on: Sun, 26 December 2010, 17:24:03 »
Wellllll, I desoldered the board off the back of it.

Turns out they are SMK switches, for which I can find no useful info on the interwebs.  A linear-type vertical contact switch, where the side of the plunger pushes the blades together with a curved nub.  They snap-mount into a 0.5" hole. and take the usual + sort of push-on keycaps.
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Offline bladamson

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What kind of switches are these?
« Reply #7 on: Sun, 26 December 2010, 20:30:34 »
Yea, they suck. X_x  Still coasting around the interwebs looking for measurements to see if a cherry switch will fit into the hole. :3

It's giving me something to do while I'm snowed in and waiting for my F, though. ;3

Edit: Yes, the plate holes are made of win.  Now to find better measuring apparatus and figure out if the keycaps will fit...

More Edit: Holy crap, batman, those switches are a dollar each!  That's too much to spend on a time-waster-doom-preordained slackhappy. >_>
« Last Edit: Sun, 26 December 2010, 20:41:35 by bladamson »
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woody

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What kind of switches are these?
« Reply #8 on: Mon, 27 December 2010, 04:29:23 »
Quote from: ripster;269274
Those switches are yucky linears.  Older is not necessarily better.
Show Image


I just popped a keycap on Apple Keyboard II (M0487):

It uses inverted separate (detachable) rubber cup just under the keycap instead of spring. I have cleaned it a long ago, don't remember anything anymore. Like that guy in HHGTTG who is always fascinated by the pencil and the paper.

Now the IIc - it's like the picture, but it's not linear. It's clicky and has substantial bump in the beginning of the travel. Feels like best keyboard in the Apple II series, it's close to MX blues, but it's bit stiffer, lacks the initial linear segment and the click is about one octave down. Feels also worst Apple II keyboard, because some (?) IIc models had a rubber mat beneath. Anyway, IIc had two major hardware revisions (and then the international version) so there could be differences.

I remember seeing "Made by ALPS" or smth on various Apple II keyboards, perhaps they produced the whole board+switches+controller.
« Last Edit: Mon, 27 December 2010, 04:46:56 by woody »
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Offline bladamson

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What kind of switches are these?
« Reply #9 on: Mon, 27 December 2010, 05:06:06 »
Not a fan of the Apple Keyboard II. :<  One came with my LC II, but I tossed it in a box and kept using one from the SE. :3
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woody

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What kind of switches are these?
« Reply #10 on: Mon, 27 December 2010, 06:06:42 »
I just keep it because of the IIgs (ADB). Still trying to find original IIgs keyboard.
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